We are delighted to share that throughout 2026, Docudays UA will take on the role of guest festival within the Doc Around Europe network. Here’s what this means for the Ukrainian industry and audiences.
Doc Around Europe is a festival network dedicated to supporting and promoting European documentary films by emerging directors, while helping them connect with audiences and the international market. The alliance brings together renowned festivals including VERZIO (Hungary), FIPADOC (France), DocBarcelona (Spain), MakeDox (North Macedonia), Biografilm (Italy) and Dok.Fest München (Germany). Over the past four years, the network has successfully facilitated the circulation of films across Europe and organised a range of events for participating festivals and the wider community of programmers, broadcasters, bayers and distributors.
An innovative feature of the network is its own VOD platform (an online cinema), designed as a strategic tool to enhance the visibility of European films. Each year, the platform presents a catalogue of 40 new documentaries, jointly curated by the network members from their festival selections. The films will be available for up to two years, ensuring a constant renewal and a steady offering of European documentary talent.
What is our role as a guest festival?
As part of this year’s programme, Docudays UA will select and invite three Ukrainian films to be showcased on the Doc Around Europe VOD platform.
The directors of the selected films will be included in the Doc Around Europe Talent Database. Ukrainian projects and filmmakers will also gain the right to apply for the network’s mentoring programmes, including project development workshops and Meet the Experts sessions.
The Docudays UA team will take part in the juries of the network’s member festivals. For instance, VERZIO has invited programmer Olga Sydorushkina, while VERZIO’s director Enikő Gyureskó will join this year’s DOCU/WORLD jury.
As part of the network, the Docudays UA team will join joint online sessions with fellow member festivals to exchange professional experience and maintain warm ties with European colleagues. On our website and social media, we will share the network’s news and opportunities for Ukrainian documentary filmmakers.
