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Cinéma du réel competition comprises up to twenty international documentary films of any length looking to kickstart their French career at Cinéma du réel, and up to twenty French docs which will world-premiere at the festival. “Such a carefully curated selection of international and French documentary films within the production of an entire year commits us, and we thank all the professionals who entrust us with their films and trust us to defend them,” says Catherine Bizern, Artistic Director.

Following its world premiere at the 2025 Docaviv Film Festival, where it picked up the Special Jury Award, Shooting will begin its international festival journey at the Telluride Film Festival. Through three gripping true stories the film exposes how cinema is weaponized in Israeli society, reads the synopsis. “Fearless, unflinching, and impossible to ignore, Shooting demands to be reckoned with,” say Cinephil’s Shoshi Korman and Suzanne Nodale.

57 short and documentary films from the Nordic region are selected to compete at this year’s Nordisk Panorama Film Festival (18 - 23 September). Additionally, industry programme activities range from Forum and Market to “thought-provoking” Conference sessions and the first Immersive Media Day, “where we are opening new spaces for exchange, innovation, and inspiration,” write organisers. “For us, Nordisk Panorama is more than a festival – it’s a community.”

“The project selections this year were really tough, simply because there were so many strong candidates with compelling perspectives and bold stories. In fact, our Fiction in Development and Documentary open calls both received almost twice as many projects compared to last year, which goes to show the desirability and necessity for an industry event such as ours,” comments Head of Industry Lydia Taylerson. The FFA Showcase Day will take place September 25 in Helsinki.

The third edition of the Scottish environmental film festival (12–14 September) will open with the Scottish premiere of Lost For Words, a poetic journey across Britain’s landscapes and seasons, and close with the Scottish premiere of Yanuni, produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, which follows Brazilian Indigenous chief Juma Xipaia as she fights to protect the Amazon and the future of her unborn child.

The Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary (€4,000, Oscar® qualifying) went to Austrian Ivette Löcker for Our Time Will Come, while the Special Jury Award (€2,500) was won by Kristina Nikolova for In Hell With Ivo. In the CineLink professional programme, Laurentiu Garofeanu’s LOST AND FOUND: Romania’s Hidden Adoption Market won the Think-Film Impact Production Award (€20,000 in-kind).

The full programme of Flanders Film Days, the relaunch of the annual international showcase for films from Flanders, was unveiled August 23. A total of 24 Fund-supported doc projects - at pitch, work-in-progress or completed stage - will be presented over the course of two days by their creators, comprising established filmmakers as well as talented newcomers. Flanders Film Days will take place 7-8 October, on the eve of (and in close collaboration with) Film Fest Gent.

For International Pitch, organisers are looking for doc projects in production or post-production around which an impact campaign is being developed. For Swiss Focus Pitch the festival seeks projects whose campaign will be implemented - either in part or entirely - in Switzerland. FIFDH (March 6-15 2026) also invites completed films with a current or ready-to-launch impact campaign for further assessment and refinement, and for introduction to partners outsider the doc sector. Submission deadline: September 19.

“One of the most important voices in Polish documentary cinema, he evolved from critical analysis of the communist system to intimate reflections on the human condition, always with an unquestionable talent for discovering truth hidden beneath the surface of reality,” the festival writes of Marcel Łoziński, who passed away on August 20 2025.

The 82nd Venice FF will host the first Golden Globes Impact Prize for Documentary. The winning doc will be selected based on its social importance, journalistic integrity, artistic creativity, and narrative disruption. Nominations include Kabul Between Prayers (Aboozar Amini), Nuestra Tierra (Lucrecia Martel), and Cover-Up by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus. The 82nd Venice FF runs August 27 to September 9.