Sheffield DocFest 2021 Festival Report by Sheffield DocFest

Contents Festival Overview Film Programme Festival Awards Arts Programme Talks Programme Industry Marketplace Industry Sessions & Pitches DocFest Exchange Programme Community Programme Festival Audience Industry Delegates Press & Media Coverage Festival Team & Trustees Funders, Sponsors & Supporters

Contents

05 10 14 18 22 24 30 32 36 40 42 44 48 50

Festival Overview Sheffield DocFest held its 28th edition in June 2021 with a ten-day festival celebrating, championing and debating documentary film and art. The hybrid festival was presented online, physically in Sheffield, and in 16 cinemas across the UK. This year’s edition was the most accessible to date, welcoming 45,334 admissions. A total of 2,056 industry delegates from 70 countries attended the festival online, with independent filmmakers and producers being the largest sector represented at 38% of industry audiences . Film screenings and discussions were held in Sheffield’s Showroom Cinema and Abbeydale Picturehouse, and exhibitions took place across three gallery spaces and sites in Sheffield including Site Gallery, S1 Artspace, and the Sheffield Hallam University Performance Lab. Film screenings were also held in 16 cinemas across the UK including Cambridge, London, Nottingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Brighton, Inverness, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Bradford, Exeter, Derby, Belfast and Bristol. The festival was experienced online across three bespoke platforms - Selects for UK public audiences watching films and talks; DocPlayer for international industry audiences watching films, talks, sessions, and pitches; and the Online Exhibitions Platform which was free for all to experience artworks curated for the online space. The programme had 41,520 public and industry online views across the ten-day 5

Festival Overview

festival. In preparation for this year’s edition, the festival unveiled a new brand identity and website. London-based graphic design studio Regular Practice led on design, and the new website was developed by long-term collaborators and Sheffield-based web designers Joi Polloi. During the ten-day festival, the site received traffic from 81K users from 146 countries. This year’s festival edition featured 191 film programme shorts and features, contemporary and retrospective, from 2431 submissions. The line-up included 49 world premieres, 20 international premieres, 10 European premieres, and 45 UK premieres across 64 countries with 47 languages represented, including new International and UK Competitions and a Northern Focus strand(with productions from Northern England.) 35 artists and collectives were represented in the Arts Programme, showing a total of 42 artworks which included 13 world premieres, 3 international premieres, and 17 UK premieres.

“Despite the challenges of programming during a pandemic, the Sheffield team has pulled together an impressive lineup.” - Variety

Sheffield DocFest 2021

“Sheffield DocFest, always an adaptable, forward-thinking festival” - The Guardian

Drawing from the wider Film and Arts programme, several Talks were presented both in person and online, featuring David Olusogua, Lydia Lunch, Marc Isaacs, Jon Bang Carlsen, Mark Cousins, Betsy West and Julie Cohen, among others. Industry sessions were presented online, and featured discussions on co-production after Brexit, online distribution, the case for documentary funding in the UK, bullying and discrimination in the workplace, as well as industry panels presented with the BBC, Channel 4, ESPN, National Geographic, Sky Documentaries, The Guardian, among others. A total of 50 talks, industry sessions and pitches were featured in this year’s programme, drawing an online audience of 8052. Filmmakers and producers pitched their new projects to a record 358 industry representatives and buyers online as part of the MeetMarket, Arts Talent Market, and (piloted for the first time this year) UK Broadcasters Production Talent Market, with a total of 1394 matchmade meetings taking place across the festival. The festival welcomed 10 regional and international delegation groups of filmmakers and producers to take part in bespoke activities including work-in-progress presentations, round table meetings with industry representatives, and screening showcases. 7

