Dear filmmakers and friends,
Today is B2B Docs's 9th Birthday!
Two memories stand out from DocuDays 2014. One is the balaclava that was included in the goodie-bag. A reminder of the fact that the Euromaidan camp still occupied a significant part of central Kyiv. As did the Babylon 13 news reel style films that dominated the festival itself. The other is how strange it felt for a moment to start talking about Women with Cows, a documentary film about two grumpy old ladies and twelve cows. But that’s how Baltic to Black Sea Documentary Network, B2B Doc, was introduced nine years ago. Alex hatched the idea for the project, Malcolm gave it a name; we presented it together without having the vaguest idea about where it would take us. Women with Cows turned out to be a relevant starting point. Together we have learnt over the years that the local story, a close-up on everyday, unknown characters, is the key to making a local story universal.
Now that we enter our tenth year of supporting documentary filmmakers in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, our work has never been more meaningful and never more important. It is our joint mission to record for posterity a time when our future hangs very much in the balance. When the world should really focus on how to make our planet survive and make life for humanity sustainable, we are suddenly involved in a brutal war and an uncertain political environment that affects all our partner countries as well as every individual in the network. On behalf of our whole network we wish that we can keep up our spirit of peer-to-peer cooperation, of learning from each other, of finding common ground to develop as professionals and as humans. May we all be able to meet and celebrate a turn for the better a year from now! That would be a fitting tribute to B2B Doc’s first decade of work.
Alex Shiriaieff
Malcolm Dixelius
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Visegrad Pitch at East Doc Platform next week!
The Visegrad Pitch is a part of the East Doc Platform's industry events, hosted by B2B Doc in collaboration with the Institute of Documentary Film and with the support of the Visegrad Fund.
Date: March 28.
Time: 13.00 - 15.00 CET
Venue: Kino 35, French Institute in Prague
The following Ukrainian documentary projects will be pitched:
DIVIA
Presented by: dir. Dmytro Hreshko, co-prod. Glib Lukianets
THE ORDINARY RUSCISM
Presented by: dir. Kornii Hritsyuk, prod. Evgeniya Kriegsheim
A BIT OF A STRANGER
Presented by: dir. Svitlana Lishchynska, prod. Anna Kapustina
LISTENING TO THE WORLD
Presented by: dir. Yelizaveta Smith, prod. Olha Beskhmelnitsyna
QUEENS OF JOY
Presented by: dir. Olga Gibelinda, prod. Ivanna Khitsinska
A REPORT TO PETER THE APOSTLE
Presented by: dir./prod. Pylyp Illienko
SERVS CHRONICLES
Presented by: dir. Tomi Hazslinszky, prod. Valeria Sochyvets
THE MOTHER OF ANGELS
Presented by: dir. Tetiana Dorodnitsyna & Andrii Lytvynenko, prod. Olena Yakovitska
PUZZLE
Presented by: dir./co-prod. Lana Shapova
FLOWERS OF UKRAINE
Presented by: dir. Adelina Borets, prod. Glib Lukianets
We invite all producers attending East Doc Platform, both from the Visegrad countries and beyond, to come and watch the Ukrainian projects pitch. After the pitch, from 15.00-18.00, the project teams are available for one-on-one meetings.
This event is created by B2B Doc in collaboration with the Institute of Documentary Film, Docudays UA, People in Need Slovakia / One World Slovakia, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights / Watch Docs and Verzio and with support from the Visegrad Fund, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, the Swedish Institute and Sida.
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B2B Doc at goEast in April
B2B Doc in collaboration with goEast Film Festival is arranging a seminar dedicated to the topics of Gender, Ethics, Impact and Outreach in the documentary film industry.
The seminar will bring together leading experts in these topics and filmmakers from the B2B Doc region. The program of the seminar will include presentations, lectures, case studies and panel discussions, which will help filmmakers to understand how gender equality, ethics, impact and outreach can improve their professional skills. The seminar will take place during the industry days of goEast Film Festival in Wiesbaden 25-30 April 2023.
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Alex Shiriaieff on the jury at One World Festival
The One World Festival is now taking place in Prague. B2B Doc's Alex Shiriaieff is a part of the jury for the two International Competition award prizes together with Simon Lereng Wilmont, director and Caroline Libresco, film festival curator and program strategist.
