A new rate structure will be introduced on the official website as of 8th April 2021, with pitch submissions still available at €90 and PiXii entries at €40 until the closure date of all calls on 22nd April 2021.
La Rochelle, 8th April 2021 - Each year, creatives, producers, distributors, buyers and sales agents from around the world converge at Sunny Side of the Doc’s dedicated market for the co-production, buying and selling of documentary proposals and completed projects. Efforts to maintain and develop a hybrid edition – both live La Rochelle from 21st to 24th June 2021 and accessible online – have been shelved very recently. The French government’s handling of the health crisis and the acceleration of the current mass vaccination programme has directly impacted our event logistics, as the French Ministry of Health has requisitioned the use of the main exhibition hall in the Espace Encan, which has been our main venue since 2006.
In order to preserve its international reach, the marketplace’s 32nd edition will concentrate its activities online.
Industry professionals with an Online Pass can look forward to highly curated pitching sessions, access to decision makers who greenlight projects, targeted networking meetings and a comprehensive four-day conference programme that unlocks the transformative potential of storytelling in the streaming era.
The upgraded digital space will provide a focus on the virtual presence of partners, exhibitors and delegations of international producers. A screening library hosted by ProgramBuyer and a XR media library deployed by LucidWeb will spark both Sunny Side of the Doc and PiXii Festival communities with original ideas (1,360 projects
and programmes registered in 2020), new and under-represented talents from across the globe.
and programmes registered in 2020), new and under-represented talents from across the globe.
"Building on the remarkable success of the 2020 Connected Edition that led to new deals and Global Pitch that helped impactful stories get off the ground, we remain absolutely committed to #StoryTellingMatters and will run a 2021 online marketplace through an expanded and optimised digital platform", says Mathieu Béjot, Director of the Strategy and Development of the annual gathering.
"We want to believe in a better future, one carried by the optimism which lends its name to Sunny Side of the Doc. So we’re leaving the door open to invite the international documentary community to join us back to the docks in June for a more informal get-together if the situation improves by then. We are very much looking forward to celebrating the reopening of France’s cultural institutions on mid-May and meeting audiences again in the cultural venues of La Rochelle that will host the immersive exhibition of PiXii Festival’s 5th edition."
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