MIPDOC 2020 PREVIEW MAGAZINE

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PREVIEW March 2020

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MIPDOC KEYNOTE KATE WARD

Vice Studios President

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WORLD PREMIERE TV SCREENING TRAFFICKED WITH MARIANA VAN ZELLER

Disney Media Distribution

EXCLUSIVE WORLD PREVIEW NEILL BLOMKAMP’S MAKWEREKWERE, AN AFRICAN TRAGEDY

Otago Productions and Oats Docs

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CONTENTS

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PREVIEW

NEWS

• Vice Studios’ Kate Ward

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• Disney’sTrafficked With Mariana Van Zellar

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• Otago’s Makwere-Kwere, An African Tragedy 12 8

March 2020 www.mipdoc.com // DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS // Paul Zilk // MARKETING DIRECTOR // Mathieu Regnault / EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT / Editor in Chief Julian Newby Sub Editor Joanna Stephens Proof Reader Debbie Lincoln Editorial Management Boutique Editions Head of Graphic Studio Herve Traisnel Graphic Studio Manager Frederic Beauseigneur Graphic Designer Carole Peres / PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT / Publishing Director Martin Screpel Publishing Manager Amrane Lamiri / MANAGEMENT & SALES TEAM / Director of the Entertainment Division Jerome Delhaye Director of the Television Division Laurine Garaude Deputy Director Television Division Lucy Smith MIPTV Conference Director Amandine Cassi Director of Market Development Ted Baracos Programme Director Tania Dugaro Director of the Buyers’ Department Benedicte Touchard Marketing Director Bastien Gave Executive Producer, Conferences Julie Lechenault TV Division Sales Director Geraud de Lacombe UK Sales Director Vanessa Van Santen Smith Director UK Sales Music & TV Division Javier Lopez SVP Sales & Business Development Robert Marking VP Sales Louis Hillelson Sales Director Manual da Sousa Director of Visitors Sales North and Latin America Matthew Rosenstein Sales Manager Noah Buchwald Sales Manager Hugo della Motta Sales Director Sylvain Faureau Sales Director Aude Dionnet Sales Director Peggy Voutyras Sales Managers Paul Barbaro, Nancy Denole, Samira Haddi, Cyril Szczerbakow, Hicran Lefort, Pascale Lallemand Head of Sales, Buyers Yi-Ping Gerard Sales Executive, Buyers Laetitia Rouis-Carrero Australia and New Zealand Representative Natalie Apostolou China Representatives Anke Redl, Tammy Zhao, Kristian Kender CIS Representatives Alexandra Modestova Germany Representative Marc Wessel India Representative Anil Wanvari Japan Representative Lily Ono Middle-East Representative Bassil Hajjar Spain Representative Maria Jose Vadillo South Korea Representative Sunny Kim Taiwan Representative Irene Liu

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• Multiplatform factual content from companies around the world 15

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MIPDOC PREVIEW •

PRODUCT NEWS

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news: MIPDOC

‘We are in a golden

age of documentary’ VICE Studios: Building A Global Powerhouse, is the title of a planned MIPDoc keynote from Kate Ward, president of Vice Studios, the international television and feature-film production arm of Vice Media Group.

Producing across all genres, Vice’s documentary output has made headlines in recent years, with titles including Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened and Mexico rebellion, crime and corruption series 1994, for Netflix; The Murder Of Charlene Downes, for the UK’s Channel 5; and The Brexit Storm: Laura Kuenssberg’s Inside Story, for BBC2.

“It’s an interesting time for us as we are expanding — for example now we’ve been joined by [female-focused global media company] Refinery 29 and we are now the largest independent company for young people — and I think that’s a great moment to take stock and come to the industry to explain what exactly Vice Studios is and what we are up to, as a global production company offering premium content for third parties,” Ward said In factual, Ward said Vice offers “populist, human and unexpected stories”. Of The Brexit Storm, for example, she said that the film captured “a seismic moment in a way that was very uniquely Vice”; and in the case of Fyre, “everybody thought they knew that story until they saw the film”.

With some 35 offices around the world, producing around 1,700 pieces of content every day, Ward said that the global nature of the company gives Vice “powerful and deep access to stories that are really shaping us, and reflects the increasingly global nature of documentary storytelling from around the world. That is shown in our films that are getting traction this year.”