Festival Overview

As part of a year-round strategy to grow and deepen engagement with audiences in Sheffield and the surrounding areas, the festival has expanded its Community programme. This is produced in partnership with people, artists, and organisations based-in Sheffield. The programme featured films from across Sheffield DocFest film strands, the DocFest Exchange programme, which featured film screenings, talks, workshops, and micro-commission exploring themes of climate justice and the health of the planet, and the Arts Programme to collaborate with local audiences and make deeper connections across the festival. All Community events had free or discounted places for people on a low income or who might benefit from support to attend - with a focus on tackling social isolation and bringing people together. The festival team will continue to host events as part of the Community and DocFest Exchange programmes across the year within Sheffield and the surrounding regions. - Cintia Gil & Sheffield DocFest team

“Wide variety and diversity of choices and types of films made it an experience that was always like a pleasant surprise. Brought wonder back to film-watching for me, because I didn’t know anything about most of the films prior to viewing.” - DocFest attendee

Sheffield DocFest 2021

Festival Overview

Film Programme “The festival has a long tradition of representing a wide slice of society through the medium of film, and this year’s line-up is testament to that.” - Little White Lies

2431 191 Submissions

World Premieres 10

Films

46 22 10 UK Premieres

International Premieres

64 47 Countries represented

Languages represented

Sheffield DocFest 2021

European Premieres

In 2021 Sheffield DocFest’s Film Programme could finally present the strands that had been planned since 2020, including the Northern Focus, UK Competition, and the International Competition. The festival presented an eclectic programme, with a wide diversity of forms, territories and themes, while solidifying the identity of the strands. The programme features an increased number of World Premieres, which is an ongoing strategy, giving the festival character and solidifying its position within the international industry context. Although the percentage of UK films has grown from previous editions, the programme retained an internationalist aspect, and the creation of the UK Competition and Northern Focus helped open space for more independent, young, filmmaking talent from across the country. The competition’s diversity and openness was acknowledged by the international jury (5 members with only 2 UK members - Campbell X and Ashley Clarke), with international jurors surprised by the number of filmmakers they had never come across. Sheffield DocFest will continue to be a platform for exporting independent, new and emerging UK talent. 86 features and 105 shorts in the Film programme included premieres from Steve McQueen and James Rogan, Avi Mograbi, Andreas Voigt, Anna Muylaert and Jo Politi, Julie West and Betsy Cohen, Brian Hill, Kazuo Hara, Kim O’Bomsawin, Lynne Sachs, Mania Akbari, Paula Gaitán, Rosine Mbakam, Theo Anthony, Vivian Ostrovsky, Yael Bartana and Yaël Abecassis. The UK Premiere of Final Account by the late Luke Holland also featured. This year’s Retrospective: ‘Films belong to those who need them - fragments from the history of Black British Cinema’, offered a celebration of Black British screen culture - curated 11

Film Programme

by guest curators including Karen Alexander, Campbell X, George Amponsah and David Olusoga, who was also the subject of the BBC interview. Titles included Burning An Illusion by Menelik Shabazz, It Ain’t Half Racist, Mum by Stuart Hall, Looking for Langston by Isaac Julien, and Second Coming by Debbie Tucker Green, among many others. As well as physical screenings in Sheffield, DocFest reached audiences nationwide with five premiere screenings showing in up to 16 partner cinemas in cities around the UK - from Inverness to Exeter. The screenings included pre-recorded filmmaker Q&As. This initiative allowed us to create momentum across the country, which had an impact on UK-wide audiences engaging with the Festival’s online platform, Selects. Presenting the programme in cinemas and online was an important step for this year’s edition. We gave special attention to creating a comprehensive online programme of supporting content with the best quality possible. 105 filmmaker Q&A’s, of which the majority were live-streamed, allowed for real interactivity. The closing night was live-streamed, reaching a wide national and international audience, realising our message of “Coming Together in Sheffield and Online”. © FoxMoonPhotography

Sheffield DocFest 2021

Top 10 Films Rated by the Sheffield DocFest Audience 1. Charm Circle (dir. Nira Burstein / USA / World Premiere) Audience Award winner 2. Maisie (dir. Lee Cooper / UK / World Premiere)

7. Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America (dir. Emily Kunstler, Sarah Kunstler / USA / UK Premiere)

3. Sing, Freetown (dir. Clive Patterson / USA, UK / World Premiere)

8. The First 54 Years - An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation (dir. Avi Mograbi / France, Finland, Israel, Germany / UK Premiere)

4. Summer of Soul (dir. Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson / USA / European Premiere)

9. Portrait of Kaye (dir. Ben Reed / UK / World Premiere)

5. Don McCullin: Almost Liverpool 8 (dir. Daniel Draper, Allan Melia / UK / World Premiere)

10. Uprising (dir. Steve McQueen, James Rogan / UK / World Premiere)

6. I Get Knocked Down dir. Sophie Robinson / UK / World Premiere)

Film Programme

Festival Awards The Sheffield DocFest Awards recognise great films, filmmakers and project creators. This year’s winners were chosen by an exciting and diverse group of local, national and international jurors who offered plural perspectives on the value of non-fiction film, from authors, to artists, curators and critics. The International Competition Best Film Award continues to be an Academy Award qualifying award in addition to Sheffield DocFest’s Short Doc Award. © Joe Horner

Sheffield DocFest 2021

International Competition Best Film in International Competition: Nũhũ Yãg Mũ Yõg Hãm: This Land Is Our Land! / Nũhũ Yãg Mũ Yõg Hãm (dir. Essa Terra É Nossa!, dir. Isael Maxakali, Sueli Maxakali, Carolina Canguçu and Roberto Romero) Brazil International Competition Special Jury Award: Equatorial Constellations (dir. Silas Tiny) Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe. Special Mentions: Summer / ЛЕТО (dir. Vadim Kostrov) and Double Layered Town / Making a Song to Replace Our Positions / Niju no machi / Kotaichi no uta o amu (dir. Komori Haruka + Seo Natsumi) Japan. Jurors: Karen Alexander, independent film and moving image curator and researcher Inti Briones, Peruvian cinematographer and producer Sergio Fant, Germany-based Italian film programmer Paula Gaitán, Colombian-Brazilian filmmaker Hiroko Tasaka, the curator of the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum and Artistic Director of the Yebisu International Festival for Art and Alternative Visions 2022

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION WINNER

Youth Jury Award If god were a woman / Si dios fuera mujer (dir. Angélica Cervera) Colombia Jurors: Nafsika Hadjichristou, a documentary filmmaker and photographer from Cyprus Reba Martin, a film and marketing writer from Bristol Gethin Morgan, a journalist currently working for The Culture Trip but looking to specialise in film Natalie Peteranna, a Scottish Film and Media graduate Martha Robinson, a third year Geography student at the University of Leeds

UK Competition Best Film in UK Competition: Ali and His Miracle Sheep (dir. Maythem Ridha) UK. UK Competition Special Jury Award: Portrait of Kaye (dir. Ben Reed) UK. Special Mention: The Battle of Denham Ford (dir. Bradley & Bradley) UK Jurors: Ashley Clark, Curatorial Director at the Criterion Collection Wood Lin, a film critic and a festival organiser specialising in documentary Keiko Sei, writer, curator and media activist Leonor Teles, Portugese filmmaker Campbell X, award-winning filmmaker

UK COMPETITION AWARD WINNER

Tim Hetherington Award Tim Hetherington Award supported by Dogwoof: The silence of the Mole / El silencio del Topo (dir. Anais Taracena) Guatemala. Special Mention: Nũhũ Yãg Mũ Yõg Hãm: This Land Is Our Land! / Nũhũ Yãg Mũ Yõg Hãm: Essa Terra É Nossa! (dir. Isael Maxakali, Sueli Maxakali, Carolina Canguçu and Roberto Romero) Brazil. Jurors: George Amponsah, multiple award winning BAFTA nominated filmmaker Pooja Rangan, an Associate Professor of English in Film & Media Studies at Amherst College

TIM HETHERINGTON AWARD WINNER

YOUTH JURY AWARD WINNER

Festival Awards

First Feature Award

Short Film Award

Award for Best First Feature: Fixed barricade at Hamdalaye crossing / Barrage d’arrêt fixe et fermé au niveau du carrefour Hamdalaye (dir. Thomas Bauer) France, Guinea.

