Sunny Side of the Doc, the International Marketplace for Documentary and its community, today announces its Call for Projects 2024.
Sunny Side of the Doc celebrates its 35th anniversary from 24 to 27 June in La Rochelle (France). “In celebration of this milestone, Sunny Side of the doc is inviting the international community to think about the future of our ecosystem, about the future of the documentary genre itself, to attempt to map it together,” write organisers. The deadline for submissions noon CET on March 14 2024.
“In a world that is increasingly disoriented, the documentary genre holds more significance than ever as a matter of public interest. We are committed to supporting and proactively anticipating its evolution,” comments Mathieu Béjot, Director of Strategy and Development at Sunny Side of the Doc. “The sector has undergone profound transformations over the past few years, impacting professions, financing, distribution, and the consumption patterns of documentaries.”
“The resulting questions will be the thread running through the 4-day event in June and will undoubtedly feed the projects selected in the seven pitch categories, including the usual five specialist factual sessions,” add organisers.
Sunny Side of the Doc: Call for Projects 2024
The pitch sessions will be in the presence of 300+ top-level international decision makers representing leading broadcasters, streamers, foundations, sales agents and other funders looking for impactful stories. The best project in each category is picked by a jury of industry experts and awarded with a cash prize endowed by respective sponsors.
Sunny Side of the Doc 2024 features seven Pitch Sessions:
- Five Specialist Factual [Cash prizes: €3,000]: Global Issues, Nature & Conservation, Science, History, Arts & Culture
- New Voices [Cash prize: €2,000]: category for filmmakers/content creators who are making their first or second documentary project of 50+ minutes (or series) with international potential. Emerging filmmakers, stories inspired by under-exposed issues, tomorrow’s nuggets – all are welcome!
- Impact campaigns [Cash prize: €2,000]: documentary is a powerful tool for change. Is the topic of your film highly social, political, environmental or does it offer a new vision that you want to share in order to raise awareness and trigger social change? This new pitching session is looking for such kind of activism. This session is specifically set up to develop and finance impact campaigns and not the production of the films. This pitch session will present six impact campaign projects to an audience of impact specialists and funders.
Global Pitch 2024 (6-7 February 2024)
The 4th edition of the Global Pitch organised by Sunny Side of the Doc will be held online on 6 and 7 February. Each year, the Global Pitch for Global Change event aims to bring together the international documentary film community to discuss issues of global concern. In 2024, 12 documentary projects responding to the theme “Docs for the future: mapping a sustainable world” will be selected and given the opportunity to pitch in front of more than 100 international decision-makers. Get the accreditation now at Global Pitch and discover the exclusive live presentations of these powerful and original, committed and engaging, inspiring and touching stories, offering analysis, investigations and solutions in line with the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals.
Click here for more information about Global Pitch. The official selection will be announced on January 9 alongside the two-day programme of Global Pitch 2024.
