Introducing the selected projects for this year’s East Doc Market – a key international platform where documentary filmmakers from Central and Eastern Europe meet with decision-makers from across the global film industry.
Held as part of the East Doc Platform 2026, the East Doc Market now expands into two distinct sections: East Doc Market for rough cuts and finished films (March 23, 2026) and East Doc Market for films in development and production (March 24–25, 2026).
Across three days, selected filmmakers will participate in tailored one-on-one meetings with international producers, financiers, commissioning editors, festival selectors and sales agents. The market offers an intensive environment for pitching projects, supporting distribution strategies and strengthening international co-production networks.
This year’s selection reflects the diversity of contemporary documentary storytelling, addressing themes of migration, political repression, gender identity, intergenerational trauma and resilience in times of social change.
East Doc Market for rough cuts and finished films (March 23, 2026)
Raid (dir. Kristina Leidenfrostova, prod. Jürgen Karasek, co-prod. Matej Sotník, AT, SK, 90 min.,52 min., status: post-production)
When disturbing testimonies of police brutality spread from a nearby village, Igor, a Roma survivor of a police raid, must confront his nightmares and the limits of solidarity while living on the margins of society.
80 Angry Journalists (dir. András Földes, Anna Kis, prod. Lorand Balazs Imre, co-prod. Vít Janeček, DE, HU, CZ, DK, NO, 94 min., status: finished)
Newspapers are shaped by their editors but owned by powerful interests. Through a major Hungarian case, this film explores the clash between journalists and proprietors and reflects on the fragile state of press freedom.
Animals of the East (dir. Anna Ďurišíková, Andrej Kolenčík, prod. Andrej Kolenčík, SK, 70 min., status: post-production)
A poetic documentary about love and unusual friendships between farm animals and humans who take care of each other.
Beautiful Stupid Thing (dir. Carlos Eduardo Lesmes López, prod. Merili Laur, co-prod. Diego Alejandro Barajas Riano, EE, CO, 93 min., status: post-production)
Angela and Carlos, mother and son, reunite when she migrates from Colombia to Estonia. What begins as a search for an ancestor becomes a journey through past wounds toward new possibilities for the future.
Hide Me In The Light (dir. Markiian Miroshnychenko, Nataliia Kovalyova, prod. Tetiana Dorodnitsyna, Kateryna Ptashka, Alexander Krasenkov, co-prod. Charlotte Krüger, UA, DE, 84 min., status: post-production)
At Kyiv Children’s Hospital, four young patients undergo years of dialysis. One day, a donor is found: life ends for one child and continues for another.
Inside (dir. Dorota Vlnová, prod. Roman Pivovarník, co-prod. Katarina Prpić, SK, HR, 15 min., status: post-production)
When silence is replaced by poetry and flowers, what do women’s abortion stories sound like? A short film transforming personal testimonies into a visual meditation.
Letters (dir. Andrei Kutsila, prod. Mirosław Dembiński, co-prod. Gregor Streiber, Friedemann Hottenbacher, Giedrė Žickytė, PL, DE, LT, 90 min., status: post-production)
In a country where political discussion is feared, letters reveal pain, despair, love and hope, offering an intimate portrait of life in today’s Belarus.
No Offence (dir. Lucija Marčec, prod. Ema Mikolaci, Ida Barac, co-prod. Michal Sikora, HR, 60 min., status: post-production)
In a historically divided Croatian region, yesterday’s victims become today’s oppressors. The film asks whether discrimination ever truly changes — or only its targets.
East Doc Market for films in development and production (March 24–25, 2026)
Berliner (dir. Anna Khazaradze, prod. Anna Khazaradze, co-prod. Heino Deckert, Elene Margvelashvili, GE, DE, 90 min.,52 min., status: in production)
Nana, a Georgian immigrant living in Berlin for thirty years, translates for newcomers while navigating memory and exile, revealing how politics shape both past and present.
Caretakers (dir. Ambrus Hernádi, prod. Rita Balogh, HU, US, DE, 80 min., status: in production)
Two Hungarian undocumented caregivers search for belonging: one in Freiburg, the other in Brooklyn. Their lives are shaped by anti-migrant politics and personal hopes for a future without borders.
EL DORADO (dir. Rati Oneli, prod. Rati Oneli, co-prod. Valérianne Boué, Marianna Kaat, GE, FR, EE, 90 min., status: in development)
A meditation on civilization’s decline, following guardian matriarchs of a mining town and a lone treasure seeker whose paths merge in an allegory set on the edge of the world.
Good Night, Princesses (dir. Iga Łapińska, prod. Barbara Welbel-Vaknin, Karolina Śmigiel, PL, 72 min., status: in development)
A story of transformation captured on VHS tapes. A girl becomes a woman, confronting family expectations, rigid gender roles, a strict father, one Soviet healer and God himself.
Kind of Adults (dir. Rita Balogh, Peter Akar, prod. Rita Balogh, HU, 75 min., status: in production)
Created with Gen Z teenagers over five years, this immersive documentary blends self-shot and observational footage as they face depression, love and identity crises while searching for adulthood.
nava mama (dir. Ana Vijdea, prod. Ana Gheorghe, Ana Vijdea, co-prod. Louis Beaudemont, RO, FR, 90 min., status: in development)
A fragmentary portrait of rural Romania marked by patriarchy and violence. The film traces the echo of childhood trauma and asks whether cycles of pain can truly be broken.
The East Doc Platform is made possible thanks to the financial support of Creative Europe MEDIA, Czech Audiovisual Fund, Ministry of Culture Czech Republic, the capital city of Prague, APA - Audiovisual Producers' Association, Czech-German Future Fund, HBO, Creative Europe Desk Czech Republic and the Austrian Cultural Forum.
The general media partner is the Czech television.
The event is held in cooperation with the One World Film Festival and the French Institute in Prague.