Interviews

After many years as a successful producer Emma Hindley felt like a “poacher turned gamekeeper,” she tells BDE on taking up the role Lead Commissioning Editor at BBC Storyville (the strand that showcases the best in international documentary). “I had always viewed Storyville from afar and thought it was a real jewel in the crown at the BBC.”

Docs Ireland programmer Stuart Sloan talked to Business Doc Europe about the Belfast-based, all-Ireland international doc festival which, in a few short years, has established itself as a core showcase for Irish and international docs and talent, and as an important pitching hub for new projects and forum for debate. Docs Ireland runs June 20-25.

After baring his soul (and that of his partner Devorah Baum) in the warm and funny New York-based 2022 doc Husband (2022), Josh Appignanesi embarks upon an altogether different journey in My Extinction, one from indifference to full-on engagement as he turns his mind to the looming threat of climate change. The film world-premieres June 29 in London. Appignanesi bares even more of his soul to Business Doc Europe.

During Sunny Side of the Doc 2023, Business Doc Europe caught up with Kathryn Bonnici, Head of Acquisitions and Development of Paris-based sales agent Java Films. Founded in 2005 by Roch Bozino, Java Films rapidly established itself as one of Europe’s leading independent distributors, handling both pre-sales and distribution for documentaries.

Archive is in the frame at Sunny Side 2023 with two Industry sessions Wednesday June 21. The first session introduces three new sector organisations that have launched in France, Germany and Spain over the past 12 months, while the second session is set to address archives and innovation. Both are moderated by archive producer & copyright clearance specialist Elizabeth Klinck. “There's a real need for archive producers, people who understand the process artistically, financially and logistically,” she tells BDE.

“I knew that he was funny going into it, but I didn’t realise how funny,” producer-director Stuart McClave tells BDE of the wisecracking Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena and the subject of the new feature documentary On The Line: The Richard Williams Story (which had its UK premiere at Sheffield Doc Fest over the weekend following its Tribeca premiere).

Get back, hands off, go for it! Producer Simon Halfon discusses his new feature length doc about the great 1980s band Wham, which featured 'young guns' George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. As soon as he pitched his idea, Halfon knew the film was a goer. “Within a heartbeat, we had this dream team of Chris Smith, John Battsek and Kate Townsend (Netflix),” he says.

At Sheffield 2023 Business Doc Europe sat down with Kim Christiansen of DR Sales. DR Sales is the international sales department of the Danish public broadcaster and one of the leading Nordic distributors of high-end audiovisual productions – in particular, the team focuses on award-winning documentaries, drama series and children’s content.

In 2020, poet, author and academic Helen Mort made a deeply troubling discovery. A friend alerted her to the fact that there were explicit photos of her on a porn site. Someone had stolen her images from social media and had used deepfake technology to superimpose her face onto bodies of other women. “With this film, the creative approach is completely in response to the ethical challenges,” director Morris says of her approach to telling Helen’s story.

In Misho Antadze’s short documentary Metabolism, selected for Sheffield, robots have taken over some of the functions we inexorably associate with human beings, such as milking cows and waiting on tables. “The observational documentary work that I make, it's mostly because I'm curious. I want to see these things, so making these films is a way of taking a look for myself and obviously to bring the audience with me as well,” Antadze says.