She said that rather than specifically targeting a millennial age group, the company’s output focuses on stories that reflect the world around us and which naturally interest an age group with a vested interest in that world. “We have a culture at Vice that has always been incredibly talent-driven. I think maybe on the editorial side and on the digital side it’s been more about hearing new voices, but we’ve also had long, creative partnerships with some of the world’s best talent. For example we’re very proud to have worked with Chris Smith (Fyre), and Diego Osorno (1994), and I think we

have really become a place where talent and big-name directors really feel comfortable collaborating and working with us.”

Documentary output around the world has changed radically in the past 15 years or so, with a wider international perspective and a greater breadth and depth of subject matter. So is this down to digital, the streaming giants and the on-demand nature of so much output that didn’t exist before? “I think there’s no question that we are in a golden age of documentary.

I think it’s a thrilling prospect that documentary films of all

Vice’s Kate Ward

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• March 2020

shapes and sizes — whether they are shorts, all the way through to features — are getting the audiences that they have long deserved and not always had,” Ward said. “It’s really exciting to see how stories from around the world and foreign-language stories are going mainstream.

Do I think that has been catalysed by some of the streamers?

Yes. But you can also see by the commissions from the linear broadcasters, that they are as competitive and passionate about the form as ever. So it’s the entire ecosystem. And ultimately it all comes down to the brilliance of the directors, the producers, the researchers who find and want to tell these stories. The flood of great content that we’re now seeing is actually the culmination of many, many years of work. So I don’t want to paint it as an overnight phenomenon.”

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NEWS: MIPDOC WORLD PREMIERE TV SCREENING

Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller: shedding light on the black economy In the eight-part series Trafficked With Mariana van Zeller, distributed by Disney Media Distribution and produced by National Geographic, journalist van Zeller is on a dangerous mission to track the chain of custody of trafficked goods in an attempt to delve into who and what is behind the world’s multi-trillion-dollar shadow economy. The documentary series was chosen as the MIPDOC World Premiere TV Screening

M

ARIANA van Zeller is an award-winning investigative journalist.

Her 2016 documentary Death By Fentanyl, which tracked the sources of the deadly drug, was honoured with a DuPont Award, which rewards excellence in broadcast and digital journalism. For the film Rape On The Reservation, which focused on the increased incidence of rape and sexual violence on American Indian reservations, she received the Livingston Award for Young Journalists. And her investigation into prescription drug abuse and pill trafficking, The OxyContin Express, won a Peabody Award, a Television Academy Honor and an Emmy nomination.

She knows danger. So how does a journalist and filmmaker minimise personal risk when going deep into such risky territory?

“There is a lot of work that goes into minimising the risks involved in shooting a series like Trafficked With Mariana Van Zeller. Before we even hit the ground there are endless conversations, meetings and plans put in place to make sure that we’re doing this as safely as possible,” she said. “But, at the same time, when you’re dealing with criminal networks, anything can happen. From my experience, things can go south when, and where, you least expect it. For example, when we were shooting the Iron River, after a long day spent with the cartel, surrounded by armed assassins, we returned to our hotel in Culiacan. And as I was getting ready to go to bed, I got a call from our local producer who said there was a shooting happening just outside our rooms. A man had been shot next to the lobby and several gunmen were now surrounding the hotel — one of

the nicest and safest hotels in the city, definitely not the place you’d expect a shooting. Once the police arrived, the situation calmed down. Miraculously, the man who was shot survived, but only until the next day, when the same gunmen walked into the hospital where he was being treated and finished the job.

Culiacan is wild.”

While filming Trafficked With Mariana Van Zeller, what surpised her was how much of this criminal activity happens in plain sight. “I discovered while filming this series that black markets are all around us. They don’t always exist in some hard-to-find underground world,” she said.

“I was in Peru and saw counterfeit US dollars being made in a printing shop at a shopping mall. On the coast of Mexico, I met gun smugglers who dressed as tour-boat operators so they could blend in with the local scene. It’s incredible how close

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• March 2020

we are to all of these underground economies.”

And a lot of the people operating in these markets are a lot more like us than we would prefer to admit. “They are mothers, fathers, sons and daughters — regular people who didn’t necessarily grow up wanting to be criminals, but they did this either because of necessity, to feed their families, pay the bills, or because it was the easiest and fastest way to make money.”

Van Zeller believes we can learn from the people involved in this dark and illegal world.

“What we understand to be the traditional economy is exhaustively measured and examined.

