(L-R): Stuart Sloan and Róisín Geraghty from Docs Ireland with filmmaker Trevor Birney at the Docs Ireland Marketplace event today in 2 Royal Avenue. The marketplace brings together documentary makers and funders from around the world in a space where they can strike deals to help fund ground-breaking new documentaries.
Leading names in documentary filmmaking including Dogwoof, Hidden Light, Hot Docs, Breakout Pictures and CAA have visited Belfast to attend the Docs Ireland documentary film festival.
Alongside its packed cinema programme, Docs Ireland hosted several industry focused events aimed at introducing local filmmakers to some of the world’s most important film financiers and production houses.
Now in its fifth year, Docs Ireland is steadily growing and attracting some of the biggest names in the global documentary film industry to meet local filmmakers and hear their pitch.
Docs Irelands market place brought together documentary makers and funders from around the world to create a space in which they can strike deals to help generate ground-breaking new documentaries.
Hosted by audience designer Síle Cully, a range of panels and discussions on Engaging Audiences took place. Panels included a talk from NOISE Film and TV on documentary film PR and a conversation with leading documentary sales agents.
Additionally, there were also three keynote industry panels including:
The Place of Markets Documentary Landscapes with guest speakers from Cannes, IDFA, Documentary Association of Europe and East Doc.
A discussion on current trends in the documentary market hosted by BAFTA Award winning filmmaker and documentary trainer Andy Glynne. BBC NI, BBC Storyville, POV, RTÉ, S4C, TG4, YLE and more will be represented.
The Festival Programmers Session with Mads Mikkelsen (Head of Programme CPH.DOX) and Heather Haynes (Associate Director of Programming Hot Docs).
The Northern Ireland Screen Pitch will also take place tomorrow (24 June) for filmmakers to pitch their documentary idea to industry professionals with the possibility of being awarded £7500.
Róisín Geraghty, Head of Industry and Marketplace at Docs Ireland said:
“At Docs Ireland, our key aim is to support the island of Ireland’s documentary filmmaking community.
“We do this through our core industry initiatives - the Docs Ireland Marketplace, the IGNITE Talent Development Programme and the Northern Ireland Screen Pitch, and through our ancillary industry events and networking opportunities, which cater to filmmakers at all stages of their careers.
“This year we hosted sessions exploring current trends in non-fiction festival curation, met with international broadcasters to discuss their commissioning practices, and focuses on engaging audiences for documentary film, as well as collaborating on events with Screen Producers Ireland and Creative Europe Desk Ireland. We also continued our long-standing partnership with Doc Society, hosting an Emerging Talent Day with the aim of fostering creativity and conversation, disseminating information and boosting the confidence of new storytellers to develop their creative non-fiction filmmaking practice.
“I do hope that there was something that piques the interest of every documentary filmmaker within this year’s programme.”
Docs Ireland is funded by Northern Ireland Screen, Belfast City Council, Department of Communities, Film Hub NI, BFI FAN, Screen Ireland and Arts and Business and proudly sponsored by TG4, BBC Northern Ireland, Birra Moretti and Hastings Hotels.