At Documentary in Europe 2009 with ITVS’s Cynthia Kane

Documentary in Europe consists of film screenings, matchmaking meetings, seminars, master classes, producers’ meeting commissioning editors as well as a pitching workshops and sessions. Held annually in Bardonecchia, Italy, professionals from around the world gather to network with colleagues and discuss the latest documentary projects. International Programming Manager Cynthia Kane gives her take on this year’s event.

Situated in the Italian Alps about one hour North of Torino (aka Turin––think Fiat and the Shroud), Bardonecchia is a charming, albeit quiet, town in summer, making it a fantastic place to focus on documentary. In winter, I’m told that it’s a far different scene––packed with skiers, snowboarders and glamorous Italians. Most people know Bardonecchia as one to the sites of the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics.

Although the event doesn’t officially begin until Wednesday, many participants arrived early this week to attend the Pitching Forum. There were several successful pitches from the past––including two ITVS International docs: THE MOSQUITO PROBLEM & OTHER STORIES, produced by Martichka Bozhilova and directed by Andrey Paounov, and JOURNALS OF A WILY SCHOOL, produced by Debu Bhattacharyya and directed by Sudeshna Bose. In total there were 23 projects during the two days of the Pitching Forum. I also kept busy by attending a matchmaking/development session with 14 projects that were pitched and discussed at length. This session was the most interesting to me since I’ve never seen most of the projects, thus it had many good possibilities for International Call 2010.

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Tags: Europe, international