New markets for Basque documentaries, at Sunny Side of the Doc
Euskara. Kultura. Mundura.
The Sunny Side of the Doc documentary fair ended on Thursday in La Rochelle, and Basque companies worked tirelessly to internationalize Basque documentary films under the brand Basque Audiovisual, created by the Etxepare Basque Institute and EIKEN the Basque Audiovisual & digital content cluster.
The Sunny Side of the Doc documentary fair ended on Thursday in La Rochelle, and Basque companies worked tirelessly to internationalize Basque documentary films under the brand Basque Audiovisual, created by the Etxepare Basque Institute and EIKEN the Basque Audiovisual & digital content cluster.
In general, the result has been very positive, and the Basque works have created great interest. Interest in the Basque Audiovisual documentary catalogue came from television broadcasters and distribution companies from England, the Near East, Africa, Italy, Canada, France and Ireland.
Sunny Side of the Doc has once again demonstrated an increase in its activity. David Berraondo of Sincro Produccion admits that it has been the best edition to date. Among others, he reached an agreement to sell the work “Arte al agua! The Cod Fishermen of Newfoundland” to Rai TV Italy. He also brokered a deal with an international distributor for this documentary, and found a partner for a new audiovisual project.
The director Alfredo Torrescalles told us that Fascina Producciones sold the documentary “Les paupières fermées de la Centrafrique” to one of the most important international television channels: Canal +. Izaskun Arandia from Izar Films also found a distributor in England for the work "My way out", and tells us that she has also opened new lines of work. Catherine Ulmer, on the other hand, has contacted different stakeholders to invite them to the Lau Haizetara Co-production Forum of the San Sebastian International Film Festival. In general, the producers have had the chance to meet partners for co-producing their projects.
Producers who attended the fair for the first time also took advantage of the international trends of the sector (interactive documentaries, virtual reality, payment channels or via the Internet...), and learned what kind of projects are of interest to the leading buyers around the world. In general, it was a great opportunity to get to know the high level of the producers of European documentaries.