Sunny Side of the Doc Unveils 2023 Pitch Selection

Sunny Side of the Doc has revealed the official pitching selection for this year’s event, which is set to take place from June 19 to 22 in La Rochelle.

The call for projects, launched in January, received 320 submissions from 56 different countries, 43 percent of which were led by women filmmakers. This year, 42 projects from 23 countries were selected to compete across seven themed pitching sessions.

The 2023 pitching sessions are Global Issues, Wildlife & Conservation, Science, History, Arts & Culture, New Voices and Impact Campaigns. New this year, the winners of each category will be announced the morning after their pitching sessions during the Awards Café on the Level-Up stage. At the end of the market, the remaining special prizes and awards will be revealed during the closing cocktail reception.

“We are delighted with the number, quality and diversity of issues, themes and formats of the projects submitted,” said Mathieu Béjot, director of strategy and development at Sunny Side of the Doc. “The selected projects come from 23 different countries and make us question major planetary issues such as migration, women’s rights, disability and, of course, the impact of climate change, which are present in all documentary genres. Stories great and small use history and humor to challenge our historic, scientific and cultural convictions by offering a diversity of perspectives, particularly from a large number of young directors and new voices. They aim to shake things up, as evidenced by the incredibly powerful projects proposed for the session dedicated to impact campaigns.”

The full official selection can be found on Sunny Side of the Doc’s website.