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While the cases of Mina Keshavarz and Firouzeh Khosravani may now be officially closed by Irani authorities and their passports returned to them, there are many more creatives who remain behind bars, are on bail or are under constant threat, writes the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk. These include such directors as Jafar Panahi and Mohamed Rasoulof, and actress Taraneh Alidoosti.

The films, directed by Wang Bing and Kaouther Ben Hania, are joined in Cannes by Occupied City by Brit auteur Steve McQueen; Wim Wenders' Le bruit du temps, Anselm Kiefer; and Kleber Menndonça's Retratos Fantasmas, all of which are selected for Special Screenings. Wang Bing’s Man in Black is also selected for this section. In Un Certain Regard is The Mother of All Lies by Asmae Elmoudir. The 76th Cannes FF runs May 16-27.

Applicants from Central and Eastern Europe have two days to get their short doc submissions in for the Millenium Docs Against Gravity Short Pitch Program (Warsaw, Poland, May 14 2023). Five short documentary film projects at rough cut stage will be pitched to sales agents, distributors, and festival and TV representatives.

The ninth edition of the MIA International Audiovisual Market (Rome) will run 9-13 October 2023. In 2022 the event registered over 2400 participants from 60 countries, which represented a 20%+ increase on 2021 figures. “MIA is a destination for the global audiovisual ecosystem, conceived as a curated market, a physical and digital space for animation, documentary, drama and film professionals,” write organisers.

Also known at the British Documentary Awards, the Grierson Awards commemorate the pioneering Scottish documentary filmmaker John Grierson (1898 – 1972), famous for Drifters and Night Mail, and the man widely regarded as the father of documentary. The deadline for entries is June 1. Nominations will be announced 19 September. The awards ceremony will be held in London on November 9.

The Prague-based rough-cut training workshop has announced the final selection of documentaries for 2023. All eight films are directed (or co-directed) by women. “I believe we brought up fresh and diverse perspectives and that this year’s selection carries many important messages of the contemporary world,” says dok.incubator CEO Andrea Prenghyova.

Etilaat Roz by Abbas Rezaie details the fall of Kabul in 2021. It is “not only the story of the most widely read newspaper in liberal Kabul, it is also a testimony to international political failure,” writes the German docfest. Elsewhere, this year's thematic DOK.focus series, titled POWER OF MEDIA?, deals with the diversity, ambivalence and increasingly conflicting role of the media with reference to five selected films.

Sunny Side of the Doc’s seven pitching sessions will run 19 to 22 June 2023 in La Rochelle, France. Forty-two pre-selected projects will be presented to a panel of industry insiders from around the globe, including leading commissioning editors, buyers, funds, sales agents, distributors and co-production partners.

In total 33 prizes will be handed out for films and projects during the Festival and Industry Awards ceremonies held 26 and 28 April respectively. The headline International Feature Film Competition jury comprises Florence Almozini, David Epiney and Kleber Mendonça Filho who will deliberate over 14 films before handing out the Grand Jury Prize (CHF 20,000) and the Special Jury (CHF 10,000). All juries…

Alisa Kovalenko’s story of five Ukrainian kids who are transported from the war zone to the peaks of the Himalayas picked up the award March 28. The feature doc prize is valued at €2500 and comes with the year-long festival service of the East Silver Caravan, worth an additional €3500. KIX by Dávid Mikulán & Bálint Révész received a Special Mention.