In the wake of its 24th edition, Sergi Doladé, the director of the Sitges-based Medimed Doc Market, explains the main challenges for, and impact of, the Euro-Mediterranean Documentary Market.

Cineuropa: Could you please provide an overview of the Medimed Doc Market and its significance to the documentary film industry? What makes it unique and valuable for documentary filmmakers and producers?
Sergi Doladé: For the last 24 years, the Medimed Doc Market has offered a full-service documentary pitching forum and buyers’ market in Sitges. It has become a key destination for films related to the Euro-Mediterranean region, and is the leading event in the Euro-Mediterranean landscape for documentaries.

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European and Mediterranean filmmakers can find co-production partners, finance their projects and distribute their docs centring on a topic of any kind, as well as being able to meet financiers, sales agents and festival programmers from all over the world. Each year, more than 400 films are selected for the video library, and over 280 production companies, sales agents, decision makers and buyers attend the market. On this occasion, 56 projects were selected from among the 300-plus submissions, which were presented in the different sections of the market.

The Medimed industry forum is a four-day, purely B2B marketplace that is not a side event of a film festival, so it can therefore focus solely on the matter of co-financing and circulating films. Because of its particular characteristics, it has the know-how to facilitate access to larger EU and international markets for new professionals, creating networks with production companies while presenting the same opportunities for all.

How has the Medimed Doc Market evolved and adapted to the changing landscape of documentary filmmaking, especially considering the impact of digital platforms and the global reach of documentaries?
Medimed was a pioneer in the incorporation of new narrative and interactive languages in documentary, with the creation of Medimed Cross Training. This aims to establish a meeting place between the best European web-doc projects and some of the top international experts and financiers. The will is to jointly build a space for work and exchange between the parties, to strengthen the propositions presented and, at the same time, to offer an event from which to promote the Spanish cross-media industry. In a relaxed and creative environment of coexistence with the mentors, the participants have the opportunity to learn about and delve deeper into the selected projects (all of which are in the development phase), as well as offering their producers feedback that allows them to improve their projects. At the same time, it is a unique opportunity to get in touch with web-doc projects that could be of interest to potential partners.

Regarding the digital platforms, there has been an active effort to stay up to date with the current trends in the digital market. We have brought along experts to present topics of interest, such as distribution strategies and business opportunities, to our attendees. Delegates from the main digital platforms regularly attend Medimed, looking for both projects in development and completed films.

Can you share some success stories or notable outcomes that have resulted from the Medimed Doc Market, such as documentaries that secured funding or distribution deals as a result of their participation?
Over the years, Medimed has been a major change agent in the scope of international co-productions of Southern European Mediterranean documentaries and has been a key player in terms of increasing their sales both within the EU and outside it. To date, our activities have proven to be very effective in facilitating European independent producers’ access to the international market through networking with key investors from leading television networks, film funds and distributors.

Since 2000, we have helped raise the necessary financing for the production of an average of 78% of the docs pitched at the forum, and more than 1,000 films have been broadcast on dozens of TV stations in Europe and abroad, thanks to sales and pre-buys.