Verzió DocPro, the professional and educational strand of the Verzió Documentary Film Festival, will run from 12–16 November with five days of masterclasses, workshops and public presentations in Budapest. This year’s edition expands its Hungarian focus through a new collaboration with the Hungarian Documentary Association (MADOKE), bringing more projects-in-development to both industry and general audiences.
DocPro convenes Hungarian and international professionals alongside students, educators and filmgoers for skills-sharing and debate on both sector-specific practice and broader, public-facing themes.
Program highlights
DocLab & MADOKE x Verzió (Wed, 12 Nov, French Institute). As the capstone to the international DocLab workshop, six projects from Georgia, Spain, Italy, Finland, Ukraine and Hungary will present to a public audience and a panel of decision-makers, spotlighting creative development processes. Debuting this year, MADOKE x Verzió Hun Doc’s Cookin’ adds four Hungarian works-in-progress, giving local teams rare access to a wide professional platform at home.
DocPro Academy Day (Thu, 13 Nov). A student-oriented training day features composer Ádám Balázs on music for documentary and editor Réka Lemhényi on balancing uniqueness and universality in the cut, alongside sessions on telling locally grounded yet globally relevant stories, navigating international labs and pitch forums, and ethical visual storytelling.
MADOKE Day (Fri, 14 Nov). Two open panel discussions will accompany the introduction of MADOKE’s new board, the 2025 catalogue and a white paper proposing updates to Hungary’s documentary funding model, developed from international best practice. Media and industry are encouraged to attend, given the policy significance for the field.
Professional Weekend (Sat–Sun, 15–16 Nov). Sessions examine how the war in Ukraine is represented in film and the role of social media; strategies to reach younger audiences; ethics in personal documentaries; and the credibility and impact of influencer collaborations. Hungarian and international speakers will share case studies and guidance on sensitive-context storytelling and audience development.
Projects in focus
DocLab selections include My Sister and the Eternal Feminine (Georgia), a portrait of identity beyond prescribed motherhood; 1978 (Spain), a father-son road film probing family silence and historical trauma; and Grandfather Puzzle (Hungary/USA), an intergenerational reckoning through place and memory. Additional titles span Ukraine (Entr’actes), Italy (End of Season) and Finland (Inherited Shadow).
The MADOKE x Verzió slate features Réka Ugron’s East of Hope (Danube Delta portrait), Dorottya Márton’s Home is a Dollhouse (mother-daughter reconnection), Réka Pigniczky’s Journey Home II: Orbán and Me (identity and political legacy), and Júlia Abramovics’s Borders of Belonging (psychodrama-inflected inquiry into identity and inherited trauma).
DocPro events are open to all with registration; detailed schedules are available via Verzió’s channels.
