Sunny Side of the Doc 2023: Newen Studios unveils new slate of documentaries

Newen Studios will be represented at Sunny Side of the Doc via its production companies, including CAPA, and its distribution arm Newen Connect."Our expertise in documentaries is highly recognized and rewarded with numerous honours. I am of course delighted for our Group and would like to congratulate all those talented individuals involved, who work day in, day out on these most varied of subjects," Romain Bessi, CEO of Newen Studios said. "These numerous awards and ratings successes also reflect Newen Studios' societal commitment to a more responsible, better informed and environmentally sensitive world.”

The bulk of Newen's slate of documentaries were made up of European productions from companies such as CAPA, Real Lava, Rise Films and De Mensen. The titles included are "Putin's Shadow Army," Produced by CAPA Presse, directed by Alexandra Jousset and Ksenia Bolchakova for France Télévisions, Wagner,  featuring an  investigation into the private army of Russian mercenaries. It has been recognized with several major awards, including: Albert London Prize 2022, DIG AWARDS 2022, FIGRA 2022 (Grand Prize, Arnaud Hamelin Prize, FIGRA 2022 and Youth Jury Prize), Lauriers de la radio et de la Télévision 2023 (Grand Reportage), Documentary Film Director-Producer Duo Trophy French 2023. Directed by Shaunak Sen for HBO, "All that Breathes," produced by Rise Films, follows the commitment to the environment of two brothers who run a bird sanctuary inNew Delhi. As well as receiving an Oscar® nomination, the title won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Documentary Film Festival and the Golden Eye at the Cannes Film Festival.

The catalog also includes "The Territory," directed by Alex Pritz and produced by Sigrid Dyekjær. It depicts the struggle of the indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people against increasing
deforestation caused by farmers and illegal settlers in the Brazilian Amazon. It has won awards at the Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Documentary (Special Jury Award for Documentary Craft and World Cinema Documentary), the International Wildlife Film Festival (Best Sustainable Planet Category) and the Peabody Awards (Best Documentary). The documentary is available on NationalGeographic. "The Fourniret Affair: Inside Monique Olivier's Head,"  directed by Michelle Fines and Christophe Astruc, has been one of Netflix's biggest documentary hits in recent months. Directed by Ksenia Bolchakova and Veronika Dorman for CAPA, "Russia, Indoctrination of a Nation" delivered one of France 5’s best audiences with 1.4 million viewers.

The following projects, which are in development or on air, including "Miracle n°71," a series produced by De Mensen and directed by Nathalie Basteyns, in which she tells her own story as a suffering Belgian director looking for a miracle cure in Lourdes. The film had its World Premiere at Cannesseries, where it was nominated in the Documentary Series category. Produced by Real Lava, created by Vincent Coen and Guillaume Vandenberghe and directed by Alisar Hasan and Alaa Amer, "Draw For Change" is a six-part documentary series about female illustrators in Mexico, the United States, Russia, India, Syria and Egypt. The series won Best Documentary Series at Canneseries and is about to air on Belgium’s VRT. "Under The Damascus Sky," • Directed by Heba Khaled, Talal Derki, Ali Wajeeh, will also form part of the slate. The title centers around a group of young actresses in Damascus. It had its World Premiere at the Berlinale and has been selected for numerous festivals.  Directed by Cécile Denjean and produced by CAPA for Arte, Black Far West - A Counter-history of the West tells the story of the conquest of the West from an African-American perspective. It was shortlisted for the 2023 FIGRA and 202 BANFF Rockie Awards.