Ahead of the world premiere as part of Sheffield Doc/Fest’s Digital Edition in the Ghosts and Apparitions selection, the documentary Me and the Cult Leader debuted the new trailer. In the film, director Atsushi Sakahara chronicles his intimate journey of confronting the doomsday cult behind the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo metro system on March 20th, 1995.
Midnight Family directed by Luke Lorentzen snagged the prestigious Grand Jury Award at the 2019 edition of Sheffield Doc/Fest. The jury applauded the film saying, “We also felt this film was a true celebration of the potential of independent filmmaking.”
This year, Sheffield Doc/Fest 2019 presents an international ensemble of Films, Live Events and Alternate Realities experiences and installations focusing on LGBTQI+ communities and individuals.
Sheffield Doc/Fest announced the line-up of 180+ documentary features and shorts for its 26th edition, which runs from 6 to 11 June, 2019, under the tagline “Ways of Seeing” inspired by John Berger’s television series and book of the same name. The festival opens on Thursday June 6 with Diego Maradona, a wild and irreverent look at one of the world’s most iconic sportsmen, both on and off the pitch, during his infamous time in Naples.
Sheffield Doc/Fest will open the 26th edition on Thursday June 6, with the UK premiere of the much anticipated Diego Maradona, directed by Asif Kapadia, with over 500 hours of footage from Maradona’s personal archive.
FACE TO FACE, the ground breaking immersive story/documentary/installation directed by the award-winning photo journalist, Michelle Gabel and co-directed by immersive storyteller/filmmaker Michaela Holland will world premiere at the Sheffield Doc/Fest beginning June 7 to 12, 2018.
Imagine if a shotgun blast took away your eyes, nose and upper palate leaving you permanently blind and unable to smell. FACE TO FACE is the true story of Michelle, who was the victim of this accidental shooting and is currently raising her two daughters. A shotgun blast took away Michelle Fox’s eyes, nose, and upper palate, leaving her permanently blind and unable to smell. Years of photojournalism and audio interviews work in tandem with a virtual reality piece as viewers explore an immersive, three-act installation.
FACE TO FACE is an intimate look at gun injury and human resilience. The film is an immersive documentary that blends years of photojournalism with virtual reality to create a three-act installation. This intimate look at gun injury and human resilience is based on the life of a woman who wears a facial prosthesis after a near fatal shooting accident. The installation will bring the viewer up close and personal, as we experience only a fraction of a day in the life of the main character. Years of photojournalism and interview audio is the foundation and cornerstone of this project. These traditional mediums work in tandem with a virtual reality piece as guests explore the film/installation.
FACE TO FACE was chosen from a record number of highest quality entries to be awarded the 2018 Alternate Realities Commission . It was awarded due to the project’s ability to push the boundaries of what is possible within factual storytelling and its strong commitment to innovation in the realm of non-fiction.
FACE TO FACE is a part of Sheffield Doc/Fest’s Alternate Realities programme, which is a leading forum for interactive, augmented reality, and virtual reality projects. Here, the festival explores game-changing forms of storytelling through experimenting with technology, for fully immersive experiences.
Image: Michelle in her daily ritual just before she puts her face on – in a scene from FACE TO FACE – an immersive documentary directed by Michelle Gabel and co-directed by Michaela Holland.
Vestige[/caption]
The 2018 Sheffield Doc/Fest Alternate Realities Exhibition, supported by Arts Council England, features 27 interactive and immersive projects; including 1 game, 1 augmented reality, 3 interactive documentaries, 3 installations, 9 virtual reality installations and 10 mobile VR projects; plus special events, talks and industry sessions. 2018 audiences will be treated to 9 World, 5 International, 6 European and 6 UK premieres, as well as 1 festival premiere.
Spread over two floors at Trafalgar Warehouse, the exhibition comprises a lower ground space entitled The World Unknown to You which will feature virtual and augmented reality, video games and digital installations that take the audience into the lives of others. The floor above entitled Better Known Truths, supported by the DDD60 project, is a communal space in which synchronous virtual reality shows will bring audiences together to experience 360º documentaries from around the world. Doc/Fest 2018 also features four Alternate Realities Special Live events: The Dark Room, The Incredible Playable Show, Reeps One: We Speak Live Music and DOUBLETHINK.
All Alternate Realities projects, except Special Live events, are competing across three award categories: the Virtual Reality award, Alternate Realities Interactive award and Audience Award. All award winners will be announced at the Sheffield Doc/Fest Awards Ceremony on Tuesday 12 June.
