News

The former head of CBC English Services was selected for the position after a months-long international search following the departure of former executive director Brett Hendrie in March 2021. She will assume responsibility for the strategic leadership and management of the annual Festival, industry programs and other special year-round initiatives starting November 4.

The 29th edition of co-production and co-financing market IDFA Forum offers a “dynamic slate of artistic approaches, subjects, and points of view to the international documentary industry.” Confirmed decision makers from ARTE, BBC, Hulu, Netflix, Sundance Film Institute, The Whickers, Topic, Museum of Moving Image, TIME Studios, VeeR, PHI Centre, and Diversion cinema, among others.

The RE>CONNEXT 2021 doc ALL-IN by Volkan Üce has won Best Documentary at this year’s Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, while Lagardère has signed up to handle international sales on Luc Lemaitre’s doc series The Offensive, produced by Panenka, which was presented during last year’s event. The series is also nominated in the Social Issues documentary category, at the New York TV & Film Awards.

MIA 2021 opens October 13, running through October 17, with a wide-ranging doc and unscripted programme that presents a solid mix of new project pitches, screenings, key notes and panel discussions. Programme head Marco Spagnoli tells Business Doc Europe what to expect. “MIA is a market of ideas,” he underlines.

It may score low on D-Rating (documentary) but the upcoming FilmBath Festival (October 28-November 4) scores a whopping 79% on its F-Rating, meaning that more than three-quarters of festival selections are directed by women.

The Institute of Documentary Film will present Silver Eye Awards to the best feature and short documentaries from Central and Eastern Europe during the East Silver Market at the 25th Ji.hlava IDFF (October 26 – 31 2021). Ten feature and 10 short nominees.

249 films, 51 world premieres, 46 Portuguese films, 62 countries. The festival will host many top doccers in Lisbon to present their films, including Ulrike Ottinger, who will present her retrospective, Avi Mograbi, Vitaly Mansky, Helke Misselwitz, Nicolas Klotz, Elisabeth Perceval, Marta Popivoda, Sergio Silva and Boris Lehman. The festival runs 21-31 October 2021.

The festival to run in Krakow cinemas 29 May to 5 June and online across Poland 3–12 June 2022. First deadline 30 November 2021 for films made before 31 October 2021. Then 31 January 2022 for international films made after 31 October 2021, and 15 February 2022 for Polish films made after 31 October 2021.

The Rhine Flows to the Mediterranean Sea by Offer Avnon will open DOK Leipzig 2021. The film describes the impressions the Israeli director had while living in Germany and the way his perspective changed when he returned to Israel. The 64th edition of DOK Leipzig opens 25 October 2021.

Leading Swiss docfest Visions du Réel has announced the launch of the VdR–Development Lab, the latest program of VdR–Industry dedicated to projects from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The deadline for project submission is October 31. In addition the call for film and project entries for Visions du Réel 2022 is still open. Deadline: November 8.