Posted: October 10
September is always a busy month for us with the start of the new season and launch of our Autumn catalogue. First up on the calendar was the Unifrance Rendez Vous in Biarritz at the beginning of the month, attended by 230 buyers, where Rebecca and Donatien represented Java Films. We were especially pleased with the press coverage by Variety, Business Doc Europe and Realscreen. We followed this with Olivier’s visit to attended the Al Jazeera Balkans Industry Days in Sarajevo, where a project we’re supporting was being pitched. Finally Kathryn went hunting for new projects at Nordisk Panoroma.
This autumn we are proud to be representing over 20 new films at festivals, some highlights include:
From multi-award-winning director Anne Poiret, this poignant and timely documentary traces the geopolitical history of the Ukrainian conflict from 2014 onwards, uncovering its roots in history. The documentary intersperses archive with interviews, including major political players from past and current negotiations to form a fuller picture of the conflict and Russia’s recent invasion. The film tells a powerful story of the high-level political negotiations and the war from 2014 and 2022, contrasting these with the experience of the people living in the Donbas and other affected areas.
Commissioned by France 5, this film has been over a year in the making. Australia’s ABC picked up the film for its “Four Corners” investigative journalism and current affairs program. It also sold to VRT in Belgium and Swiss pubcaster RTS, with further deals expected from five other territories.
This is our first project with Talweg Productions but our third project with director Anne Poiret, having previously represented her film The Envoy: Inside Syria’s Peace Negotiations, and Mosul: After the War which won the FIGRA Special Jury Prize in 2020, amongst others.
Java presented a rough cut of “Ukraine: The Road to War” in Biarritz. The finished film will air on France 5 on Oct. 17.
Directed by Agnès Hubschman and produced by Magneto, one of our long-standing production partners, this timely and entertaining true story explains the consequences for the rest of us, as two billionaires develop the capacity to monopolise all future terrestrial communications. When Musk first tried to buy a Russian rocket back in 2001, the chief engineer of the Russian Space Agency thought he was a joke. By 2008 SpaceX had a contract with NASA to supply flights to the International Space Station.
The 60-minute film has already sold to RTBF, ZDFinfo, TVE, SIC, and HRT Croatia, with more sales in the pipeline. Previous standout documentaries from Magneto that we have distributed have include Libya: No Escape from Hell, Lords of Water and Banksters.
Alongside Magneto’s Musk vs Bezos, we are also currently working with them and multi-award-winning director Ovidie (director of Pornocracy, You Will Give Birth in Pain and Everybody Hates a Hooker) on hard-hitting investigation Spanton vs the French Police, a compact metro-thriller that asks questions which trouble us all in the post #MeToo era.
Finally, we are currently representing ‘Chip Wars’, commissioned by Arte, with director Nicolas Vescovacci and production from Babel, another production company with which we have a long history of successful films. In this documentary, we see how a new world order is taking shape before our eyes. The persistent shortage of semiconductors, essential to our daily lives, is reshaping geopolitical relations, fuelling inflation and increasing tensions between America and China.
A 25-minute rough cut is currently available for screening, and the final version will be complete in November 2022. The film pre-sold this week to Belgian broadcasters RTBF and VRT as well as to RTS in Switzerland, with expected deals in three other territories.
If you have a client log in, you can screen the films on their respective site pages (Ukraine: The Road to War, Musk vs Bezos & Chip Wars). Please contact [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected] if you are interested in licensing these titles for broadcast, and [email protected] for festival selections and screenings.
If you do not have a client log in and would like access to our catalogue for screenings. Please contact [email protected].
Java Films is one of Europe’s leading documentary distributors. We specialise in non-fiction with a particular focus on current affairs and investigative journalism, distributing worldwide to broadcast, festivals, VOD and more. If you are interested in working with us, whether as a producer with a film, or for sales, head to our About Us page for the contact details of our team.