News

DOK Leipzig has unveiled its competition line-up for the 69th edition (26 Oct to Nov 1). A total of 76 films, including 30 world premieres, are competing for Golden and Silver Doves across the four competitions, three of which are documentary-oriented, the fourth animation. “Many of this year’s competing films focus on Central and Eastern Europe. Giving more space to films and filmmakers in these countries is not only a key concern of DOK Leipzig, but also something I care deeply about personally,” says Ola Staszel, incoming festival director.

IDFA 2026 has unveiled a slate of 47 “outstanding” projects, culled from 859 submissions, for the 34th edition of IDFA Forum (November 15–18). Following an assessment involving 42 external experts, the final line-up brings together projects in development, production and near-completion, showcased across the Forum Pitches, Roundtable Presentations, Rough Cut Presentations and IDFA DocLab Forum.

Sales and distribution outfit Lightdox has acquired the international sales rights to Nostalgia for the Future, the new documentary by Belgian filmmaker and visual artist Brecht Debackere, narrated by acclaimed actress Charlotte Rampling. The film takes audiences deep into the mysterious world and extraordinary archive of legendary filmmaker Chris Marker, offering an intimate and visually inventive portrait of one of cinema’s most elusive figures. The film plays this week at Film Fest Ghent.

The Grierson Trust announced Oct 8 that Anna Godas, CEO and co-founder of Dogwoof, will be the recipient of the prestigious Grierson Trustees Award for 2026, sponsored by the BBC, and given in recognition of her role in distributing and producing multiple award-winning feature documentaries for more than 20 years. The award will be presented at this year’s British Documentary Awards ceremony, taking place November 10 November at London’s Roundhouse.

This year’s DOK Industry programme will be jam-packed with animation, not just to complement the festival’s programming line, but also “to establish DOK Industry as a meeting point for the international animated film community,” the festival writes. “Across all parts of the festival, DOK Leipzig is always exploring the boundaries of animation: from animated documentaries via experimental films all the way to the DOK Neuland extended reality exhibition,” organisers add.

CPH:DOX’s international financing and co-production event CPH:FORUM has put out the call for its 2027 edition. The deadline for submissions is November 3, 2026. The Forum will this year place emphasis on doc projects aimed directly at young audiences, and will continues its focus on creative documentary projects that tackle science “in ways that redefine the cinematic language and push the boundaries of what a science documentary can be,” write organisers.

The second edition of NLWave, the Utrecht-based two-day showcase of new Dutch film content, came to a close October 2 following the presentation of 35 early stage projects and works in progress. Fifteen of these were documentaries, some of which seem destined for selection at festivals before the end of 2026, into early 2027. The event attracted 60 industry toppers from the sales, distribution and festival sectors.

Syrian documentary The Other Side of the Sun, directed by Tawfik Sabouni, has been selected as Syria's submission for the 99th Academy Awards. The decision marks the country's first entry since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, positioning the film at a moment of profound political and cultural transition. Andana Films, which handles worldwide sales to the film, also announced that New York based Icarus Films has acquired US rights to the film.

World Congress of Science and Factual Producers (WCSFP) has announced the nominees for nine of its 16 Buzzies Awards categories. This year sees the introduction of the Best Digital-First category, marking a significant expansion of the Buzzies Awards to recognise digital-first storytelling. Both Best Digital-First and Best Short Form attracted exceptionally strong levels of submissions, “underlining the scale, ambition and importance of creator-led factual content,” organisers write.

“It's a film made together with people, by people, at opposite ends of the global value chain,” Dutch producer Lea Fels told the professional audience at NLWave of the new project The Dawn of the Post Plantation, co-directed by Congolese artist and activist Ce'dart Tamasala together with maverick Dutch filmmaker Renzo Martens. “The ones who work the plantation for almost nothing and the ones who make critical art in museums that were historically funded by the wealth taken from those same plantations. And that's where the real friction lies.”