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While working on a book about ageing, Poland's most beloved linguist, Professor Jerzy Bralczyk, embarks on a cruise with his beloved wife Lucyna. The journey becomes a reflection on love, growing old, shared dreams and the art of enjoying life until the very end. “Their love is mature, funny, tender and completely unsentimental,” producer Marta Dużbabel tells BDE. “They still argue, tease each other, laugh together and support one another. We see many films about falling in love. We rarely see films about staying in love.”

In Polish Siarhei Marchyk’s new project, at rough cut stage and presented at Krakow Industry, Cameo, a young Ukrainian soldier, eager to fight, learns he is about to become a father, and must decide whether or not to desert, choosing between duty and the future of his family. “I spent six months embedded with Cameo's mortar unit,” director/producer Marchyk tells BDE. “The camera was present not only during combat operations but also during moments of vulnerability, boredom, fear, friendship and love. This level of access is one of the film's greatest strengths.”

This week, Berlin-based Doxumentale will screen two documentaries curated by Another Story, the new pan-European initiative dedicated to “reclaiming and recontextualising women’s contributions to documentary cinema.” The stated aim of the organisation is to rediscover and share forgotten female-directed documentary films from the 20th century, “ensuring their legacy reaches new generations in Europe.”

Sheffield DocFest announced May 29 the jury members for the festival’s five competitive sections; International Competition, International First Feature Competition, International Short Film Competition, the Tim Hetherington Award and the International Alternate Realities Competition. Also announced are further additions to the public and industry programme, including two additions to the Talks Programme and three new premieres for the Film Programme. Sheffield DocFest runs from 10 - 15 June.

The awards of the 19th edition of Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival were presented May 26 at the Museum of the 1990s in Belgrade. Juries across all competition sections honoured films distinguished by “artistic originality, cinematic innovation, and strong social and emotional impact.” The Thing To Be Done by Srđan Kovačević picked up the International Competition Award while Sunset by Miloš Jaćimović won Best Film in Serbian Competition. All awards…

The eighth Docs Ireland festival returns to Belfast this June, presenting “a bold and globally resonant programme exploring truth, power and storytelling in a rapidly changing world,” and opening with Steal This Story, Please! by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal. During the festival’s Marketplace, 35 Irish, UK and international projects will be pitched to international decision makers. Docs Ireland 2026 runs 16-21 June.

Over 70 international representatives from broadcasters, distributors, film funds, and production companies will participate online and in person in Tel Aviv next month during the 28th edition of CoPro, Israel’s leading co-production market. The event will mark “a recommitment to the distinct value of documentary films amidst the instability in the region,” write organisers.

During her Cannes Docs’ Doc Day keynote, titled The Edit Is The Film, Japanese-British filmmaker and editor Ema Ryan Yamazaki offered a candid and highly personal reflection on the role of editing in documentary cinema, drawing on her work on the Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated Black Box Diaries (2024) and the more recent American Doctor (2026).

Pegah Ahangarani’s Rehearsals For A Revolution, directed by Pegah Ahangarani, was handed May 22 the L’Œil d’or, the main doc award at Cannes 2026. “This film allows us to enter the intricate and complex reality of contemporary Iran through a braiding of personal, historical, and poetic cinema,” the jury said. Alexander Murphy received a Special Mention for Tin Castle.

UK/Irish producer Mike Downey has been shortlisted in the ‘Heritage Champions’ Category of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards for his contribution as Chairman of the European Film Academy. The awards are usually given to restoration projects, but for the first time the category of Heritage Champion has nominated an individual from the world of cinema. The Awards Ceremony will take place 28 May at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre, Cyprus.