#SSD25 > June 23-26, 2025
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Discover the selected projects in the seven pitch sessions.
Inside Gaza
Produced by: Factstory, AFP – Agence France Presse (France)
Directed by: Hélène LAM TRONG
Logline: This film is a powerful document that tells the inside story of a war that the vast majority of international media have not been allowed to cover. The story of journalists reporting under rocket fire and propaganda from all sides, witnessing human distress while organizing their own survival as well as that of their relatives and friends.
Jury’s word
“The Jury presents the Global Issues Pitch Prize to Inside Gaza for its unflinching story of journalists who are not only reporting from the frontlines, but struggling to survive along with their families “inside Gaza”. During a time of increased censorship of the media, the film not only bares witness to atrocities on the ground but also paints a portrait of these journalists beyond the press vests to reveal the personal toll of capturing these news stories for the world.”
SPECIAL PRIZE 🏆 AJD Industry Days Award: 2 accreditations to AJD Industry Days 2024
Bukal Bukal
Produced by: EarthStar Films (Australia)
Directed by: Rhoda ROBERT AO
Logline: Henrietta Marrie sets out to return her family’s inheritance but first she must face not only the British museum that holds it, but the worldwide racism that keeps it there.
Silence of the Lams
Produced by: EZ Films (Ireland)
Directed by: Ciaran DEENEY
Logline: A curry-war has broken out in a working-class community in Dublin, Ireland. A son has opened up a Chinese take-away right next door to his dad’s long standing operation. It’s big news, everyone is talking about it, but they’re not talking to each other.
🏆 Special Mention of the Jury
Tales and Sentences
Produced by: Little Big Story (France)
Directed by: Alexandre DONOT-SABY
Logline: Nora Gruber is a ‘sentencing films’ director, hired by convicted felons or their lawyers to tell the stories that led them to commit their crimes, with only one targeted viewer: the judge. Tales and Sentences is a reflection on cinema, its social role and justice, in an America where the truth’s worth as much as the art of telling a good story.
🏆 SPECIAL PRIZE: The Roch Bozino Engagement Award
Water on Fire
Produced by: Uhuru Productions (South Africa), Lu Films (France)
Directed by: Rehad DESAI
Logline: Hit by cyclones and droughts, Madagascar is the first country to experience climate induced famine. A young activist mobilises villagers to prevent a mining company set to extract rare earth minerals for the global energy transition. The mine will have devastating impacts on local communities’ land and water and intensify the climate crisis.
Yesterday’s Weirdness
Produced by: Shipton House Pty Ltd (Australia)
Directed by: Ben LAWRENCE
Logline: Journalism is dead. Long live journalism.
a word from the pitch sponsor
RTBF
“At RTBF, we want to increase our documentary offers to match the diversity of our target audiences. Whether on our linear channels or on our Auvio platform. We’re a small French-speaking community of less than 5 million inhabitants, but our audiences know how to recognize the quality of productions. Variety of viewpoints, plurality of opinions and openness to the world are all values that we find in the documentary genre and that we are proud to offer our audiences.”
– Vincent Godfroid, head of documentary acquisitions RTBF
Empalikino
Produced by: Ripple Productions Ltd, WildlifeDirect (Kenya)
Directed by: Eric MWANGI
Logline: In the heart of Ol Kinyei conservancy, a Maasai tribesman navigates the delicate balance between protecting his community’s cattle and coexisting with the majestic yet perilous lions, finding forgiveness and acceptance in an enduring struggle for harmony.
Jury’s word
“We liked this project for its unique and authentic voice. With charismatic human and animal characters at its heart, it tells an important story of human-animal conflict through the eyes of the people facing it every day. We hope the award will give the inspiring production team the confidence to take it forward to the next stage of development.”
Eagle Man
Produced by: Wild Pacific Media (Australia)
Directed by: Nick ROBINSON
Logline: An ornithologist’s unique friendship with one of the world’s most powerful avian predators, the wedge-tailed eagle, leads to a journey of personal growth and scientific discovery.
