This is the time of the year when we wrap everything with glitter, red bows and happiness, yet there is no way of disguising that 2016 has been a distressing year for the citizens of the world. Sitting on the jury at IDFA I viewed one film after another which made it obvious that no part of the world is immune. Fury and loathing comes from all directions, making it all the more pressing to bring light through documentary.
As we witnessed in this year’s referendum and election campaigns, we have plenty of news but so little understanding. The less transparent news is, the more airtime it receives. The yearning for truth or something close to it is what drives us documentary filmmakers to keep going. That and the international documentary community formed over the last 30 years.
IDFA and a celebration of 20 years of the European Documentary Network
At IDFA, which will celebrate 30 years in 2017, the EDN celebrated 20 years of attending the festival. They did this in style with the European Documentary Choir, made up of EDN members and conducted by Mikael Opstrup! Amazing how much talent there is among filmmakers!
Applications open for Scottish Delegation to Hot Docs 2017
It was good that we were able to take so many delegates to IDFA thanks to our Creative Scotland bursaries. These delegations will continue in 2017 and applications from established producers and filmmakers to attend Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary film festival, are open until the 18th of January. Please check out our delegations page for details of how to apply.
January SDI Consultancies
We’re dedicated to supporting fellow filmmakers and their projects so if you have the passion and commitment to tell powerful stories in an innovative way then we want to help you by sharing our expertise and contacts with you. The deadline for the next round of SDI Consultancies is Wednesday 11th January 2017. More information here.
Docs in Socks
It’s not all doom and gloom and at least we will see the back of 2016 soon. And if you’re anything like us you’ll have sussed the real meaning of Christmas a long time ago … it’s all about documentaries. So we would like to help you out a little with some curated suggestions for those stocking fillers and some great stuff to stream to the smart telly…
2017 and beyond…
United we stand with our desire to make films and our ability as a community to confront the future together and be inclusive rather than competitive. EDN has been exemplary in the last 2 decades at bringing together those who develop and produce with those who invest and distribute. But more than ever the international commissioning landscape is changing. We are all under pressure to find new models but it still comes back to basics: filmmakers need money to make films!
Whatever 2017 brings, we know that good documentaries are not one of life’s luxuries, but our vehicle to grasp a much needed degree of coherence and understanding from the contingent mess of life, but also done with emotion and imagination.
There is still so much to discover about ourselves and our universe.
So I wish us plenty of that for 2017,
Noe Mendelle
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