Sunny Side of the Doc 2019 shone the spotlight on Germany, a country that’s hugely important when it comes to documentary co-productions and distribution and is one of the most active on a European scale. You couldn’t attend the dedicated sessions in the German Lounge at #SSD19? Get the chance to replay our podcasts directly on our website, when you want and where you want during the summer.

 

 

 

 

Sunny Side of the Doc 2019 wishes to shine the spotlight on a country that’s hugely important when it comes to co-productions and distribution and is one of the most active on a European and international scale. This special line-up will be centred on conferences, workshops and networking events with major players from the German documentary market.

 The 30th edition of Sunny Side of the Doc takes place at the Espace Encan in La Rochelle, France. Located near the beautiful La Rochelle harbour waterfront at Quai Louis Prunier, BP 3106 17033, La Rochelle cedex 1, France. Full AGENDA 2019 click here.

 

 CEO german films Simone Baumann with Anja Unger and Björn Jensen, representatives german documentaries

 

For the 30th edition of the international marketplace for documentary and narrative experiences, Sunny Side of the Doc has chosen Germany as this year’s Country in Focus. What’s more, to celebrate this anniversary year, we’re showcasing the notion of 'Documentary needs Europe'. This 4-day long marketplace taking place on 24 to 27 June in La Rochelle is packed with many events and will be attended by the most important regional and national producers and distributors.

 

 

OPENING COCKTAIL OF THE GERMAN FOCUS sponsored by Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Monday, June 24 2019 at Muséum d'Histoire naturelle de La Rochelle

 

GERMAN DELEGATION GET TOGETHER — german documentaries invites participants to celebrate the German projects and co-productions at this Year's Sunny Side of the Doc, Wednesday, June 26, 5-6:30pm at the german documentaries Umbralla B5

A diverse and enlarged pavilion Sunny Side of the Doc will welcome a large delegation of producers, buyers and distributors from Germany (114 in attendance in 2018). With support from German Films, the national information and advisory centre for the promotion of German films worldwide, members of the AG DOK professional association of independent producers will be gathered together at a pavilion alongside more than 12 well-known and up-and-coming production companies including:Fruitmarket Arts & Media GmbH,  Vidicom Media GmbH, a&o buero filmproduktion, fechnerMEDIA GmbH, NEW DOCS, Längengrad Filmproduktion GmbH, Karbe Film GmbH, COIN FILM GmbH, Vision Airways GmbH, 4ED1 and G-FILMT Grabmann Film und TV Produktion

 

 

 


Simone Baumann, Managing Director of German Films: “Germany has one of the largest theatrical and TV markets in the world and it has a very strong tradition in producing and coproducing documentaries. Sunny Side of the Doc is one of the most important international coproduction platforms – German producers are coming here for years to present and to promote their own projects and also to join the projects of their foreign colleagues. German Films together with AG DOK celebrate the 30th edition of Sunny Side of the Doc and we are looking for interesting new projects and cooperations.“


 

 

 

 

PITCH SELECTION: five pitching sessions across the week (Monday, June 24 – Thursday, June 27 2019) will see creative teams from all over the world pitch their projects in development, in front of 300+ international decision makers and distributors, guided by expert moderators. 36 original projects from about 18 different countries that will be pitched live for funding and industry leaders’ insight at 30 Sunny Side of the Doc.

 

DISCUSSION Documentaries between Cinema, Television and Platform  at the German Lounge, Tuesday, June 25, 15:00-16:00 More films are produced each year than can ever be programmed at festivals, in cinemas, Television and platforms. What strategies can be adopted at the moment to make documentaries seen? What’s about docuseries? Can they reach new public?
Moderated by Arne Birkenstock - CEO and producer of Fruitmarket Arts & Media GmbH with Christiane Hinz - Head of TV documentary department culture/history WDR, Christian Beetz – CEO & producer gebrueder beetz filmprod., Luzia Schmid - Director and Diego Buñuel - director, Original Documentary Features (EMEA) Netflix. Sponsored by Film- und Medienstiftung NRW.

MEET THE PRIVATE GERMAN BROADCASTERS at the German Lounge, Tuesday, June 25, 16:00-17:00 "For years you’ve been trying to understand the German Market without any success. In order to put an end to your nightmare, the private broadcasters are a growing reliable solution to enter this complex Market, come and meet them." Moderated by Sebastian Sorg – Funding Executive FFF with Axel Gundolf – Director TV National Geographic, Patrick Hörl – Founder and MD Autentic, Claudia Braunstorfer - Commissioning Editor Planet and Gabi Nensel – Head of Primetime N-TV. Co-produced with DOK.fest Munich.

