Montreal, Monday, November 24, 2025 - The professional market of the 21st edition of Forum RIDM, presented by the Canada Media Fund (CMF), officially gets underway today, and continues until November 26. 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 Antonio Pezzuto (Giornate degli Autori), Walter Forsyth (Lunenburg Doc Fest), Mariam Zaidi (Hot Docs), Marko Grba Singh (IDFF Beldocs), Milton Guillen (Camden International Film Festival / Points North Institute), Maarten Stoltz (Movies That Matter), Babette Dieu (DOK Leipzig), Claire Lasolle (FID Marseille), Amada Torruella (True/False, NOFF), Morgane Ferrero (Festival Regard), Wanling Chen (Taiwan International Documentary Festival / Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute), Madeline Robert (Visions du réel), Marianne Thodas (DOXA), Margot Mecca (Festival dei Popoli), David Montenegro (FICCI - Cartagena de Indias International Film Festival), Moustapha Sawadogo (FESPACO), Alexandra Roberts (TVO), Tyler Wilson (Film at Lincoln Center) and Leonard Cortana (EURODOC).
The market was launched this morning at the Cinémathèque québécoise’s Salle Norman-McLaren with the Opening Breakfast: People First, in Front of and Behind the Camera, presented by Bell Fund. Behind the camera, professionals face very real challenges: performance pressure, balancing personal and professional lives, occasionally toxic work environments, economic instability, etc. Moderated by Line Sander Egede, producer at TAK Films and UPPCQ Board Member, this roundtable discussion with panelists Marianne Berthelette, Director of Services and Chair of the Board of Directors, Centre psychologique pour artistes (CPPA) and Leonard Cortana, Inclusion Programs and Strategic Partnerships manager at EURODOC, had shared a collective reflection on the need to build a more caring, inclusive, and sustainable work culture in our industry, where caring for one another becomes as fundamental as telling stories.
Three Doc Lab Montréal sessions will take place within the RIDM Forum. Moderated by Mila Aung-Thwin, filmmaker and producer at EyeSteelFilm, the Doc Lab Montréal Pitch - Horizons (November 24) 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. The Pitch Doc Lab Montréal - Short & Sweet (November 25), for its part, highlights eight 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, 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.
Presented over two days, Rough Cut Pitch - Against the Grain (November 24) and Rough Cut Pitch - Horizons (November 25) 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, Italy, Réunion Island (France), and Taiwan.
Enjoying great success year after year, the Expert Round Tables (November 24 and 25) 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 Al Jazeera Documentary, APFMC, Beldocs IFF, Camden International Film Festival / Points North Institute, Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre, CBC, CineGround, Circle Training Initiative, Coalition M·É·D·I·A, DOK Leipzig, DOXA Documentary Film Festival, EURODOC, EyeSteelFilm, FESPACO, Festival dei Popoli, FICCI, FIDMarseille, Film at Lincoln Center, Filmoption International, Fonds Bell, Giornate degli Autori, INDOX, Intuitive Pictures, La Distributrice de films, Les Films du 3 Mars, Les valseurs, Metafilms, MetFilm Sales, More Than Films, Movies That Matter, NOFF, ONF/NFB, POV, Rise and Shine, SODEC, SPIRA, Sundance Institute, Taiwan International Documentary Festival, Télé-Québec, Téléfilm Coproduction, Téléfilm Programmes Cinéma, Travelling Distribution, True/False, TVO, Vidéographe, Visions du réel, Vital Distribution, Welcome Aboard and Yzanakio will participate in the four expert round tables organized this year.
Also on the program is the International Co-production Matchmaking activity (November 24), which aims to connect producers from the international delegations attending the 2025 RIDM Forum with local producers, in order to foster networking and encourage international co-production of documentary projects. And the Matchmaking event between Doc Lab Montréal filmmakers and producers (November 25), a series of one-on-one meetings connecting producers and Doc Lab Montréal filmmakers with shorts, mediums or feature-films projects. A valuable opportunity to discuss potential collaborations.
Among the many discussions and case studies of this 21st edition, let’s highlight a few essential ones: To Circulate Is to Exist: The Stakes of Documentary Reach (November 24), Doc Hour - Short-Form Documentary: Creation, Funding, and Distribution Challenges (November 24), Management and Entrepreneurship at the Heart of Creation (November 25), Creating, Distributing, Connecting: Challenges and Levers for the Documentary Ecosystem (November 25), Between Story and Action: Contemporary Activist Documentary (November 25), Deconstructing Biases in Film Criticism (November 26), and Memory in the Age of Digital Storytelling (November 26), as well as the lesson in cinema Sounds and Images: Boundaries and Intersections in Documentary Filmmaking - with O Grivo (November 26) open to all.
At the end of each day, happy hours will be a great opportunity to celebrate and spark enriching exchanges in a casual setting. The Forum’s closing cocktail will be held on Wednesday, November 26 at 5 p.m. in the Norman McLaren room and will be highlighted by the awards ceremony celebrating the projects from Doc Lab Montréal and the Rough Cut Pitch, along with other distinctions.
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. Roundtables, conferences and workshops on major current issues will bring together over 500 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 21st edition, presented by the Canada Media Fund (CMF), is taking place until November 26, 2025.
at the Cinémathèque québécoise, National Film Board of Canada and UQAM - Coeur des sciences, Salle Polyvalente (SH-4800), Pavillon Sherbrooke
Information: ridm.ca/en/forum-ridm / forum@ridm.ca
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For interview or visual material requests, please contact:
Caroline Rompré | pixelleX communications | 514-778-9294 | caroline@pixellex.ca