Award for Best Short Film supported by The Guardian Documentaries: Barataria (dir. Julie Nguyen Van Qui) France, Spain.

Special Mention: Charm Circle (dir. Nira Burstein) USA.

Special Mention: Homage to the Work of Philip Henry Gosse / Homenaje a la obra de Philip Henry Gosse (dir. Pablo Martin Weber) Argentina.

Jurors: Theo Anthony, filmmaker Agustina Comedi, screenwriter and filmmaker Alisa Lebow, documentary filmmaker, scholar, and writer

FIRST FEATURE AWARD WINNER SHORT FILM AWARD WINNER

Audience Award Audience Award (supported by PBS America): Charm Circle (dir. Nira Burstein) USA.

“Sheffield was an incredible experience and there is no doubt in my mind that it was the best place for the world premiere. I will always be eternally grateful to the Sheffield DocFest team for introducing the film. The care and thoughtfulness exhibited by the team is unmatched.” - Audience Award winning director of Charm Circle, Nira Burstein 16

Sheffield DocFest 2021

Festival Awards

Arts Programme “My experience at Sheffield DocFest was fantastic in all aspects. The team worked tirelessly to exhibit and screen my work to best effect. The production was professional, everyone was friendly and the install was immaculate.” - Charlotte Jarvis, Sheffield DocFest 2021 Artist

35 42 Artists and Collectives

Projects

13 3 17 3 World Premieres

International Premieres

UK Premieres

Sheffield DocFest 2021

Festival Premieres

Supported by Arts Council England, Sheffield DocFest’s newly titled Arts Programme 2021 featured over 35 artists and collectives from around the world, showing a total of 42 artworks. The programme centred around three group exhibitions: Here In This Room; Right on Time; and Dialogues: Emily Chao and Al Wong. Displaying work both in Sheffield and online, the 2021 edition of the Arts Programme was a truly hybrid presentation. Work was exhibited in-person at Site Gallery, S1 Artspace, and the Sheffield Hallam University Performance Lab, while the whole programme was freely accessible worldwide via the Online Exhibitions Platform and included exhibitions and events specifically curated for the online space. Here in This Room, curated by Herb Shellenberger, was a group exhibition at Site Gallery, S1 Artspace and online. The exhibition focused on the dual concepts of “domestic ambience” and “domestic surrealism,” considering the ways that artists have depicted or reimagined living spaces, domestic labour/routines, or many different ideas of home. 19

Arts Programme

Featuring works of moving image, performance and sound, Right on Time, was a group exhibition curated by Soukaina Aboulaoula for Sheffield DocFest’s Online Exhibitions Platform and highlighted the voices of artists who do not necessarily adhere to the traditional definition of “time” and “temporality.” Dialogues: Emily Chao and Al Wong at the Performance Lab was a double retrospective and a cross-generational pairing of two Asian American artists based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dialogues united the artists’ works across a gallery exhibition, an accompanying screening and a talk where the artists met for the first time. © Anh Do (La Lune)

Sheffield DocFest 2021

The Arts Programme also commissioned In Posse by Charlotte Jarvis (in partnership with Site Gallery) and Alex Tyson’s two-channel moving image installation The Registry, as well as Right on Time Radio, a temporary web radio station which included performances, discussions, contemporary literature, and sound experimentations. Other highlights included screenings of Canadian-Japanese experimental filmmaker Daïchi Saïto’s 35mm landscape film earthearthearth at Abbeydale Picture House and Showroom Cinema, and Georges Lacombe’s 1928 silent city portrait La Zone, also projected on 35mm at the Abbeydale. Sam Smith’s desktop performance, E.1027, was presented live at the Performance Lab and simultaneously streamed online. A live collective screening of Tabita Rezaire’s Mamelles Ancestrales was also shown via our Online Exhibitions Platform. We hosted four digital Arts Talks focusing on a range of topics which 515 people attended. We are proud to have engaged 557 visitors at our in-person exhibitions, particularly during a year with extremely reduced capacities in venues and fewer international festival guests. Furthermore, the Arts Programme embraced the potential of reaching greater digital audiences making use of a range of platforms including: Cargo; Radio.co; Vimeo; Soundcloud; and Instagram. We programmed a myriad of online activity which saw 6394 visitors engaging with the Arts Programme online.

