Montreal, Monday, November 25, 2024 - The professional market of the 20th edition of Forum RIDM, presented by the Canada Media Fund (CMF), officially gets underway today, and continues until November 27. This gathering attracts over 400 documentary industry professionals from around 20 countries, all engaging in an intensive program of conferences, discussions, networking activities, and pitch sessions.
This edition is marked by the presence of important industry representatives, including Beatrice Fiorentino (Settimana Internazionale della Critica), Nadja Tennstedt (DOK Leipzig), Jamie Sweeney (MUBI), Giovanni Marchini Camia (Locarno Film Festival), Anna Berthollet (Lightdox), Zeynep Güzel (Berlinale Talent Doc Station), Marja Diaz (National Geographic), Wouter Jansen (Square Eyes), Marie Berthoumieux (ARTE FRANCE), Madeline Robert (Visions du réel), and Léonard Cortana (EURODOC).
The market was launched this morning at the Cinémathèque québécoise’s Salle Norman-McLaren with the Opening Breakfast: Towards a Fairer, More Inclusive Industry, presented by SODEC. While progress has been made in recent years, much remains to be done to ensure genuine and sustainable diversity in the industry. Constant vigilance is required to ensure that progress translates into tangible results. Where do we stand, and how can industry practices further improve to accommodate a wider variety of voices and perspectives? The discussion moderated by Daniela Mujica, producer and cofounder of Coalition M-É-D-I-A, was held with Debra Zimmerman, executive director Women Make Movies, and Léonard Cortana, Inclusion Programs and Strategic Partnerships manager at EURODOC.
Four Doc Lab Montréal sessions will take place within the RIDM Forum. During the first session Doc Lab Montréal Pitch - Calling All Producers! (November 25), accredited Forum RIDM producers have the opportunity to meet with four Doc Lab Montréal filmmakers from Quebec, who are looking for collaborators for their projects. A window onto captivating projects from diverse horizons, reflecting the vitality of Quebec documentary film.
The Doc Lab Montréal Pitch - Against the Grain (November 25) presents six feature film projects. Daring works that challenge the conventions of documentary cinema and reexamine our perceptions of the world. The Pitch Doc Lab Montréal - Short & Sweet (November 26), for its part, highlights 10 projects of Quebec and Canadian short and medium-length films, a format that serves as a veritable playground for the industry’s emerging new voices. Finally, the Doc Lab Montréal Pitch - Horizons (November 26) unveils six feature-length documentary projects, captivating stories that plunge us into the heart of unique journeys that place humanity at the core of their concerns.
Presented over two days, Rough Cut Pitch - Horizons (November 25) and Rough Cut Pitch - Against the Grain (November 26) offer a unique showcase for auteur documentary projects in editing or post-production. Participants will present their projects in a pitch session to renowned industry professionals. This year's projects hail from Canada, Senegal, Italy, Taiwan, Mexico and Brazil.
Enjoying great success year after year, the Expert Round Tables (November 25 and 26) offer to accredited and pre-registered participants the opportunity to meet with many local and international experts of their choice, allowing them to ask targeted questions and deepen their understanding of their counterparts' areas of expertise. These sessions provide particularly enriching exchanges between industry players, fostering valuable networking and professional development.
Representatives of Bell Fund, Berlinale Talents, Catapult Film Fund, CBC, Cineground, Cinéma du Réel, Directors Guild of Canada, DOC-Cévennes, DocsMX, DOK.fest München, DOK Leipzig, EURODOC, EyeSteelFilm, Festival En ville!, FIDBA, FIDMarseille, h264, Hot Docs, Hutong Productions, Icon Docs, Intuitive Pictures, Kino Rebelde, La Distributrice de films, Les Films du 3 Mars, Locarno Film Festival, Lightdox, National Geographic, Points North Institute, Split Screen, Square Eyes, Stlouis’Docs, Telefilm Canada, Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, Travelling, Utopia Docs, Venice International Film Critics’ Week, Visions du réel, Vital Production, VraiVrai Films, Welcome Aboard, Women Make Movies and Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival will participate in the four expert round tables organized this year.
Among the many discussions and case studies of this 20th edition, let’s highlight a few essential ones: Intercepted: An International Co-production (November 25), Breaking into the International Market (November 25), Reinventing Co-production Between Francophone Regions (November 26), Navigating Sensitive Topics (November 26), and Cinematography in Contemporary Documentary Film (November 27).
At the end of each day, happy hours (November 25, 26 and 27) will be a great opportunity to celebrate and spark enriching exchanges in a casual setting.
PASSES
Passes for Forum RIDM activities can be purchased via the Forum’s website and are available until the end of the industry market.
About Forum RIDM
Forum RIDM aims to stimulate the production and distribution of independent documentaries, both nationally and internationally, by promoting the exchange of information and meetings between the various professionals in the documentary industry. Discussions, conferences and workshops on major current issues will bring together over 400 filmmakers and representatives of various production, broadcasting and distribution companies over five days.
About the Canada Media Fund
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) fosters, develops, finances, and promotes the production of Canadian content and applications for all audiovisual media platforms. The CMF guides Canadian content towards a competitive global environment by fostering industry innovation, rewarding success, enabling a diversity of voices, and promoting access to content through public and private sector partnerships. The CMF receives financial contributions from the Government of Canada and Canada’s cable, satellite, and IPTV distributors.
Forum RIDM’s 20th edition, presented by the Canada Media Fund,
will take place from November 22 to 27, 2024
at the Cinémathèque québécoise, National Film Board of Canada and UQAM - Coeur des sciences, Salle Polyvalente (SH-4800), Pavillon Sherbrooke
Informations: ridm.ca/en/forum-ridm / forum@ridm.ca
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Media contact: Caroline Rompré | pixelleX communications | 514-778-9294 | caroline@pixellex.ca