20/06/2017 - La Rochelle is once again throwing open its doors to documentary professionals from all over the world, for an edition that will be historic yet innovative, bucking the trend of "fake news"

Director Yves Jeanneau presents the 28th Sunny Side of the Doc (© Sunny Side of the Doc)

Yves Jeanneau, director of big La Rochelle-based documentary event Sunny Side of the Doc, the 28^th edition (19-23 June 2017) of which will once again take place by the sea in the shadow of the town’s famous Medieval towers, bringing together big international stakeholders in documentary film, has announced in no uncertain terms that this year we need to go back to focusing on the seriousness of bringing true stories to audiences, regardless of the filmmaker’s point of view or form used. As at the heart of the impetus that drives all documentary makers, what unites them, is the desire to go against all forms of propaganda, censorship and dominant ways of thinking, to check and re-check the facts and encourage critical thought through their stories. "No Fake News": this is the watchword of this year’s edition, which is also looking to address itself to a young audience used to things being watered down and formatted.

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The theme of History, crucial in this year of elections being held all over the world, and starting with a reflection on lessons from the past, will be the guiding thread of the activities, conferences and market debates, the number of participants for which continues to grow, creating an increasingly level divide between French professionals (around 54%) and international professionals, from Asia (China, Thailand, Japan) and Australia to Brazil and Canada, along with Spain, Italy and the Nordic countries. 

Among the operators set to attend the event at the Espace Encan in La Rochelle, in addition to producers and distributors, are big distributors (ARTE, Groupe France Télévisions, AB Groupe, Japan’s NHK, Austria’s ORF, Switzerland’s RTS, etc.), institutions (including Europe Creative Media), image archive providers and music creation and publishing agencies, as well as "Innovation Zone & French Creative" specialists, who support documentary makers through the change and renewal currently ongoing as a result of the multiplication of methods and formats for consuming content.

In this regard, new to this year’s addition is the autonomous PiXii section (acronym for "Paths of Interaction, eXperiences in Immersion & Innovation"), aimed at both professionals (in the morning) and the public (in the afternoon) to introduce them to new types of VR content through different experiences: augmented reality, 360° video, 3D audio recordings, etc.

Also worth mentioning, for an even more enriching experience of the event, is that a free Sunny Side of the Doc application has been created.

(Translated from French)