NEW S***, OLD PARTNERS - Producing High-End Non-Fiction Series with public broadcasters at the German Lounge, Wednesday, June 26, 11:00-12:00. Following the emergence of platforms, much of the existing market today faces an uncertain future. Can the European model reinvent itself to serve the formats of the digital age? This case study presents a multi-party coproduction of a modern series. Moderated by Daniel Saltzwedel – funding advisor Medienboard, Christian Beetz – CEO & producer gebrueder beetz filmprod., Imke Meier Commissioning Editor ZDFinfo, Søren Schumann - Head of Department - RBB/ARTE ARD / RBB - Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg. Sponsored by German Films.

World of Wonders – Encounters with the Blockchain at the German Lounge, Wednesday, June 26, 15:30-16:30. Blockchain will deeply affect the film industry in the near future. The workshop will introduce this new technology and highlight the benefits of financing and distribution of films, providing the opportunity to ask questions you never dared to ask. Moderated by Benjamin Hoguet – author nouvelles narration with Eugen Nussbaum – Senior Producer & Corporate Development Welt der Wunder Senderbetrieb GmbH. Hosted by Creative Europe Desk Germany.

 

 

Among the members of the German delegation are

• Björn Jensen german documentaries, AG DOK
• Feifei Jensen, Ginger Foot Films
• Jaurich Johanna, director & producer, fechnerMEDIA GmbH
• Christine Kiauk, producer, COIN FILM GmbH
• Ümit Uludag, producer, CORSO Film- and Television Production
• Arne Birkenstock, director & producer Fruitmarket Arts & Media GmbH
• Dagmar Biller, producer, TANGRAM International GmbH
• Aleksandar Nikolic, filmmaker, inselfilm produktion
• Freidemann Hottenbacher, producer, inselfilm produktion
• Arinane Doehring & Marlen Klaws, director and producer, 4ED!
• Claudia Kuhland, director& producer, DreamTeam medienproduktion
• Gernot Aschoff, director & Producer, G-Filmt
• Andreas Hartmann director, producer & Arata Mori Director by Andreas Hartmann
• Tristan Chytroschek director & producer a&o buero filmproduktion
• Markus Lenz director & producer Markus Lenz Filmproduktion
• Annette Scheurich, producer, Marco Polo Film AG
• Markus Brandmair, CEO, made in munich
• Lena Karbe, producer, Karbe Film GmbH
• Franz Hirner, producer, Kick Film GmbH
• Ira Beetz, executive producer, Story House Productions GmbH
• Stefan Göppel, head of new media, SCHWARZBILD medienproduktion GmbH
• Christian Baumeister, manager, Light and Shadow GmbH
• Ismeni Walter, author, Längengrad Filmproduktion GmbH
• Thomas Weidenbach, managing director, Längengrad Filmproduktion GmbH
• Tanja Winkler, producer, Längengrad Filmproduktion GmbH
• Bettina Offermann, VP International, LOOKSfilm
• Regina Bouchehri, head of creative producing, LOOKSfilm
• Lucio Mollica, producer, LOOKSfilm
• Mathias von der Heide, managing director, Taglicht Media GmbH
• Wilting Bernd, managing director, Taglicht Media GmbH
• Tina Leeb, executive producer documentary, Saxonia Entertainment GmbH
• Nahuel Lopez, director, producer, GRANVISTA Media GmbH
• Peter Bardehle, producer, Vidicom Media GmbH
• Ulrike Ziegler, manager, zb Media Filmproduktion
• Stephan Bleek, CEO, zb Media Filmproduktion
• Hans Robert Eisenhauer, Ventana-Film GmbH
• Thomas Kufus, producer, zero one film GmbH

