Interviews

The doc profiles the brilliant Syrian swimmer and activist who, after an act of immense courage in helping to save a boatful of refugees off the Greek coast, was arrested three years later, after returning to Greece to help other migrants, and charged with trafficking, spying and money laundering. Director Feldman thought her film would be about the “criminalisation of humanitarian work.” But when she met her subject it became a much more complex, personal and open-ended story, she tells BDE.

On the eve of its 30th edition, Sheffield DocFest toppers Annabel Grundy and newly appointed Creative Director Raul Niño Zambrano explain the appeal of one of the world’s leading doc events, and the city that hosts it. “There are lots of things about Sheffield that really chime with docs…in terms of independent spirit, doing it yourself, succeeding against the odds,” says Grundy. “You have to be scrappy to get stuff made in the north.”

Dutch Jessica Gorter’s new film tells the story of Yuri Dmitriev, a man who has dedicated his life to identifying and naming the tens of thousands who perished during the Great Terror under Stalin. “When I was in the middle of editing The Red Soul I got the phone call saying that he was arrested,” Gorter says. “I guess that was the moment when I really decided, ‘okay, so I need to make this film. I need to know where this is going.’”

Polish director Mikael Lypinski talks to Business Doc Europe about his new film Unpaved, sold by Sideways Film and world-premiering in Krakow, in which he once again profiles a community of US folk living in the margins of society, this time within a forest sanctuary in Oregon.

The Irish doc-making duo talk about I Hate Christmas, sold by Autlook, which tells the stories of folk who don’t necessarily find those few days in late December to be the most wonderful time of the year. Wardrop and Freedman are also on the lookout for new doc projects from Ireland and beyond - and have the resources to kick start them, they tell BDE.  

Originally founded by Greg Rubidge in 2009, Toronto-based Syndicado is an increasingly prominent player in the documentary sales world. Aleksandar Govedarica co-founded the company’s world sales arm, which he runs out of Europe, in 2016. “I really love cinema, that is why I am in the business,” Govedarica tells BDE. “When people ask me how do we acquire films, I think it really comes down to instinct.”

German-Italian Anita Pallenberg was a model, movie star and muse to The Rolling Stones, and a seminal figure in 60’s counterculture. “She was doing what very few women did, casting off her family, casting off everyone and just saying I am going to be a self-made woman. I am going to make my own money. I am going to travel the world,” Bloom tells BDE of the subject of her new co-directed doc, narrated by Scarlett Johansson.

Producer Chris Pickard spills the beans to Business Doc Europe about arguably the most pertinent and relevant doc on the Croisette this year. “What always surprises people is that there is no documentary on the history of Cannes,” he says. Which is why he and production colleague Mark Adams, together with directors Blanshard and Penny, decided to plug a very big gap.

The great German has two films in selection at Cannes 2023, the 3D doc Anselm (Special Screening) and the fiction Perfect Days in Competition. “Working on my documentaries, I always find myself trying to introduce fictional elements or at least parts of the language of fictional storytelling that I want to apply to the documentary language. And vice versa, in fictional films, I try as hard as I can to bring in documentary methods,” he tells BDE.

The Scandi showcase of four docs-in-progress is designed for decision makers looking for new titles, in particular festival programmers and sales agents. In the main, projects are looking for post-production funding or general gap financing, and are sometimes still open to co-production opportunities. The lead countries on the four projects are Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. The projects’ producers talk to BDE.