The world premiere of the “THE BIG MELT” directed by Martin Wallace will help kick off the 20th edition of Sheffield Doc/Fest and also celebrate the 100 Years of Stainless Steel in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK, the home of the festival, on Wednesday, June 12, 2013. In an interesting collaboration, leading Sheffield musicians – including The City of Sheffield Brass Band, Richard Hawley and band members, Pulp band members, The Forgemasters, a string quartet and a youth choir – will perform live to the world premiere of the film.

THE BIG MELT is described as “A lyrical film for the contemporary age, The Big Melt uses footage from the BFI National Archive to tell the story of steel, the story of the men in the steelworks and the story of Sheffield. The score directed by Jarvis Cocker takes us on musical journey into the soul of a nation, bringing to life the ghosts of our past, leading us into the belly of the furnaces and showing how our national characters have been stamped from the mighty presses of our industrial heritage. Jarvis Cocker has gathered a group of leading Sheffield musicians to create a phenomenal music score for the film – a new kind of Sheffield heavy metal, with pictures.”

Says Martin Wallace, Director: We wanted to tell a story about steel that opened-out the basic social history and facts about the process itself. There are some awesome BFI archive films that already paint a vivid picture of the real story, so we wanted to drag this archive into the present, re-imagine and invigorate it, turn it into something more fantastical, more playful and, at the same time, more challenging.