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Swiss filmmaker Moris Freiburghaus received the award March 27 for Best Documentary Film. In the film, Swiss musician Dino Brandão travels to Angola to give a concert in his father's home country. Brandão also won the award for Best Film Score. The film celebrated its world premiere at the Zurich Film Festival 2025 and was honoured with both the Best Documentary Film Award and the Audience Award.

The awards of the 48th Cinéma du Réel 2026 were handed out March 28 with the Grand Prix Cinéma going to London by Sebastian Brameshuber. The Cinéma du réel International Award was handed to Levers by Rhayne Vermette, while the Cnap Award for a French Film went to A Blind Song by Stefano Canapa and Natacha Muslera. Among the professional ParisDOC Awards, the Coup de cœur Orlando x Culori went to L'Île by Sara Rastegar and Simone Pozzi. All awards…

The Indian feature documentary project Silver Linings, presented at Docedge Kalkota 2026, was awarded March 9 the Sunny Side of the Doc Prize, which...

The panel, moderated by FIFDH Impact Days’ Sophie Mulphin, sought to explore innovative models of storytelling collaboration, determine what drives interest from media funders, and investigate how strategic media engagement can elevate campaigns to greater levels of visibility and effectiveness. Panelists were Lindsay Poulton, Editorial Director and Head of Documentaries, The Guardian; Impact strategist Leni Velasco, and Abby Rapoport, Director of Media Impact Funders. BDE reports.

The winners of the East Doc Platform 2026 were announced on March 24 at the French Institute in Prague, where a total of 16 awards were presented across the programme, recognizing outstanding documentary projects at various stages of development. “The winning projects showcase a compelling and diverse slate defined by bold artistic vision, urgent social themes, and strong international potential,” write organisers.

The Central European Documentary Co-production Market (June 3 – 5) is held every year during the Krakow Film Festival in Poland. Building on its Central European location, CEDOC nurtures a cooperation between East and West, North and South with a special focus on Central European projects and talents. The event, organized since 2015, is part of the DOC LAB POLAND and KFF INDUSTRY program, which consists of workshops, consultations and pitchings of Polish documentary projects (DOCS TO START and DOCS TO GO).

Ji.hlava IDFF has repeated its call for the next Emerging Producers programme that will run 2026 through 2027. Every year the festival selects 18 talented producers (17 European and one representing a guest country, this year Japan), which it provides with educational, networking and promotional support. The applications deadline is March 31.

Traces by Alisa Kovalenko & Marysia Nikitiuk, and Morad Mostafa's Aisha Can't Fly Away win the festival’s Grand Jury Awards. Other winners include Cutting Through Rocks by Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni (Activist Lens); This Is My Body by Jérôme Clément-Wilz (Justice Frame); Between Brothers by Tom Fassaert (Dutch Focus); and Rahhala: Hayya ala Hayya by Lujain Jo (Shorts).

The Greek Documentary Association has repeated its call to the international doc community to sign a petition over the restriction of cultural content on Greek Public Television, and in particular over the transformation of ERT2 into a channel for exclusively sports-oriented programming. “We invite you, as members of the global documentary community, to stand with the Greek Documentary Association in defending a fundamental principle: that culture, documentary storytelling, and the free expression of creative voices must remain at the heart of public broadcasting,” the organisation writes.

Visions du Réel returns for its 57th edition (17 – 26 April 2026) with a programme featuring 164 films from a record 75 countries. While the representation of women continues to increase (44 %) compared to 39% in 2025, the Festival will also feature 7% co-directed films, as well as 1% directed by non-binary people and 48% by men. Among the 128 new films presented, 83 are world premieres and 8 international premieres. 58 first films, including 36 first feature-length films, complete the picture, with no fewer than 26 Swiss (co)productions.