Special online and live seminars, talks, debates, masterclasses and lectures from experts. Grant writing, contracts, preparing your applications, film marketing and more.
Get the latest scoops and insights, increase your knowledge via intimate seminars, masterclasses and talks – strictly off the record!
LATEST EDITIONS!! CORE APPLICATION SECRETS WITH KOVAL BHATIA & MINA KESHAVARZ
September 30, 2025
After an exciting session with Katy Hurley refining our understanding of the Non-Fiction Core Application, let’s get expert advice from filmmakers in the field.
DAE members Koval Bhatia and Mina Keshavarz are two filmmakers and producers navigating the complex seas of financing creative, author driven works.
Both have secured some of the most prestigious grants, funds, fellowships and residencies in the world thanks to their precise writing and packaging skills.
They will share their skills, know how and insider tips with DAE members, exclusively!
These workshops are exclusively for DAE members. You can join the association here or send us an email inquiry here.
About Koval Bhatia & Mina Keshavarz:
Koval Bhatia is a filmmaker and producer based in India. She started her journey with independent films as the producer of ‘Against The Tide’, a feature documentary that won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance 2023.
Her work has received support from Sundance Institute, IDFA, Catapult Fund, Hot Docs, Al Jazeera, Doc Society, Circle Accelerator and SFFILM. She graduated from EURODOC in 2021 and was a Getting Real Fellow at IDA (2022). She has worked as a reviewer for organisations including Catapult Film Fund, Doc Society, BFI and has served as Chair of Jury (Best Features) at the IDA Awards in 2023 & 2024. She is a recipient of The Whickers Development Award 2025 for her feature documentary debut as a director.
Currently, she works as a Program Co-director for a short documentary fellowship at The Video Consortium.
Mina Keshavarz is an award-winning Iranian documentary filmmaker and producer.
Her films explore social issues using personal narratives and the imagination boundaries in reality – including Unwelcome in Tehran (2012), Profession: Documentarist (2014), Braving the Waves (2016), The Art of Living in Danger (2020) and Phobos ( 2023) – have premiered in CPH:Dox, IDFA, Thessaloniki, Busan International Film Festival, Sheffield, Tribeca, and London Film Festival. Among over ten international awards, The Art of Living in Danger was awarded Best Documentary Film at the Busan International Film Festival in 2020, and it was longlisted for the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary in 2021.
Mina is an alumnus of Berlinale Talents, HotDocs Emerging Docs Accelerator Lab, EsoDoc, Tribeca Film Institute, she is a former fellow in Nipkow Film Residency in Berlin, Berlin Air Film Residency, Academy of Art (ADK) Berlin , Cite Internationale des Arts and Camargo Foundation.
Workshops on the Core Application with International Documentary Association’s Maria Santos and Katy Hurley
Do you want to learn more about the Non-Fiction Core Application and how you can improve your grant writing skills for North American and philanthropic funds?
Our dear Los Angeles-based partners from the IDA will join us for a members-only session on the ins and outs of the Non-Fiction Core Application, used by dosens of organisations across the field.
This session will cover all your questions on the newly-launched V.3. application, including new provisions for AI and digital transformation. Learn more about specific terminology that might not be familiar to you, and get the perspective of funders working in the field.
This workshop will have a follow-up in September with two award-winning filmmakers from the field. Stay tuned!
These workshops are exclusively for DAE members. You can join the association here or send us an email inquiry here.
About Maria Santos and Katy Hurley:
Maria Santos joined the International Documentary Association as the Funds Program Officer in September 2022. She oversees all of the funding grants and provides year-round creative and strategic support to all IDA grantees. Previously, she was the Manager of Labs and Artist Support at the Sundance Documentary Film Program. During her time there, she was the lead on working with International Artists, primarily in Central and South America. Originally from Peru, Maria is an independent film producer who has worked in distribution as well as artist development at organizations including ARRAY and Cinereach. In 2018, she was selected as a Film Society Industry Academy member and became a Third World Newsreel Production fellow.
