Sunny Side of the Doc, the industry’s leading international event for co-production financing and full program circulation for both linear documentaries and digital and immersive experiences, is holding its 35th edition from June 24-27, at Espace Encan in La Rochelle.
The international event brings together more than 2,000 delegates from over 70 countries, including content creators (producers and directors), decision makers (broadcasters, streamers, foundations, museums, social networks, sales agents) and industry professionals related to content creation (archives, music, etc.) to sell or buy projects and programs, and find the right business partners.
The 35th edition of Sunny Side of the Doc invites the international community to think about the future of our ecosystem, about the future of the documentary genre itself, to try to map it as a whole. The resulting questions will be the common thread of the event, feeding the selected projects in the seven proposed categories (science, nature and conservation, global issues, history, art and culture, new voices, impact campaigns), including the usual five specialized factual sessions.
This year, 42 projects from 21 countries have the privilege of competing for the Best Pitch Award. The selected projects will be presented in seven thematic sessions, all supported by key industry partners. Winners in the categories “science”, “nature and conservation”, “global issues”, “history”, “art and culture” will receive a cash prize of €3,000. Winners in the “new voices” and “impact campaigns” categories will receive a cash prize of €2,000 each.
On the other hand, Sunny Side of the Doc has this year a program entirely dedicated to Australia, co-produced with French and Australian institutions and organizations. The event will include, in particular, an Australian pavilion, matchmaking sessions with producers from the country and will welcome Australian industry professionals from the First Nations association.
Sunny Side of the Doc continues to expand and enhance the innovation section of its program for industry professionals. This year, for the first time, five creative teams will be selected as part of the Innovation WIP call for entries and will benefit from personalized support to help them develop their project.
It is worth mentioning that Doc Services, the organizing company behind Sunny Side of the Doc, joined the 1% for the Planet network, whereby each year 1% of its commercial turnover will be donated to associations working to protect the environment and biodiversity.