Fields of Gold
Produced by: Riverbank Studios (India), National Geographic Society (United States)
Directed by: Doel TRIVEDY
Logline: A seed is the origin of life. And the control of seeds must remain in the hands of farmers who grow with love and their sweat every season. In a climate unstable world, climate resilient crops are crucial. The solutions already lie within communities. Shifting the power from mechanised to the basics, ensuring seed sovereignty, one farmer at a time.
Frontline Rangers
Produced by: Regen Studios, New Dream Productions, Margee Brown (Australia)
Directed by: David COOK
Logline: Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough may be the chosen faces of the climate movement, but it’s Australia’s First Nations Rangers who are healing ecosystems and restoring balance that are the heartbeat.
Mirador, Soundscape through Japan
Produced by: NHK Enterprises (Japan)
Directed by: Azusa MARUYAMA
Logline: Aspiring young musicians journey in Japan, unveiling sounds of nature and ancient wisdom. The sounds transform into a captivating music piece by the musician. A sensory musical adventure, weaving together the harmonies of nature, culture, and sustainability, all captured with breathtaking cinematography.
Snow Globe
Produced by: Understory Films, LLC (United States)
Directed by: David SAMPLINER
Logline: When his father dies and his hometown records its first snowless winter, filmmaker David Sampliner ventures out into our vanishing winter landscapes to discover the wonders of snow and why it matters. In forging a path through grief, he finds glimmers of hope for snow’s future—and ours.
a word from the pitch sponsor
Blue Ant Media & Love Nature
“Love Nature brings a fresh approach to the natural history genre. Our original productions combine stunning cinematography with strong storytelling, making Love Nature a destination for premium, modern natural history productions. We’re committed to fostering new voices in natural history filmmaking, especially those that align with Love Nature’s values of conserving the beauty of the natural world. Along with Blue Ant Media, Love Nature is proud to sponsor the Nature & Conservation Pitch.”
The Brain Garden
Produced by: Storyland Pty Ltd (Australia), Windfall Films (United Kingdom), Yuzu Productions (France), Genepool Productions (Australia)
Directed by: Randall WOOD
Logline: The Brain Garden is made by a multi-award-winning filmmaker who has recently experienced a severe brain injury. Combining neuroscience, ecotherapy and art therapy, his healing is now well underway. With his family’s help and the help of colleagues, Randall Wood is documenting his extraordinary journey towards recovery and the stories of people around the world who share this path.
Jury’s word
“We have decided to award a unique project, based on a personal story that led to scientific approach. The project has high levels of authenticity and emotion. It a story of hope and science and in the best sense of the word, a creative documentary. It is led by a strong production crew and has strong visuals.”
Ancient Baby Beasts
Produced by: Rotating Planet Productions (Canada)
Directed by: Ari COHEN
Logline: For the first time, science and innovative technologies are revealing the mysterious world of dinosaur and ice age babies, changing not only what we know about how they were born, grew, raised and socialized, but uncovering missing links in earth’s evolutionary story.
Artificial Intelligence: the Great Pompeii Puzzle
Produced by: Elephant Adventures (France)
Directed by: Paolo SANTONI & Martin BLANCHARD
Logline: In Pompeii, tens of thousands of fragments lie in boxes like pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. How do you match up 15,000 scattered pieces by hand? The task is colossal. Artificial intelligence and robotics are ready to take up the challenge.
Destination Proxima Centauri
Produced by: Somadrome Films (Spain), Morgane (France), Nordic Eye Productions (Sweden)
Directed by: Ruth CHAO
Logline: Year 2175. The first hibernated-crew interstellar voyage departs to Proxima Centauri on board of a nuclear-fusion-propelled spaceship. Scientists at the forefront of physics and biology work now on ultra-fast propulsion and life support systems, that will allow us to make this possible.
Ocean Fever - Is there a cure?
Produced by: Good to Know, Saint Thomas Productions (France)
Directed by: Jacques MITSH
Logline: Underwater heatwaves ravage oceans in silence, decimating entire species and battering coastal cities with storms. While climate change pushes the intensity and frequency of these events, various initiatives are sprouting worldwide to anticipate and mitigate these events.
