Ten titles have been selected for the new edition of Italians Doc It Better, the showcase dedicated to Italian documentaries. The programme is entirely made up of world premieres and aims to promote Italian creative documentaries while fostering connections between producers, broadcasters, platforms and international decision-makers.
The selection, made from 40 projects submitted, was curated by a prestigious international committee comprising Björn Jensen, Creative Director & Founder, Ginger Foot Films (Germany); Donata von Perfall, Managing Director, Documentary Campus (Germany); Diego Buñuel, Director of Development, France Télévisions Studio (France); Colm O’Callaghan, Group Head of Specialist Factual Content, RTÉ – Raidió Teilifís Éireann (Ireland); and Chiara Messineo, Founder of Weekend Pictures (United Kingdom).
The 2026 edition also introduces a number of important new features. Alongside the usual networking and pitching activities, two new Showcases dedicated to Rai Documentari and Sky Italia will make their debut, offering privileged opportunities to explore editorial strategies, production slates and co-production opportunities with some of the leading players in the international audiovisual industry.
Further confirmation of the growing interest in auteur documentary and real-life storytelling comes from the renewed partnership with GEDI Digital. Through a jury composed of Paolo De Michele – Deputy Director, Gedi Visual; Francesco Fasiolo – Editor-in-Chief, Gedi Visual; and Cristiana Felli – Head of Video, Gedi Digital, GEDI Digital will present the GEDI Visual Award to one of the titles selected for the Italians Doc It Better showcase. The special award will recognise the project considered most significant from an editorial and journalistic perspective.
Among the projects at an advanced stage of production and currently in post-production is The Dancing Brothers, directed by Daniele Cini and produced by Talpa SAS. The film tells the moving story of six brothers who grew up in a small apartment in Southern Italy and went on to become acclaimed dancers on international stages. Following their father’s death, they reunite in Lecce to build a new life project and share a dream once again.
Also exploring intimate territory and currently in post-production, The Sound of Light by Riccardo Bianco, produced by Grey Ladder Productions, is a visual and introspective journey aboard a van transformed into a refuge, exploring the boundaries between perception, spirituality, substance abuse and the search for identity.
The themes of personal transformation and self-awareness return in My Year with the Witch, currently at rough-cut stage, directed by GJ Squarcia and produced by Inside Man Films. The film focuses on the encounter between a woman searching for herself and a healer immersed in nature, in a celebration of female freedom.
Industrial heritage and global icons feature prominently in Ducati 100 years of a Legend, directed by Alex Infascelli and produced by Minerva Pictures Group, currently in post-production. Through archival footage and exclusive testimonies, the film retraces a century of the history of the Borgo Panigale brand, which has become a global symbol of speed and innovation.
Also highly evocative is Moka, with a Small M by Matteo Severgnini, currently at rough-cut stage and produced by TIWI. Starting from the revolutionary coffee maker designed by Alfonso Bialetti, the film offers a sharp reflection on industrial design and the ability to reinvent oneself in the present.
From design culture to stories rooted in place, Sandiego by Dario Fusco, produced by EXA and currently at rough-cut stage, examines the complex transformation of Naples, capturing its transition from a symbol of social challenges to a global tourist destination, marked by cultural dynamism as well as the contradictions of mass tourism.
The investigative and geopolitical strand features Ludwig – The Black Angels, directed by Simone Manetti and produced by B&B Film, currently in post-production. The film offers a compelling investigation that reopens the wounds left by the crimes committed by the neo-Nazi group Ludwig in Italy and Germany, exploring its connections with the far right of the time and the many questions that remain unanswered.
An international dimension also characterises The Decoy Artist – The Incredible Story of Mario Moselli and Saddam Hussein’s Phantom Army by Gigi Roccati, a Verdiana Production currently at rough-cut stage. The film reveals the extraordinary story of the Italian entrepreneur who built perfect replicas of military equipment used in Middle Eastern conflicts during the Gulf War.
On the human adventure front, the selection includes its only completed title, Extreme Land Solo by Filippo Lupini, produced by Jok Produzioni. The film portrays explorer Lorenzo Barone as he takes on solo challenges in some of the most extreme regions of the planet, caught between isolation and family ties.
Completing the selection is the surreal narrative of The Basket Case – A Cosmic Sports Docu-Comedy, directed by Paolo Borraccetti and Lorenzo Garzella and produced by NANOF, currently in post-production. This witty docu-comedy takes inspiration from a controversial 1989 basketball game to weave together sport, collective memory, quantum physics and an ironic rewriting of history.
