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The two organizations have announced joint initiatives to be presented at the 79th Venice Film Festival in solidarity with filmmakers who have been arrested or jailed over the past year. First is an international panel on September 3, the second is a flash mob on the red carpet (September 9) before the screening in Sala Grande of the competition film No Bears by Jafar Panahi.

The UK-based power house will handle international sales while the company’s distribution arm will handle the UK and Irish release (dates to be announced soon) on Poitras’ Nan Goldin documentary set for high-profile Venice, Toronto and New York premieres. NEON recently announced that they will release the film in North America.

A family road-trip with a difference, director Borja Alcalde Rubio’s The Sacred Family (La Sagrada Familia) - which world-premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival - blends mysticism with modern-day distractions all set against the stunning backdrop of rural Peru as the family use their journey to try and address fractures and tensions within the group.

A meandering meditation on the rhythm of life, the resonance of folk music and the history and charm of the Old Town of Edinburgh during lockdown, Edinburgh International Festival project The Ballad of a Great Disordered Heart is a film about how people are connected by history and music, with the central narrative driven by Edinburgh musician Aidan O’Rourke.

Srđan Keča’s Museum of the Revolution (pictured) wins the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary Film (€4000). Vedrana Pribačić’s Bigger Than Trauma receives the Human Rights Award. Igor Ivanko picks up the Special Jury Award for Fragile Memory. Visar Jusufi’s We,…Composition wins the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Short Documentary Film (€2000).

Zambrano joined the Festival as Head of Film Programmes earlier in 2022. Following a return to a predominantly in-person festival, attracting 30,323 attendances, the organisation is adopting a “new, joint leadership model for the future” and has commenced the search for a new Managing Director and Creative Director.

The five Docu Rough Cut Boutique Awards were handed out August 18, with Gergő Somogyvári’s Fairy Garden (Hungary) picking up two prizes. This year’s jury comprised: Margje de Koning, Movies That Matter; Hanka Kastelicova, HBO Europe; Eugen Kelemen, Avanpost; Catherine Le Clef, Cat&Docs, and Marcel Maiga, DOK Leipzig. Awards in full…

The Portuguese doc fest celebrates the past two decades with a special edition and opening/closing sessions held simultaneously in the cities of Lisbon and Porto. The festival closes October 15 with a screening of Love Lights by Acácio de Almeida and Marie Carré, described as “a declaration of love to photography and cinema.”

Docu Talent of the East awards were handed out August 16 in Sarajevo to the Ukrainian project Dad’s Lullaby and Romanian Between Revolutions. Ji.hlava IDFF also presented the results of this year’s East West Index – an exclusive survey among key European doc film festivals, which focuses on figures representing individual regions. Furthermore, the Czech doc fest announced the 17 Emerging Producers for 2023, plus the guest country of Qatar.

A fascinating delve into the lives of traditional Roma families in Romania, The Chalice. Of Sons and Daughters also doubles as an enthralling anthropological exercise tracking the impact that ancient customs have on the lives of young Roma couples and their future offspring.