SA trailblazer for MIPDOC 2007

Paul Johnson, director of the Television Division for Reed MIDEM, says, “The second edition of the International Trailblazers will honour eight emerging and acknowledged filmmakers who through their creativity and desire to tell a story in their own way are pushing the documentary genre forward. MIPDOC delegates will have the opportunity to share the vision of some truly exceptional documentary producers.”

The eight selected works have been drawn from Europe, Asia/Pacific, the Americas and Africa and chosen by an international selection panel made up of well-known documentary associations and festivals. The selection panel is made up of: The International Documentary Association (IDA - USA), Hot Docs (Canada), The European Documentary Network (EDN - Denmark), Encounters (South Africa), EBS International Documentary Festival (EIDF - South Korea) and the association of all Japan TV Programs (ATP - Japan).

Sundance sponsor

For the second consecutive year, the event is sponsored by the Sundance Channel and organised with the support of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). The International Trailblazers will take place at MIPDOC, which will be held on 14 and 15 April 2007, in the Intercontinental Carlton Hotel, Cannes.

The eight candidates were selected according to:

• 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...

The 2007 International Trailblazers are

• Marshall Curry (USA, selected by IDA)
  
• Larry Weinstein (Canada, selected by Hot Docs)
  
• Paolo Trombetti (Italy, selected by EDN)
  
• Uldis Cekulis (Latvia, selected by EDN)
  
• Jean-Marie Teno (Cameroon, selected by Encounters)

  Vincent Moloi (South Africa, selected by Encounters)

• Gan Chao (China, selected by EIDF) and
  
• Nao Kubota (Japan, selected by ATP)

All eight Trailblazers will attend MIPDOC, where a special MIPDOC Opening Lunch will be given in their honour, bringing together the documentary professionals at MIPDOC and the ‘International Trailblazer’ organisers.

13% rise in participation

MIPDOC 2006 saw a 13% rise in participation, with 432 companies from 57 countries. 385 acquisition executives attended and production and sales companies sent 1189 programmes to the digital screening library of which 769 were appearing at the market for the first time. There were a total of 26000 screenings over the two days.

Following the first edition of the International Trailblazers at MIPDOC 2006, two films have been acquired by the Sundance Channel, Conversations on a Sunday Afternoon, directed by Khalo Matabane (South Africa) and the documentary Georgi & the Butterflies, produced by Martichka Bozhilova (Bulgaria).