For decades, Katja Raganelli’s documentaries safeguarded the stories of female filmmakers when the industry tried to erase them
European Media
Venice’s robust nonfiction selection revealed filmmakers grappling with inheritance—of land, literature, trauma, and the weight of documenting lives
In this interview, Gianfranco Rosi discusses Below the Clouds, his approach to nonfiction, and recent works’ political turn
In this interview, Federico Cammarata and Filippo Foscarini discuss their migration-focused Waking Hours and their reasons for filming in darkness
In this interview, Viktor Kossakovsky discusses leaving no stone unturned in Architecton
“Always balance, everything in balance,” intones Raul Niño Zambrano, all smiles and relaxed on the last morning of his fourth year as creative director of Sheffield DocFest. It’s an aspirational mantra for a festival that seeks to elevate the documentary art of drawing meaning from chaos; in a capsizing world that needs independent media more than ever but would rather attack it, a confident and constructive place to rally is vital. Brexit cut off Creative Europe and Creative Media funding and visa-free visits from Europe, the pandemic hammered revenue and audience habits, and the UK remains in a deep industry recession with more than half its freelance workforce out of work and its once-mighty broadcasters on the back foot. And yet the festival has steadied.
While Karlovy Vary may be best known for its star wattage and warm midsummer embrace of fiction auteurs, this year’s 59th edition (July 4–12) once again made a powerful case for documentary’s enduring vitality. Across the official selection, sidebars, and special screenings, nonfiction titles proved indispensable in reflecting Europe and the region’s evolving identities, eccentricities, and contradictions. This festival dispatch includes reviews of Grand Prix-winner Better Go Mad in the Wild, TrepaNation, Action Item, and Divia.
Slovakia’s guča films and Portugal’s Kino Rebelde have shared with Documentary Magazine an exclusive first clip from Action Item, the sophomore feature-length documentary by filmmaker and visual artist Paula Ďurinová (Lapilli). It will screen in the Proxima Competition at the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 4–12) and concurrently in the International Competition at the 36th edition of FIDMarseille (July 8–13).
Alaa Minawi’s The Liminal gives an alternative definition of “immersive” from the typical technological, digital one. In his practice, the Palestinian-Lebanese-Dutch interdisciplinary artist explores the possibilities of merging installation and performance art. The Liminal—the first part of his speculative series about Arabfuturism—is a 3.5-meter wall with 24 speakers placed inside, programmed to take the audience on a listening journey.
Documentary is proud to unveil the trailer of A Quiet Love, a powerful new feature from acclaimed Irish filmmaker Garry Keane (GAZA, In the Shadow of Beirut), which will have its world premiere later this week at Doc Edge 2025 in the festival’s Being Oneself strand.