Katy Hurley is currently the Funds Coordinator at IDA. Prior to working at IDA, she worked at Jane Doe Films, an award-winning production company that specializes in investigative documentaries such as The Hunting Ground and The Invisible War. She graduated from California State University Long Beach, and was a student in the nonfiction filmmaking program. She was an HFPA grant recipient for her short student film and was selected for Best Documentary at the CSU Media Arts Festival. Katy has been a reviewer for multiple funds at IDA and other organizations. She is currently based in Denver, Colorado.
Off the Record Session: A Series of Three Practice-Based AI and Documentary Filmmaking Workshops
DAE invites you to a series of three practice-based AI and documentary filmmaking workshops. In these sessions, we will learn how to engage with AI tools critically and with ethical stance but also in an agentive and controlled manner.
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Workshop 1: Co-Creation with AI
Thursday, July 31, 2025
How can we use AI to help us sort through hours of footage, label archives, generate images and sound that we are in charge of?
In this hands-on workshop, you will be introduced to different creative AI tools (text, image, video, audio) and invited to use them as co-creation tools that help you foster the creation process but also re-consider what’s truthful and what’s fake.
We will look into manual and automated annotation software (image, audio and video), so we can train our own model in open-source AI tools like Hugging Face.
Workshop 2: Streamlining Film Production with AI
Thursday, August 21, 2025
How can AI streamline the behind-the-scenes work of filmmaking from fundraising to release? We will dive into development, financing, budgeting, distribution and marketing and what AI tools might be helpful and what AI tools are not.
We’ll also discuss when not to use AI, like for instance in culturally sensitive translations, legal contracts, specific types of research or nuanced editorial decisions.
Workshop 3: Speculative and Participatory Design of AI Technologies
Thursday, September 18, 2025
How can AI serve as a tool for democratizing film production making it more accessible to those without access to traditional funding or industry networks? What kinds of tools do we, as documentary makers, wish existed?
In this session, we’ll explore the surprising accessibility of AI tool creation and imagine new systems built around our values, needs, and communities.
Together, we’ll brainstorm and begin prototyping tools by the documentary community, for the documentary community.
These workshops are exclusively for DAE members. You can join the association here or send us an email inquiry here.
About Michaela
Pňaček(ová):
Michaela
Pňaček(ová), PhD is an award-winning XR creator, producer and researcher. She focuses on human-computer interaction in extended realities and the ways emerging media impact the real through interaction with algorithmic processes and artificial intelligence. She brings a co-creative and participatory perspective to research, art practice and teaching. At the moment, she works as a research associate at the Bridge2AI Project at Simon Fraser University (CA) funded by the National Institute of Health (USA) focusing on ethical design of medical AI. She was commissioned to work as creative technologist and creative director for projects such as FairEVA – a Mozilla Trustworthy AI Project, Sensorium (CA), Peripheral Visions Lab (CA), Reeperbahn Music Festival (DE) and others. Co-creator and producer of Symphony of Noise VR (Best XR Installations List 2019 by Forbes Magazine, FIVARS Award for Excellence in Sound Design, Toronto 2020). Selections: VRHAM! (DE), IDFA Doc Lab Competition (NL), ISEA Montreal (CA), LEV Madrid & LEV Gijon (ES), IFF Geneva (CH), One World Bratislava (SK), Vektor Budapest (HU), Venice Co-Production Bridge, Sheffield Meet Market and more. Co-producer of Chomsky vs. Chomsky: First Encounter VR (Sundance Film Festival 2020). Co-creator of the Pre-Crime Calculator App (2017) and producer of three feature length documentaries (Border Cut 2018, Waterproof 2019, Scars 2020). Recipient of Helen Carswell Award 2022, CIBC Student Award 2021, Marseille Web Fest Award 2019, Dok Leipzig EWA Award 2017, Golden Frog Award for Best Czech and Slovak Feminist Play 2009 and VRNow 2021 Best VR Entertainment Nominee. She lives and works in Berlin. You can find more information on her website: michaelapnacek.com
DAE Off the Record seminar with Warner Bros. Discovery/HBO Originals producers Hanka Kastelicova and Tereza Bona Keilova
If you are curious to hear the strategy of long-term documentary supporters HBO ORIGINALS, who’ve collaborated on recent titles including Collective (2019), Silent Trees (2024), Apolonia, Apolonia (2022) or Pianoforte (2023), Hanka and Tereza will join us for an exclusive talk just for DAE members!