Arts Programme

Talks Programme Resonating across the programme, we presented a series of talks, panels, and other events, which aimed to deepen and broaden conversation around film and art, and to provide an opportunity for audiences to meet the filmmakers and artists involved in the films and projects that form this year’s festival. From conversations about our Retrospective programmes, to Talks and masterclasses – including with talent such as Al Wong & Emily Chao, Betsy West & Julie Cohen, Campbell X, David Olusoga, Jon Bang Carlsen, Lydia Lunch, Marc Isaacs, Mark Cousins, and Zinzi Minott, among many others. With programmed activity such as collaborative workshops, tours, Q&As, social media performances, and a daily radio show, the 2021 Arts Programme centred on discussion as a way to evoke debate and create connections between a wide array of programmed artists and artworks. The four Arts talks further complimented the importance of conversation within the exhibitions and commissions. Whether topics were theoretical, hypothetical or practical, all Arts talks contributed to making the 2021 Sheffield DocFest Arts Programme a significant site for conversation and debate.

Sheffield DocFest 2021

Top 5 Talks rated by DocFest audiences 1. The Story of Looking: In Conversation with Mark Cousins

4. The Art of Staging Reality: Marc Isaacs in Conversation with Jon Bang Carlsen

2. BBC Interview: David Olusoga

5. Stories of Other Animals (DocFest Exchange Programme)

3. The Return: Life After ISIS - Reframing the Narrative

Talks Programme

Industry Marketplace “This year’s selection also fits with MeetMarket’s ambition of showcasing international stories. The slate comprises 31 countries of production/co-production – from Argentina, through to the Czech Republic, France, India, South Africa, to the U.S. and Zimbabwe.” - Tim Dams, Variety

358 1394 Number of Decision Makers

Number of match-made meetings

Number of MeetMarket Projects

Number of Arts Talent Market Projects

Number of Broadcast Talent Market Project

Sheffield DocFest 2021

572

Industry Delegates taking part in Marketplace activity

While preparing this year’s Industry Programme, we felt a tremendous sense of momentum. In the face of lockdowns, travel bans, and borders closing, our community is moving projects and ideas forward with more energy and urgency than ever. In 2021, we were excited to support so many brilliant works-in-progress and continue our part in creating spaces for this motion to flow, for global connections and for critical, forward-thinking conversations about documentaries and the processes through which they are created. Our markets facilitated connections for 77 projects encompassing 41 countries of production, matching the creative teams with over 300 industry partners to help with funding and finding their way to audiences worldwide. In the MeetMarket, pitching among many emerging talents (Agustina Comedi, Cassie Quarless, Cyril Aris, Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich, Tom Fassaert, Usayd Younis) were numerous acclaimed filmmakers and producers including Andre Singer (Meeting Gorbachev, Night Will Fall, Into the Inferno), Andreas Voit (Leipzig in The Fall, Time Will Tell), Diane Quon (Minding the Gap), Göran Hugo Olsson (The Black Power Mixtape, Concerning Violence), Kellen Quinn (Time, Midnight Family), Riel Roch-Decter (All Light, Everywhere, Shakedown, Rat Film), Sean Mcallister (A Northern Soul, A Syrian Love Story), and Sierra Pettengill (The Reagan Show, Cutie and the Boxer). For the 22 teams pitching in the Arts Talent Market, the format of the work was an almost equal split between immersive VR/AR, and video art or installation pieces – the unifying factor being an artist-led, experimental approach. Participants met with institutions such as the Tate, MoMA, ARTE, HTC Vive, SXSW, IFFR, MUTEK, and Venice Film Festival.

