Between 9 and 19 May, the Spanish capital will play host to the 16^th edition of DocumentaMadrid. The prestigious festival sponsored by the Madrid City Council will offer an array of activities and screenings at cultural centres in seven neighbourhoods on the outskirts of the city, as well as in its usual venues: the Madrid Cineteca, the Spanish Film Library, the Casa de América, the Reina Sofía Museum, the Institut français in Madrid, the Círculo de Bellas Artes, Warehouse 0 at Matadero Madrid, the Sala Equis and the Complutense University of Madrid.

The prizes up for grabs in the various sections – the value of which comes to a grand total of €52,500 – will be fought over by such titles as The Hidden City [+lire aussi :
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interview : Víctor Moreno
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fiche film] (Cuba/Argentina/Spain) by Argentina’s Francisco Marise; The Fourth Kingdom [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], a film shot in New York by Adán Aliaga and Àlex Lora; By the Name of Tania [+lire aussi :
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interview : Mary Jimenez, Bénédicte Li…
fiche film] (Netherlands/Belgium) by Bénédicte Liénard and Mary Jiménez; Charleroi, the Land of 60 Mountains (Belgium) by Guy-Marc Hinant; the world premiere of Eric Pauwels’ Belgian movie Journal de septembre; Madame [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] (Switzerland) by Stéphane Riethauser; Midnight Traveler [+lire aussi :
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Some of the most high-profile special guests due to visit the gathering are feminist filmmaker Sarah Maldoror; Austria’s Ruth Beckermann, who scooped the Best Documentary Award at the 2018 Berlinale with the striking The Waldheim Waltz [+lire aussi :
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interview : Ruth Beckermann
fiche film] and who will give an overview of how her films explore historical memory; and Carlos Casas, together with his incomparable experimental movies. In addition to free morning sessions for primary and secondary schools, a range of topics will be broached in myriad parallel activities, such as the relationship between artificial intelligence and art, the importance of sound in documentary production, the editorial policy of the ARTE channel and the future of independent production. Indeed, as the directors of the gathering, Andrea Guzmán and David Varela, pointed out, “DocumentaMadrid aims to establish a channel enabling dialogue between filmmakers and industry experts, in order to spark a constant and free-flowing debate. This will provide a raison d’être for this idea of creating a community of movie buffs, which we want to be part of the very definition of this festival.”

Likewise, it should be noted that DocumentaMadrid is, for the second year running, hosting the Corte Final Professional Documentary Film Forum, where auteurs will get the opportunity to share their works in progress with experts and consultants. The projects selected for this edition are: In a Whisper [+lire aussi :
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interview : Patricia Pérez et Heidi Ha…
fiche film] (by Patricia Pérez and Heidi Hassan, produced by Cuba’s Producciones de la 5ta avenida and Spain’s Matriuska Producciones), La educación sentimental (directed and produced by Spaniard Jorge Juárez), La Mami [+lire aussi :
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interview : Laura Herrero Garvín
fiche film] (by Laura Herrero Garvín, staged by Mexico’s Cacerola Films and Spain’s Gadea Films) and Pedra Pàtria (by Macià Florit Campins, a production by Spanish outfits Elsabeth produccions and La Perifèrica). The above works will also be competing for a prize that is intended to aid the creators during the final phases of production, as they put the finishing touches to their film, and which will also give a boost to its promotion. Said award will be handed out by a clutch of companies and institutions, including Aracne DC, DRAX audio, NUMAX, DOCMA, Festhome and 36 caracteres.