Mariana van Zeller “I met gun smugglers who dressed as tour-boat operators so they could blend in with the local scene”

© Muck Media/National Geographic

Mariana van Zeller, filming Trafficked in Jamaica

Television networks, magazines, news sites and hundreds of public and private organisations are dedicated to monitoring every aspect, trend and IPO,” she said.

“But 60% of the world’s employed population works outside of that economy in the ‘informal’ economy, which is poorly

understood and, by nature or design, not easy to measure or quantify. Accessing the criminal parts of this shadow economy is always an adventure; for me, that’s part of the appeal. But it’s also knowing that once you’re in, you get to witness what very few outsiders ever do: a universe MIPDOC PREVIEW • 9

governed by its own laws and power structures that teaches us a whole lot about our own.”

Trafficked With Mariana Van Zeller filmed across diverse locations including Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Jamaica, Israel, Thailand, Laos and the US. “Black markets and traffick• March 2020

ing networks know no bounds.

It usually all boils down to simple supply and demand,” Trafficked With Mariana Van Zeller executive producer and showrunner Jeffrey Plunkett said. “In one episode, Mariana traces the trafficking of Fentanyl from Mexico to the US —

NEWS: MIPDOC WORLD PREMIERE TV SCREENING looking to expose anyone, but rather to gain insight into these networks and the motivations of the people who run them. We know that our access depends on us being true to our word and building trust. Much of this comes after our team sits down with the ‘bosses’, shares a meal and is able to talk face-to-face about what we’re looking to do.

Most of the time that works out, and sometimes it doesn’t.

In the episode about counterfeit money in Peru, Mariana sits down with the boss of one of these operations. We thought the night was a success when the boss turned to Mariana and said: ‘Mi reina (my queen), tomorrow I’m going to show you the most incredible things.’ But when we arrived at the meeting spot the next night, they didn’t show up, and we were back to square one.”

There’s also physical danger to contend with on such shoots.

“There were a lot of memorable events,” Plunkett said. “We hiked down the Amazon jungle in the dark, looking for a cocaine lab — while trying not to step on poisonous snakes or spiders — and then had to race back when we heard that we’d been spotted and were in danger. We have never climbed a hill so fast!

Another unforgettable moment happened in the Golden Triangle, in Southeast Asia. We were looking into the trafficking of tigers and tiger parts and had heard rumours that tiger-bone wine was being sold at a casino complex in Laos. We had to go undercover as tourists, so we didn’t call attention to ourselves.

But eventually we got our hands on a bottle of tiger-bone wine, which confirmed a criminal link that we had been investigating

for months.”

So what motivates van Zeller and others to engage in this kind of work? “I’ve always been a very curious person, and I grew up with a firm sense of right and wrong,” van Zeller said. “I was initially motivated by stories about injustice, but as I began to dig further into some of the worlds I was reporting on, I learned that things aren’t always so black and white. The stories I find most interesting are those that exist in a grey area, where there aren’t simple answers.”

‘We are excited about our combined factual slates from National Geographic and FX Docs,” senior vice-president, content sales, Europe and Africa – The Walt Disney Company, Media Distribution, Manuel Alduy, said. “We have lot of compelling and world-class factual content to share with buyers.” © Muck Media/National Geographic

from one of the world’s biggest drug suppliers to the biggest consumer. In another episode, she re-traces that same route in reverse, following American guns to the hands of Mexican cartels — from the most heavily armed nation in the world to a country that officially has only one gun store. Supply and demand in this case is a twoway street.”

The business of filming and negotiating with lawbreakers — and staying on the right side of the law while doing so — is complex. “The premise of the show is to take people inside worlds they’ve never seen. There are a lot of negotiations that happen along the way in terms of ground rules for filming; more often than not we agree to protect locations and identities, and we take that very seriously,” Plunkett said. “We’re not

Mariana van Zeller, filming Trafficked in Colombia

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South Africa documentary finds hope amid turmoil and division

MIPDOC Exclusive World Preview Makwere-Kwere, An African Tragedy is a documentary from Oats Docs, the production company formed by South African documentary maker Neill Blomkamp and French company Otago productions.

Directed by Blomkamp and produced by Otago’s Guillaume Leb-

eau, it was filmed in South Africa in January of this year and focuses on post-Apartheid divisions in the country where extreme poverty in many parts of the land is pitching black people against themselves.