Industry Marketplace

Our selected teams had over 1,300 meetings with over 300 Industry Representatives. We counted with the expertise and generosity of a high quality group of external assessors: Alyona Bocharova, Anja Dziersk, Ayman El Amir, Carmen Thompson, Charmian Griffin, Chris Harris, Delphine Lievens, Eoin Dara, Heejung Oh, Katayoun Dibamehr, Kirill Sorokin, María Vera, Stefan Kloos, Toni Bell, and Varadila Nurdin. This year Sheffield DocFest welcomed 10 regional and international delegations , online, including filmmakers and producers from Chile, Philippines, France, Germany, Northern Norway, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Sheffield DocFest 2021

Industry Marketplace

Industry Representation

Sheffield DocFest 2021

Industry Marketplace

Industry Sessions & Pitches This year’s Industry Talks & Pitches encompassed a wide range of creators and industry executives presenting and discussing new work and ways of working. We programmed many sessions that were practically oriented for delegates to hear directly from commissioners about how to work with ESPN, ITV Studios, National Geographic, Sky, and UKTV, as well as what the leading UK broadcasters have coming up and what programmes they are seeking for the year ahead. Complementing the practical sessions, we hosted numerous exploratory discussions about journalism and creative documentary, elevating diversity, reimagining disability, prevailing story structures, alternative spaces for docs online, the female gaze and how the background and identity of the filmmakers shapes the work. Especially helpful for emerging talent were the industry talks, allowing delegates to learn the lessons from filmmakers who have recently had their first commissions via the BBC and Channel 4 new talent schemes, as well as the Netflix Masterclass with Sam Feder and Amy Scholder, and The Female Gaze session chaired by Sandi Toksvig. As always, delegates were able to watch filmmakers pitch their ideas to a panel of industry professionals via the Chicken & Egg Pictures’ (Egg)celerator Lab Pitch for women-identifying emerging filmmakers, the Whickers 30

Sheffield DocFest 2021

Pitch for an £80,000 prize, and the WaterBear Pitch for student films. Industry delegates were also able to join as observers for the very successful Work-In-Progress Session with Northern Ireland Screen. The Industry Talks also examined key issues facing the industry as a whole, including the case for funding for documentaries in the UK and abroad, bullying and discrimination in the workplace, and how to do EU-UK co-productions following Brexit. We are thankful to all the speakers and presenting partners that contributed to a programme that was simultaneously pragmatic and reflective.

Top 5 Sessions rated by DocFest audiences: 1. UK Commissioners: Looking Ahead

4. Journalism & Creative Documentary

2. Working with Sky

5. Making My First Film

3. Working with UKTV

Industry Sessions & Pitches

DocFest Exchange Programme “Interesting, thought-provoking and unusual content that is not often covered in conventional cinema.” - DocFest Exchange audience member

The DocFest Exchange is a year-long curated programme exploring themes of climate justice and the health of the planet through film screenings, talks, workshops, and micro-commissions. The 2021 programme, titled ‘Beyond Our Own Eyes’, questioned the worldview that has caused the climate crisis by inviting audiences to inhabit perspectives beyond their own: Can we imagine the world through the eyes of an animal? Can we shift our perspective to the scale of a microbe? Can we understand life as a planetary level phenomenon? Highlights of the DocFest Exchange: Beyond Our Own Eyes film programme included screenings of GUNDA by Victor Kossakovsky; The Ants and the Grasshopper by Raj Patel & 32

