Beldocs Industry Days, the industry strand of one of the Balkans’ largest documentary film festivals, Beldocs, aims to bring together film professionals from across Europe and beyond to encourage and foster new collaborations and co-productions. Running from 10-15 May in Belgrade and online, the event is dedicated to promoting the distribution of European audiovisual works, and offers a range of activities and programmes, including workshops, public presentations, panels, master classes and matchmaking sessions. These aim to develop new contacts and opportunities for young talents.

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During the Beldocs Pitching Forum, 18 documentary film projects at different stages of production will be showcased to a panel of international industry representatives, including TV channels, festivals, sales agents and distribution companies. Forgrade post-production studio will grant a Post-Production Award to one of the Docs in Progress projects, offering a package of services to help the filmmakers complete their work. Al Jazeera Balkans will present the main prize of €2,000 to the team behind the best pitch. In addition to the Beldocs Pitching Forum, the Producers Meet Producers networking event allows participants, guests and local producers to discuss various filmmaking-related topics.

The Beldocs XR Academy is a three-day programme for artists, directors and creative minds who want to explore the emerging world of immersive storytelling, with a specific emphasis on VR and 360° video. The XR Academy offers an opportunity to develop ideas through a creative approach to immersive technology. As part of a new partnership with the DOK Leipzig International Film Festival, one project will be granted the DOK Leipzig XR Award, which includes free accreditation to DOK Leipzig and access to the DOK Exchange XR conference and showcase.

Beldocs and the Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival (AJB DOC) have teamed up to launch a new programme called Balkan Young Talents. This initiative aims to support young and talented filmmakers from the Western Balkans region by providing them with a platform to develop their short documentary films. Participants will engage in two three-day workshops where they will receive guidance from experienced mentors and tutors. The schedule will feature lectures, panels and one-on-one mentoring sessions to equip the participants with the necessary theoretical and practical skills to create a ten-minute documentary on the theme of freedom. The best three to five projects will be presented to an international group of documentary film professionals during Al Jazeera Documentary Industry Days at AJB DOC, where Al Jazeera Balkans will choose the best project to be screened on their platforms in short formats.

Over 100 guests, including filmmakers and industry representatives, will attend this year's Beldocs Market, which will feature a series of industry panels and master classes. These events will focus on the importance of independent movie theatres and documentary film curation. The main themes of this year's programme include film curation, the value of movie reviews and the survival of independent cinemas. As more exceptional documentaries are being produced every year, the selection process to determine which ones make it to the big screen is becoming increasingly critical, and this topic will also be covered during proceedings. Additionally, renowned film directors, such as Travis Wilkerson, Viera Čákanyová, Nicole Foelsterl and Marte Roel Lesur, along with Angelika Ramlow from Arsenal - Institute for Film and Video Art, will lead master classes.

Here is the list of participants in Beldocs Industry Days 2023:

Docs in Development

Colors in My Eye - Dragana Latinović (Serbia)
Producer: Duška Latas (Zid Production)

Divia - Dmytro Hreshko (Ukraine)
Producer: Polina Herman (UP UA Studio)

Here, Between This Sea and Those Mountains - Keti Machavariani (Georgia)
Producer: Irina Gelashvili (Radium Films)

Hole - Danilo Stanimirović (Serbia)
Producer: Nikola Spasić (Rezon)

Hvar League - Emina Kujundžić (Croatia)
Producer: Haris Kozarić (Studio Switch)

I Made a Mistake Coming Here - Kseniya Halubovich (Georgia)
Producers: Louis Beaudemont, Paata Godziashvili (Les Steppes Productions)

Little Red Riding Hood - Parvana Guliyeva (Azerbaijan)

Punk under Communist Regime - Andrej Košak (Slovenia)
Producer: Zoran Dževerdanović (Blade Production)

Shakespeare Goes Armenian - Inna Sahakyan, Lilit Movsisyan (Armenia)
Producers: Vardan Hovhannisyan (Bars Media)

Where Do Butterflies Sleep - Simona Jerala (Slovenia)

Docs In Progress

At the Door of the House Who Will Come Knocking – Maja Novaković (Serbia)
Producers: Sarah D’hanens, Maja Novaković (Cineseedlings)

The Big Stone - Mariam Khatchvani (Georgia)
Producers: Teimuraz Chkhvimiani, Vladimer Katcharava (Svaneti Film Studio)

Bitter Sugar - Ana Barjadze (Georgia)
Producer: Irina Gelashvili (Radium Films)

Exchange or How I Survived Puberty - Nikola Polić (Serbia)
Producer: Nikola Polić (Kino radionica)

Fatherland: A Monument to Freedom - Elena Chemerska (North Macedonia)
Producer: Ivana Shekutkoska (Cinema Futura)

Heart Don’t Be Afraid - Ana Kvichidze (Georgia)
Producer: Mariam Bitsadze

Pozerskis: In Focus - Joris Skudra (Lithuania)
Producer: Justė Michailinaitė (Broom Films)

Zinema (The Ordinary Ruscism) - Kornii Hrytsiuk (Ukraine)
Producer: Yevgeniya Kriegsheim (THURSDAY)

XR Academy Projects

I Am a Cavern of Blood in the Shape of a Mind - Gaia Radić (Croatia)
Paradise Lost - Yolanda Markopoulou (Greece)
Neuroart - Marija Stojnić (Serbia)
Sonic Landscapes - Julija Castellucci (North Macedonia)

Balkan Young Talents

Alma Cocaj (Kosovo)
Ines Ezgeta (Serbia)
Katarina Majcen (Slovenia)
Marija Percinovska (North Macedonia)
Enis Prijić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Katarina Radmilović (Serbia)
Jovana Stjepanović (Serbia)
Leonid Velkovski (North Macedonia)

The 2023 Beldocs Industry Days programmes are supported by the European Union through Creative Europe – MEDIA.