Twenty-four new projects will be pitched January 28 and 29 during the Industry Days of the upcoming edition of Fipadoc (Biarritz, January 23–31).
“Documentaries are an essential instrument and art form for keeping the blood of our democratic system flowing,” write organisers of the 2026 selection. “In our selection you will find journeys into the unknown world of a colonial war mascot, 20.000 unknown photos taken by Hitler’s private photographer, meteorologists faced with climate denial, indigenous resistance in the Arctic, a heist to reclaim time stolen during occupation, Ukrainians rebuilding their country amidst war and much, much more.”
“Without the questions, challenges and dilemmas that documentaries raise, we risk losing some of the essential element in our democratic systems: dialogues, debates and narratives that bridge the divide rather than creating confrontations and information bubbles,” organisers add. “The 2026 Fipadoc International Pitches is our contribution to democracy, so we better can avoid a future of democrazy. We hope to see you in Biarritz for the pitching of these strong, unique and important projects.”
The 2026 projects are:
- BAD MATH (CH, FR) by Yuval Orr. Produced by: Esther VAN MESSEL (First Hand Films) | Stéphanie LEBRUN (Babel Doc). Switzerland, France. One off: 90 min. Series: 3 x 52 min. Production stage: Development. Synopsis: The film traces the conflict in Palestine-Israel backward in time — from Gaza 2025 to the state’s founding and the 1948 Nakba — exposing the economic mechanisms driving this endless crisis by following the shekel across four historic turning points.
- BEFORE YOU, MY SHADOW (ES) by Natxo LEUZA. Produced by Nagore ECEIZA MUGICA (El Santo Films) | Natxo LEUZA (Ataria Films). Spain. One off: 70 min. Production stage: Development. Synopsis: A sun that rises, a sun that sets. A new day in Gadani, Pakistan. There, trapped like in Dante’s purgatory, those who dismantle, piece by piece, the ships that no longer serve us, the ships that can no longer sail, share bread. They wait, day after day, looking up at the sky, the children of the sun.
- CAPTAIN (ES, CO) by Laura Otàlora Pardo. Produced by Estephania BONNETT (Playlab Films) | Nicolás HERREÑO (Tomato Content). Spain, Colombia. One off: 52 min & 90 min. Production stage: Production. Synopsis: This is the story of a farewell journey between a father and a daughter who, in a race against time due to Alzheimer’s, decide to recreate their memories through a film, which ends up transforming their relationship with the disease in a surprising way.
- DOUBLE SELF PORTRAIT (LT, LV, DE) by Aistė Stonytė. Produced by Giedrė ŽICKYTĖ (Moonmakers) | Uldis CEKULIS (VFS Films) | Alex TONDOWSKI (Tondowski Films). Lithuania, Latvia, Germany. One off: 52 min & 90 min. Production stage: Production. Synopsis: Talented and charismatic, Lithuanian photographer Virgilijus Šonta was brutally murdered, the perpetrator never found, and the case closed. Thirty years later, we embark on a detective’s journey, delving into the enigmatic life and tragic double existence encoded in his photographs.
- FROZEN WAR – The Global Battle for the Arctic (DE) by Dirk van den Berg & Pascal Verroust. Produced by Dirk VAN DEN BERG (OutreMer Film GmbH). Germany. One off: 90 min. Series: 2 x 52 min. Production stage: Development. Synopsis: In a world threatened by climate change and geopolitical rivalry, FROZEN WAR reveals the conflicts arising from greed, militarization, and indigenous resistance in the Arctic—and repeatedly asks the questions: Who owns the Arctic? And what will become of the world when the ice melts?
- HITLER’S EYE (DK, FR, DE, UK) by Dror Moreh. Produced by Sigrid DYEKJÆR & Harry VAUGHN (Real Lava) | Philippe LEVASSEUR (Scope Films) | Natalie HUMPHREYS (Storyboard Studios) | Konstanze SPEIDEL (Flare Film). Denmark, France, Germany, United Kingdom. One off: 90 min. Production stage: Development. Synopsis: An archive of 20,000 images resides within the Berlin home of Hanns-Peter Frentz, hidden out of shame over his family’s role in their creation. Now revealed, they expose the inner workings of Hitler’s propaganda machine, uncovering the visual ideology that metastasized within his cloistered world.
