MUMBAI: MIPDOC, the international documentary market, which is a percussor to MIPTV takes place on 1 and 2 April 2006 in Cannes.
It has announced the launch of the International Trailblazers - a new initiative designed to recognise creativity and innovation in the emergence of new trends and genres in the documentary field.
The move is sponsored by the Sundance Channel and the Korean Broadcasting Institute (KBI) and organised with the support of National Film Board of Canada (NFBC).
An international selection panel made up of The International Documentary Association (IDA), The European Documentary Network (EDN), Encounters (The South African Documentary Festival) and EBS International Documentary Festival (EIDF), has chosen four visionary documentary-makers drawn from Europe, Asia/Pacific, the Americas and Africa to be the 2006 International Trailblazers.
The 2006 International Trailblazers - Khalo Matabane (South Africa), Trinh T. Minh-Ha (Vietnam) Martichka Bozhilova (Bulgaria) and Alan Berliner (USA) - will attend MIPDOC.
A special MIPDOC opening lunch will be given in their honour, bringing together the documentary professionals at Mipdoc and the International Trailblazer organisers. In addition, the International Trailblazers sponsors will offer financial support to promote the international distribution of films by the four documentary makers.
Reed Midem director of the television division Paul Johnson says, Apart from the exceptional opportunity to meet emerging and recognised talent, the International Trailblazers will also enable Mipdoc delegates to see which factors contributed to the success of the selected candidates and what it takes to make a truly great documentary.
Actor Robert Redford who also founded the Sundance Channel says, The key to pushing the documentary genre forward is the existence of filmmakers who have strong vision and are burning to tell a story their way".
The candidates of the International Trailblazers were selected according to three citeria:
- Innovation and Creativity: the use of new techniques in filming and story telling, setting trends, opening new pathways for others.
- Originality: Content that provides a model, which is different or risk-taking.
- Breakthrough: Where there is a significant difference made in the genre, such as increased audience for documentaries, press coverage, public reception.
Directly geared to non-fiction programming, MIPDOC presents an opportunity for broadcasters, producers, distributors and production companies to get close to the key players that are creating, distributing and buying the hottest titles - over 1,000 programmes in all to choose from. Most delegates register for both MIPDOC and MIPTV.
MIPDOC offers two intense days of digital viewing-including adventure, travel, current affairs, arts, music and cultural programming. It also offers an excellent conference programming, co-organised by Realscreen magazine, offering insights into the documentary business from the market's key players.
Reed MIDEM is a leading organiser of professional international tradeshows. The company hosts MIPDOC, MIPTV, MIPCOM JUNIOR, MIPCOM and MILIA for the television and multimedia industries, MIDEM for music professionals and MIPIM and MAPIC for the property sector and GLOBAL CITY for urban management specialists.
