BDC Discoveries is dedicated to documentary projects in development that demonstrate strong international potential and explore cross-media storytelling. This year, the programme brings together 8 teams, each composed of a producer and a writer or director, selected across two strands: Creative Documentary and, for the first time, Investigative Documentary, supported by the British Council. We are also pleased to welcome Vlach Requiem by Maria Makedonska and Nicola Zambelli as a guest project after it was awarded at MEDIA Play 2026.

We are also delighted to welcome 2 observers from Mol Dox, the documentary lab we have been partnering with for years. Both were selected as winners of the BDC award presented at the lab, and they will us in Sofia. Over the years, BDC Discoveries has supported numerous standout projects, including No Place for You in Our Town by Nikolay Stefanov (Bulgaria), My Life Without Air by Bojana Burnać (Croatia), and To Hold A Mountain by Biljana Tutorov & Petar Glomazić (Montenegro).

Statement from the artistic director of BDC Discoveries – Martichka Bozhilova:

We are grateful for the strong interest in the 2026 edition of BDC Discoveries. Once again, we received many inspiring applications from filmmakers with bold, original, and deeply personal approaches to storytelling.

This year marks an important step for the programme with the launch of our Investigative Documentary strand, made possible with the support of the British Council. The selected projects span a remarkable range, from investigations into the cost of resource extraction, disappearance, and hidden truths, to intimate explorations of memory, family archives, heritage, and belonging. We salute everyone who submitted their project and encourage you all to keep developing your ideas. A big congratulations to all of the selected participants! We look forward to working with you across all modules of the programme.

Selection:

GOLD AND HONEY
Director: Matteo Trevisan
Producer: Anna Di Toma
Country: Italy

GASLIT
Director: Finn Perelstein
Producer: Angel Ivanov
Country: Bulgaria

MISSING
Director: Cecilia Fasciani
Producers: Roberto Zinzi, Marta Molina
Country: Italy

I FEEL LIKE SCREAMING
Director: Olga Koleva
Producer: Pavlina Zheleva
Country: Bulgaria

THROUGH THE WINDOW, THE JUNGLE
Director: Nora Agapi
Producers: Monica Lazurean-Gorgan, Nora Agapi
Country: Romania

PALOMA THE LONELY BIRD
Directors: Brina Klampfer Merčnik & Miha Možina
Producer: Zala Opara
Country: Slovenia

SONGS OF RESILIENCE
Director: Kate Kotcheff
Producers: Elena Doroshenko, Kate Kotcheff
Country: Bulgaria, UK

S-USA-K
Director: Aleš Suk
Producer: Aleš Suk
Country: Croatia

VLACH REQUIEM D
irectors: Maria Makedonska & Nicola Zambelli
Production Company: Bazuka Productions
Country: Bulgaria