PROGRESS
History Summit
The Future of History in Media.
A hub for creatives, broadcasters, streamers, archive researchers, historians and producers. Keynote addresses and specialist sessions with international industry experts and VIPs.
Narrating history shapes the future.
The last History Summit took place in Halle/ Saale, Germany in October 2023. The next Summit will be held in fall 2025. Exact date to be announced shortly.
The PROGRESS History Summit invites those involved in historical film production worldwide to an open dialogue about their collective impact.
The History Summit is an international platform to question traditional cinematic storytelling, to open new perspectives, and to initiate innovative projects.
Keynote speeches, panel discussions, thematic group talks, moderated lunch roundtables, one-to-one meetings, and evening receptions facilitate connections for filmmakers in a divided and divisive world.
Be privy to all the essential History Summit news as it happens by signing up for our newsletter.
"The panels hosted incredibly intellectual conversations, skillfully weaving together various topics. We explored everything from the current state of history documentaries to the challenges of war reporting, and even delved into how social media influences the consumption of historical content."
Chris Hastings, Executive Producer / World Channel
Adel Ksiksi, Manager of Programming / Al Jazeera Documentary Channel
Aurélie Reman, COO / Sunny Side of the Doc
Jason Steinhauer, Founder & CEO/ History Communication Institute
"Great & important topic for the doc agenda"
Sönje Storm, Commissioning Editor / DW Documentaries
"A good time with a lot of talented people and decision makers"
Max Permantier, Funding Executive XR / FilmFernsehFonds Bayern
"Impressive, inspiring, provocative and reconciling"
" ... a breath of fresh air from the outside to see and evaluate the inside anew; dialogue in the midst of a polarized, fighting world."
Elvira Lind, Consultant / International Documentary Market
"A great Networking market"
Theo Baltz, CEO / MedienKontor Movie GmbH Berlin
Elizabeth Klinck, Angela Steidele, HE Dr. Fatou Bensouda, Former First Lady of Afghanistan Rula Ghani, Erik van de Loo, PROGRESS CEO Gunnar Dedio, Anaïs Roth MDR, Louise Rosen (PROGRESS Program Director) - f.l.t.r.
Former Defence Minister of Ukraine Ganna Maliar, PROGRESS CEO Gunnar Dedio, translator Xsenia (f.l.t.r.)
Dr. Markus Nievelstein, Managing Director / ARTE Germany
History Summit Keynote by director Sergei Losnitza
f.l.t.r.: HE Dr. Fatou Bensouda, Elizabeth Klinck, Former First Lady of Afghanistan Rula Ghani
Keynote by Dawn Porter
Panel "What Really Happened: the history books vs. reality" with former Defence Minister of Ukraine Ganna Maliar, Pál Dániel Rényi, Michal Kokot, Anton Yaremchuk, Bence Máté, Diana Feuerbach. - Front right: PROGRESS CEO Gunnar Dedio
The Great Pitch Session with Cara Mertes, Keisha Knight, Anaïs Roth (f.l.t.r.)
The Great Pitch Session: "Our Sister Angela – Black Power in the GDR" with Katharina Warda (rear view)
Audience in the History Hall
Anaïs Roth, head of the editorial department for history and documentaries / MDR
Panel "History Hits" with Ruth Berry, Adel Ksiksi (Manager of Planning & Scheduling, Al Jazeera Documentary Channel), Chris Hastings (Executive Producer & Editorial Manager, WORLD) and Mark Willock (Commissioning editor, SWR).
