This year’s Festival Crossroads introduces Verzió’s new festival partners, Biografilm (Italy) and Fipadoc (France), with whom we have started the Places to B – Biarritz, Bologna, Budapest network. Our collaboration with Fipadoc International Documentary Film Festival (Biarritz, France) and Biografilm festival – International Celebration of Lives (Bologna, Italy), is rooted in a shared interest in contemporary, European creative documentary films, and our commitment to support each other in producing sustainable and diverse festivals.
Fipadoc is a place of encounters and emerging new projects. It is committed to impact, innovation, image education, and sustainability. Its leaders, Christine Camdessus and Anne Georget, have been awarded a silver medal for their eco-event in France. The festival’s fourth edition will take place in Biarritz on 17–23 January 2022.
Biografilm festival, under the leadership of festival director Leena Pasanen, is dedicated to gender equality and diversity. Half of the films in the selection are directed by female filmmakers, and the gender balance can be seen throughout festival management. The festival team has knowledge on topics like conscious bias and gender-balanced programming strategies, which it can share with network partners.
Biografilm, Fipadoc, and Verzió share an interest in supporting up-and-coming European talents with special training within the framework of the Verzió DocLab. Here, Christine Camdessus (festival director/Fipadoc), Leena Pasanen (festival director/Biografilm) and Stefano Tealdi (head of studies/Biografilm, Bio to B – Industry Days) will tutor projects in the final stages of production, helping filmmakers increase their outreach and impact. The winner of the Verzió DocLab will be pitched at Bio to B – Industry Days during the 18th Biografilm edition, which will take place on 10–20 June 2022.
Places to B is designed as a forthright platform for festival teams to discuss festival planning, joint awards, and outreach strategies. Places to B is an open network that invites other festivals committed to running vivid, diverse, and eco-friendly cultural events to join them. Be a Place to B!
Christine Camdessus, Leena Pasanen, Oksana Sarkisova
DokMA was the master programme in documentary film direction of the University of Theatre and Film Arts. The short films found in this block were made by documentary film students from the university. The selection will be screened at Kino Cinema on 14 November, from 5pm, to show our solidarity with the students and staff pushed out in the government take-over of the institution. On 14 November, a panel discussion about the freeszfe participatory documentary will also be held in the small hall at Kino Cinema.