The film captures the violent expression of intolerance instilled in so many Africans “caught in the turmoil of an unprecedented

but deeply rooted crisis”, Lebeau said. “It’s a very current subject — whether or not a number of communities can find a way to live together in peace in South Africa. The film tells the stories of a number of men and women who went to jail to defend their freedom — people who try their hardest to make a life in South

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MIPDOC PREVIEW • 12 • March 2020

Africa despite the local hostility of so many. But there are many success stories too, from a country whose history places a lot of tension upon its people.”

The main witness in the 90-minute documentary is Eugene, who came from Malawi to South Africa and meets a number of people who talk about their extraordinary lives. The hope and optimism in the film comes from the people who are brave enough to speak out, “always with courage, hope and honesty”, Lebeau said.

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FOR PRODUCERS & DISTRIBUTORS

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Here we highlight some of the factual content from companies around the world

DCD RIGHTS UK-BASED distributor DCD Rights highlights a new Australian documentary series, Aussie Bull Catchers (10 x 30 mins). Every year, during Australia’s dry season, a handful of courageous men and women make a living catching feral bulls and buffaloes.

The search begins in the air, as the bull catchers fly helicopters over the vast, remote Outback.

A deal is then struck with the landowners: in exchange for access to the land, the bull catchers share the profits they make from selling the beasts at the cattle Aussie Bull Catchers (DCD Rights) market.

3BOXMEDIA INTERNATIONAL SALES COLOGNE-based 3Boxmedia has a line-up of new factual titles, including: Climate Exodus (1 x 52 mins), a documentary about three women from India, Kenya and the Caribbean who have lost everything to climate change; Secular, a series about people from the Middle East who now live in Europe but do not practice Islam; Island Of The Hippos (1 x 50 mins/4K), about the world’s only saltwater hippos who inhabit West Africa; Rivers Of Croatia; and Queens Of Orango (1 x 52 mins/4K), about the Bissago community of Guinea-Bissau, in which women administer justice, manage the crops and are equally feared Climate Exodus (3Boxmedia International Sales) and respected.

FRANCE TV DISTRIBUTION DENISOVA Unveiled (2 x 45 mins/1 x 90 mins) looks at the history and latest findings regarding these ancient humanoids — distinct from Neanderthals — and first identified in the Siberian mountains. Denisova Unveiled travels to Siberia, Tibet and Pap- Denisova Unveiled (France tv ua New Guinea on the trail of the distribution) Denisovans, in an effort to profile this previously unknown human who has emerged from the past. The Galaxie Presse production is brought to the international market by France tv distribution.

DOGWOOF HILLARY is a TV series from Oscar-nominee Nanette Burstein that profiles the senator, former First Lady and presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. The documentary interweaves revealing moments from never-before-seen 2016 campaign footage with biographical content. Featuring exclusive interviews with Rodham Clinton, Bill Clinton, friends and journalists, the series examines how she became at once one of the most admired and also most vilified women in the world.

Hillary (Dogwoof)

FLAME DISTRIBUTION FLAME Distribution is launching a range of new titles, including: Britney Spears Breaking Point (1 x 60 mins), which explores the fragile connection between superstardom and mental health over a 14-month period in the life of pop star Britney Spears; the third season of Scrap Kings (20 x 60 mins), following a group of British demolition experts; Fascinating New Zealand (1 x 90/ 2 x 52 mins); and Greta Thunberg: The Voice Of The Future (1 x 60 mins), the story of the Swedish teenager who has inspired a Britney Spears Breaking Point global climate movement.

(Flame Distribution)

HG DISTRIBUTION HG DISTRIBUTION is launching 4K documentary series Four Paws Educator (4 x 60 mins). In each episode, a socially-challenged teenager spends 10 days at an equestrian farm. Spending time with horses helps the teenager experience a climate of trust, enhancing their skills and building confidence.

Another priority for the Quebec-based distributor is Adventure Guides (40 x 52 mins), which profiles individuals who work off the beaten path, sharing their expertise with clients who crave adventure.

Four Paws Educator (HG Distribution)

MIPDOC PREVIEW • 15 • March 2020

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DAEHAN MEDIAWORLD

MEDIAWAN

SEOUL, South Korea-based Daehan Mediaworld highlights World Music, The Portrait Of Culture (4 x 52 mins/4K/UHD), an art and music series exploring how music is shared and performed in different cultural traditions internationally. Featured artists and genres include: a young South African rapper, a hip-hop musician inspired

by Zulus; Brazilian bossa nova and Cuban salsa. Another priority for the company is Let’s Play, The Cultural Heritage In Asia (2 x 52 mins), looking a traditions of children’s play World Music, The Portrait Of Culture (Daehan Mediaworld) around the world.

