News

Producer Lucy Darwin [producer of Lost In La Mancha, Match Point) and Natasha Bhatia will co-present the inaugural Dora Maar Film Festival, which will run August 29-31 in the village of Ménerbes, in the heart of Provence. Honouring the spirit of its namesake, the surrealist artist Dora Maar who lived in Ménerbes, the first edition will feature six documentaries about photography and photographers.

CPH:DOX, EAVE and IMS are calling on filmmakers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine with doc projects in development to apply for CHANGE, the 3-part tailor-made co-production training programme. The programme will consist of three residential workshops and a presentation of the projects during CPH:FORUM 2026. The deadline for applications is 11 August.

The International Factual Forum is a premier event dedicated to “celebrating and advancing talent and original international factual formats,” while Italians Doc It Better is dedicated to Italian documentaries in post-production, rough cut or completed, but not yet presented or screened at markets, festivals, showcases, cinemas, TV or platforms. Deadline for submission: August 10. The ninth edition of MIA will take place in Rome October 6 to 10.

The Best Irish Feature Doc award went to Sanatorium by Gar O'Rourke, while the Best International Documentary gong was awarded to Gerry Adams – A Ballymurphy Man by Trisha Ziff. Over six days (July 8-13), the Fleadh screened 97 feature films, including 44 Irish features, and more than 100 shorts from Ireland and the rest of the world. All doc winners…

The Czech-Slovak film, directed by acclaimed Slovak documentary filmmaker Miro Remo, claimed the top prize this weekend at the conclusion of the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Tragically, František Klišík, one of the film’s key protagonists, died in what seemed to have been a drowning accident just hours after the award of the Crystal Globe.

The German docfest is looking for ambitious and creative documentary and animated documentary projects, as well as doc series in development or early production, to be submitted by 15 July. “The two-day gathering (27 - 28 Oct) facilitates the financing of new creative documentary projects and offers exclusive access to the multifaceted German and international non-fiction markets,” write organisers.

Following its July 4 theatrical release in the UK and Ireland, Swipe Films’ A Sip of Irish, directed by Frank Mannion (also producer and company MD), will be released across digital platforms Amazon Prime, iTunes and Microsoft on July 14. This is ahead of Swipe Films’ release of the film both in US cinemas and on VOD on October 24. “There are over 82 million people around the globe with Irish heritage, so they are our target audience,” says Mannion. “With the help of our international distributors, we should be able to turn our screens green every St Patrick's Day!”

The deadline for submissions to Forum’s Producers Connection, Forum Pitch, DocLab Forum and Rough Cuts is imminent: July 25 2025. Additionally, the IDFA Bertha Fund announced its selection for the IBF Europe – Minority Co-pro scheme, awarding €240,000 to six doc projects. “It was inspiring to see so many more meaningful, equitable, and director-centred collaborations being created worldwide, and it definitely made our selection work both difficult and rewarding,” says IBF Exec Director Selin Murat of the submissions she received.

The 2025 Sunny Side of the Doc pitch award winners were announced June 26 during the event’s closing ceremony. Over four days, the market gathered 2100 participants from 60 countries, over 1000 companies, 85 exhibitors, and 260 international decision-makers including major broadcasters, streamers, foundations, distributors, financiers, and museums from around the world. All winners…

Award-winning US docmaker Dawn Porter delivered a stirring keynote on the final day of Sunny Side 2025 during which she demonstrated how, through use of archive, history can (perhaps must) be told in many ways, and from myriad perspectives, but always with precision. “I can assure you that the reports [in the US] of the attack on truth and journalism…are not exaggerated,” she said. “We are not only tasked with telling history stories, but with making sure that the history that is told is not erased or distorted.”