FOUR POLISH (CO-)PRODUCTIONS AT DOCSBARCELONA PRO
Four Polish productions and co-productions are among the projects selected for DocsBarcelona Pro, the industry section of DocsBarcelona, which will take place from 9 to 14 May. It is one of the key events for documentary filmmakers developing projects at various stages of production. This year, the organisers received more than 670 submissions, and 63 projects from nearly 40 countries were selected for the mentoring, advisory, and funding programmes.
As the organisers emphasise, this year’s selection foregrounds a diversity of perspectives, narratives, and formats, while the chosen titles will receive support tailored to their stage of development and specific needs. Among them are four projects with Polish production involvement, which will be presented in different sections of the industry programme.
Selected for the Public Pitch, which includes 12 documentary projects in development or production, is “Diary of Experiences” – a Polish-Czech production directed by Dorota Roś and produced by Zofia Kujawska. The film follows Konrad, who loses his voice after laryngeal cancer surgery and works on an AI-based device intended to help him speak again. Over time, his attempt to regain his voice becomes a journey toward reclaiming intimacy, belonging, and identity.
In the Rough Cut Pitch section, dedicated to projects in the final stage of editing, “About a Boy and the Building / Four Winters in Edificio Cuba” will be presented – a co-production of Poland, France, Cuba, and Spain, directed and produced by Aleksandra Maciuszek. The film follows ten years in the life of Yeison, his family, and his friends, whose everyday existence unfolds in a Havana tenement building threatened with demolition. It is a story of growing up and of community in Cuba after the era of Fidel Castro’s rule.
Two further projects were selected for the Speed Meetings format – a series of short meetings bringing together filmmakers and producers with industry professionals, from commissioning editors and sales agents to fund representatives and festival programmers. One of them is “Trains Towards the Night” – a Spanish-Polish project directed by Patricia Venti and produced by Patricia Venti and Karolina M. Mikołajczak. The film is constructed from fragments of Nazi propaganda from Theresienstadt and examines what emerges through its cracks – its silences and absences – becoming a reflection on the very construction of the image.
The second project in this section is “Words We Never Say” – a co-production of Poland, Bulgaria, Germany, and Spain directed by Agnieszka Zwiefka and produced by Agnieszka Zwiefka and Izabela Igel. The film tells the story of a mother and daughter standing on opposite sides of a growing political conflict. Against the backdrop of the rise of the far right, they embark on a journey through Poland, Europe, and the United States, restaging their past disagreements within the space of a film studio.
The full list of projects selected for the programme can be found here.
The photo is from the website Business Doc Europe.