The 15th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival (Chairman Kim Dong-yeon, Executive Committee Head Chang Hae-rang, hereinafter “DMZ Docs”) opens “DMZ Docs Documentary Market” today from 15th to 19th.

DMZ Docs INDUSTRY is Asia’s largest documentary industry platform that discovers, supports, and fosters outstanding documentary projects from Korea and Asia. This year, a total of 236 entries were submitted from 44 countries. “DMZ Docs Fund” selected 16 projects (8 for THE VODA FUND, 8 for Korean POV 2023) and granted awards. The award winners will be holding a showcase and having business meetings with professionals during the market period. “DMZ Docs Pitch” selected 24 projects (16 for Global Pitch, 8 for Rough Cut Pitch) and granted rewards of 2 million won. The award winners will be participating in the open pitching during the documentary market period, and excellent projects will win cash rewards (total of 220 million won), in-kind rewards, and investment fund.

The DMZ Docs Documentary Market features various events, including panel talk, business meeting, and pitch program where projects in production stage compete together. This year, there also will be influential guests who are active in various global documentary industry fields. The guests include programmers from Sundance Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival, creative director of UK Sheffield DocFest, and broadcasting staff from diverse broadcasters, such as UK BBC Storyville, US American POV, Arabic Al Jazeera Channel. In addition, producers of online platforms, such as New York Times Op-Docs, Field of Vision, China Bilibili, as well as documentary funders, including International Documentary Association (IDA), Whicker’s Foundation, and Chicken & Egg Pictures, will gather from around the world.

For the main events, there will be “Global Pitch” and Rough Cut Pitch” which introduce and compete documentary projects in production stage, and “Korean POV 2023 Showcase” where winners of newly established “Korean POV 2023 Fund” introduce their projects. The documentary market also features customized one-to-one business meetings for pitch entries and various networking opportunities to market badge owners.

The documentary market also includes various talk programs with people involved in the documentary industry. On September 18 at 2 p.m., there will be “Meet the Decision Markers” with international broadcasters, funding organizations, and online platforms. From 3:30 p.m., there will be a talk panel event hosted by Park Chae-eun (Co-Founder of Indie & Impact Media Lab). In this talk panel, director Hwang Yun and producer Kim Sung-hwan of <Sura : A Love Song> and director Seo Ah-hyun and producer Kang Sarah of <Queer My Friends> will talk about the documentary funding and distribution.

The DMZ Docs Documentary Market will close on September 19 with the DMZ Docs Awarding and Closing Ceremony. The DMZ Docs Pitch winners will get various benefits, including cash rewards (total of 200 million won), in-kind rewards, and investment fund. The documentary market also continuously interacts with award winners so that they can visit DMZ Docs again with their completed projects.

The 15th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival will be held from September 14 to September 21 and the DMZ Docs Documentary Market will be held from September 15 to September 19 at Goyang Special City and Paju. The 148 documentaries from 54 countries will be screened at GGV Goyang Baekseok, Megabox Baekseok Bella Citta, Camp Greaves, and online platform VoDA.