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The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) announced October 26 the 14 films that are longlisted in the Best Documentary category. Ten of the 14 documentaries are directed or co-directed by women and non-binary filmmakers. The final five nominations will be announced on Wednesday 3 November. Winners will be revealed at the BIFA ceremony on Sunday 5 December.

In addition to overseeing the 2022 event, former BFI London FF director Stewart will “work with the Board and senior team to forge a new, long-term strategy for Sheffield DocFest.” Oscar winner Kapadia will personally select some sections of the screenings programme and work with the Sheffield team on events, talks and other initiatives, say festival organisers.

The €5000 prize was given for Alambeigi’s project Broken Flower on 25 October, the opening night of DOK Leipzig 2021. In addition, the Silver Dove awarded to Dutch filmmaker Vincent Monnikendam for his Mother Dao, the Turtlelike, which was first awarded the prize in 1995 but which the director can now finally receive. The film is selected for the Re-Visions series.

The meandering reflectiveness of The Rhine Flows to the Mediterranean Sea very much suits the nature of this intimate low-budget documentary as filmmaker Offer Avnon offers up images and conversations with people in Germany, Poland and ultimately in Israel to discuss pain, memory and traumas that are still explicitly linked to the Holocaust.

Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated doc 'Flee' is selected as Denmark's submission in the International Feature Film category for the 2022 Academy Awards. “The reception of Flee has been overwhelming since it premiered at Sundance,” says Claus Ladegaard, DFI CEO and Chair of the selection committee. “The committee is convinced that Flee can continue its impressive international journey on the back of its powerful theme and original form."

The open program of the Ex Oriente Film 2021 workshop 2nd session, commencing today on the eve of the 25th Ji.hlava IDFF, offers a series of lectures, case studies, and masterclasses dedicated to various aspects of doc filmmaking, production and distribution. The session is organized by the Institute of Documentary Film in cooperation with FAMU and is available to holders of all types of accreditation.

Five new Polish documentary projects to be presented at the leading German doc event. In addition, two competing Polish feature docs (plus one animation), including Bucolic in International Competition. One doc (Light Years by Monika Proba) will compete for Best Short Film, as will two documentary animations.

Arami Ullón's second feature Nothing But The Sun (Apenas El Sol) has been selected by the Paraguayan Academy of Cinematographic Arts and as the official entry to represent Paraguay at the upcoming Academy Awards. The Paraguayan-Swiss production, which opened IDFA in 2020, will receive its domestic theatrical release from October 28, 2021.

Revered filmmakers Oliver Stone and Vitaly Mansky to deliver masterclasses at the 25th Ji.hlava IDFF. Opening film is by Belarusian filmmaker Andrei Kutsila and concerns the persistence of hope despite the failure of democracy (and subsequent protests) within Belarus after the parliamentary elections of 2020. All juries are announced and closing awards to be given by an AI.

Hot Docs and the Panicaro Foundation announced 20 October $80,000 CDN in CrossCurrents Doc Funding to four international projects, and with R&M Lang Foundation its support of two films ($15,000 CDN total) via the CrossCurrents International Doc Fund. Ten Canadian projects receive development and production grants totaling $245,000 from the CrossCurrents Canada Doc Fund, established with the support of Netflix.