News

Rise and Shine World Sales has announced the acquisition of the IDFA International Competition doc Selling A Colonial War by Korean-Dutch director In-Soo Radstake. The film world premieres November 11 at the Royal Theatre Carré. The film “exposes the Dutch government's narrative during the Indonesian War of Independence,” the filmmakers note.

Kathryn Bonnici, Head of Acquisitions and Development at Paris-based sales agent Java Films, discussed the documentary slate she is presenting to buyers at IDFA. “We really focus on current affairs and geo-politic investigations and have developed long standing relationships with many leading producers specialising in these areas,” she told Business Doc Europe.

The apology follows the publication of an open letter by leading representatives of the Israeli documentary and film community which expressed its “uttermost dismay, disappointment and concern” at the protest which saw the public display of a sign which read, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.’ In its response, IDFA wrote: “That slogan does not represent us, and we do not endorse it in any way. We are truly sorry that it was hurtful to many.”

IDFA Artistic Director Orwa Nyrabia and IDFA Bertha Fund director Isabel Arrate Fernandez responded November 9 to the open letter published November 7 by Docudays articulating concern over the festival’s selection of Russian films this year. “Any films by Russian filmmakers whose political positions are not clear to us, being critical to the Russian war on Ukraine and the Russian discourse of trying to justify it, will not be welcome at IDFA,” Nyrabia and Arrate Fernandez underline.

In an open letter co-signed by 46 Ukrainian film professionals, Docudays UA expressed its “disappointment and serious concern about the presence of films made in Russia and by Russian authors in the [IDFA] programmes” in 2023. The letter further cited the names of Ukrainian film professionals who have died in 2022–2023 as a direct result of the Russian war in Ukraine.

The Australian International Documentary Conference, the leading Southern Hemisphere gathering and marketplace for doc and factual content, revealed November 9 the first confirmed guests and theme for the 2024 edition. The event 2024 will take place in-person 3-6 March, followed by an online international marketplace 7- 8 March 2024. $235K Australian (€140,000) up for grabs in prizes.

The European Film Academy announced November 7 the five documentary nominees in the European Documentary category of the 36th European Film Awards. The award ceremony will take place on 9 December in Berlin and will “celebrate the best of European Film culture.” The nominations are based on the votes of 4,600 members of the European Film Academy.

The next CPH:FORUM will take place from March 18-21 2024, with a November 15 deadline for submissions. Next year the programme will present two new Eurimages Lab Awards: The Innovation Award of €20.000 for experimental projects in development, and The Outreach Award of €30.000 to promote public awareness of experimental projects that are at the end of production or in post-production.

The objective of the online Global Pitch event is to bring together the international documentary film community around engaged themes. In 2024 the focus will be on ‘Mapping the Future of our ecosystem and the documentary genre itself.’ Twelve projects will be selected and presented February 6-7 2024. The deadline for submissions is November 24.

Pia Lundberg has been appointed as the new Artistic Director of Göteborg Film Festival. Lundberg most recently served as Counsellor for Cultural Affairs at the Embassy of Sweden in London and will take up the position as Artistic Director on March 1, 2024, succeeding Jonas Holmberg. “I have attended hundreds of film festivals and now finally have the opportunity to help create one,” comments Lundberg.