FRENCH distributor Mediawan is launching Green Blood (4 x 52 mins), a documentary series about forty journalists who are continuing the work of local journalists that have been threatened, jailed or killed as a result of their investigations into the environmental cost and rapid expansion of mines in Tanzania, Guatemala and India. Another new title is archaeology documentary Medina Azahara – The Lost Pearl Of Al-Andalus (1 x 90 mins), developed for France Televisions, which focuses on this, one of the world’s most important Islamic archaeological sites, including animation, re-enactments and CGI.

PRIME ENTERTAINMENT GROUP THE RANGE of documentaries in Prime Entertainment Group’s catalogue includes: Moulin Rouge – Behind The Magic (1 x 52 mins/HD/4K), unveiling the work that goes into producing three shows a night, every week; Women On Death Row (1 x 52 mins), profiling women facing the death penalty in the US, through exclusive interviews and investigations; and Palm Springs (1 x 52 mins), exploring the city that is considered to be the most tolerant place in the US.

Medina Azahara – The Lost Pearl Of Al-Andalus (Mediawan)

CINEFLIX RIGHTS THE CLOWN And The Candyman (4 x 60 mins) concerns the disappearance of hundreds of teenage boys across North America in the 1970s.

Many were brutally murdered by serial killers John Wayne Gacy, known as the Killer Clown, and Dean Corll, known as The Candyman. This series follows investigators as they try to identify the remaining victims and thereby uncover a network of abusers. Another factual series from London-based Cineflix Rights is Building Historic Homes (8 x 60 mins), featuring people who transform historic buildings into dream homes.

ODIN-MEDIA

Women On Death Row (Prime Entertainment Group)

ZED THE ZED roster includes The World According To Modi (1 x 52/75 mins), about the rise of India’s new leader, which includes interviews with relatives, political opponents and experts. Rivers Above The Canopy (1 x 52 mins) is an in-house production exploring the crucial yet little-known scientific phenomenon of ‘flying rivers’. The Paris-based distributor also highlights Her Name Was Grace Kelly (1 x 52/90 mins), an intimate portrait of Grace Kelly through the eyes of her family.

Rivers Above The Canopy (ZED)

RUSSIAN distributor Odin-Media marks the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII with a line-up of titles, including: Stalingrad (2 x 52 mins) and Kursk (2 x 52 mins), two documentaries using unique archives and personal stories; Combat Approved (200 x 40 mins), a state-of-the-art exploration of combat innovations including the newest war robots, the quietest submarines, modern drones, air fighters, firearms and protective suits; The Great Exploration Of Siberia (1 x 52 mins), a story of Cossacks exploring Siberia for four centuries; and docu-drama Urartu.

The Forgotten Kingdom, about a mysterious state in the Combat Approved (Odin-Media) ancient world.

MIPDOC PREVIEW • 17 • March 2020

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ALBATROSS WORLD SALES

ALLEYCATS FILMS

A HIGHLIGHT from the factual slate of German distributor Albatross is Gorillas Under Stress (1 x 52 mins/4K), which looks at the fate of the last mountain gorilla populations on Earth. Other titles include: Beasts & Witches (4 x 52/43 mins/4K), looking at how animals have become the victims of superstitions; The Rhone (1 x 52 mins/4K), following the course of one of Europe’s major rivers; and Out Of Europe – A New Story Of Human Evolution? (1 x 52 mins/4K), presenting new evidence which questions what we know about our origins.

ALLEYCATS Films title Lost Kingdom Of The Black Pharaohs (1 x 60 mins) is a documentary that reveals the story of how for nearly 100 years ancient Egypt was ruled by a dynasty known as the Black Pharaohs, from Kush in what is now Sudan. Now more than 30 international teams of archaeologists are working with Sudan’s Department of Antiquities to excavate magnificent sites — from pyramids to temples — along the Sudanese Nile Valley, revealing an ancient African superpower.

Gorillas Under Stress (Albatross World Sales)

DEUTSCHE WELLE (DW) TWO TITLES top the factual slate for Germany’s DW. Six-part series Displaced focuses on the causes of the historical negative record of migration, including Venezuela, Ghana and Guatemala. The series examines the links between international trade policy and migration and why some countries become a political football for the great powers USA, Russia and China. Marking the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven, the three-part series, Beethoven, looks at the enduring success of Beethoven’s 9th symphony, featuring extraordinary musicians who interpret the piece in new and different ways, sometimes forging ties to the musical tradition of their home countries.

