"WAR WATCHERS" AT HOT DOCS FORUM

We already know the titles of the projects which qualified for this year's edition of Hot Docs Forum. Among the productions, which will be shown in Canada, there is the project by Vita Maria Drygas, "War Watchers."

This year's edition of the Hot Docs festival takes part from 27 April to 7 May. Within the frames of the festival, a number of industry events will be held, one of which is Hot Docs Forum, which will last two days: May 2 and 3.  The forum is the meeting place for producers, commissioning editors, buyers, financing institutions, representatives of film funds and other professionals dealing with documentary film. The producers have the chance to present projects which are at various stages of film-making and find co-producers and sources of financing. Every year, Hot Docs Forum is visited by approximately two hundred representatives of television channels, funds and film festivals from Europe, Asia and the Americas. During two days of the Forum, they have the opportunity to watch presentations of over a dozen selected projects. Each presentation lasts 15 minutes, 7 minutes out of which is are for the people representing the project, whereas the remaining 7 minutes - for the answer of the decision-making people.

This year, over 200 projects were submitted to Hot Docs Forum, however, 19 productions from 18 countries of the world, including Poland, qualified for the participation in the event. During Hot Docs Forum, the project of the co-production "War Watchers," directed by Vita Maria Drygas, will be shown. The film’s producers are Drygas Production (Poland), Braidmade Films Ltd. (Great Britain), Bekke Films (Belgium), MiroGraph LLC (Ukraine) .

"War Watchers" is a documentary film dealing with the subject matter of war tourism. It portrays the people who, with the help of tourist agencies and under the watchful eye of bodyguards, travel to the zones overrun by conflicts or to the front lines. The documentary film asks questions about the reasons behind people's decisions to go on such journeys, as well as what the consequences are.

The project "War Watchers" has already been shown in La Rochelle, France, at Sunny Side of the Doc, and also in China at GZDOC.

Last year, the project "Over the limits" by Marta Prus participated in Hot Docs Forum, two years ago, "Reporter" by Magdalena Szymków was shown in Canada, and in 2013, "Rocket Man," produced by Fundacja Moma Film and  the company Digital Sputnik, was presented during the pitching.

The full list of qualified projects can be found on the website of Hot Docs Forum.