- INNER LANDSCAPES (PL) by Zofia Sawicka. Produced by Maciej KUBICKI & Zofia KUJAWSKA (Telemark sp. z o.o.). Poland. One off: 75 min. Production stage: Production. Synopsis: As the train runs through the endless wilderness, the journey of its passengers leads more and more inward. In this documentary road movie, the diverse personal stories create a mosaic that sheds light on the human condition in today’s world.
- LANDFALL (UK) by Peter Middleton. Produced by Hugh DAVIES & Clive PATTERSON (Insight Film). United Kingdom. One off: 85 min. Production stage: Production. Synopsis: LANDFALL is a cinematic exploration of tensions along Britain’s coastal edgelands; a study of place and displacement, migration and the landscape, and the entangled relationships between humanity and the natural world.
- LIVE TILL DEATH (ES, FR) by Xuban Intxausti. Produced by Leire LARISGOITIA (Humanistic) | Tristan LEYRI (Maelstrom Studios) | Jontxu FERNANDEZ (Arbela Films). Spain, France. One off: 90 min. Production stage: Production. Synopsis: Live Til Death is a documentary that explores the experiences of Basque women facing cancer through a collective, feminist, and transformative lens.
- NOT SO FAR AWAY PLACES (FR) by Renato Borrayo Serrano & Yulia Vishnevetskaya. Produced by Milana CHRISTITCH (Ana films) | Albin BOURGEOIS (WePlus). France. One off: 52 min & 90 min. Production stage: Development. Synopsis: In-depth immersion into the Russian prison system, through the perspective of a human rights activist trying to resist from within. A cautionary tale about the rise of totalitarianism and the banality of evil.
- QUEENS BALLROOM (US, FR, BE) by Siyi Chen & Hansen Lin. Produced by: Siyi CHEN & Hansen LIN (Queens Disco Production) | Clara VUILLERMOZ (Solent Production) | Laurence BUELENS (Rayuela Productions). United States, France, Belgium. One off: 52 min & 90 min. Production stage: Development. Synopsis: Asian American immigrants escape the grind of their Sisyphean lives to find beauty and romance in a ballroom in Queens, New York. Each dance becomes a suspended moment in time — caught between the past they left behind and the future they hope to build in their adopted new home.
- RECLAIMING TIME (FR, PS) by Fuad Hindieh. Produced by Michel ZANA (Blue Train Films) | Jiries COPTI (Fresco Films). France, Palestine. One off: 90 min. Production stage: Writing phase. Synopsis: When a Palestinian filmmaker tries to legally change his birthdate, his absurd bureaucratic quest becomes a visually stunning heist to reclaim time stolen by occupation.
- RECOVERY (UA, FR) by Roman Bondarchuk & Vadym Ilkov. Produced by Darya BASSEL (Moon Man) | Pauline TRAN VAN LIEU (Hutong Productions). Ukraine, France. One off: 90 min. Production stage: Development. Synopsis: As air raids on civilian facilities intensify, Ukrainians actively rebuild their country, their efforts spanning from grassroots volunteer initiatives to international policymaking. The documentary shows the challenges and paradoxes of the reconstruction process in times of destruction.
- RENZO. THE MEASURE OF THINGS (IT) by Davide Fois & Mattia Colombo. Produced by Francesca MOLTENI (Muse Factory of Projects). Italy. One off: 52 min & 90 min. Production stage: Development. Synopsis: There’s always a tape measure in Renzo Piano’s pocket. The great architect uses it every day to measure the world with precision. But when his daughter Lia asks him to measure what cannot be measured—memories, regrets—the story becomes more than biography: a dialogue on legacy, love, and freedom.
- SEEDS FROM KIVU (ES, FR) by Néstor Lopez. Produced by: Pilar SANCHO (Filmmakers Monkeys) | Mercedes GAMERO (Beta Fiction Spain) | Aintza SERRA (Escac films) | Stéphane SORLAT (Mondex Et Cie). Spain, France. One off: 90 min. Production stage: Development. Synopsis: In Kivu (DR Congo), several women try to rebuild their lives after giving birth to unwanted children, the result of war rapes in the struggle for local resources. Twelve years of crimes remain unpunished. Their resistance is the key to achieving the fourth International Tribunal in history.