Displaced (DW)

TERRANOA

Lost Kingdom Of The Black Pharaohs (Alleycats Films)

LAGARDERE STUDIOS DISTRIBUTION A NEW slate of documentary films is presented by France’s Lagardere Studios. Shipwrecks: When History Resurfaces (6 x 52 mins) explores six of the world’s most spectacular underwater disasters; Sea Power: A Story Of Battleships (4 x 52 mins) focuses on the stormy history of 20th century naval warfare; Amazing Animal Families (10 x 52 mins) looks at strong ties that bind extraordinary animals; China’s rivalry with the West is explored in Who Is Afraid Of Huawei?

(1 x 52 mins); Rise And Fall Of Carlos Ghosn (working title/1 x 52 mins) is a portrait of the high-profile and high-stakes busi- Shipwrecks: When History Resurfaces nessman.

(Lagardere Studios Distribution)

NEW TERRANOA titles include: Wonders Of Northern Europe (5 x 52 mins/4K); Decolonisations (3 x 52 mins); and Globesity, a global investigation into this health issue. Two new Terranoa projects searching for co-financing partners are Moochie, Who Killed Jill Halliburton Su, a six-part true-crime series co-produced by Canal Plus, covering an ongoing murder investigation in Florida; and Children Of Chaos, What Became Of WW2 Orphans (1 x 90 mins), exploring the fate of the 15 million orphans across Wonders Of Northern Europe (Terranoa) Europe after the war.

MIPDOC PREVIEW • 19 • March 2020

ZDF ENTERPRISES (ZDFE) ON THE documentary roster from Germany’s ZDFE are: Great Inventions (35 x 50 mins), which looks at the successes and failures of ideas, some brilliant and some not so, and how they transformed the world; and Anthropocene – The Rise Of Humans (3 x 50 mins), looking at the thirst for innovation and technology that turned humans into the most influential life-forms on Earth.

Great Inventions (ZDFE)

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BOAT ROCKER STUDIOS

KWANZA

HEADING the factual slate for Toronto’s Boat Rocker Studios are: Living Colour (1 x 60 mins), featuring scientists who are fascinated by how humans experience colour and the extraordinary people who see colour in remarkable ways; and Coded World (4 x 60 mins), which features Anjan Sundaram, an author, journalist and mathematician, who travels the world meeting the people who are designing the codes that are part of everyday life in the modern world and those affected by this algorithmic revolution. The series also explores how this phenomenon is changing what we might become in the future.

KWANZA’s new factual slate includes the documentary The World According To Trump (1 x 52 mins/70 mins), which explores key moments of the controversial first term of President Donald Trump, and is planned for release ahead of the upcoming US elections. Other titles from France’s Kwanza include: 4K travel series Treasures Of Europe (15 x 52 mins); Secrets Of The Ancient Builders (5 x 52 mins/4K), profiling Petra, the Alhambra, Old Jerusalem, the Acropolis and Easter Island; Maya: Ancient Metropolis (3 x 52 mins/4K); and Naval Legends, a four-part series that uses 3D reconstitutions and archive footage to profile naval battles of the 20th century.

CINEPHIL TEL AVIV-based Cinephil highlights We Are The Thousand (1 x 85 mins). The film tells the story of Rockin’ 1000, a group of people in Italy who got together to perform a song in tribute to their favourite rock band, The Foo Fighters.

The project, which became a viral sensation, came to include over 19,000 musicians, amateurs and We Are The Thousand (Cinephil) pros from every age group and social background, united by their passion for rock’n’roll.

PASSION DISTRIBUTION IN OCEAN Autopsy (1 x 90 mins), leading oceanographer Helen Czerski explores the North Sea aboard the research ship RV Pelagia. Along with a team of scientists, Czerski attempts to provide a health check on a massive scale by carrying out new scientific research to find out what is happening to Earth’s oceans. Another priority for the UK’s Passion Distribution is Future Warfare (4 x 60 mins), which looks at the some of game-changers in military capability and equipment that are resetting the character of current and future warfare.

