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Selection includes Nicolas Philibert’s Golden Bear winner ‘On The Adamant’.

The 14 feature documentaries in the running for the 2023 European Film Awards (EFAs) have been announced.

Scroll down for full list of titles

They include Nicolas Philibert’s On The Adamant, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in February. The film follows the daily lives of patients and caregivers at a central Paris psychiatric centre, which has a unique structure floating in the Seine river. French filmmaker Philibert previously won the best European documentary prize at the EFAs in 2002 with To Be And To Have (Être Et Avoir...

Alexander Abaturov’s stunning film captures the resilience of villagers in remote Shologon, but feels contextless

Due to a combination of climate change and state neglect, giant wildfires raged through millions of hectares of land in northeastern Siberia in the summer of 2021. Classified as “control zones” by the Russian government, the region gets little aid from officials; the cost of combating fires is considered to be excessive compared to the damage done. Focusing on the rural village of Shologon, Alexander Abaturov’s evocative documentary chronicles the heroic efforts of the indigenous community to protect their homes.

Largely populated by elderly people, women and children, Shologon has little equipment to slow the deadly spread of “the Dragon”, the locals’ nickname for the powerful forest fires. What they possess in spades, however, is astonishing resilience and camaraderie in the face of unprecedented calamity. Images of the villagers swathed in clouds of black...

Swiss documentary film festival Visions du Réel has revealed the first titles of its 54th edition, which runs April 21 to 30. The event will open with the world premiere of “Nightwatchers” by Juliette de Marcillac, which was filmed at night in an idyllic Alpine resort a stone’s throw from the French-Italian border. As night falls family ski days give way to a game of chase between the police and the volunteers who help migrants.

Mostly doctors, they roam the mountain slopes at night, watching for the arrival of migrants who have just completed long, life-risking journeys. Police surveillance is permanent and denunciation is commonplace, pushing the exiles ever higher up the mountain.

“Nightwatchers”

“It is a cinematic experience in a breathtaking twilight setting, bringing to light a vital and powerful closely-knit network,” the festival said.

Twelve feature films will compete for the Audience Award in the Grand Angle section, including three world premieres.

The Swiss documentary festival is set to run April 21-30

The Visions du Reel film festival has unveiled the first titles for its 2023 edition, set to run April 21-30.

The documentary festival, based in Nyon, Switzerland, will open with the world premiere of French director Juliette de Marcillac’s feature debut Nightwatchers. Filmed at high-end ski resort Montgenèvre on the French-Italian border, it tells the story of volunteers trying to help migrants, and the authorities trying to catch them.

The film is part of the Grand Angle competition, with 12 titles competing for the audience award worth Chf 10,000.

The section includes...

The Party Film Sales has debuted the trailer (below) for Alexander Abaturov’s “Paradise,” premiering in IDFA’s International Competition. The film is produced by Rebecca Houzel for French outlet Petit à Petit Production in co-production with Abaturov for Sibériade, Luc Peter for Intermezzo Films and Arte France Cinéma.

“Paradise” is set in the summer of 2021, when an exceptional heat-wave and drought led to giant fires ravaging millions of hectares of land in northeastern Siberia. In this region, at the heart of the taiga, lies the village of Shologon, soon to be coated by a thick cloud of smoke. Spread by the wind, the black ashes carry alarming news: the forest is on fire and the flames are fast approaching. The government having left them to fend for themselves, the inhabitants must rally to fight what they call “the Dragon.”

This visually powerful film is interwoven with a Sakha fairy...

The doc fest s hosting a debate to ask: ’What gender is a festival?

The 35th edition of International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is opening today (November 9) with the world premiere of Niki Padidar’s All You See.

Laura Poitras is the 2022 guest of honour and the subject of the 2022 retrospective in which all seven of her films will be shown. She has also curated 10 films and will be in conversation with selected filmmakers in the festival’s public programme. Poitras will also give a masterclass and discuss her Golden Lion-winning awards contender All The Beauty And The Bloodshed,...

The doc fest s hosting a debate to ask: ’What gender is a festival?

The 35th edition of International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is opening today (November 9) with the world premiere of Niki Padidar’s All You See.

Laura Poitras is the 2022 guest of honour and the subject of the 2022 retrospective in which all seven of her films will be shown. She has also curated 10 films and will be in conversation with selected filmmakers in the festival’s public programme. Poitras will also give a masterclass and discuss her Golden Lion-winning awards contender All The Beauty And The Bloodshed,...

The 35th edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, will open with the world premiere of Iranian-Dutch filmmaker Niki Padidar’s “All You See.”

The festival has also revealed the titles in its competition lineups. In all, 277 titles will be screened at the in-person festival.

Artistic director Orwa Nyrabia said: “Here’s an eclectic lineup that is united only by originality. Through the subjectivities of these filmmakers, an image of a world in pain emerges – a humanity that is trying hard, that is vulnerable and sincere, that is complex and persistent. The diversity of artistic forms is astonishing, and there are no boundaries when it comes to tackling the biggest powers or inventing new grammar.”

“The Envision Competition introduces artistically and politically courageous films, memorable journeys, and new questions. The International Competition brings together profound films that will tour the world and inspire audiences for years to come. IDFA...

Dutch / Iranian director Niki Padidar’s ’All You See’ to open documentary festival.

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has announced Dutch/Iranian director Niki Padidar’s All You See as its opening film and has unveiled the main competition titles for this year’s event, which runs from November 9-20.

Newly unveiled selections include the Envision and International Competitions and the entire IDFA DocLab program. The festival’s official selection comprises 277 titles in total.