We’ll cover the upcoming editorial lines, their goals and plans, and of course draw on their expertise of working for years with very creative documentaries from Central and Eastern Europe.
The Off the Record took place on July, 17.
Please do reach out to us (info@dae-europe.org) if you have questions.
Tereza Bóna Keilová is a Producer in the Documentary section of HBO Original, producing and co-producing high-end European documentaries across the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region. Based in Prague, under the leadership of Hanka Kastelicová, she collaborates with creative teams and producers throughout the region to develop and produce impactful, original content.
With nearly two decades of experience in the film and television industry, Tereza has worked on a wide range of productions including independent feature films, award-winning documentaries,
commercials, and TV series. She studied Film Production at the Private Film School in Písek and began her career in 2003. Her portfolio includes collaborations with both independent producers and major studios such as 20th Century Fox.
Hanka Kastelicová is the Vice President and Executive Producer of Documentaries for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) in Europe. Based in the Prague office, she oversees the development and production of HBO Originals documentary films and series.
She commissions and co-produces documentary programming, focusing on feature-length productions and documentary series that have a strong connection with the countries where MAX broadcasts in Europe. Hanka is passionate about nurturing European stories rooted in the rich local tradition of visual storytelling, resonating with global audiences. The documentaries she co-produces provide deep insights into their subjects, create debates, offer different perspectives, and are daring, creative, and innovative. HBO Originals documentaries are primarily character-driven stories with strong narratives and high production values. Many of the films she co-produces have achieved worldwide success and won numerous awards at international festivals.
Off the Record Archive:
Reading Contracts: Or how I learned to stop worrying and read the small print.
We all struggle with some of the more mundane parts of documentary filmmaking: I am a creative person! Let me make my art! Or sometimes we make the mistake to think we are all making films for the same reasons. And oftentimes, by making our films, we create obligations that need to be fulfilled to creative, financing, distribution and other partners.
After all, filmmaking is a team sport!
There is a not-so-secret place where all intransparency can be resolved: via contracts! But many of us have a hard time to read them, fear legal jargon, don’t know what is negotiable, or trust the best interest or expertise of the contract writer.
This Off-the-Record Seminar 3-part series was kindly hosted by IEFTA The International Emerging Film Talent Association.
# 5: Off the Record with Tijana Djukic
Your film is (almost) done and ready to be shared with the world! Now comes possibly the most nerve-wracking of all contracts; making a deal with a sales agent.
But no need for panic; get informed with Tijana Djukic, who will explain the role of the sales agent in the audiovisual ecosystem and how that is reflected in their contracts.
This is the third session dedicated to reading contracts, covering contracting between directors and producers.
This Off the Record seminar with Tijana is available in our media library!
About Tijana Djukic (Stranger Films Sales):
With a degree in Art History and 15+ years of cultural and cinema sector experience, Tijana has held political and operational roles. Since 2015, she’s worked as a sales agent for creative documentaries as well as factual entertainment. Currently, she is the head of sales and acquisitions at Stranger Films Sales. Among the films she has acquired and represented are The Dead Nation by Radu Jude, The Seasons in Quincy by Tilda Swinton, Bruce Lee and the Outlaw by Joost Vandebrug, Fashion Babylon by Gianluca Matarrese, We Will Not Fade Away by Alisa Kovalenko, A Picture to Remember by Olga Chernykh … In addition to her other work, she is presently involved in freelance acquisitions and programming at Current Time TV. She is overseeing the documentary slot for children and young adults, which she had a hand in creating.
