– From 8-10 June, Bologna will once again host Biografilm’s professional market dedicated to business-to-business networking among audiovisual, publishing and documentary professionals
A previous edition of Bio to B
From 8-10 June, Bio to B – Industry Days | Doc&Drama, the professional market of Biografilm devoted to business-to-business networking among audiovisual, publishing and documentary professionals, will return to Bologna. The 2026 edition confirms the market’s growth with figures that cement its national and international standing: over 400 professionals will be in attendance, 30 industry rendezvous will be organised across three days, and there will be seven sections dedicated to creative and production development, alongside 42 selected projects, 85 editorial properties to be presented and 13 awards to be handed out.
Organised in collaboration with the Emilia-Romagna Film Commission, Bio to B continues to establish itself as a space for encounters and exchange, bridging documentary, publishing and new European talents. The Bio to B | Doc programme will offer 17 activities, including pitching sessions, panels, networking events and professional meetings. The heart of the section will be the Pitching Forum, which will present 16 documentary projects in development before an international audience made up of producers, broadcasters, commissioning editors, distributors, festival programmers and industry experts from the sector. Among the companies taking part are Fandango, Vivo Film, Wildside, Cinedora, Andromeda Film, Nefertiti Film, Madants, Century Films, Apnea Film, Filmine, Kiné, Halibut Film, Palomar, Berta Film, Indiana Production, Indyca, Epica Film, Mammut Film, Samarcanda Film, VIVE la DOK filmproduktion UG and I Wonder Pictures.
Alongside the Pitching Forum, Past Forward – Archive Film Lab, in collaboration with Archivio Aperto, will present seven projects based predominantly on archival materials, while Development Room, a format devised by Bio to B, will showcase three works at the very earliest stages of development. Another newly launched strand is Docs4Real – Nuovi sguardi sul territorio, in collaboration with the Bellaria Film Festival – BFF Industry, with four projects dedicated to new narratives related to the region, and the Co-production Corner, with three European projects seeking an Italian co-producer.
Rounding off the programme will be panels, one-to-one meetings, networking appointments, meetings with international partners and moments intended for professional exchange, spread across the three days of the market.
Bio to B | Drama also expands its offering with 13 activities dedicated to audiovisual adaptations and serial development. Among the main formats returning is the Adaptation Market, a speed-dating event involving publishing and audiovisual players, which this year will involve at least 22 publishers and 26 producers, and will present 66 prospective editorial properties adaptable for cinema and TV series.
Added to these are 19 offerings dedicated to Storie di Vita, the reservation-only meetings intended for producers interested in strong biographical stories. The programme will also include workshops, panels, networking events and the Fiction Factory Showcase, during which nine original serial projects will be presented, followed by the Meet the Authors professional meetings.
There will also be 12 educational partners involved this year through the Rising Talents programme, which will bring 120 students from film schools, writing schools and universities from all over Italy to Bologna, offering them direct access to industry events and opportunities to engage with the professionals attending the market.
This edition will present a total of 13 awards: ten prizes for the Pitching Forum projects, two trophies for the Fiction Factory Showcase – including the Bassani Award – and the Make It Real Award. Bio to B | Industry Days – Doc&Drama once again asserts its commitment to providing concrete solutions to support new authors, independent productions and projects in development.
Since 2025, Biografilm Festival and Bio to B – Industry Days | Doc have officially become part of Doc Around Europe, the European network dedicated to supporting emerging documentary talents and strengthening collaboration between festivals, sector platforms and audiovisual professionals across Europe. The network currently brings together six European festivals, including DocsBarcelona (Spain), FIPADOC (France), MakeDox (North Macedonia), Verzió International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival (Hungary) and DOK.fest München (Germany). In 2026, the collaboration continued at DocsBarcelona with the panel “Inequalities, Diversity and Power at Audiovisual Festivals”.
(Translated from Italian)