Panel "Threat or Benefit? AI, the unconscious, and the reshaping of history" with Anil Ananthaswamy, Joanna J. Bryson
Aurélie Reman, Keynote Speaker Dawn Porter
Prof. Erik van de Loo
Psychoanalyst & Professor of Organizational Behaviour at INSEAD, Co-Founder & Program Co-Director of “The Executive Master in Change”
Sergei Loznitsa
Director, Author & Producer/ Ukraine
Dawn Porter
Documentary filmmaker, founder of Trilogy Films/ USA
Rula Ghani
Former First Lady of Afghanistan, Past President of WBFN (World Bank Family Network) 2008-2010, social worker
Dr. Ashraf Ghani
Former President of Afghanistan
HE Dr. Fatou Bensouda
Gambian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom/ Gambia
Elizabeth Klinck
Archive Producer & Owner E Klinck Research/ Canada
Louise Rosen
Editorial & business consultant, producer, sales agent/ USA
Lucio Mollica
Documentary Director & Producer/ Germany
Angela Steidele
Author/ Germany
Maryam Ebrahimi
Producer & director, Cat Eye Production/ Sweden
Gian Micalessin
War Correspondent, Il Giornale / Italy
Eva Wolfangel
Science & tech journalist/ Germany
Ruth Berry
Producer, director & writer/ Australia, Germany
Anil Ananthaswamy
Author & Journalist/ India
Joanna J. Bryson
Expert in Intelligence — both natural and artificial, Professor of Ethics and Technology, The Hertie School of Governance/ UK, Germany
Elisabeth Hagstedt
Head of Content & Broadcast, Histoire TV/ France
Mohammed Ali Naqvi
Producer & Director/ Pakistan
Passant Elagroudy
HCI/AI Postdoc, DFKI - German Centre for Artificial Intelligence/ Germany
Chris Hastings
Executive Producer & Editorial Manager PBS World Channel/ USA
Lucie Kon
Commissioning Editor BBC Storyville/ Great Britain
Bence Máté
documentary filmmaker, former Middle East correspondent/ Hungary
Pál Dániel Rényi
Editor, Political Reporter, and Investigative Journalist/ Hungary
Founding partner & lawyer in media law, Raue/ Germany
Fabrice Puchault
Head of Commissioning for documentaries & magazines, Arte/ France
Andreas Hamburger
Professor for Clinical Psychology and Psychoanalysis, Moderator, International Psychoanalytic University, Berlin (IPU)/ Germany
Hérade Feist
Deputy Editor in Chief, Arte/ France
William Irigoyen
Moderator, Journalist (Anchor, Reporter), Arte/ France
Igor Bergant
Journalist, TV News Host, RTV Slovenia/ Slovenia
Jason Steinhauer
Founder & CEO, History Communication Institute/ USA
Stephanie Serafyn Black
Archaeologist & public historian, Durham University/ UK
Igor Cașu
Director of the National Agency for Archives & Lecturer at the State University of Moldova, Chișinău/ Moldova
Cara Mertes
Founding Director of the International Resource for Impact and Storytelling (IRIS), award-winning producer & director/ US
Jade Nair
Curator of Michaelis Galleries, University of Cape Town/ South Africa
Ania Szczepanska
Researcher & Documentary Filmmaker, University Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne/ France, Poland
Gunnar Dedio
Managing Director PROGRESS - LOOKSfilm/ Germany
Adel Ksiksi
Manager of Programming, Al Jazeera Documentary Channel/ Qatar
Danny Graydon
Senior Lecturer (Screen)/ Contextual Studies Lead, BA (Hons) Digital Animation Moderator, University of Hertfordshire / Great Britain
Tom Matzek
Commissioning Editor, ORF/ Austria
Adam Gee
Commissioning Editor, Creative Artists Agency/ Great Britain
Susan Neiman
Philosopher, Writer, Director, Einstein Forum/ Germany, USA
The History Summit presented 4 dynamic sessions/day featuring distinctive speakers who are leaders in their fields, followed by q&a. Between sessions were networking coffee breaks; lunches were held in conjunction with all Powerhouse attendees.
- Women Making History – Erased or Celebrated?Can lost history be recaptured by today’s storytellers? How do we ensure the history of women and non-binary people is incorporated into the historical record?
- Threat or Benefit? AI, the unconscious, and the reshaping of historyWith the rapid adoption of generative AI and the growing use of these technologies by the media industry, we face new challenges: biases in training and source data and inherent flaws in the technology of machine learning can lead to an imbalance, even to the point that some historical events disappear from the collective memory. How can technology be used to manipulate our individual as well as our collective memory?
- History Hits: What we called historyWith recommendations from a cohort of commissioning editors, historians, and funders we take a look back at the outstanding history productions of the last year across all platforms and formats. What are the most important, most influential, most innovative, and most daring history productions?
- Boots on the Ground – War Reporters’ Footprint on HistoryThe journalists that go into conflict zones are the eyes and ears for us all. The choices they make – their perspective – can become the history of record. Does objectivity exist in the midst of battle? What influence do journalists have on the outcome of the wars they cover?
- History Disrupted: Is social media hijacking the past or enhancing the future?This panel will provide the keys to understanding how the Web and social media shape what we know about ourselves and our past, and the tools for filmmakers to engage in correcting the digital record.
- Archives Under ThreatThe Library of Alexandria was the greatest repository of knowledge in the ancient world – until it was no more. Archives, despite their seeming permanence, are not indestructible. What do states, societies, communities, and individuals gain through preservation? What is lost when an archive disappears, becomes inaccessible, or falls into disuse?
Let us know. We’d be happy to hear from you!
