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Nine new international immersive documentary projects have been selected for CPH:DOX’s talent development and training programme, CPH:LAB. CPH:LAB introduces a curated line-up showcasing a diversity of topics, genres and artistic approaches as well as a diverse representation among the storytellers. The Copenhagen docfest will continue its collaborations with Sunnyside of the Doc and DOK Leipzig, it also announced.

The Danish Oscar Committee has selected David Borenstein’s documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin as Denmark’s official submission in the International Feature Film Award category. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2025, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award, and its Danish premiere at CPH:DOX in March 2025.

Films on Madonna, David Lynch, Boy George, Jeff Buckley are selected for the Heart Beat section, whose selections span “multiple art forms and expressions, celebrating the creative act,” write organisers. From the Earth to the Moon section features three heavyweights of world cinema — Werner Herzog with Ghost Elephants, Lucrecia Martel with Landmarks, and Laura Poitras, co-director of Cover-Up. The 22nd edition of Doclisboa runs 16 - 26 October.

Parasisi is a feature-length documentary, directed by VAF Wildcard winner Zaïde Bil and co-directed by Sébastien Segers, about the Wayana indigenous community on the border of Suriname and French Guiana. The film joins 24 other doc projects (7 new pitches, 11 docs-in-progress and 6 completed doc features) at the Ghent event running 7-8 October.

The program will feature new films from Czechia and beyond, film retrospectives, and the “best of world experimental cinema,” the festival writes. Taiwan-based Tsai Ming-liang will shoot and present the world premiere of the new Walker series film at Ji.hlava. The discussion platform Inspiration Forum will focus on the topics of love, money, radicalization, and the future of Europe. The 29th Ji.hlava IDFF will run October 24 to November 2.

Visions du Réel announced September 16 the appointment of Sabine Fayoux Cantillo as its new Head of Industry. Over the past 12 years working in the New York doc sector, she has held various key roles including Associate Director of Program at Chicken & Egg Films. “VdR has been programming some of the boldest, most creative, exciting and artistic documentaries in the field, and I look forward to playing a role in further shaping such a profound legacy,” comments Cantillo.

Canadian docmaker Barry Avrich’s film had been briefly withdrawn from the TIFF programme for “important safety, legal and programming concerns.” In the documentary, which world-premiered in Toronto, Avrich recounts how, following the October 7 Hamas attack, a retired general journeys from Tel Aviv to the Nahal Oz kibbutz to try and rescue his son and family.

The 29th edition of DocsBarcelona will be held May 7 to 17 2026, comprising six competitive sections and offering €20,000 in prizes. “As usual, DocsBarcelona will bring audiences the best of the world's documentary production through a committed and stimulating program focused on contemporary challenges, debates, and conflicts,” write organisers. The deadlines for film submissions are October 31 (early bird) and November 15 (final).

“The selection unfolds as a true journey of world premieres, presenting stories that will come to light at MIA for the very first time,” write organisers of the Forum’s 15 documentary selections. “These are bold stories, capable of engaging with current affairs, memory, and imagination, while crossing genres and continents.” The 11th Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo (Rome) runs October 6-10.

The first edition of NLWave25 will run September 24 to 26 in Utrecht, and will offer a select number of international execs and festival programmers an exclusive first look at the latest cinematic output from the Netherlands. In total, the event will spotlight 44 new and upcoming Dutch feature-length films, documentaries and animation, including early stage projects, works-in-progress and recently completed works. Docmakers in the frame include IDFA winners Luuk Bouwman and Tom Fassaert; Palm Springs/Aspen winner Miriam Guttmann and Louis Hothothot, whose Four Journeys opened IDFA 2021.