Unconventional Gardeners
Produced by: Zenit Arti Audiovisive, Dirk Manthey Film (Italia)
Directed by: Alessandro BERNARD & Paolo CERETTO
Logline: In an ancient valley devastated by a hurricane, two visionary scientists listen to the genius loci of the wounded forest. A cinematic journey to the edge of science in search of a new intelligence that can change our future.
a word from the pitch sponsor
PBS Distribution
“PBS Distribution is proud to sponsor the Science Pitch at Sunny Side of the Doc during the year of NOVA’s 50th anniversary. In a world where science and technology are advancing rapidly and becoming more embedded in our lives, the need for accurate, trusted, and engaging science content is more essential than ever.” – Eniela Bella, Director of Co-Production Finance and Sales, PBS International
Our Sister Angela – Black Power in the GDR
Produced by: Florianfilm GmbH (Germany), Dare Pictures (United Kingdom), La Lutta (United States)
Directed by: Jascha HANNOVER & Katharina WARDA
Logline: In the 1970s, an enthusiastic solidarity movement for Black civil rights activist Angela Davis emerges in the GDR. She attracts hundreds of thousands of people during her visits to the country. But all this enthusiasm is deceptive…. Katharina Warda tells this often-overlooked piece of Black East German history from her personal perspective.
Jury’s word
“Through an intimate story Our Sister Angela opens a new window on the story of Angela Davis’s visit to the GDR in the seventies to reveal propaganda and intrigue between East and West adding surprising insight to the dangerous tensions of today.”
How to stop a war
Produced by: Kathryn Kennedy (Ireland), Spring Films Ltd (United Kingdom)
Directed by: Frankie FENTON
Logline: In a quest to stop a war, a motley crew of activists embarks on a cross-country odyssey, braving political turmoil and internal strife, in a darkly comedic real-time series.
Letters from Iraq
Produced by: Ocean Films (Brazil)
Directed by: Mauricio ZATTONI
Logline: From the Iraqi desert in the 80s, a group of Brazilian workers narrates to their families – through letters, tapes and personal footage – the fear and uncertainties, but also the joy of living in a community amid two major wars.
One Inch Eastward
Produced by: Sandu Films (Romania), Akajava Films (Ireland), Smarty Pants Shooter (Bulgaria)
Directed by: Irina MALDEA
Logline: The decade after the end of the Cold War offered a unique chance for world peace and demilitarisation of international relations. This archival verité film tells the story of the disintegration of that dream in the 1990s, told by the leaders of Russia and the USA in their own words.
The Curse of Sugar
Produced by: Hauteville Productions (France), Wonder Maria Films (Portugal), Inicia Films (Spain)
Directed by: Mathilde DAMOISEL
Logline: What is the price of sugar, this delicious poison? Beginning with sequences set in the present day, this historical investigation reveals a global system still fueled by the exploitation of land and people that is rooted in its original sin: slavery.
🏆 Special Mention of the Jury
The Lost City of Sanxingdui
Produced by: Imagissime (France) France Télévisions (France), CCTV-9, China Media Group (China)
Directed by: Pascal CUISSOT
Logline: A mysterious buried city. Sacrificial pits, containing 10 000 gold, jade, ivory and bronze artefacts… In the mountain of Sichuan, archeologists, historians and scientists attempt to uncover the truth about a kingdom that has lain forgotten for over 3000 thousands years.
The Shape of Blue
Produced by: Intuitive Pictures inc. (Canada)
Directed by: Sybilla PATRIZIA
Logline: Two Japanese indigo dyers embark on a transformative, inner journey: one uncovers the profound meaning within the hues of blue, while the other gains a new way to see through his colorblindness. Together, they fight to revive a century-old tradition on the brink of disappearing.
Jury’s word
“It is a unique and at the same time a universal story. Fantastic cinematographic immersion. And promises to be a real artistic experience.”
Call me Sinsorga
Produced by: Al Borde Films (Spain)
Directed by: Marta GÓMEZ CALDERÓN & Paula IGLESIAS
Logline: What do we presume a woman can or cannot do? This is the story of a bunch of women who dared to build the place where we all wanted to go but didn’t exist.
