THIS week see more than 30 key documentary industry players from across the world arriving in Belfast for the annual Docs Ireland film festival (it runs from June 20-25).
Prominent international organisations attending will include POV/American Documentary, CAA, Field of Vision, Met Film Sales, Hidden Light, the new company headed-up by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, and Lightbox, helmed by Academy Award-winner Simon Chinn.
Docs Ireland, now in its fifth year, is the only film festival on the island dedicated solely to the non-fiction form, concentrating on all thing’s documentary - exhibition, business and talent development.
The cohort of delegates will participate in the Documentary Project Marketplace, where they will shop for ideas and talent from both established and emerging film-makers. The marketplace is networking and pitch event, a hub for funding, sales and distribution and an incubator for nurturing domestic talent to ensure the industry will continue to thrive.
Documentaries are a vital part of our local screen industry and local documentary film companies continue to punch far above their weight. Alison Millar’s award-winning Lyra; Kathryn Ferguson's critically acclaimed Nothing Compares; and more recently Cyprus Avenue’s In The Shadow of Beirut, which won the coveted prize for Best International Documentary at DocEdge Festival in New Zealand. These are just three examples, among many, of the significant success and growth potential of the industry.
The local screen sector generates around £82 million a year for the economy. Between 2018 and 2022, some £330 million was generated to support jobs and important supply chain parties.
The creative screen industry is one of five areas of focus for the Department for the Economy’s 10X Strategy. We must continue to support its rapid growth through skills development and support from external broadcasters and distributors.
With coverage in international industry publications and representation at Berlin Film Festival, the EastDoc Platform in Prague, Cannes Doc Corner, Docs Ireland is now firmly on the map of the international circuit for key decision makers. They will come to Belfast, hear from local UK and Irish film makers, explore the financing of ideas, and invest in current and future production talent.
This week will give the local industry the opportunity to sell their work to international distributors right here on their doorstep. In business it’s rare that the market comes to you. The Docs Ireland team have pulled out all the stops to make this happen right here in Belfast.
Documentary film-making is making big business across the world and Docs Ireland provides a prime opportunity for our local talent to get a piece of that action.
:: Michele Devlin is director of Docs Ireland
