News

A moving, provocative and at times justifiably angry wildlife documentary that charts the campaign to free Asian bull elephant Billy after more than thirty years of captivity in Los Angeles Zoo, Marshall Corwin’s film is unrepentantly one-sided, but its deep-rooted frustration about how this magnificent creature has been treated is both heart-felt and appropriate.

Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee won in the European Documentary and Animated Feature categories while Olga Lucovnicova’s My Uncle Tudor was lauded in the European Short Film category. Flee additionally received the European University Film Award 2021, an honour conferred jointly by EFA and Filmfest Hamburg. The 34th European Film Awards were handed out during the hybrid ceremony December 11 in Berlin.

Ten docs selected for World Cinema Doc Competition. Highlights include Calendar Girls (Sweden), The Mission (Finland), Midwives (Myanmar), Danish Simon Lereng Wilmont’s A House Made Of Splinters and the Irish/UK Nothing Compares, about the early career of Irish songster Sinead O’Connor. Nine US Doc Competition selections, plus details of documentary selections across all sections.

Agora Docs, the industry arm of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival taking place March 11-19 2022, has invited documentary filmmakers to submit films for the Agora Doc Market (deadline, Feb 28), as well as projects for the Docs in Progress and the Thessaloniki Pitching Forum sections (deadline for both, January 14).

A gently beautiful and beguilingly uplifting film infused with warmth and generosity of spirit, Keyboard Fantasies shines a belated spotlight on the talents of Beverly Glenn-Copeland, a transgender, septuagenarian musical genius as he is re-discovered, courtesy of a Japanese record collector, and heads off on his first international tour at the ripe age of 74.

Paul Sng and Celeste Bell’s Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché wins British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) in both the Best Documentary and Raindance Discovery Award categories, while Danish Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee wins in the Best International Independent Film.

Leo Matchett and Michael Musante, co-founders (with American Zoetrope) of the LA-based non-profit Decentralized Pictures (DCP), explained during IDFA 2021 the rationale behind their ‘democratic’ film fund whose blockchain support of projects will be based on consensus approval among an online community of creatives, film fans, and industry professionals alike.

A harrowing, provocative and powerful film that balances anger with grief, but also highlights the fight for justice, often apparently against all odds. The documentary is the UK’s official entry for Best International Feature Film for the Academy Awards.

Due to ongoing and unexpected developments of the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Film Academy has decided that the upcoming ceremony of the 34th European Film Awards on 11 December will be presented digitally. “The aim of the organisation is to minimise risks for the people involved as much as possible,” says a statement. The ceremony will be hosted by Annabelle Mandeng.

Celebrating its first anniversary December 1, the free streaming platform ‘dedicated to the future of our planet,’ has 'completed its full worldwide expansion' to reach 194 countries, Ellen Windemuth becomes full time CEO of the company and three major management changes are announced. WaterBear content will also now be available to watch on all Apple TV and Roku devices.