Sheffield DocFest 2021

Zak Piper; a programme of short films by Karrabing Film Collective; and a sell-out screening of a 35mm print of Microcosmos (France, 1996) by biologists-turned-filmmakers Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou. The DocFest Exchange Talks took place online over the last weekend of Sheffield DocFest, bringing together voices from science, art, activism, and academia, as well as voices that have been historically and systematically ignored in these fields. The Stories of Other Animals panel discussion asked how cinematic storytelling can help us empathise with non-human beings; the Learning How to Live Together: A Symbiotic Worldview panel was a lively discussion between a microbiologist, a historian, a parasitologist and a cultural worker about what we can learn from the interconnectedness of the microbial world; the Seeds for a Common Future panel created a forum of exchange between 3 radical © FoxMoonPhotography 33

DocFest Exchange Programme

Sheffield DocFest 2021

community-led ecological projects; and the Storytelling as Collective Resistance panel was a celebration of the collective power of Indigenous filmmaking in relation to the climate crisis. With all talks happening online we were able to host conversations between guests from across the globe, including speakers from Malawi, Russia, Syria, UK, USA, Germany, Taiwan, Latvia, Denmark, France, Australia, Guatemala, and Brazil. We hosted a series of online workshops and a reading group for participants to actively engage with the themes of the programme and with each other. Highlights included a collective reading and discussion of the revolutionary work of evolutionary biologist Lynn Margulis, and an artist-led workshop about our relationship to the barely noticed organisms around us and within us. As a celebration of the collaborative nature of the DocFest Exchange, and to encourage some ‘off-screen’ time within the online programming, we commissioned four artists and collectives to produce new audio pieces in collaboration with scientific researchers. These included a guided meditation about the ‘internet of fungus’ beneath our feet, an audio walk inspired by the visual perception of migrating birds, and an audio essay on the links between supermarket strawberries and the exploitation of seasonal workers in the south of Spain. The DocFest Exchange programme is supported by Wellcome Trust.

DocFest Exchange Programme

Community Programme “By the very nature of some of the problems that group members are grappling with, coming out today represented a massive challenge. Those who did attend were thrilled with both the film and with their own achievement at being out in public again.” - Member of staff from Sage Greenfingers - a therapeutic gardening project The Sheffield DocFest Community Programme is a new programme of stories and ideas forged in communities across the world with a strong focus on what can happen when people come together. It is about making connections in and to our city - locally, nationally and internationally and is produced in partnership with people, artists and organisations based-in or from Sheffield. The programme worked with films from across Sheffield DocFest’s film strands, the DocFest Exchange, and the Arts Programme to collaborate with local audiences and make deeper connections across the festival. 36

SheffieldOverview DocFest 2021 Festival

The programme featured 9 dedicated Community Screenings, 3 live performances, 6 online workshops and 1 in-person workshop. All screenings included English subtitles or open captions with descriptive text. This content ran alongside 22 wider screenings giving further opportunities for people to access content in person and online. We collaborated with Migration Matters Festival to bring free mobile broadband and online festival passes to refugees and people seeking asylum in Sheffield. All Community events had free or discounted places for people on a low income or who might benefit from support to attend - with a focus on tackling social isolation and bringing people together. Bespoke community screenings included free private events to enable certain groups to attend with more confidence during the ongoing pandemic. This included a School Screening of Lift Like A Girl by Mayye Zayed for students aged 14-16 from a school in © Anh Do (La Lune) 37

