At a time when documentary filmmakers and distributors continue to grapple with shrinking theatrical space, fragmented audiences and fragile distribution structures, the panel “Vero! Connecting Docs: Rethinking Circulation: New Models for Documentary”, held on 28 March at Pordenone Docs Fest, offered an overview of alternative strategies for keeping non-fiction films alive beyond their initial festival runs.

Moderated by Silvia Carobbio, ZaLab View editorial coordinator and Pordenone head of programme, the discussion brought together Lucie Bonvin, of France’s Documentaire sur Grand Écran; Jenny Horwell, of London’s Bertha DocHouse; Galya Stepanova, of Doc Alliance/DAFilms; and Petra Babić, of the Kinedok Central and Eastern European screening network.

Carobbio opened the session by situating her own platform within this broader conversation. ZaLab View, launched in 2019 by Italian outfit ZaLab, was conceived before the pandemic as part of a hybrid strategy for circulation. “It was already thought out as a hybrid strategy for distribution for documentary, because nowadays, it’s very hard to bring films into theatres,” she noted, explaining that the platform preserves movies after “their short life in cinemas” while also reaching schools, institutions, associations and cultural centres.

A historical perspective came from Bonvin, who retraced the origins of Documentaire sur Grand Écran, founded in 1991 in response to the near absence of documentaries on the big screen. “As the name suggests, our primary focus, since the association was created, has been to screen documentary films in theatres,” she explained. Over time, the organisation developed a hybrid identity combining programming and distribution, a mission reflected today in its catalogue of 284 titles and the annual Best of Doc initiative.

The programme selects ten documentary features released in France each year, drawn from preview screenings in Paris and finalised by a committee including journalists, industry professionals and streaming-platform representatives. The aim is to balance recognised titles with more marginal works, “so that the better-known films can help the smaller ones”.

This curatorial logic also shapes the association’s catalogue, which functions as a form of second-life distribution for movies that have lost their distributor, never secured a French release or are deserving of rediscovery through thematic programming. In some cases, the association even attempts to organise an actual French release. “We don’t have private funds, and we do not have much money,” she admitted. “But we do have networks and energy, and we can still put a film on the big screen.”

Stepanova offered a digital perspective through DAFilms, the VoD platform created by the Doc Alliance network of European documentary festivals. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the platform hosts around 4,000 films (roughly 75% of which are European) and aims to keep creative documentaries accessible after their festival runs. As she explained: “The need was for creative documentaries to remain available and have some form of international distribution once their festival runs were over.”

Rather than operating as a static library, DAFilms follows an editorial model based on festival collaborations, thematic programmes, retrospectives and a regularly updated Film of the Week. Programming is frequently linked to current events, connecting older titles to contemporary debates. Open submissions are also possible, albeit difficult to manage for a small team.

While DAFilms focuses on digital access, Kinedok brings documentaries to places where cinema infrastructure is weak or absent. Babić explained that the initiative, launched in 2014 and coordinated by Prague's Institute of Documentary Film, now connects more than 200 venues across the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary and Croatia – including libraries, cafés, parks, galleries and even boats. The project emerged from declining documentary audiences in theatres and the limited cross-border circulation of Central and Eastern European films. Over time, the network has experimented with inventive formats – from screenings on disused railway lines to backyard events with wine tastings and open-air projections in parks – but its core focus remains community-building.

Horwell presented another model: a permanent cinema dedicated exclusively to documentary. Based in London, Bertha DocHouse operates inside a larger arthouse complex but programmes its own screen year-round, showing only non-fiction films. The venue runs four screenings per day, 364 days a year, presenting around 20-25 titles each month alongside events, seasons and retrospectives.

For Horwell, the challenge lies in balancing audience appeal with adventurous programming. “What we are always looking for are truly creative and cinematic films,” she said. Yet popularity alone cannot guide choices: “If I only programmed what I thought would be most popular, then I would only be showing a certain type of documentary,” she added. “There would be no reason for us to exist if we only did that.”

Throughout the discussion, speakers stressed the need to create space for films that fall outside conventional commercial logic – through subsidised ticket prices, flexible digital-rights models, community screening networks or programming strategies in which larger titles help draw attention to smaller ones.

The panel also highlighted the complex relationship between circulation initiatives and rights holders. Ultimately, the examples discussed in Pordenone suggested not a single solution, but a constellation of complementary approaches – community-based exhibition, curated digital catalogues, advocacy structures, year-round documentary venues and hybrid circulation models – all based on the idea that documentary circulation must be treated as an ongoing process, rather than a brief theatrical window.