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During the Fipadoc International Pitch session (Biarritz) the 24 selected project teams will pitch to 60+ international funders from Europe and beyond. Decision makers from France TV, ARTE, RTBF, RTS, SVT, Al Jazeera, ZDF, HBO and many other broadcasters will be present together with distributors, sales agents, festival programmers and film funds. Application deadline: October 2 2026. Fipadoc Industry Days will run January 25-28, 2027.

The deadline for submissions of projects to MIA’s Italians Doc It Better showcase is September 6. Italians Doc It Better looks to facilitate the circulation of new Italian documentaries by providing producers with a platform to present their projects and secure international distribution. Eligible titles must be 100% Italian productions or co-productions in which Italy holds a majority share.

Diana Sanchez has been elevated to President of Hot Docs, with immediate effect. Restructuring the executive leadership team “to better accomplish the organization’s long-term strategic goals and growth,” Sanchez has appointed Mara Gourd-Mercado (currently at CPH:DOX) to the position of Executive Director. Gourd-Mercado begins her new role on October 19, 2026, and will report to Sanchez.

Cinéma du réel competition comprises up to 30 international and French documentary films of any length, many of which will be looking to kickstart their career at the Paris-based festival. “Such a carefully curated selection of international and French documentary films within the production of an entire year commits us, and we thank all the professionals who entrust us with their films and trust us to defend them,” says Catherine Bizern, Artistic Director. The 49th edition of Cinéma du reel will run March 19-27 2027.

Organisers of the 69th DOK Leipzig (26 Oct to Nov 1) have announced first details of this year’s programme, which include the new ‘Positions’ section which is designed to create more space for exchange and debate. “The selection of films is intended as a starting point and catalyst for dialogue and exchange – listening to one another, having conversations, accommodating differing views and contradictions, and questioning our own convictions,” the festival writes.

Press accreditation for the 12th edition of MIA | Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo - one of the leading global audiovisual markets, bringing together the international film, drama, documentary, animation, and entertainment industries on a single international platform for business and networking - is now open. MIA will take place from Monday, October 19 to Friday, October 23, 2026, in Rome and on the MIA Digital platform.

The Prague-based dok.incubator workshop has announced its final film selection for 2026. “From a world-renowned blind pianist redefining independence, to stories bound to the oldest marathon in Europe, and a new generation of Ukrainian youngsters documenting their own lives during wartime, the films selected for this year's workshop explore how individuals navigate the forces that shape their lives in stormy times,” organisers write.

The awards of the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival were presented August 21 at the National Theatre Sarajevo. Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić’s To Hold a Mountain was handed the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary Feature Film. On August 22, the Audience Award for Best Documentary Film went to We Shall Live Together, directed by Damir Markovina, with an average rating of 5.000.

A total of 24 feature-length documentary projects will be presented during the second edition of Flanders Film Days, running October 6-7 in Ghent, Belgium. The doc component will comprise six new project pitches, nine works in progress and nine completed films, and the event will include new doc works by the likes of Olga Lucovnicova, Maarten Stuyck & Lennart Stuyck and Pieter Van Eecke.

A collective of Iranian artists and academics has published an open letter in the UK-based Tribune magazine demanding an immediate end to the “violence being inflicted on the Iranian people, and the repeated threats by President Trump to destroy the civilian infrastructure.” An accompanying petition “condemns the threats against civilian infrastructure as collective punishment, documents the trauma they inflict, and warns that such rhetoric erodes decades of institution and norm-building meant to protect civilians in armed conflict.”