LOOKS FILM THE TRAP. 40 Years Of War In Afghanistan (4 x 52 mins) is a documentary from Leipzig, Germany-based Looks Film. In the early 1970s Kabul was referred to as the Paris of Central Asia and Afghanistan was a relatively liberal country, a destination for hippies in search The Trap. 40 Years Of War In Afghanistan (Looks Film) of uncontaminated beauty, cheap drugs and exotic adventures. But under the surface, Afghanistan was at a crossroads between East and West, Islam and Communism, tradition and modernity. When the communists seized power, these contradictions exploded and a chain of wars began. The film includes rare or previously unseen archive film and photos.

MONSTER ENTERTAINMENT IRELAND’s Monster Entertainment is co-producing and distributing the eighth season of the MGMM-produced music series Video Killed The Radio Star (13 x 22 mins). The new series will premiere on Sky Arts in the UK and features archive and original interviews from major artists including Pink Floyd, Beyonce and Coldplay. Each episode discusses the impact this new technology had on the industry in the early days.

Video Killed The Radio Star (Monster Entertainment)

MIPDOC PREVIEW • 20 • March 2020

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ARTE DISTRIBUTION

BALANGA

TOPPING the slate from ARTE France is a documentary that profiles Auguste Escoffier, a man who revolutionised French cooking and the dining experience. Escoffier was a legendary chef at luxury hotels, including the Ritz in Paris The Birth Of Haute Cuisine (ARTE Distribution) and the Savoy in London, and set a new model of organisation, uniforms and hygiene in the kitchen, as well as recipes, presentation and service. The Birth Of Haute Cuisine (1 x 52/90 mins/UHD), uses re-enactments, archives and interviews with chefs from around the world.

PARIS-based distributor Balanga’s documentary War Wrecks (4 x 52 mins) tells the stories of the numerous ships, planes and tanks that disappeared during WWII missions. Other titles include: Titans Of Battlefields (10 x 52 mins), which looks at tanks from both historical and technological perspectives; Bolero (1 x 52 mins), investigating the influence of Ravel’s composition on modern artists; and Gaudiopolis, The Republic Of Children (1 x 52 mins), which tells the incredible story of the city of orphans who built their own democracy, court and parliament in Budapest after WWII, thanks to Gabor Sztehlo, a pastor who rescued hundreds of children.

CORUS STUDIOS BIG TIMBER (8 x 60 mins) features Kevin Wenstob, an independent logger in the rain forests of the US Pacific Northwest, where he and his team work to get as much wood as they can from his mountainside claim to his sawmill before winter comes. It’s dangerous work, prices are falling, and mills are closing as people he has worked with for 30 years call it quits. But Kevin is going for broke to take his family’s operation to the next level. Big Timber is produced by Big Timber Media in association with Corus Studios.

War Wrecks (Balanga)

PBS INTERNATIONAL THE GENE: An Intimate History (4 x 60 mins/2 x 120 mins/HD) is a new documentary from Ken Burns and Barak Goodman, about the stunning revolution in genetics that is transforming medical science. PBS also showcases: The Choice 2020 (1 x 114 mins/HD), a Frontline special dedicated to the two presidential candidates; I, Sniper (6 x 60 mins/HD) about the 2002 incident in Washington, DC when two snipers killed at random from the trunk of their blue Chevy, featuring the investigators, the victims’ families and, for the first time, the surviving shooter; and Amazon Empire: The Rise And Reign Of Jeff Bezos (2 x 60 mins/1 x 120 mins/HD).

Big Timber (Corus Studios)

FREMANTLE DOCUMENTARY special Apocalypse Cow: How Meat Killed The Planet features environmental campaigner George Monbiot who examines how the way we feed ourselves, particularly meat, affects the planet. Monbiot looks at alternative food sources and how freeing grazing land can allow Apocalypse Cow: How Meat Killed The re-wilding with forests that can Planet (Fremantle) capture carbon. In a powerful sequence vegan Mobiot shows that he is prepared to make a personal sacrifice, by killing a deer, to allow trees to re-grow in the Scottish Highlands.

The Gene: An Intimate History (PBS International)

SUBMARINE AMSTERDAM- and LA-based studio Submarine and French production company Pumpernickel Films have partnered with media expert Douglas Rushkoff to create Exponential, a four-part series telling the story of how the digital economy is spinning out of control. Rushkoff looks at the amusing, terrifying and hopeful aspects of the history of the internet. ARTE has commissioned the series through its German partners WDR and RBB. Submarine and Pumpernickel Films will handle worldwide distribution.

MIPDOC PREVIEW • 21 • March 2020