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The Czech Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival has announced three major retrospectives for its 25th edition, running 26-31 October. They will cover the Romanian experimental scene 1968–1989, the anthropological documentary films of Slovak-Czech ethnographer/filmmaker Karol Plicka, and the cinematic representation of ‘roots’ in experimental film.

First pitched at CPH:FORUM, Johan Grimonprez’s feature doc project fuses the promise of African decolonization in the 1960s, the rise of the US civil rights movement and the State Department’s mobilization of ‘jazz ambassadors’ for propaganda purposes. New partners on board from France, Netherlands and Sweden with much broadcast and sales interest, the producers say.

Where the World Ends looks at the absurdity of bureaucratic procedures by highlighting a few individuals on both sides of the Belarus/Lithuania border.

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam has unveiled 65 titles for its non-competitive Best of Fests, Masters, and Paradocs sections. The 34th edition of IDFA takes place from November 17 to 28 in Amsterdam. The festival underlines its choice of both “transcendent masterpieces” and “buzzy audience films” and claims that Paradocs offers up its “tightest selection seen in years.”

The troubled coming together of borders and migrants is brought into sharp and fascinating focus in Tiha Gudac’s engrossing and at times gently provocative documentary The Wire which heads to the edge of Eastern Europe to detail the impact a steel fence with razor wire has had on the beautiful Kupa region and the River Kupa itself which acts as a border between Slovenia and Croatia.

Commencing October 4 and running through October 15, the Flemish showcase this year offers up 26 feature and four doc series titles to the online industry, who are granted round the clock access to new project pitches, presentations of works in progress, and screenings. Business Doc Europe previews the documentary and non-fiction fare on offer.

An intriguing, passionate and thoughtful exploration into how racism has been entrenched in film culture through the essential technical tool of filmmaking itself, and looking closely at how the lighting for movie cameras has long been calibrated for white skin.

The event is looking for creative feature-length docs, factual series and non-fiction transmedia projects from the CEE region that are in development, production and post-production. 11th East Doc Platform to run March 26 - April 1, 2022 in Prague during the One World IHRDFF. Deadline for submission: November 19, 2021.

Swedish producer Antonio Russo Merenda issues rebuttal to New York Times article which states that many of the traumatized women in the award-winning feature documentary Sabaya said they never agreed to be in the film. The film portrays the rescue of Yazidi women, abducted by ISIS for exploitation as sex slaves, from the al-Hol Camp in Syria.

Vicente joins the Sundance Institute from Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), where she spent the past three years as Executive Director and Co-Head. Vicente succeeds CEO Keri Putnam, who stepped down earlier this year. Vicente Comes to Sundance “primed to further its mission as a fierce advocate for independent artists that inspire and influence all around the world,” says the 29 September statement.