With more than 1360 programmes - of which 80% were produced over the past 12 months - available for consultation to more than 400 international buyers, MIPDoc claims to be the largest documentary digital library in the world. According to data gathered from MIPDoc participants before the event, the priorities among acquisition executives include: current affairs, nature/wildlife and science. British companies are bringing no fewer than 200 new productions to MIPDoc and 3D documentary programmes appear for the first time this year. In addition, MIPDoc 2011 welcomes new channels from the US, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Malta, Lebanon, Thailand, Hong Kong and Brazil.
Since 2006, the MIPDoc Trailblazer programme has recognised the spirit of dedication and audacity in documentary production, coupled with innovation and creativity in narrative and technical approach. With Arab countries being honoured by the MIPDoc Trailblazer this year, husband and wife filmmakers Mai Masri and Jean Chamoun were selected by the event's partner, Al Jazeera Documentary Channel, for the outstanding quality of their work.
A graduate from the University of San Francisco, the Palestinian director Mai Masri founded the Nour Productions company with her husband, Lebanese filmmaker Jean Chamoun, who studied at the Ecole Louis Lumière in Paris. Their films explore and bear testimony to the resilience and creativity of the human being in the face of suffering and upheaval. Since 1982, they have worked for many leading international broadcasters including the BBC, Channel 4, PBS and Al Jazeera Documentary Channel, and between them have won more than 60 international awards.
Mai Masri and Jean Chamoun will be honoured at the MIPDoc Trailblazer Lunch, which will be held on Saturday 2 April, in the Majestic Hotel.
Luis Silberwasser, executive Vice-President and Chief Content Officer, Discovery Networks International, will take part in MIPDoc 2011 as keynote speaker, on Saturday 2 April. He will share his experience in a network that extends to more than 180 countries and give his views on the need to adapt documentary production to create content that addresses both a local, as well as a global audience. Luis Silberwasser will also detail Discovery's new International Production and Development unit that was developed to help create stronger channels, bolder brands and more compelling content.
Patricia Boutinard Rouelle, who was in charge of documentaries at France Télévisions for 16 years, will also be a MIPDoc keynote speaker on Saturday 2 April. She will share her considerable experience at the public broadcaster, which produces more than 60% of all documentary projects in France, as well as outlining the latest editorial developments in the documentary genre in France and looking at current and future trends in the international market. Now an independent producer, Patricia Boutinard Rouelle will sketch her vision of what a producer's role entails in a marketplace where demand for factual programming is both growing and becoming increasingly formatted.
As with this year's MIPTV, the theme of co-production is prominent across MIPDoc 2011. After the success of 2010, the Co-Production Initiative is back again 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, on Saturday 2 April, a jury of eminent specialists, presided over by Hamish Mykura, 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.
On Sunday 3 April, the Financing for New Co-Production conference will focus on several particularly adventurous and innovative models for international co-production used by ZDF (Germany), Boréales (France) and NHK (Japan).
Given the growing importance of social networks and on-line communication tools, "crowdsourcing" now allows filmmakers and documentary producers to reach out directly to countless potential partners and investors. On Sunday 3 April, the conference 'Crowdsourcing: The Frontier of Documentary Funding' will explore the merits of this new method of financing. This will include a study of the research and selection criteria of this diverse range of investors, defining their prerogatives for return on investment, and the specific rules of production which must be applied to ensure that projects built on this new economic model see the light of day.
The Co-Production Lounge will be open to participants throughout MIPDoc and MIPTV for working sessions and networking around specific meetings with documentary heads from the BBC, Arte France, Sveriges Television (Sweden) and YLE TV Documentaries (Finland).
"At the heart of the rich line-up 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, 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."
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