MIPDOC Gears Up for Two-Day Event

PARIS: The 13th edition of MIPDOC is expected to host more than 800 participants from April 2 to 3 at the Carlton in Cannes, with more than 1,360 programs available for screening, marking the largest digital library of documentaries in the world.

British companies are bringing no less than 200 new productions to MIPDOC and 3D documentary programs are available for the first time this year. In addition, MIPDOC 2011 will welcome new channels from the U.S., Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Malta, Lebanon, Thailand, Hong Kong and Brazil.

With Arab countries being honored by the MIPDoc Trailblazer program this year, husband and wife filmmakers Mai Masri and Jean Chamoun were selected by the event’s partner, Al Jazeera Documentary Channel, to be recognized at the event. Masri and Chamoun will be honored at the MIPDOC Trailblazer Lunch, which will be held on Saturday, April 2, at the Majestic Hotel.

Luis Silberwasser, the executive VP and chief content officer at Discovery Networks International, serves as keynote speaker, on April 2. He will share his experience and give his views on the need to adapt documentary production to create content that addresses both a local and international audience. Silberwasser will also discuss Discovery’s new international production and development unit.

Patricia Boutinard Rouelle, who served as the head of documentaries at France Televisions for 16 years, will also be a MIPDOC keynote speaker on April 2. She will share her experience at the public broadcaster, along with outlining the latest editorial developments in the documentary genre in France and looking at current and future trends. Rouelle is now an independent producer, and will speak about her vision of what a producer’s role entails.

The theme of co-production is present throughout MIPDOC. The Co-Production Initiative is back this year to help documentary producers in the development of their projects and their search for partners and financing. During the MIPDOC Co-Production Challenge, a jury of specialists, led by Hamish Mykura, the head of documentaries at Channel 4, will judge the six short-listed documentary projects, chosen from the 56 submissions this year. The winning entry will be promoted and supported during MIPDOC to help it complete financing and go into production. The Financing for New Co-Production conference will focus on several innovative models for international co-production used by ZDF of Germany, Boreales of France and NHK of Japan.

The conference Crowdsourcing: The Frontier of Documentary Funding will explore the growing importance of social networks and online communication tools as a new method of financing doc projects. This will include a study of the research and selection criteria of the diverse range of investors and the specific rules of production. The Co-Production Lounge will be open to participants throughout MIPDOC and MIPTV for working sessions and networking around specific meetings.

"At the heart of the rich lineup of the 13th edition of MIPDoc, we are delighted to welcome such outstandingly talented filmmakers as Mai Masri and Jean Chamoun, as well as leading figures in the documentary field like Patricia Boutinard Rouelle and Luis Silberwasser," said Laurine Garaude, the director of Reed MIDEM’s Television Division. "This year, with strong conference topics covering co-production and crowdsourcing, with more than 800 participants expected and more than 1,360 films registered in the MIPDOC digital library available to international buyers, MIPDOC is once again an essential event for executives in the documentary sector."