Selected Documentaries for Italians Doc It Better 2026
DUCATI 100 YEARS OF A LEGEND
Feature Doc
Italy
Biography, History, Pop Culture
Directed by award winning director Alex Infascelli and narrated by Stefano Accorsi, Ducati - 100 years of a Legend takes us inside the heart of Borgo Panigale, revealing the places, people and stories behind a century of Ducati. Through rare archives and testimonies from figures such as Keanu Reeves and... more
Production Company/ies: Minerva Pictures, Filmclub Distribuzione, Cinecittà Istituto Luce
Read the full project description on MIADIGITALEXTREME LAND SOLO
Feature Doc
Italy, UK
Biography, Human and Society
Extreme Land Solo tells the extraordinary story of Lorenzo Barone, a young explorer who faces the planet's most extreme challenges alone, driven by a boundless hunger for discovery. From the desolate lands of Eastern Siberia to the fire of the desert, each of Lorenzo's adventures is a silent dialogue with... more
Production Company/ies: Daniele Foconi
Read the full project description on MIADIGITALLUDWIG – THE BLACK ANGELS
Original title: LUDWIG – GLI ANGELI NERI
Feature Doc
Germany, Italy
Crime, History, Human and Society
Between 1977 and 1984, the neo-Nazi group LUDWIG claimed fifteen lives across Northern Italy and Germany. LUDWIG targeted prostitutes, homeless people, gay men and priests, and eventually crowds in cinemas and nightclubs, invoking a “purifying fire.” Only in 1991, following their final conviction, did the men behind LUDWIG emerge: Wolfgang... more
Production Company/ies: B&B Film, Beetz Brothers Film Production, Hearst Networks
Read the full project description on MIADIGITALMOKA, WITH A SMALL M
Original title: MOKA, CON LA M MINUSCOLA
Feature Doc
Italy
Arts and Culture, Biography, History, Pop Culture
A story about the future, told through an object born nearly a century ago. Yet the moka pot is no relic: it is a living example of innovation. At a time when new technologies are once again transforming the way we live, "moka, with a small m” looks back at... more
Production Company/ies: Federico Riboldazzi
Read the full project description on MIADIGITALMY YEAR WITH THE WITCH
Original title: IL MIO ANNO CON LA STREGA
Feature Doc
Italy
Human and Society
Driven by a deep connection to nature, Ilenia, the wealthy an privileged wife of a very famous soccer player, embarks on a journey of discovery that leads her to Loretta, a mysterious witch living in harmony with the wild. Loretta cures people with ancient herbal remedies and possesses immense courage,... more
Production Company/ies: INSIDE MAN FILMS
Read the full project description on MIADIGITALSANDIEGO
Feature Doc
Italy
Global Issues, Human and Society
For years, Naples was portrayed through its structural problems: the Camorra, petty crime, degradation, and the inability of institutions to stop the city’s decline. Yet Naples was and is much more than this. The beauty of the city and the inventive, irreverent genius of its people found an extraordinary echo... more
Production Company/ies: EXA, MOMPRACEM, BRADEK
Read the full project description on MIADIGITALTHE BASKET CASE - A COSMIC SPORTS DOCU-COMEDY
Original title: THE BASKET CASE - UN CANESTRO AI CONFINI DELLA REALTÀ
Feature Doc
Italy
Human and Society, Other, Sport
What if a forgotten 1989 basketball game held the key to rewriting history? A controversial last-second shot changed countless lives forever: Livorno once celebrated a national championship win over Milano - thirty glorious minutes before being told it never happened. Decades later, a tech mogul and a physics prodigy join... more
Production Company/ies: NANOF
Read the full project description on MIADIGITALTHE DANCING BROTHERS
Feature Doc
Italy
Arts and Culture, Human and Society
Six brothers. One tiny apartment. A father who went from prison to poetry, and a mother who raised them all together. Against every expectation, the boys became professional ballet dancers, performing from Rome to Vienna, Lyon and Lima. Now, after their father’s death, they reunite in Lecce to build a... more
Production Company/ies: Talpa SAS
Read the full project description on MIADIGITALTHE DECOY ARTIST - THE INCREDIBLE STORY OF MARIO MOSELLI AND SADDAM HUSSEIN'S PHANTOM ARMY
Original title: L’UOMO DEL BLUFF - INCREDIBILE STORIA DI MARIO MOSELLI E L'ARMATA FANTASMA DI SADDAM HUSSEIN
Feature Doc
Belgium, Italy
Arts and Culture, Biography, Global Issues, Human and Society
A daring Italian entrepreneur produced flawless 1:1 scale replicas of nato armaments for warring nations in the middle east and beyond. Through the 1980s his most eager client was the Iraqi regime at war with Iran. The first gulf war proved their perfection, deceiving the u.s. air-force for weeks. Exposed... more
Production Company/ies: Andrea Gambetta, Bart Maes, Gigi Roccati
Read the full project description on MIADIGITALTHE SOUND OF LIGHT
Original title: IL RUMORE DELLA LUCE
Feature Doc
Italy
Human and Society
The Sound of Light, directed by Riccardo Bianco, is an intimate, dreamlike journey that lives somewhere between a contemplative character study and a psychedelic road movie. Travelling for miles in a van that becomes a home and accompanying its protagonist on a journey in search of his place in the... more
Production Company/ies: Grey Ladder Productions
Read the full project description on MIADIGITAL