Opening film All You See is billed as a multi-layered feature that includes honest, painful, and even humorous encounters with three other immigrants to the Netherlands,...

Dutch / Iranian director Niki Padidar’s ’All You See’ to open documentary festival.

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has announced Dutch/Iranian director Niki Padidar’s All You See as its opening film and has unveiled the main competition titles for this year’s event, which runs from November 9-20.

Newly unveiled selections include the Envision and International Competitions and the entire IDFA DocLab program. The festival’s official selection comprises 277 titles in total.

Opening film All You See is billed as a multi-layered feature that includes honest, painful, and even humorous encounters with three other immigrants to the Netherlands,...

The 35th edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) will open with Iranian-Dutch filmmaker Niki Padidar’s All You See.

The feature explores themes of exclusion and being an outsider through Padidar’s own experiences in the Netherlands, which are interwoven with the stories of three other immigrants who have made a life in the country.

The festival, which will showcase 277 titles this year, has also unveiled the selections for its main Envision and International Competitions.

A total of 13 titles will play in the International Competition line-up.

Highlights include Mila Turajlić’s Non-Aligned: Scenes from the Labudović Reels, which will be presented as a diptych and performance and explores the never-before-seen footage of Tito’s cameraman documenting his trips to Africa and Asia to promote a third way amidst the Cold War.

Further competition titles include Paradise by Alexander Abaturov, which enters the heart of a raging forest fire in northeastern Siberia,...

We profile the winning European projects from Visions du Réel's Pitching du Réel section. We profile the winning European projects from the Pitching du Réel section of the recent Visions du Réel film festival (17 April-2 May 2020). You can read the news about the winners here. [img 123309] Paradise by Alexander Abaturov The Party Film Sales Award Paradise - Alexander Abaturov (France/Russia)The second feature-length documentary by Alexander Abaturov, the director of the 2018 Berlinale Forum entry The Son, is set in the South Siberian region of Altai, home to the world's largest boreal forest, known in Russia as the taiga. This is one of the places where last summer's fires consumed huge areas of forest, largely due to the 2015 law under which the authorities are no longer required to extinguish a fire if the costs of extinguishing it are higher than the material damage the fire will cause....

14 projects from four continents received prizes in Pitching du Réel, Rough Cut Lab and Docs in Progress, and three shorts in the Opening Scenes section were awarded by Idfa, Tënk and Slon. The Industry section of the 51st Visions du Réel, which took place online from 25-30 April, has announced its award winners. The Industry jury, comprising Vincenzo Bugno, head of the Berlinale World Cinema Fund, Debra Zimmerman, executive director of Women Make Movies, and filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa, gave out seven prizes in the Pitching du Réel segment and another three in Docs in Progress. The Party Film Sales Award, consisting of the acquisition of international rights for a documentary film, went to the French-Russian co-production Paradise by Alexander Abaturov. Norwegian filmmakers Petter Aaberg and Sverre Kvamme received the Rts Award for Nightcrawlers, which means their film will be pre-sold to Swiss Radio Television. Argentinian actress-writer-director Lola Arias received.

Alexander Abaturov’s “Paradise,” Eugenio and Mara Polgovsky’s “Malintzin 17” and Lola Arias’ “Reas” triumphed at the 2020 Visions du Réel Industry Awards, taking three of its weightiest prizes.

Also winning big at project forum Pitching du Réel was Petter Aaberg and Sverre Kvamme’s “Nightcrawlers,” “Mashtat” and “In the Name of Roses.”

“The Mission,” “Voice of Baceprot” and “A Little Love Package” will segue from Visions du Réel to three of the next major gatherings on Europe’s doc fest circuit: May’s Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, June’s Cannes Docs Award, both now online, and late October’s Dok Leipzig.

Most of the 13 prizes comprise services or further festival invites. As smaller art-house companies face cashflow problems in much of the world, and need to look towards countries which look set to ride the Covid-19 crisis best – France, Germany and Switzerland, for example – any prize is currently mannah from heaven.

Alexander Abaturov’s “Paradise,” Lola Arias’ “Reas” and Yosep Anggi Noen’s “Voice of Baceprot” figure among 15 documentary features set to be pitched over April 27-28 at the 51st Pitching du Réel.

A co-production forum for creative documentaries, the Pitching is an industry centerpiece at Visions du Réel, one of Europe’s most prestigious documentary festivals.

These titles are joined by 12 others in a lineup which boasts well-known filmmakers, for example, Egypt’s Mohamed Siam, whose “Amal” opened 2017’s Idfa, Argentina’s Gaston Solnicki, director of Venice Horizons player “Kékszakállú, and Nelson Carlo de lo Santos, a Locarno Golden Leopard winner with “Cocote.”

It also takes in an extraordinary range of countries of origen led by France, with three titles in the section, and Switzerland, Argentina and Lebanon with a couple but including 18 territories, marked by a strong Middle East showing with further productions from Egypt, Syria and Quatar.

Projects...

A full-blown immersion into the Russian military, Alexander Abaturov’s disquieting feature-length documentary The Son (Syn) follows two war stories simultaneously.

In the first, the director tracks a battalion of recruits going through combat training in Siberia, with some of them vying to join the highly elite Spetsnaz special forces. In the second, he focuses on his 21-year-old cousin, Dima, who was killed in an ambush in Dagestan, leaving Dima's parents behind to pick up the pieces. Cutting back and forth between the two narratives, Abaturov creates an unnerving effect where we see scores of young men prepping for their possible deaths,...