MUMBAI: Mipdoc, the documentary screening marketplace and conference takes place from 14-15 April 2007 in Cannes prior to the start of MipTV.

Mipdoc will celebrate its tenth birthday with a keynote from Al Jazeera’s DG Wadah Khanfar, a focus on Italy and eight “Trailblazers” from all across the world.

Khanfar will deliver a keynote about the reasons behind Al Jazeera Network becoming the first Arab broadcaster to launch a documentary channel covering current affairs, social issues, culture, art and religion.

He will reveal how his company is becoming one of the major actors in the industry, catching the attention of documentary producers worldwide.
Mipdoc will focus for the first time on the thriving Italian production industry. During the Mipdoc Made in Italy event, Alessandro Signetto, President of the documentary association Doc IT, is to show trailers of five productions he selected from the latest and best documentaries, in the presence of their producers.

This year’s conference programme will also offer the Mipdoc participants panel sessions on Online documentary distribution, Dramatising reality and two workshops to help maximise the ability to negotiate with potential partners and to deal with new developing territories : How To Pitch and Co-production with China.

The third edition of the MIPDOC Co-Production Challenge, which is sponsored by NFB (National Film Board of Canada), will give directors and producers the opportunity to pitch their documentary project to a high-profile jury of savvy industry experts.

Mipdoc 2006 saw a 13 per cent rise in participation with 432 companies from 57 countries, 385 acquisition executives attending. Production and sales companies sent 1,189 programmes to the digital screening library, of which 769 were appearing at a market for the first time.