Edgar Hilsenrath The Masturbator
Produced by: Solent Production (France)
Directed by: François-Xavier DESTORS
Logline: Edgar Hilsenrath: The Masturbator is an animated documentary journeying through the transgressive world of Edgar Hilsenrath, the first German-Jewish writer and Holocaust survivor who dared to laugh at death.
Niemeyer 4 Ever
Produced by: Special Touch Studios (France), The Attic Productions (Lebanon), Mayana Films (Germany)
Directed by: Aurélia MAKDESSI
Logline: In northern Lebanon, an improbable place revives hope: the International Fair of Oscar Niemeyer, yet officially closed to the public. The walls do not prevent dreams, nor birds from flying.
SPECIAL PRIZE 🏆 IMZ Award: 2 Full Festival Pass for Avant-Premiere 2025 and the ability to submit at the Perfomring Arts Pitch session.
Paradise Camp: Homecoming
Produced by: Pilum (Australia)
Directed by: Keiran MCGEE & Yuki KIHARA
Logline: Acclaimed Fa’afafine artist,Yuki Kihara brings her Venice Biennale exhibition “Paradise Camp” home to Sāmoa, audaciously confronting climate action, colonialism, and gender identity. She is transforming Sāmoa into a Fa’afafine Paradise.
Proserpine and the Others
Produced by: GA&A Productions (Italia)
Directed by: Mariangela BARBANENTE
Logline: Is art simply a reflection of society, or does it actively shape our collective consciousness? Often overshadowed by the magnificence of great masterpieces, violence against women, a phenomenon around which contemporary sensibilities are focused today, has been extensively recounted by Art, from antiquity to the present day.
The Myth of Monsters
Produced by: Gather Together (Malaysia)
Directed by: Beatrice LEONG
Logline: Beatrice, a late-diagnosed autistic filmmaker, turns the camera to herself as she reveals a lifetime of misdiagnosis and psychiatric institutionalisation. Confronting societal misconceptions, and her lost youth, she grapples with the lonely fight for change and justice as an activist. Will she be the monster we fear all along on this painful path?
Jury’s word
“The story from the film we selected emotionally blew us away and impressed us at the same time. With this award, we want to put the project on the radar of the entire conference as we expect it will have global resonance…we know it will go very far with insightful outlets that scoop it up early. The jury also wants to note the filmmaker’s request for a woman Producer who can help guide and protect–we ask our fellow industry members to honor that request and ensure one is in place before engaging in earnest.”
Every Other Girl
Produced by: Cinatrix Media (Gambia), Iamnativ (Uganda)
Directed by: Abdoulie B. JARJU
Logline: In rural Gambia, a filmmaker embarks on a deeply personal journey to confront the centuries-old tradition of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), weaving together intimate family stories, cultural exploration, and a call to action against this harmful practice.
SPECIAL PRIZE 🏆 Impact Social Club Award: Mentorship in digital strategy to help optimize the reach and influence of their work. Two sessions for a consulting phase and a follow-up phase.
London You Don't Know Me
Produced by: Korvin Production LDA (Portugal)
Directed by: Ivan KORVIN
Logline: An Irish homeless man
A Pakistani cricket fan
A German gin connoisseur
And a very big army
Of those who want to make
The homeless happy
Our Land, Our Freedom
Produced by: Twende Films (United States), Afrofilms International (Kenya), Muiraquitã Filmes (Portugal), Autentika Films (Germany)
Directed by: Meena NANJI & Zippy KIMUNDU
Logline: A powerful Kenyan woman’s search for her father’s remains becomes an investigation into British colonial atrocities and a grassroots movement to reclaim ancestral land.
Unwelcomed
Produced by: Amilcar Films (Chile)
Directed by: Sebastian GONZÁLEZ MÉNDEZ & Amilcar INFANTE
Logline: Traversing the majestic Andean highlands, Atacama Desert and coastal cliffs, “Unwelcomed” unveils the harsh reality of the migration crisis in the southern world. This choral narrative serves as a living testimony of those who continue migrating despite adversities amid a growing social conflict.