In addition to the Alternative Realities exhibition, The Alternate Realities Summit (supported by Arts Council England) is taking place on Sunday 10 June. The morning session will explore the theme of Portrayals, whilst the afternoon will focus on the topic of Union. Three keynote speakers taking part in the summit are: William Uricchio who leads the MiT open Doc lab, Ruthie Doyle from the Sundance Institute and Zahra Rasool, the lead of Al Jazeera’s Contrast VR team (based in Doha/Washington/NYC). Artists featured in Better Known Truths in the Alternate Realities Exhibition will examine how we reflect the culture, identity and history of a diverse selection of contributors within 360º documentary; while those in The World Unknown to You will debate how different types of interactive and immersive artists use different interfaces/media to bring us together to celebrate our collective humanity. Compared by Sharna Jackson (Arts & Digital Consultant) and Emma Cooper (Creative Digital Consultant).
The festival opens on Thursday June 7, the Alternate Realities exhibition will be open to audiences for the duration of the festival.
Alternate Realities Special Live events will take place on the following dates: June 8th: Reeps One: We Speak Live Music, June 9th: The Dark Room, June 11th: The Incredible Playable Show and June 8th/9th/10th/11th/12th: DOUBLETHINK.
Yemen’s Skies of Terror[/caption]
Yemen’s Skies of Terror (World premiere; Yemen, 2018, 6 mins, creator. Viktorija Mickute, Joi Lee, Zahra Rasool, prod. Viktorija Mickute, Joi Lee, Zahra Rasool, Zahra Rasool, Mobile VR)
Witness a rare glimpse of life inside Yemen and learn about the reality of childhood in a country that has suffered three years of devastating air raids falling from the skies.
Before Father Gets Back[/caption]
The 2018 Sheffield Doc/Fest film program lineup presents bold and innovative non-fiction films made by some of the most authentic international filmmakers working today. 2018 audiences will be treated to 37 World, 18 International, 24 European and 70 UK film premieres.
The works are selected across the main program Doc/Adventure, Doc/Expose, Doc/Think, Doc/Love, Doc/Rhythm, Doc/Visions, and focus Retro/Electric Avenues, New/UK, New/Lebanon program strands and accompanying Special Live events. Doc/Fest 2018 film program includes one special Preview screening, a late-night offering as Docs ‘Til Dawn and a selection of outdoor screenings Free Screen.
The festival opens on Thursday 7 June with the world premiere of Sean McAllister’s A Northern Soul.
The 25th anniversary edition of Sheffield Doc/Fest taking place from June 7 to 12, 2018, will open with the World Premiere of A Northern Soul by Yorkshire-born director Sean McAllister – winner of the 2015 Grand Jury Prize with A Syrian Love Story.
In the film, McAllister returns to his Yorkshire hometown of Hull as creative director of the opening ceremony of the City of Culture celebrations: living back with his 90 year-old parents, McAllister reflects on the changes to a city hit by cuts in public spending and divided by Brexit and where more than 1 in 3 children are living in poverty. Drawn to the fringes of town, McAllister met and started filming with Steve Arnott, a struggling warehouse worker by day and hip-hop performer by night, who harbours his own creative dream. Says Sean McAllister, “Back home in Hull, where I began, I have been filming Steve and wondering whether he can, against the odds, unlock the opportunities to build a better life? Is social mobility possible in cities like Hull? What role does culture have to play in this? How long can he hold onto his dreams for?”
Luke W Moody, Director of Film Programming, Sheffield Doc/Fest says, “The World Premiere of A Northern Soul is the perfect opening scene to Doc/Fest’s 25th festival edition. Sean’s internationally recognised cinema of rapport questions the present from a local point of view, but touches us all. A Northern Soul is a potent story about belonging, the value of culture for every person and offers a sense of hope and solidarity in turbulent times.”
Continues Sean McAllister, “I am delighted that Sheffield Doc/Fest is opening its 25th edition with a film from Yorkshire, and I cannot think of a more fitting occasion for A Northern Soul to receive its World Premiere. As a Northern filmmaker – and as someone who has attended every Doc/Fest since its inception and screened all my films here – it particularly resonates with me that the festival supports and celebrates regional voices and brave filmmaking – whether that’s in Syria or Hull – and it’s great to see the festival making these bold choices.
