News

The Norwegian Film Institute has awarded NOK 6.5 million (approx. €551,500) in production funding to three documentary films. The largest grants go to new projects from two of Norway's most prominent documentary filmmakers; Benjamin Ree, whose Ibelin was short-listed for the 2025 Oscars, and Margreth Olin, whose Songs of Earth was Norway’s submission for Best International Feature (also 2025).

Taking place Thursday 19 & Friday 20 June 2025, MeetMarket is part of a marketplace programme of talent development, pitches, roundtables and conferences designed to connect new projects with industry partners that runs across the festival. The selection includes 49 doc projects in development, production, and at rough cut stage, to be pitched in one-to-one meetings to UK and International industry representatives and experts.

The second Dokumentale will kick off in style June 11 with Glanz & Widerstand (Glamour & Resistance) - an immersive foray into the life of Marlene Dietrich, presented in association with the Berlin Ballet Company. Dedicated to documentary storytelling across different media, Dokumentale 2025 will present 40 documentary films, ten of which will be competing for the Grand Prize, from 12-22 June.

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) announced April 29 the appointment of Isabel Arrate Fernandez as its new Artistic Director. In her new role, Arrate Fernandez will “bear the final responsibility for the creative direction and policy of the organization, as well as the organization of the festival program, including the industry, talent and education programs, and the program of the newly opened Het Documentaire Paviljoen in Vondelpark,” the festival writes.

The Doc Alliance network of European documentary festivals has selected 8 feature-length and 8 short docs, with prize monies of €5,000 and €3,000 to support the future projects of the winners. The Doc Alliance Award will be presented during the Doc Day Lunch held at the Marché du Film on March 20. This year’s jury members are film critic Fernando Ganzo; Gerald Weber (sixpackfilm), and producer Caroline Kirberg (CEO of pong film).

The new appointments, which include Dogwoof’s Oli Harbottle, Netflix’s Jessica Ross and editor Zeb Achonu, “will support the Trust’s growing role as a provider of successful industry-leading training programmes and other initiatives to identify and nurture diverse new talent in documentary and factual television making, as well as chairing judging committees for Grierson Awards, which this year includes two new categories,” the organisation writes.

The Whickers, in partnership with Sheffield DocFest, has announced the shortlist for the 2025 Podcast Pitch Award. Now in its third year, the Podcast Pitch has received its highest number of submissions to date from 36 different countries around the globe. “We’re incredibly excited to give these talented creators a platform and support the next generation of audio documentary makers,” comments Jane Ray, The Whickers Artistic Director.

The 32th edition of Nordisk Panorama, the main funding event for the Nordic documentary community and which takes place Sunday-Tuesday 21-23 September, invites independent documentary projects at all stages from Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Åland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The submission deadline is 19 May 2025.

For its 40th anniversary edition, DOK.fest Munich (May 7 to 18) will present three competition and 16 thematic film sections. The festival will open with Friendly Fire by Klaus Fried (Germany). Other world premieres in DOK.international Competition include In Hell with Ivo by Kristina Nikolova (Bulgaria) and Ice Grave by Robin Hunzinger (Finland, France, Sweden). “Our aim is to maximise participation…DOK.fest München stays dual!” the festival adds of its online programme that runs 12-25 May.

Running May 8 to 12, MDAG Industry 2025 “offers a true backstage pass to the documentary world, crafted in response to the current needs of the audiovisual market, following trends, anticipating changes, and embracing innovation,” organisers write. Highlights include pitches of new and completed Polish projects, a keynote by Mette Hoffmann Meyer, an “anti-masterclass” delivered by Mark Cousins and round-table consultation opportunities with a raft of leading doc professionals.