# 2: Off the Record with Kesmat El Sayed and Bramwel Iro
We invited two producers to discuss their experiences co-producing documentaries and having healthy and transparent producer-to-producer relations.
The session covered what they wished they’d known starting out, what standard terms between two companies can be, and how to keep ownership of your projects.
This is the second session dedicated to reading contracts, covering contracting between co-producers.
This Off the Record seminar with Kesmat El Sayed (Seera Films) and Bramwel Iro (LBx Africa) is available in our media library!
About Kesmat El Sayed (Seera Films):
Kesmat Elsayed is a producer and co-founder of SEE MEDIA PRODUCTION and SEERA FILMS GmbH, independent production companies based in Cairo and Berlin respectively. With a passion for storytelling, Kesmat embarked on her journey in the film industry by independently producing films in Egypt. Her focus is on crafting stories that are artistically profound, socially relevant, and capable of reaching a global audience.
Throughout her career, Kesmat has championed first-time filmmakers and women directors, contributing to the release of three short documentaries and three feature documentaries that have premiered at international festivals and garnered awards. She has also served on jury panels and selection committees for festivals in Egypt and internationally. Currently based in Berlin, Kesmat continues to work on a variety of film projects in various stages of development. She is an EAVE Producers Workshop Alumni 2021 and a Berlinale Talent 2023.
About LBx Africa:
LBx Africa is a Nairobi based production company that produces high quality Fiction and Non-fiction content. They collaborate with both local and international filmmakers to bring uniquely African perspectives to global audiences, almost always trying to have fun while at it. They also offer film production services in and around the East African region. Established in 2012 , LBx Africa is run by the duo of Creative Producer Bramwel Iro and Director/Producer Sam Soko.
# 1: Off the Record with Maksym Nakonechnyi and Selin Murat
Two inspiring DAE members Maksym Nakonechnyi and Selin Murat will help you learn to love reading your contracts!
This is a special talk designed for directors and producers! This isn’t a legal advice session, but strategies to get motivated to read and understand contracts.
This is the first of three sessions dedicating to reading contracts, covering contracting between directors and producers. Not-to-be-missed for the jargon-timid!
This Off the Record seminar is available in our media library!
About Selin Murat:
Co-founder of Canadian Parabola films, Selin Murat started her career as a creative producer. For over a decade she produced author-driven documentaries for festivals, theatre and broadcast and became a solid member of the Canadian documentary landscape. Moving on to the world of Film Festivals and Industry events, in 2017, Selin became film programmer and head of Industry at the Montreal Documentary Film Festival RIDM where she managed to create strong relationships with European festivals and markets. In this role she co-created the If! Doc Lab in Istanbul (2016-2018), has lead co-production workshops for Quebec at CPH:DOX, Sunny Side of the Doc, Hot Docs, and the Marché du film de Cannes Docs in Progress, and consulted for several international film markets including EFM-Berlinale. Since summer 2021, she joined the Forum team as Markets Manager at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam IDFA
About Maksym Nakonechnyi:
Maksym Nakonechnyi is a Ukrainian filmmaker and a member of the Ukrainian Film Academy. He graduated from the Ivan Karpenko-Kary Kyiv National University of Theater, Film and Television and is co-founder of the production company, Tabor, which produces documentaries and feature films, theater plays and social videos. He produced This Rain Will Never Stop directed by Alina Gorlova, which won many prizes including IDFA first appearance competition. Maxim Nakonechnyi’s Butterfly Vision (2022) premiered at the 75th Cannes Film Festival in the “Un Certain Regard” section, screened at many international film festivals and was theatrically distributed across Europe.