“Steve represents a forgotten generation whose dreams haven’t been met. He is also a deeply community driven optimist, who has been trying to find a way to bring creativity and culture to the disadvantaged kids of the city, whose opportunities to build a better life are restricted by the world around them. I left school at 16 and went straight into dead end factory work and eventually made a film in a pea factory that got me into film school and since then I’ve enjoyed filming around the world but it felt like an important time to be filming back in the North “.
Director Sean McAllister is known for his candid, frank films, depicting with extraordinary intimacy the lives of ordinary people who are struggling to survive but are survivors, caught up in political and personal conflict, struggling to make sense of the world we live in. From his early films Working For The Enemy (1997) and The Minders (1998), Sundance Jury Prize-winning The Liberace Of Baghdad (2004) and Japan: A Story Of Love And Hate (2008) to his more recent successes, The Reluctant Revolutionary and Sheffield Grand Jury Prize winning, BAFTA nominated A Syrian Love Story (2015), Sean’s work continues to inspire, to surprise and to fascinate audiences.
A Northern Soul is produced by Elhum Shakerifar (Even When I Fall 2017, Almost Heaven 2017, A Syrian Love Story 2015,) and Sean McAllister for BBC Two, with support from the BFI awarding funds from the National Lottery, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Sharp House.
Bruk Out![/caption]
This year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest will feature energetic portraits of dance, music and contemporary culture in the Doc/Rhythm film strand, plus at the Festival’s parties and talks, special guests and live appearances will celebrate resistance, subculture and 50 Years of the Sexual Offences Act.
A number of world premieres in the film program feature stories from the music scene – Roy Gurwitz will attend for Sofia Ollins’ Lost In Vagueness; the raw, energetic world of Jamaican Dancehall culture is explored in Bruk Out!, followed by a Dancehall Dance Class with one of the film participants in Tudor Square; and director Yony Leyser will attend for Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution about the 1980s queer fanzine scene and features the stories of Kim Gordon, Peaches, Kathleen Hanna and more. This year a celebration of queer and subculture runs throughout the Festival from opening night Queerama by Daisy Asquith followed by a short performance from John Grant and parties with DJs Cate Le Bon, Jonny Slut and performance by Skinny Girl Diet.
Years and Years frontman Olly Alexander will also appear at the Festival to talk about his BBC 3 documentary: Olly Alexander: Growing Up Gay (working title) which explores why the gay community can be vulnerable to mental health issues and talks about his own long-term battle with depression.
Also ahead of the World Premiere at Sadler’s Wells later in June, the Festival will present a Special Work-in-Progress Preview of 8 Minutes by Alexander Whitley Dance Company featuring a stunning installation of high-definition imagery from BAFTA award-winning visual artist Tal Rosner, and a specially created score by the electroacoustic music innovator Daniel Wohl.
STILL THE ENEMY WITHIN
The Audience Award winner for the 21st edition of Sheffield Doc/Fest is STILL THE ENEMY WITHIN directed by Owen Gower and produced by Sinead Kirwan and Mark Lacey. This archive-rich film looks back to Margaret Thatcher’s battle with the unions and specifically the 1984 miners strike. Told primarily from the retrospective of the mining communities the Doc/Fest screenings received a standing-ovation from Sheffield audiences and delegates. This World Premiere screening at Doc/Fest was one of a number of films at the festival that marked the 30th anniversary on 18th June of the so-called Battle of Orgreave.
OUR CURSE
The Short Film audience award goes to OUR CURSE directed by Tomasz Sliwinski, produced by Maciej Slesicki, an intimate and moving self-portrait about a young couple whose newborn child has been diagnosed with Ondine’s curse meaning he must be attached to a ventilator when he sleeps. Our Curse also won the Student Doc Award.
The Interactive audience award goes ASSENT directed and produced by Oscar Raby which enables the user to witness the execution of a group of prisoners by the military regime in Chile in 1973, as witnessed by the filmmaker’s father.
This year’s first ever In The Dark Sheffield Audio Award, which recognises a new golden age of radio and audio documentary storytelling both in podcasting and traditional radio, was awarded to Pejk Malinovski’s EVERYTHING, NOTHING, HARVEY KEITEL about a man who struggles to meditate when he realises he’s sitting next to the actor Harvey Keitel.
Special Jury prize was awarded to Attacking The Devil: Harold Evans and the Last Nazi War Crime
The Sheffield Doc/Fest announced the 2014 awards, including the Special Jury Award, Sheffield Innovation Award, Sheffield Green Award, Sheffield Youth Jury Award, Sheffield Student Doc Award, Sheffield Short Doc Award, The Tim Hetherington Award and the first ever Peter Wintonick Award.
