European Film Promotion's (EFP’s) “The Changing Face of Europe” programme, which will take place at Toronto's Hot Docs (28 April-8 May), features ten outstanding new European documentaries selected by the festival from among over 60 submissions made by the EFP member organisations, which are national film institutes. In addition to festival screenings and access to a comprehensive industry programme, the directors and producers of the films will be matched with key distributors, buyers and festival programmers via prior virtual one-to-one meetings arranged by EFP.

“Hot Docs is thrilled to be partnering with EFP for the fifth year to present a selection of documentaries that give us glimpses of a Europe in transition,” says Shane Smith, director of programming for Hot Docs. “The talented filmmakers in this programme offer new perspectives while bringing a sense of urgency to a wide range of topics.”

“Films about one’s own identity, about fears in relation to war and environmental destruction, and about the future are the focus of this year’s selection. In times like these, the different perspectives are all the more important, with dialogue and exchange at the core of our programme,” says EFP’s managing director, Sonja Heinen. “We thank Hot Docs for the opportunity to share the vibrancy of Europe through its films, and to connect documentary filmmakers with the North American industry.”

The selection features ten pictures, including three world premieres. Two of these deal with atomic energy – Frankie Fenton's Atomic Hope - Inside the Pro-Nuclear Movement [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (Ireland) and Emilija Škarnulytė's Burial [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (Lithuania/Norway) – while former Icelandic European Shooting Star Álfrún Örnólfsdóttir's directorial debut, Band [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Álfrún Helga Örnólfsdóttir
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Croatian director Vedrana Pribačić's Bigger than Trauma [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Vedrana Pribačić, Mirta Pu…
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intervista: Ketevan Kapanadze
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scheda film] (Finland), and Ole Jacobs' and Arne Büttner’s Nasim [+leggi anche:
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Finally, the Canadian premieres in the selection include Paweł Łoziński's Locarno title The Balcony Movie [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Paweł Łoziński
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scheda film] (Netherlands/Hong Kong/France/Greece) and Myleine Guiard-Schmid's 35-minute animated documentary Crotch Stories [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (France/Belgium).

The Changing Face of Europe, in collaboration with Hot Docs – Canadian International Documentary Festival, is made possible thanks to the support of the European Union’s Creative Europe – MEDIA programme and the participating national film promotion institutes (EFP’s member organisations): the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Finnish Film Foundation, the Georgian National Film Center, German Films, the Icelandic Film Centre, the Lithuanian Film Centre, the Polish Film Institute, Screen Ireland, SEE NL (Netherlands) and Unifrance.