News

The European Film Academy announced October 14 the shortlists for the European Film Awards 2026, taking place on 17 January 2026 in Berlin. The 38th European Film Awards honour the “greatest achievements in European cinema,” and are presented jointly by the European Film Academy and European Film Academy Productions. Fifteen films are included in the Documentary shortlist.

Millennium Docs Against Gravity is inviting submissions for its 23rd edition, running in cinemas May 8-17 and online May 19 to June 1 2026. The Polish festival takes place simultaneously in seven different cities – Warsaw, Gdynia, Wrocław, Bydgoszcz, Katowice, Poznań, and Łódź. “In May 2025, we invited audiences on a cinematic journey around the world and into themselves,” write organisers. “Over 181,000 people took part in both parts of the festival.” The submissions deadline for the 2026 edition is January 9.

Prague-based sales agent Filmotor has acquired worldwide rights (excluding Switzerland) to Elephants & Squirrels, the debut feature documentary of Swiss filmmaker Gregor Brändli. The film will world premiere in International Competition at DOK Leipzig on October 27, before screening in the Best of Fests section at IDFA 2025.

National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is entering the free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) space for the first time with the launch of TopDocs, which will feature 150 hours of programming drawn from the NFB’s extensive library of 6,000 titles, with approximately 20 hours of fresh content to be added each month. “TopDocs is a bold step forward in how we connect global audiences with powerful documentary storytelling,” said Nathalie Bourdon, NFB Director of Distribution. The new channel launches at MIPCOM (13-16 October).

Doc winners are Edition 96 by Ahmad Naboulsi (Lebanon) which won the MIA Development Award for Outstanding Doc Project and POV-Point of View by Luca Murphy (Italy) which picked up the Paramount New Stories Award. The GEDI Visual Award for one of the titles selected for the Italians Doc It Better showcase went to Pestiferus Lupus by Ludovico Serra and Luca Jankovic, while a Special Mention was given to Fish Don't Close Their Eyes Audrey Gordon.

The theatrical distribution of documentaries in Europe has entered a phase of both unprecedented opportunity and increased complexity. At the MIA panel Getting Docs to Theatres: Strategies and Opportunities held on October 9, industry professionals shared insights on marketing, audience engagement, and innovative distribution models that are reshaping the sector. Business Doc Europe reports.

Presented at the Italians Doc It Better showcase, the new documentary by Elisa Motta and Matteo Ferrarini offers a sensorial and poetic journey through sound, while exploring the power of listening as a path to reconnection. “OTO is a film that inverts the traditional hierarchy between sound and image, disrupting the usual grammar of documentary,” the creative team tells Business Doc Europe.

Following its Venice World Premiere (Official Selection Out-of-Competition), and ahead of its UK premiere at BFI London Film Festival, Global Constellation announced it has sold exclusive UK/EIRE distribution rights of Broken English to VUE LUMIÈRE, as well as a raft of other international sales. Directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, and featuring Tilda Swinton, the film offers up a dynamic and experimental career-spanning portrait of the late, great Marianne Faithfull.

Thirteen new US and Asian projects will be presented October 29–31 during the 29th Ji.hlava IDFF. Seven projects are from the United States, while six are from East and South-east Asia. These join the previously announced projects from Europe and Croatia, this year's Ji.hlava Industry guest country. This year’s Ji.hlava IDFF will run October 24 to November 2.

The Lithuanian 4x52’ documentary series Hijacked Life revisits one of the most extraordinary and disturbing true stories of the Cold War era: the first hijacking of a Soviet plane. The project, directed by Andrius Lekavičius, was pitched at this year’s MIA Market. “Blending investigation, cinematic storytelling, and striking visuals, Hijacked Life explores how the dream of freedom can slowly transform into a prison of its own,” Lithuanian producer Jurgita Rakauskaitė explained to the Rome audience.