On standby to commission
As Head of International Current Affairs at the BBC, Sarah Waldron is used to commissioning documentaries at very short notice. Even so, the speed with which the BBC got behind Italy’s Frontline: A Doctor’s Diary was impressive.
Cannes Docs: The shock of the real
PARISDOC, the industry arm of Cinéma du Réel, presents four new projects at Cannes Marché, three of which are set in the US, one featuring the niece of murdered Minnesota resident George Floyd.
Cannes Docs: Geo-diversity assessed during Marché panel
During its Cannes Doc panel on June 24, Ji.hlava IDFF presented updated findings about geo-representation across international film festivals, prompting festival directors and programmers to discuss their selection rationale and modus operandi.
Cannes Marché: Singing out for Sona
Mumbai-based Deepti Gupta’s Shut Up Sona (sold internationally by Brighton-based Espesso Media) has provoked howls of fury in India, the director tells Business Doc Europe.
Cannes Marché: Home sweet home
Marc Isaacs’ new feature The Filmmakers’ House is labelled as “documentary.” Some doc purists, though, may be startled by the director’s freewheeling approach toward a project which was indeed shot in his own house.
Cannes Docs goes full CIRCLE
The CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator training initiative presents four docs-in-progress during Cannes Docs, each from a CIRCLE alumnus. Founder and program director Biljana Tutorov tells BDE about each, in a round-about way.
Cannes Marché: Tale of A Black Jesus
A Black Jesus, directed by Luca Lucchesi and produced by Wim Wenders, poses a poignant and pertinent question. How can the residents of a Sicilian village worship a black Jesus but disregard the refugees who pray in the same church?
Orwa Nyrabia on the return to ‘live’, for the sake of filmmakers and audiences
“Cinema needs to defend itself like never before,” the IDFA Creative Director tells BDE. “A thousand persons watching the film at home over a week are not equal to 1000 persons in a cinema watching the same film.”
Torino FF (Nov 20-28) to retain high doc numbers despite cuts to rest of...
35% budget cut means fewer films in overall selection but doc levels same as 2019 with 8 films each in Italian/international programmes. At Cannes, Torino FF presents 4 docs-in-progress, together with Festival dei Popoli and the Piemonte/Toscana Film Commissions.
CANNES DOCS: Time to Rise and Shine
Leading Berlin-based doc sales specialist Rise and Shine presents a slate of recent festival successes, as well as Scars, the new film by Agnieszka Zwiefka, featuring in German Films Previews.
