27/06/2024 - The head of sales and acquisitions of the non-fiction sales outfit unpacked the team’s latest slate of projects and activities at La Rochelle's documentary market

During the busy days of La Rochelle’s Sunny Side of the Doc, we sat down with Kathryn Bonnici, Head of Acquisitions and Development at the Paris-, London- and Barcelona-based firm Java Films, which is one of Europe’s key players selling non-fiction content. Our conversation covered several subjects, including the company’s latest slate of projects, its activities at the Nouvelle Aquitaine gathering and the current climate for doc sales.

Cineuropa: Talk us through your editorial policy.
Kathryn Bonnici: We specialise in geopolitical investigations and current affairs, with a focus on strong investigative journalism, human rights, history, and environmental topics. We take a very personal approach to every film and director, first discussing their priorities and vision for the documentary with the filmmaking team and being very clear about what we can and can’t do, and how we would market the film. Sometimes, we take on films that we really love but don’t expect to have much commercial success, because we want to give them a platform. Other times, we balance that approach by taking on more commercial films. Our focus is to have a balanced catalogue rather than acquiring a certain genre of film. So sometimes we turn down films that might seem an obvious fit for us because we’re already working on something more general. But, by and large, our priority is to acquire global investigations, ideally with some kind of exclusive element to them.

Could you elaborate on your slate of projects at La Rochelle?
Highlights from our current slate include Netanyahu and the Ministers of Chaos from Yuzu Productions, directed by Jérôme Sesquin and Nitzan Perelman. The film consists of an examination into Netanyahu, his two leading ministers, and the most right-wing government in Israel’s history. This 60/52-minute doc is now in development. Coming up next is our 52-minute doc War on Women: The New Battle for Abortion in America, helmed by Sophie Przychodny and Cyril Denvers and produced by LSD Films, which profiles the commitment of civil society, doctors, lawyers, volunteers and individuals who are determined to preserve the right and access of their fellow citizens to abortion. This project is now completed and will air on France 5 on 23 June. Last but not least, there’s True Believer: And God Created Trump, directed by Laurence Haïm and produced by Luc and Virginie Besson. It follows one of the few journalists to be permanently accredited on Donald Trump’s press plane during the 2016 election, offering a unique look at the 2024 presidential election. This 52-minute doc is also in development.

What are your projects’ USPs and target audiences?
I would say that they all make complex geopolitical subjects accessible and - more importantly - interesting to everyone. Generally, they occupy prime-time current affairs slots and travel to festivals, and are aimed at wide audiences.

How would you describe the current state of the market and climate for doc sales?
Unfortunately, it’s getting harder and harder to sell theatrical documentaries to television networks, especially if they’re heavily subtitled or haven’t premiered at a major festival. There are fewer and fewer longer slots available, budgets are getting smaller, and the golden age of the streamers fighting over festival documentaries is over. On the other hand, there will always be a market for relevant and timely documentaries, and the AVOD market is really booming. The market for current affairs documentaries is also pretty consistent.

What kind of partners are you looking for?
We’re looking forward to meeting producers developing current affairs, history or science documentaries, or anyone interested in licensing our films.

What about your main activities at Sunny Side? What are your expectations for this year's edition?
This is a very important edition for us because we launched the Roch Bozino Engagement Prize [ed. honouring the company’s late founder, who passed away last year] and, as I’m on the jury, a lot of my time will be spent watching pitches. But we’re also here to catch up with the producers we’re already in touch with and to meet new ones.