Sheffield Doc/Fest’s Special Jury prize was awarded to Attacking The Devil: Harold Evans and the Last Nazi War Crime (directors Jacqui Morris & David Morris, United Kingdon/Canada, 2014, 99mins).
On behalf of the Special Jury Dawn Porter said: “We unanimously found this film to be an elegant examination of complex themes. We appreciated his film on all levels – it is a work approached with relevance and rigor, a historical film that feels contemporary and engaging, blossoms like a novel, and is surprising when least expected, epic in its scope, traversing decades and exploring big themes while revealing intimate details.” For the jury, Attacking the Devil is “a call to arms inviting us to examine our past as it celebrates and reminds us of the critical value of journalism.”
Sheffield Green Award was awarded to Unearthed
The Sheffield Green Award was awarded to Unearthed (Dir. Jolynn Minnaar, South Africa, 2014, 90mins).
Accepting her award Jolynn Minnaar said “I dedicate this award to filmmakers out there who are telling stories that matter. No matter how hard it is, keep going – it is worth it, I promise!”
The Special Jury also gave honorable mention to Night Will Fall (dir. Andre Singer, United Kingdom/Unites States/Israel, 2014, 75mins), which Dawn praised saying, “This intellectually bracing film reveals the power of documentary and why it matters. It challenges us to never take anything for granted. With skill and grace this film is a remarkable achievement reminding of the need to never forget.”
The Sheffield Innovation Award was awarded to A Short History of the Highrise (Dir. Katerina Cizek, Canada/United States, 2013, 17mins)
Sheffield Youth Jury Award was awarded to The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz
The Sheffield Youth Jury Award was awarded to The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (Dir. Brian Knappenberger, United States, 2014, 105mins)
The Youth Jury also gave a special mention to Happiness (Dir. Thomas Balmès, France/Finland, 2013, 76mins) and thanked Hussain Currimbhoy and Sheffield Doc/fest for the “unique and life-changing” experience of sitting on a festival jury.
The Sheffield Green Award was awarded to Unearthed (Dir. Jolynn Minnaar, South Africa, 2014, 90mins). Accepting her award Jolynn Minnaar said “I dedicate this award to filmmakers out there who are telling stories that matter. No matter how hard it is, keep going – it is worth it, I promise!”
The Sheffield Student Doc Award was awarded to Our Curse (Dir. Tomasz Sliwinski, Poland, 2013, 28mins)
The Sheffield Short Doc Award, sponsored by the London Short Film Festival, was awarded to Amanda F***ing Palmer on the Rocks(Dir. Ondi Timoner, United States, 2014, 18mins)
Tim Hetherington Award was awarded to Profession: Documentarist
The Tim Hetherington Award was awarded to Profession: Documentarist (Directors: Shirin Barghnavard, Firouzeh Khosrovani, Farhnaz Sharifi, Mina Keshavarz, Sepideh Abtahi, Sahar Salahshoor and Nahid Rezaei, Iran, 2014, 80mins)
Presented by Tim’s mother Judith Hetherington and Oli Harbottle (Dogwoof), the award celebrates the life and legacy of photojournalist and humanitarian Tim Hetherington, whose objectives as a filmmaker were to highlight the plight of people so often ignored by the world and mainstream media.
Accepting the award Sharin Barghnavard declared it an honour “to accept this precious award from Tim’s mother” and remembered Tim’s legacy as someone who “dedicated his own life to pass beyond the borders.”
Peter Wintonick Award, celebrating activist filmmaking, was awarded to Vessel
The first ever Peter Wintonick Award, celebrating activist filmmaking, was awarded to Vessel (Dir. Diana Whitten, United States, 2014, 88mins)
This year the Inspiration Award was awarded to Laura Poitras. Poitras sent a message dedicating her award to Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, Jacob Appelbaum, William Binney, Julian Assange and Sarah Harrison.
Lifetime Achievement was presented to Roger Graef
The Sheffield Doc/Fest 2014 award for Lifetime Achievement was presented to Roger Graef. Accepting the award Roger said “it’s true that when we take people’s pictures, we capture their souls and that is a great responsibility” and paid tribute to “those souls who have been brave enough to let us capture them.” He continued: “the privilege of fifty years of working in this industry has been to share the private lives of a great many people.”