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9-Month Contract
Good news for one of our Georgian teams! 9-Month Contract receives the 25 000 € grant from IDFA Bertha Fund Classic - Production & Post-production.
The team behind 9-Month Contract is the director Ketevan Vashagashvili and producers Anna Khazaradze and Nino Chichua, who attended the B2B Doc's Story Development Workshop in Tbilisi -22. Since then the team has developed the project with support from many other institutions, but we were happy to have Ketevan attend the Online Writing Workshop during the autumn. During the workshop B2B Doc's Head of Talent, Anastasia Kirillova, shared her knowledge on how to put words on a documentary project. The workshop encouraged directors to start writing since it's a tool both to sharpen the story, to make progress with the film itself and to get funding. Congratulations Ketevan for a great project and well executed application.
About 9-Month Contract:
When raising a kid as a homeless single mother in Tbilisi becomes too hard, Jana decides to work as a surrogate for foreigners, in order to give her daughter the life she herself never had.
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Photo: Johan Wirén
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Making films in countries where the future of Europe is determined
The B2B Doc office is located in Stockholm so when Tempo Documentary Festival took place in March we were happy to participate in hosting a panel discussion.
We invited Mario Adamson, producer at Sisofys Film and Mariia Ponomarova, producer and director from Ukraine, based in Amsterdam, to join B2B Doc's Anastasia Kirillova in a discussion about creative collaborations. B2B Doc's Ilja Stenberg moderated the talk.
Big thanks to the participants, to everyone who came to listen and Tempo Documentary Festival!
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The Impact Days at FIDFH Geneva
B2B Doc's Malcolm Dixelius and Alex Shiriaieff attended the Impact days of the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH). They made a presentation of B2B Doc for filmmakers working with topics on human rights and social impact, as well as for the representatives of the biggest NGO's and philanthropic organisations who support documentary filmmakers.
During the meetings they discussed how international support from these organisations could be provided through B2B Doc to filmmakers in the region and their film projects. Malcolm and Alex also had a meeting with Radha Betcheva, Head of Member Relations for Central & Eastern Europe at European Broadcasting Union (EBU). B2B Doc and EBU are working out a collaboration format that would help us provide support to the public service TV stations in B2B Doc countries in terms of financing, co-producing and distribution of documentary films.
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The Future & Distant Dreams in Thessaloniki
Meet the Future: Moldova. This was the title of the presentation of five Moldovan filmmakers and their film projects in the framework of the Agora industry programme of Thessaloniki International Film Festival. This event was co-organised by our partners from the Moldox International Documentary Festival for Social Change and supported by National Film Center of Moldova. The director of the Film Center, Valentina Iusuphodjaev made a short presentation of the Moldovan film industry with the ambition to attract more international filmmakers to the country.
Five promising documentary filmmakers from Moldova who represented its future at this meeting were Pavel Braila, Xenia Ciuvaseva, Olha Lucovnicova, Ana-Felicia Scultenicu and Ana Gurdis. They told the audience about themselves, their film projects and their vision of the future.
B2B Doc is currently supporting Pavel Braila’s film project Odyssey MD and Xenia Ciuvaseva’s film project Landing. Ana Gurdis was one of the participants at B2B Doc’s workshop ”War and Peace between Two Seas”. B2B Doc is also supporting the institutional development of the Moldovan National Film Center by exchanging knowledge and useful international contacts to improve the system of national support of documentary films in Moldova.
B2B Doc's Alex Shiriaieff participated in the panel Equity & Entitlement in Documentary Storytelling - A Distant Dream? together with Zeynep Guzel, Head of Talents at Berlinale Doc Station and Thomas Kaske, Producer at Kaskefilm. The talk was moderated by Selin Murat, Markets Manager at IDFA.
This was the focus of the talk:
Equipped with often robust production conditions, filmmakers from the West sometimes embark on documentary projects in foreign lands, lured by seemingly sensational, enticingly exotic and supposedly untold stories that will attract the audience’s interest and receive public funding promises. Often this goes hand in hand with a lack of preparation or cultural understanding, even a sense of entitlement to make a story about a community that is not their own, taking away that very community's sovereignty to explore their own stories in their own time and way.
The international documentary community has started to question these hasty, irresponsible and unethical practices, embedded in a system that is very slow to change, with much resistance and misunderstanding, and where harmful projects keep winning awards.