- STRINGS OF POWER (IL, DE) by Tal Barda. Produced by Ayelet EPHRATI (Ephrati Production) | Reinhardt BEETZ (The Beetz Brothers). Israel, Germany. One off: 90 min. Series: 3 x 52 min. Production stage: Production. Synopsis: Strings of Power explores the shadowy world of international espionage, diplomacy, and betrayal that shaped the modern Middle East. Through the secretive story of three key figures—an American, an Israeli, and an Iranian—this documentary examines a failed covert operation in the 1980s that sought to manipulate Iran’s future and alter the region’s power dynamics.
- SUPERHUMANS (AT) by Inna Shevchenko. Produced by Arash T. RIAHI (Golden Girls Filmproduktion & Filmservices GmbH). Austria. One off: 85 min. Production stage: Development. Synopsis: In a country fighting for its survival, a radical clinic becomes a living monument to the unbroken body. Superhumans is a visceral, poetic journey where war survivors rebuild themselves from titanium and dignity — and where healing becomes the most defiant act of resistance.
- TAKEN BY THE WHITE MAN (PT) by Ana Sofia Fonseca. Produced by Ana Sofia FONSECA, Daniella RICE (Carrossel Produçõe). Portugal. One off: 52 min & 90 min. Production stage: Development. Synopsis: On the verge of blindness, and dreaming to find his long-lost brother and stolen identity, a man decides to travel back from Portugal to Mozambique, after being captured and turned into a war mascot, by the Portuguese colonial army in 1967.
- THE BAMBOO FAMILY (FR, NL) by Sein Lyan Tuan. Produced by Jia ZHAO (Muyi Films). France, Netherlands. One off: 77 min. Production stage: Development. Synopsis: Exiled in Paris after the 2021 coup, Sein picks up his camera again. Blending memories, distant exchanges, and unveiled secrets, his film becomes an intimate diary of exile, difficult choices, and the enduring hope to live the life he has chosen.
- THE FORECASTERS (BE, ES) by Pieter Van Eecke. Produced by Hanne PHLYPO (Clin D’Oeil Films) | Marieke VAN DEN BERSSELAAR (Polar Star Films). Belgium, Spain. One off: 52 min & 100 min. Production stage: Development. Synopsis: On air and under pressure, meteorologists worldwide become reluctant harbingers of doom as extreme weather intensifies. Faced with censorship, denial, and emotional tolls, they must confront a haunting question under darkening skies: How to tell the truth when truth becomes unwelcome?
- THE ISLAND IN SILENCE (MX) by Mario Trujillo. Produced by Carlos GARCÍA (Mezquite Films). Mexico. One off: 90 min. Production stage: Development. Synopsis: In 2015, Cuba’s parks lit up with screens: for the first time, most people went online. Abraham, Karla, and José joined other young journalists to create independent media. Their voices connected with society, but once they crossed borders, surveillance and intimidation pushed them into exile.
- THE SERVANT’S ROOM (ES, BE) by Pau Faus. Produced by Sergi CAMERON (Nanouk Films) | Arnauld DE BATTICE (AT-Prod). Spain, Belgium. One off: 90 min. Production stage: Development. Synopsis: A day in the lives of seven live-in migrant caregivers across Europe reveals their unseen world of elderly care. From quiet wisdom to profound loneliness, their intertwined stories paint a collective portrait of a reality shared in countless European homes.
- TOKYO MELTDOWN (FR) María Urquijo. Produced by: Antoine GOLDET (Amok Films). France. One off: 80 min. Production stage: Development. Synopsis: Yung Beef is an icon of Spanish trap music–but behind the public persona is Fernando, a man wrestling with drug addiction. His friend María, who lost her father to the same struggle, crafts a poetic and punk documentary about friendship and the fragile balance between the artist and the self.
- VALLEY OF THE HEART (CZ, SK) by Theodora Remundová. Produced by Jiri KONECNY (Endorfilm) | Robert KIRCHHOFF (atelier.doc) | Věra KRINCVAJOVÁ (Česká televize). Czech Republic, Slovakia. One off: 90 min. Production stage: Production. Synopsis: Born into a family of priests in the highest Brahmin caste, Purna grows up in a secluded Hindu community deep within a hidden Himalayan valley in Nepal. When his father dies, he is finally allowed to leave—and embarks on a long-awaited journey to Europe.
