Women in Doc

Raising women's profile in the documentary industry

Diversity and gender-parity are crucial to the filmmaking process if documentary is to reflect experiences and perspectives of various groups in society. As the industry has grown more aware of the need to better include and represent a diversity of storytellers, Sunny Side of the Doc 2021 will put the spotlight on projects directed by women non fiction filmmakers as well as innovative policies/initiatives addressing gender-based disparities in the sector.

Through a dedicated Talent Hub session sponsored by ARTE, featuring a shortlist of 6 outstanding projects and open panel discussions, Sunny Side of the Doc aims to we amplify the voices of women directors and producers in a media landscape where more support and opportunities are needed to thrive and build fulfilling careers in the documentary film industry.

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'TIL IT'S BACKWARDS

Produced by: Vice Studios (United States)
Directed by: Michele Mansoor

Logline: 'TIL IT'S BACKWARDS is a documentary feature that follows Gage Brown, 19, who is currently serving a 4-year juvenile life sentence, spending his most formative years behind bars. His experience is just another chapter in the age old story of cyclical incarceration. From his father, to his mother, to his younger brothers - he was born into a long lineage, of which the system spared no one.

NADIA

Produced by: Federation Entertainment (France), Echo Studio (France)
Directed by: Anissa Bonnefont

Logline: This feature-length documentary tells the incredible story of Nadia Nadim, once an Afghani refugee whose father was shot by the Taliban in 2000, now a PSG star player and an advocate for human rights.

QUEERYING NATURE

Produced by: Les Films de la Passerelle (Belgium)
Directed by: Aline Magrez

Logline: Thinking with scientists, philosophers and artists, Queerying Nature explores an animal world where sexualities and genders go hand in hand with diversity. Nature is so queer ! But could it be that the scientific narrative of nature reveals more about humans than it does about animals?

THE VOICE OF THE SILENT WALLS

Produced by: DOX BOX in collaboration with Inside Productions
Directed by: Lina Alabed, Salimata Bâ, Rim Harrabi, Yosra El-Gazzar, Rua Osman

Logline: The Voice of the Silent Walls weaves together the neglected but essential post colonial history of Tunisia through five architectural structures. The abandoned places mirror and interrogate the malaise of an entire generation today

TO EMBODY

Produced by: Les Films du Tambour de Soie (France)
Directed by: Noëlie Giraud

Logline: How to reappropriate one's body after an amputation? This questioning guides Ineha Costerousse throughout her process to create a new profession that she named Body Designer. Is she an Inventor? An Alchemist? The film crosses the medical, psychological and artistic dimensions of disability to understand which cognitive mechanisms are put in place during irreversible bodily shocks...

LIFE IS NOT A COMPETITION BUT I'M WINNING

Produced by: Schuldenberg Films (Germany)
Directed by: Julia Fuhr Mann

Logline: In a poetic-radical utopia, LIFE IS NOT A COMPETITION, BUT I’M WINNING whirls up the stereotypical gender rules in competitive sport. The film sets out in search of the queer-feminist potential in the Olympic disciplines of running and creates a world beyond rigid gender images.

TALENT HUB WOMEN IN DOC SPONSOR

An award sponsored by ARTE
Prize: 2,000 euros in cash

Quote
"ARTE is committed to welcoming, encouraging and supporting talent in all its diversity. It is in this spirit that the channel has launched Et pourtant, elles tournent, a short documentary film competition for women directors, supported by Scam. Starting in December 2020 and ending in May 2021, the presidency of this contest has been entrusted to the cartoonist Pénélope Bagieu and the awards ceremony will take place in the fall. Nearly 800 films have been collected! An exceptional result that reveals the need for visibility and expression of women in documentary." - Elodie Font, commissioning editor, Culture & Society Unit, ARTE

JURY

Esther Van Messel - First Hand Films
Alice Burgin - Sweetshop & Green
Lucila Moctezuma - Chicken & Egg Pictures

Join forces at Sunny Side of the Doc 2021

WHY WE'RE STILL TALKING ABOUT WOMEN ?

Much has been written about women in film these past months. But what is the state of play in documentary ? How does the ‘Female Gaze’ relate to documentary film making, and come to that, what does the ‘Female Gaze’ even mean ? Why does it matter ?
Because the question of female/male equality includes the question of diversity and inclusion au sens large, Sunny Side of the Doc offers a roundtable which will shed a benevolent but lucid light on the situation in the documentary sector.

Sponsored by Curiosity Stream.

> When? June 22, 4.00 PM, CEST
> Where? Swapcard platform

REVAMPING THE DOC INDUSTRY #2
Diversity & Inclusion: The initiatives driving action, not just talk!
After addressing the streamers regulations*, as part of our industry year-round Passport for Sunny Side of the Doc offer, the second chapter of our series of meetings devoted to the overhaul of the documentary ecosystem will address the issue of diversity and inclusion. In the wake of the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements, the industry has grown more aware of the need to better include and represent a diversity of talents and voices. From ‘no diversity, no commission’ policies to the leverage of public funding, how are self-regulation and regulation turning the tide?

In cooperation with EFAD (European Film Agency Directors association) and the Institute of Documentary Film (IDF).

> When? June 21st, 2.00 PM, CEST
> Where? Open to all, Facebook Live and Zoom
> Registration required, so just click here