What is the role of our documentary industry in this vital conversation and necessary shift? How can producers, pitching forums, and funds demonstrate a conscious and consistent commitment to equity and accountability?
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Open call for Ukrainian filmmakers working within Ukraine
Göteborg Film Fund opens new call for development grants for Ukrainian filmmakers working within Ukraine. The prime consideration of the selection committee is the artistic quality of the project and the strength of the story. Consideration is also given to projects with particular cultural and political relevance, as well as the situation of the filmmakers.
The maximum grant is 75 000 SEK (≈ €6800). Three (3) projects will be granted.
When a supported film is finalised, Göteborg Film Festival will have the rights to screen its World, European or Scandinavian premiere at Göteborg Film Festival, with no screening fees charged. The development grants are aimed for development of scripts or projects. Feature length fiction or documentary films only. The beneficiary of the grant is the director and their work. Find more information here.
The call is open March 15 – March 31 2023, at 24.00 CET.
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Last call for Emerging Producers!
Become EMERGING PRODUCER 2024 – call for applications is now open! Especially for producers with several years’ practice on the local market, with at least one realized feature or mid-length film. The applicants do not apply with their concrete film, but as individuals seeking professional growth. Deadline: March 31. Criteria, eligible countries, etc.: www.emergingproducers.com
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Last call: IBF Europe – Minority Co-production
Filmmakers and producers! Don't sleep on the IBF Europe Minority Co-Production deadline, coming up on April 1, 2023.
With this call, the IDFA Bertha Fund seeks to encourage European producers to participate as a minority co-producer in high-quality feature-length documentary projects by filmmakers from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Oceania.
Head over to our website for more info on how to apply!
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Submissions and registration is open for Sunny Side of the Doc 2023!
Pitch your documentary project in our 7 highly coveted pitching sessions and get straight into financial discussions with +300 top executives! This year, in addition to our famous specialist factual pitching sessions (Science, History, Arts & Culture, Nature & Conservation, Global Issues), Sunny Side of the Doc will hold two specific pitching sessions: New Voices and Impact Campaigns. All formats are welcome!
If you are a producer or director with a great documentary or factual project, this is your chance to pitch your work to a global audience and potentially secure funding, distribution, and international partnerships!
🔴Submit before 6 April 2023 ➤ https://bit.ly/SSD23_Event
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B2B Doc filmmakers visible at CPH:DOX
We have received a lot of good news from CPH:DOX! Motherland had it's world premiere and finally met the audience. The directors Hanna Badziaka and Alexander Mihalkovich were present together with their DOP Siarhiej Kanapliankik and the producers Mario Adamson and Ashley Smith. Congratulations and good luck!
The following projects were invited to the Forum:
Strange Sea by Lala Aliyeva, Azerbaijan
A Bit of A Stranger by Svitlana Lishchynska, Ukraine
Here, Between This Sea And Those Mountains by Keti Machavariani, Georgia
Red Zone by Iryna Tsilyk, Ukraine, called Those Behind Me at the Story Development Workshop in Tbilisi -22. Huge congratulations the team behind Red Zone who received the Special Eurimages Development Award for a Ukrainian Project of €20,000!
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Projects at One World & East Doc Platform
The following B2B Doc supported films are screened at One World Festival in Prague this and next week:
How to Save a Dead Friend by Marusya Syroechkovskaya
Motherland by Hanna Badziaka
We Will Not Fade Away by Alisa Kovalenko
Outside by Olha Zhurba
And these projects are attending East Doc Platform:
A Picture to Remember by Olga Chernykh
Bitter Sugar by Ana Barjadze
Elevation by Max Rudenko
Fight by Lilit Movsisyan
Flowers of Ukraine by Adelina Borets
I Made A Mistake Coming Here by Kseniya Halubovich
War on Women by Maris Salumets
Don't miss these project if you're in Prague!
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How to Save a Dead Friend awarded at Tempo
Congratulations to Marusya Syroechkovskaya who was awarded the Tempo Documentary Award (75 000 SEK) for her film How to Save a Dead Friend.
The jury’s justification: A brave and self-revealing story, which with strong artistic sharpness tells us about a society without future prospects, but above all about the love of two young people; where both death, desperation and the strong will to live are in focus. A shocking portrayal of suburban life in today’s Russia.
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