🏆 SPECIAL PRIZE: BIM – Best Impact Movies Award
Yurlu | Country
Produced by: Illuminate Films (Australia)
Directed by: Yaara BOU MELHEM
Logline: Yurlu Country follows senior Banjima man, Maitland Parker whose final wish is to heal a landscape devastated by mining. The country that once nourished him has now made him terminally ill.
SPECIAL PRIZES
🏆 Doc Edge Award: 2 free accreditations for Doc Edge Film Festival 2025.
🏆 Movie that Matter Award: 2 free accreditations for Movies That Matter festival 2025.
Dreams of the Wild Oaks
Produced by: Seven Springs Pictures (Iran), Lukimedia (Spain), Avant La Nuit – Thibaut Amri (France)
Directed by: Marjan KHOSRAVI
Logline: A race against time to save her freedom: Samaneh, a young Bakhtiari girl in Iran, must find a rare and endangered bird to escape a forced marriage and a tradition of Cease Blood Sacrifice, in a journey that challenges her beliefs and tests the limits of her father’s love.
Jury’s word
“For talking about difficult social issues and emphasising women’s rights via cinematic approach. It is a story that should be shown internationally to make people aware of harmful traditions that are still oppressing women around the world.”
SPECIAL PRIZE 🏆 AIDC Award: 2 complimentary All Access Passes to attend AIDC in March 2025 in Melbourne.
A satellite for Buru Laï
Produced by: Gedeon Programmes (France), Dreampixies (Switzerland)
Directed by: Antonin LECHAT & Suium SULAIMANOVA
Logline: In Kyrgyzstan, a woman is abducted for marriage every 40 minutes. Jibek almost suffered the same fate a few years ago. Now she’s determined to create a better future for women in her country, and she has a plan: build Kyrgyzstan’s very first satellite.
SPECIAL PRIZES
🏆 Pitch the Doc Award: Mentoring sessions held by an expert associated with Pitch the Doc.
🏆 IDF Award – Institute of Documentary Film (East Doc Platform)
Confessions of a female gamer
Produced by: Thea Films (Bulgaria), Agitprop Ltd / Balkan Documentary center (Bulgaria), Tondowski Film (Germany)
Directed by: Dolya GAVANSKI
Logline: An actress reluctantly cast as the voice of a cult heroine discovers the complex inner lives of female gamers worldwide.
Fenced
Produced by: Jonna Mckone (United States)
Directed by: Gabriella GARCIA PARDO
Logline: Fences reflect our desires and fears: from our obsession with owning land to the ways we divide ourselves. Fenced questions how the most ubiquitous human structure shapes how we live, where we live, and the rules we live by.
Show up
Produced by: NYCT Films (South Africa), Labyrinth Films (Netherlands)
Directed by: Andrew BRUKMAN
Logline: Queens of their own South African desert, a queer performance ensemble go on a roadtrip to help shine a light on the extreme violence suffered by our LGBTQIA+ community.
Solo
Produced by: Donia Films (Tunisia), Dynamo Production (France)
Directed by: Amine BOUKHRIS
Logline: Akmal, a young 24-year-old rapper, lives today for one simple reason: the hope of seeing his mother again. The mother who, ten years ago, made a terrible choice: to blindly follow her husband to join the Daech terrorist militia.
a word from the pitch sponsor
Al Jazeera Documentary Channel & AJB DOC Film Festival
“Discover the exciting world of storytelling at Al Jazeera Documentary Channel & AJB DOC Film Festival! We are dedicated through our platform AJD industry Days to exploring new documentary voices around the world, and our long-running relationship with Sunny Side of the Doc continues to achieve the support of documentary industry. We are proud to sponsor the New Voices Pitch. Join our adventure in documentary storytelling!”
🏆 STUDENT CHOICE AWARD
Ba’s Book
Produced by: Ina Fichman from Intuitive Pictures Inc
Directed by: Ashley DUONG
An award in partnership with INA Sup, IFFCAM, CinéFabrique – École nationale supérieure de Cinéma & Australian Film Television and Radio School.