News

Lightdox has swept up world sales rights to Patrick Wally’s ‘My Home of Wind and Sand’, a decade-long portrait of Sahrawi activist Najla Mohamed Lamin, ahead of its world premiere at the 22nd Zurich Film Festival on September 29, where it screens in Documentary Competition. Swedish activist Greta Thunberg will attend the premiere and join Lamin, the film’s protagonist, for a post-screening discussion.

Leading film and executive producer Michael Ryan and BAFTA-nominated producer Farah Abushwesha join Irish Film & TV UK as the organisation celebrates 15 years of championing Irish screen talent in the UK. “IFTUK is dedicated to developing and encouraging new talent, as well as promoting established Irish talent, and having such eminent experts as patrons from all areas of the global film & tv business will help us to achieve this,” comments IFTUK Chair, Carey Fitzgerald.

The €3000 prize went to director Anna Antsalo and producer Venla Hellstedt for their feature project about a man (Olli) who, in the borderlands of Finland, attempts to preserve the natural dark nights, as light pollution an severely affect our physical and mental wellbeing. “The filmmaker's connection to her character and his passion shows us a world that is very unique and at the same time universal,” the jury commented.

Odd Slice Films has sold French rights to Tom Adjibi’s debut feature This is Not a French Film to DFF (Decolonial Film Festival), following the film’s Grand Prix in the National Competition at the Brussels International Film Festival (BRIFF). For DFF, the acquisition marks the organisation’s first wide theatrical release. “This is Not a French Film embodies what we strive for with the DFF: making political discussions accessible through creative cinema,” says Sam Leter, founder of DFF.

DOK Leipzig has announced the full DOK Industry programme for the 69th edition of the festival edition running 26 October – 1 November. This year, the DOK Industry Programme offers “a vibrant mix of formats and activities that engage with key industry topics, foster creative exchange, and provide filmmakers with a space to showcase their work and build lasting connections within the international community,” the festival writes.

The Brazilian It’s All True documentary festival has put out the call for submissions for its next edition running April 8-18 2027. Submissions close on November 30 2026. Winners of the Brazilian and International Feature/Medium-length and Short Film categories automatically qualify for Academy Award nomination consideration in the Best Feature and Best Short Doc categories.

The anniversary edition will present outstanding new films from the Czech Republic and around the world, an extensive section entitled Films That Changed the World, and a retrospective of renowned Vietnamese-American filmmaker and film theorist Trinh T. Minh-ha. The Inspiration Forum will welcome British archaeologist David Wengrow as well as Iranian-Australian architect and Forensic Architecture member Samaneh Moafi. The 30th Ji.hlava IDFF will take place from October 23 to November 1, 2026.

The Institute of Documentary Film (IDF) has announced the nine projects selected for the first edition of its new training initiative, Docs Beyond: Audience, Impact & AI, running 6 October to 11 December 2026. Throughout Autumn 2026, the selected teams will work with experienced international professionals to develop either an impact campaign or an audience design & outreach strategy for their films.

The Documentary Association of Europe (DAE) announced September 23 the appointment of Charlie Philips as its new Programme Director (Advocacy and Curation). He replaces Brigid O’Shea, who has led DAE since its launch in 2020 and who will remain on the Executive Board. Philips is an independent doc producer and a former Head of Documentaries at the Guardian, where his commissions won Oscar and BAFTA short documentary awards, and was Deputy Director at Sheffield DocFest.

The prize for Best Nordic Doc was handed to The Smuggler by Sylvelin Måkestad, while the City of Malmö Audience Award went to Little Sinner by Daro Hansen & Thomas Papapetros. This year’s Nordic Documentary Producer Award was won by Juha Löppönen of Mouka Filmi, Finland, while the inaugural ARTE European Talent Development Award went to the feature project Lost at Sea, directed by Ejner Benedict Seidelin, and produced by Claes Hedlund at Paloma Productions (Denmark). All awards…