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The upcoming Doclisboa will screen 250 films from 42 countries, including 35 world premieres and 39 Portuguese films. This year's International Competition includes selections from 16 countries and features 6 world premieres. Of the 39 Portuguese films in this year's edition, nine are in Portuguese Competition, 7 of which are world premieres. “The films reveal the pulse of the world and those who inhabit it,” the festival writes of this year’s programme.

Apolonia, Apolonia by Lea Gob wins Best Nordic Documentary while the New Nordic Voice Award is shared by the doc Under Construction by Markus Toivo and the short Prelude by Arman Zafari. The inaugural Nordic Documentary Producer Award was presented to the Swedish Stina Gardell. The City of Malmö Audience Award was handed to The Home Game by Smari Gunnarsson & Logi Sigursveinsson. All awards…

In the feature-length doc, which world premieres at the London-based Mental Health Film & Arts Festival, Akers talks to parents, youth and experts looking for solutions to help kids become mentally strong. Additionally, campaigner Maddie Kitchen of Sobriety Films will be screening the short film Say Something, which follows a teenager’s journey from active addiction to recovery. SHOUT LONDON runs October 10 and 11.

CPH:DOX’s international financing and co-production platform CPH:FORUM is open for submissions for its 2024 edition, and accepting projects up to the deadline of November 15, 2023. The event, running March 18-21 2024 in Copenhagen, is dedicated to supporting “creative and visually strong film projects and connects professionals from the worlds of non-fiction, fiction, journalism, science and visual art.”

The Czech docfest revealed September 22 details of its Industry programme running October 25 to 28, that includes pitches of new Czech and international projects, presentations by the EMERGING PRODUCERS 2024 cohort and a range of panel discussions. Organisers also list the nine US projects selected for third Ji.hlava New Visions Forum.

Christopher Morris’ film, which world-premiered in Sheffield, documents, over the course of a year, a standing stone in a Cornish field, literally a rock of calm within a turbulent world. “This is genuinely [one of] the most moving and thought-provoking films I have ever seen,” claims Eden Project co-founder Tim Smit. The part-Q&A tour stops at 23 cities over the next two months. The September 21 start date was set to coincide with the Autumn equinox.

The Rome-based event has selected 18 documentary and factual projects from 8 countries. Nine of the projects are from Italy and a further four are Italy-themed. The majority of projects will be market debutants. Across all sectors, 62 projects were selected from 36 countries. In 2022, MIA hosted more than 2400 participants from 60 countries (+20% increase on the previous year).

Showtime in Helsinki, directed by Arthur Franck and produced by Oskar Forstén won the FFA Documentary Award, valued at €3000 and which goes towards the production of an international trailer. The film concerns the 1975 ‘Helsinki Accords’ conference, designed to bring the Cold War to an end, but which ultimately led to “the demise of the Soviet Empire and totalitarian rule in Eastern Europe.”

The competition films for the 66th edition of DOK Leipzig have been finalized with a total of 71 films, including 35 world premieres, competing for the Golden and Silver Doves in 2023. “Quite a few films made during the pandemic had a personal angle. This year, the films have gone back to looking at broader societal and political themes – partly in order to understand what’s going on at the moment and explore how we can work towards a different future,” underlines festival director Christoph Terhechte.

The Focus on Finland event was the first of a series of doc pitch sessions at Finnish Film Affair, running 20-22 September. Five new projects were presented to the documentary professionals in attendance. “The aim of the event is to strengthen the promotion of Finnish content to international industry events and increase the opportunities for Finnish content creators to achieve international funding, sales and distribution,” say organisers.