• Dirk Neuhoff, Head of Documentaries ARD/NDR,
• Ralf Quibeldey, Head of Nature and Discovery Programmes ARD/NDR
• Kathrin Bronnert, ARTE-Redaktion of ARD/NDR
• Søren Schumann, Head of Department - RBB/ARTE
• Ulrike Dotzer Head of department NDR/ARTE
• Kirsten Praller, commissioning editor ARD/SWR
• Martin Schneider, commissioning editor ARD/SWR
• Ute Hoffarth commissioning editor ARD/WDR
• Christiane Hinz, Head of Documentaries Culture and History ARD/WDR
• Jutta Krug, Commissioning Editor ARD/WDR
• Kate Cox, Deputy Head, Documentaries and Coproductions, Deutsche Welle
• Petra Müller CEO Film- und Medienstiftung NRW GmbH
• Ina Dahlke Editor TV Science Department, ARD/HR
• Bettina Oberhauser commissioning editor ARD/HR
• Klaus Kunde-Neimoeth, senior editor, ARD/WDR
Hans Robert Eisenhauer, Head of Thematic Nights Departement ZDF/ARTE
• Jasmin Boettcher, Footage & Licensing, rbb media GmbH
• Thomas Radtke, Footage & Licensing, rbb media GmbH
• Nikolas Huelbusch, Director ZDF.unscripted, ZDF Enterprise GmbH
• Marita Hübinger, head of commissioning department, ZDF
• Imke Meier, commissioning editor - ZDFinfo
• Schlosshan Ricarda, commissioning Editor - Terra X, ZDF
• Karsten Schrader, Acting Head of Factual Acquisitons & Co-productions, WeltN24 Media
• Eugen Nussbaum, producer & corporate development, Welt der Wunder
• Lars Pfeiffer, creative producer, Vision Airways GmbH
• Claudia Braunstorfer, content acquisitions and dubbing manager, HV Fernsehbetriebs GmbH/PLANET
• Axel Gundolf channel director TV National Geographic Partners Germany (Fox Networks Group)
• Elvira Lind, Head of Acquisitions and Sales, Spiegel TV GmbH
• Michael Kloft, Producer, Spiegel TV GmbH
• Olesja Zimmermann, Marketing & Communications Manager, Spiegel TV GmbH
• Kay Siering, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Spiegel TV GmbH



• Petra Mueller CEO Film- und Medienstiftung NRW GmbH
• Katharina Blum Head of Conferences Film- und Medienstiftung NRW GmbH
• Roman Roitman, Speaker Low Budget / Documentary, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW GmbH
• Daniel Saltzwedel, moderator, tutor & consultant, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg
• Heike Meyer Döring, Head of Creative Europe Desk NRW
• Uta Eberhardt, Funding Consultant, Creative Europe Desk
• Britta Erich, Consultant,  Creative Europe Desk
• Lisa Giehl Referent FillmFernsehFonds (FFF) Bayern Gmbh
• Sebastian Sorg, Dok.forum Project Manager, FilmFernsehFonds (FFF) Bayern Gmbh


• Liselot Verbrugge, Sales Executive, Deckert Distribution GmbH
• Luisa Schwamborn Sales Manager NEW DOCS
• Elina Kewitz Managing Director NEW DOCS
• Lisa Anna Schelhas Sales Manager Albatross World Sales GmbH
• Alexandra Obradovic Sales Manager a&o buero filmproduktion
• Valentin Romero International Sales & Acquisitions Manager 3BOXMEDIA e.K.
• Kerstin Lommatzsch, Head of Footage Service, PROGRESS
• Senta Menger, Senior Manager Programme Acquisitions, Studio Hamburg Distribution & Marketing
• Nadja Tennstedt, DocSalon Coordinator, European Film Market / Berlin International Film Festival
• Adele Kohout, deputy managing director, DOK.fest Munich

••• Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg among others with Head of Studies International Producing Tonyslav Tony Bozic and Karl Heidelbach, Leopold Pape, Nele Dehnenkamp, Ludwig Meck, Tobias Gerginov, Rebecca Barthel, Christine Duttlinger, Esther Busch
••• ifs internationale filmschule köln gmbh with professor Halo Schomerus and Niva Ehrlich, Thilo Vogt, Zakaria Rahmani, Otto Laurenz, Thuy Trang Nguyen

 


Petra Müller and Hajo Schomerus with students from the ifs

 Yves Jeanneau, CEO Sunny Side of the Doc with Petra Müller CEO Film- und Medienstiftung NRW



 

more information:

• Interview with Simone Baumann by Birgit Heidsiek for cineuropa
• Film- und Medienstiftung NRW at 30 Sunny Side of the Doc
• FFF Bayern delegation at 30 Sunny Side of the Doc

• Acknowledgment to Jean-François Augé with Photographe La Rochelle, Agence Photo Studio Ouest for disposal of his work of 30 Sunny Side of The Doc 2019 [at flickr]

• Report by Anja Unger and Björn Jensen German only.
 

 ...as single page
• 30 SUNNY SIDE OF THE DOC 2019 •
• 31 SUNNY SIDE OF THE DOC 2020 •