An unmissable appointment for the funding of international documentary co-productions and for programme circulation, Sunny Side of the Doc has unveiled the line-up of its 34th edition which is unspooling 19 – 22 June in La Rochelle. Central to the event - which is expected to welcome 2,200 professionals and 90 exhibitors from twenty or so countries - are the seven themed pitching sessions for which 42 projects hailing from 23 countries (out of 320 submissions from 56 territories) have been selected this year, 46% of which are carried by women directors. In terms of the chosen European projects, Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the UK, Sweden and Ukraine will all find themselves represented.

As for the demographics of the professionals travelling to the event, Asia (notably China) will be particularly prominent, alongside Australia, Canada and Spain.

The programme put together by Mathieu Béjot (Sunny Side’s Director of Strategy and Development) also includes, as always, presentations of broadcasters’ line-ups, alongside a plethora of panel discussions and case studies, with two half-days of reflection dedicated to documentary audiences, notably young audiences (featuring a CNC study on the subject, too), not to mention sessions via-a-vis impact and on archives and how to make innovative use of them, as well as a sidebar focused on virtual reality (involving conferences, a masterclass by director François de Riberolles and a demonstration area helmed by Innovative Studio). For the record, PiXii – the International Digital Cultures Festival, which is becoming an event exclusively geared towards the general public – free and open to everyone – will now take place in the autumn, with a 7th edition planned in La Rochelle between 19 and 22 October.

The selection is as follows:

Pitch Global Issues

Climate Wars - Johan Gabrielsson
Production: Tremoniamedia Filmproduktion (Germany)

Dark Side of the Metaverse - Susan Schafer
Production: Fathom Film Group (Canada)

Grains of Paradise - Jenni Kivistö, Jussi Rastas
Production: Väki Films (Finland), Les Films D’un Jour (France)

Right-Wing Extremism: The New Terrorist Threat - Magali Serre
Production: Roche Productions (France)

Shaking Up Sake - Mikako Ito
Production: Ritornello Films (Japan)

This Is a Quiet Love - Garry Keane
Production: Curious North Productions (Ireland)

Pitch Nature & Conservation

A Year Among Wolves - Tanguy Dumortier, Olivier Larrey
Production: Le Cinquième Rêve (France), Belgica Films (Belgium)

Divia - Hreshko Dmytro
Production: UP UA Studio (Ukraine)

First Contact – Jérôme Delafosse, Fabrice Schnoller
Production: Imagissime (France)

Super Nature - Ed Sayers
Production: Nature Hunter Film (UK)

The Kimberley - Nick Robinson
Production: Wild Pacific Media (Australia)

Unspoken Souls - The Elephant's Alarm for Our Future - Koh Okuno, Mieko Saho
Production: KM Tomyam Co. (Thailand)

Pitch History

Apollo 1: Eternal Flame - Mark Craig
Production: Seventyone Films (Germany)

Diary of an Infiltrator - Samuel León, Saúl Valverde
Production: Bioesferica Filmes (Chile)

Free to Surf: a Polynesian Revolution - Benjamin Morel
Production: YAMI 2 (France)

Samantha Smith, The Little Girl Who Believed in Peace - Yannick Adam de Villiers
Production: Bonne Pioche Télévision (France)

The Srebrenica Tape - Chiara Sambuchi
Production: Docdays Productions (Germany)

Vietnam – Our Voice Unheard - Lucio Mollica
Production: LOOKS Film & TV Produktionen (Germany)

Pitch Sciences

Bolts from the Blue – The Secrets of Lightning - François Tribolet
Production: CAPA (France)

HOPE! The Greatest Opportunity Ever - Álvaro Ron
Production: El Gatoverde Producciones (Spain)

The Opposite Direction - Julia Castro
Production: Hormiga Argentina (Argentina)

The Mystery of the Desert Kites - Nathalie Laville
Production: Ma drogue à moi MDAM (France)

Science's Forgotten People - Laurence Thiriat
Production: Good to Know S.A.S. (France)

Phenomena - Josef Gatti
Production: Mashup Pictures (Australia)

Pitch Arts & Culture

Alexina B. - Alexis Borràs
Production: Digital Films (Spain)

The Sleeper - Álvaro Longoria
Production: Morena Films (Spain)

Cerrone - Disco Legacy - Olivier Lemaire
Production: Bonne Pioche Télévision (France)

Shakespeare's Folio - Raffaella Rivi
Production: Kublai Film (Italy)

Fatma Said – Reviving a Forgotten Treasure - Ralf Pleger
Production: 3B-Produktion (Germany)

Wifredo Lam: The Eternal Exile - Jean-Luc Bonefacino
Production: Mar Vivo Films (Hong-Kong/China)

Pitchs Campagne d’impact

Pülö; Bloodstream of the Kirike - Christina Ifubaraboye
Production: Imbuu Media Limited (Nigeria)

#SHOUT - Vinta Nanda
Production: One Life Studios Pvt. (India)

Marion and the River - Laetitita Moreau, Marion Sellenet
Production: Bachibouzouk et Les Poissons Volants (France)

Our Hoolocks - Ragini Nath, Chinmoy Sonowal
Production: Liminal Pictures Production (India)

The Daughter of the Volcano - Jenifer de la Rosa
Production: Auna Producciones S.L. (Spain)

The Pickers - Elke Sasse
Production: Berlin Producers Media GmbH (Germany)

Pitchs New Voices

Framing Her - Coco Wouters
Production: We Have a Plan (Sweden)

Life in the Shadows - K.D.
Production: Kamay Film (Afghanistan)

The Rabbis’ Intifada - Heather Tenzer
Production: Gefilte Fish Films (USA)

Don’t Worry Sari! - Sari Haragonics
Production: Campfilm (Hungary)

Copan - Carine Wallauer
Production: MVM Movimentos & Culturais (Brazil)

Forest Hana - Junsung Kim
Production: Water in a Glass (South Korea)