Meet the Festival Programmers / Sales Agents
29.05, 14.30 – 16.00 – ASP 1
Access with passes: Industry, Industry Pro, Industry Light, Media, Student
Presentation of the international documentary film festivals and sales agencies and discussion of the current trends in the documentary film markets – what kind of films are popular at the moment and why. What are the main criteria that programmers take into account when selecting films?
PANELISTS:
- Adriek Van Nieuwenhuijzen IDFA
- Basil Tsiokos Sundance Film Festival
- Alice Burgin Visions du Réel
- Aleksandra Derewienko CAT&Docs
- Azra Jasarevic Taskovski Films
- Raluca Iacob Lightbox
- Giuseppe Gariazzo Trieste Film Festival
- Yannis Palavos Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival
- Nadja Tennstedt DOK Leipzig
moderated by: Marion Czarny FIPADOC
PANELISTS:
- Azra Jasarevic, Taskovski Films / UK
Taskovski Films Ltd. is a London based world sales and production company of independent documentaries. We welcome innovative, playful and risky forms of filmmaking capable of engaging and surprising audiences around the globe. Our passion is discovering new talent and authorial stories. Beyond sales and production, Taskovski Films actively partners with independent documentary filmmakers, offering strategic support, fostering a collaborative space for bold visions to reach global audiences.
- Raluca Iacob, Lightbox / Switzerland
Lightdox is a Swiss and French-based international sales and distribution agency representing powerful documentary storytelling. We are passionate about high-quality author-driven documentaries with a distinctive cinematic language and emotional impact.
We tend to each film and partner with an individual approach and support filmmakers every step of the way, through festival, theatrical and non-theatrical distribution, marketing and outreach campaigns.
- Giuseppe Gariazzo, Alpe Adria Cinema – Trieste Film Festival / Italy
The Trieste Film Festival is the leading and only Italian festival focusing on Central and Eastern European cinema. Its main structure includes: 3 competitive sections: feature films, documentaries and short films, only Italian premieres. Homages, retrospectives. Industry programme: ‘When East Meets West’, a unique cross-border co-production market, with whom we co-organise ‘Last Stop Trieste’, (fine cuts of documentary films) and ‘This is IT’ (work in progress session of Italian feature films). Sidebar events: masterclasses, meetings with film professionals, kids labs, VR programmes, scriptwriting workshops, exhibitions, books presentations, concerts.
- Adriek Van Nieuwenhuijzen, IDFA / IDFA Industry / The Netherlands
IDFA is the world’s leading institute for the art of documentary film and new media. Every November, IDFA’s festival welcomes some 295,000 visits and 3,000 professionals to Amsterdam for a trend-setting program. Leading the industry are IDFA’s markets IDFA Forum and Docs for Sale, two flagship business events that documentary professionals never miss. For the world’s documentary filmmakers, IDFA offers direct support through the IDFA Bertha Fund and talent development programs.
- Yannis Palavos, Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival / Greece
Celebrating its 27th edition in 2025, the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival ranks among the top documentary festivals in Europe. An Oscar-qualifying event, TiDF has established itself as a leading platform for showcasing innovative, cutting-edge documentaries from all across the globe, fostering new talent and creating a dynamic space for dialogue and reflection on critical current affairs.
- Basil Tsiokos, Sundance Film Festival / USA
Sundance Film Festival, part of the nonprofit Sundance Institute, is the pre-eminent gathering of original storytellers and audiences seeking new voices and fresh perspectives. Since 1985, the Festival has introduced some of the most groundbreaking artists and films of the past four decades to both industry and general audiences around the world. The Festival program consists of fiction and nonfiction features and short films, episodic content, as well as conversations and other events.
- Aleksandra Derewienko, CAT&Docs / France
CAT&Docs is a Paris based sales agent company specialized in promoting and distributing globally documentaries from all over the world. CAT&Docs is looking for original documentaries, always associated with a high standard of content and form. Documentaries that explore subject matter, that are audacious, open to the diversity of the world and that have their place on the international scene; documentaries that question the world and propose new ways of looking at it.
- Nadja Tennstedt, DOK Leipzig / Germany
Nadja Tennstedt is director of DOK Industry at DOK Leipzig. From 2019 -2021 she coordinated DocSalon, the documentary platform of the EFM. Nadja held positions in marketing, sales and acquisitions at US distributors Zeitgeist Films and Milestone Films. After her return to Europe in 2011 she worked for international film festivals and markets such as the Locarno Film Festival and the Berlinale.
- Marion Czarny, FIPADOC / France
Over 8 days at the end of January, Fipadoc, brings the general audience and professionals together for screenings of a selection of outstanding documentary films in Biarritz, France. Ever more dynamic and international, Fipadoc offers a most valuable experience. It is a central stage for documentary lovers: more than 157 films & 44.085 spectators, a must-go learning space for European youth and emerging talents, a chance to foster positive action through impact and a creative whirlwind for film industry professionals.
- Alice Burgin Visions du Réel / Switzerland
Visions du Réel International Film Festival offers a ten-day film festival and four-day industry programme for creative documentaries taking place each April in Nyon, Switzerland. Visions du Réel is one of the leading non-fiction film festivals. It includes competitive sections –screening films in world, international or European premiere – as well as a few non-competitive ones, for around 170 films (of any length). The Industry activities, which bring over 1’500 professionals are dedicated to international projects at every stage, offering a wide range of opportunities, such as tutoring, co-production, funding and distribution.
Co-organiser:
