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RX France today announced that acclaimed documentarian Dawn Porter will give the 2024 MIPDOC Keynote at the forthcoming MIPTV Spring International Television Market (8-10 April 2024).

As founder of Trilogy Films, Producer/Director Porter is renowned for an impactful body of work that explores the overlooked, reveals the consequences of policy, and views the familiar from a different perspective.

Her recent credits include Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court (Showtime) which examines the U.S. Supreme Court’s effect on American culture and politics; The Lady Bird Diaries (Hulu/ABC News) profiling Lady Bird Johnson, one of the most influential yet least understood First Ladies; and her latest feature, Luther: Never Too Much which intimately examines the joys and struggles of musical icon Luther Vandross and premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

A three-time Sundance film festival director, Porter’s 2016 documentary Trapped received the festival’s Special Jury Award for Social Impact Filmmaking and her film Gideons Army received the award for best editing. In 2021 she was named a Guggenheim Symposium honoree by the American Film Institute, joining an alumni that includes Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee; and the following year was presented with the Critics Choice Impact Award, bestowed on documentarians whose work has resulted in tangible societal change. Originally an attorney, Porter has also previously served as Professor and Head of the Documentary Programme at UC Berkeley School of Journalism and continues to lecture at universities across her native USA.

Speaking in the world-renowned Palais des Festivals in Cannes on Sunday 7 April at 11.45, Porter will share insights on the purpose and processes that drive and define her work, along with her take on how to navigate the challenges, and grasp the opportunities, that face the global documentary sector.

The 2024 MIPDOC Keynote forms part of a MIPTV pre-opening weekend (6-7 April) which gathers documentary, factual and format communities ahead of the market to create ‘the biggest weekend in Unscripted’ in Cannes. It will be followed by the three-day international MIPTV market running 8-10 April, which is expected to welcome over 130 exhibitors with one accreditation covering all activity.

“Both Dawn’s story, and her storytelling, are truly inspiring” said Lucy Smith, Director of MIPTV, “…to get the future-facing perspectives of one of the world’s most pre-eminent documentarians up close and first-hand will be invaluable for anyone in any part of the factual world.”

Porter’s filmography also includes 37 Words (ESPN), Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net (MGM), Eyes On The Prize (HBO), Un(re)solved (PBS), The Me You Can’t See (Apple TV+) and two Emmy Award-nominated documentaries, The Way I See It (Focus Features) and John Lewis: Good Trouble (CNN/Magnolia Pictures) amongst other notables. Her feature debut came in 2013 with Gideon’s Army (HBO) which is now part of the U.S. Department of State’s American Film Showcase.

The 2024 conference programme will additionally feature exclusive analysis and future facing MIPLAB tracks focusing on key areas including Finance, AI and FAST, with the MIP GLOBAL FAST&AVOD Summit becoming the latest in the popular and definitive series exploring international opportunities within this sector’s explosive growth.

International Series Festival CANNESERIES will again run alongside MIPTV from 5-10 April.