Community Programme

SheffieldOverview DocFest 2021 Festival

North East Sheffield and a screening of The Ants and the Grasshopper by Raj Patel and Zak Piper for a group of adults who take part in therapeutic horticulture programmes for people whose lives are greatly impacted by mental illness. The programme included 4 sensory adapted Relaxed Screenings specially programmed for neurodiverse people. We were proud to welcome a school group to 2 of these from centres in Sheffield that provide full time education for KS3/4 pupils with Autism Spectrum Disorder primary support needs. For this screening, we partnered with Sheffield-based Community Arts organisation, Ignite Imaginations, to create art packs inspired by the film to create imaginary maps and travel journals. We then were able to send photos of the journeys that the young people had made back to the director and his son who featured in the film to show how they had inspired young people nearly 6000 miles away. The Community Programme also featured some incredible performances by local spoken word artists, Danae Wellington from Nyara Arts and HYPHYN from Hive, South Yorkshire. Both artists wrote material inspired by the films especially for the festival. The World of Mindfulness also featured a live socially distanced ‘sound bath’ by sound artist Muna McCadie. Other highlights included 6 Community workshops made in partnership with local organisations and artists inspired by 6 films from the Community Programme, leading to new connections and collaborations in the city with Nyara Arts, SONA Collective, Natural Voice Network, Mulembas d’Africa, UBI Lab Sheffield and Opus, and musician and artist Jim Ghedi.

Section Community Programme

Festival Audiences A programme-led approach to diversity combined with outreach initiatives resulted in reaching a greater and fuller range of audiences, including those from areas of low engagement, as part of our ongoing commitment to make documentary as accessible as possible to all - including those who face barriers to engaging with arts and culture.

45,334

87% on 2020

Number of festival admissions/views

3,814 41,520 Physical attendees

Virtual attendees 40

Sheffield DocFest 2021

32%

56%

Aged 30 & under

Female

24% LGBTQI+

18%

Non-binary

People of colour

11% Audiences with a disability

13% Audiences from a disadvantaged background

48% 64% 12% 85% of public audiences attending Doc/Fest for the first time

of audiences attending 1-3 events across the festival

attending 10+ events across the festival

of public audiences rated their festival experience as excellent or very good

44% Audiences from Sheffield (up by 6%)

Audiences from the rest of Yorkshire

50% Audiences from the rest of UK (same as 2020)

Festival Audiences

Industry Delegates

2056 70 40% from

Countries

Number of industry delegates

same as 2020

Percentage of international delegates

26%

56%

Aged 30 & under

24% LGBTQI+

Female

Non-binary

9% Audiences with a disability

25%

Same as 2020

People of colour

16% Audiences from a disadvantaged background Sheffield DocFest 2021

45% 16% of industry delegates said the 2021 edition was their first Festival

had been to the Festival five or more times previously

39% 70% of industry delegates are independent filmmakers and producers: the largest sector in attendance

of Festival industry delegates said that Sheffield DocFest was good value for money

Where our industry audiences came from:

Industry Delegates

Press & Media Coverage Sheffield DocFest 2021 continued to excite and attract international media reporting across the whole programme and writing from a range of perspectives. The total number of press clippings for the 28th edition came to 1,106, across 34 countries, with a combined reach of 18.5 million internationally. International trade press made up of around 28% of coverage, including from media partners Variety, Screen, Broadcast, Realscreen, and Televisual. Consumer press across online, print, and radio made up the remainder of coverage including media partners Cineuropa and Massive, plus previews, reviews, interviews and editorial in BBC Radio, Guardian, Observer, Little White Lies, Metro, Sight & Sound, Sunday Times, Time Out, Big Issue, il Manifesto, NME, Hollywood Reporter, MUBI Notebook, The Face and more. A dedicated Girls on Film podcast focused on the female-directed titles in the programme while The Voice and Gal-Dem celebrated the filmmakers of colour in the programme. 138 members of the press accredited this year - with the majority engaging online while a few travelled to Sheffield to experience the festival in-person, covering the Film and Arts programme.

Sheffield DocFest 2021

Share of Coverage by Media Type Online, consumers: 59.7% Online, trade/industry: 28.1% Blog, consumer: 3.2% Radio station:2.3% Newspaper, community: 2.1% Online, news and business: 2% Newspaper: 1.6% Radio network: 0.5% Television station: 0.2% Magazine, consumer: 0.2% Magazine, trade/industry: 0.1%

1106 1.6 M (up from 466 in 2019)

Total number of mentions/clippings

Value of coverage

18.5 M 138 Press reach

Number of accredited press

Press & Media Coverage

Press coverage across 34 countries:

Key press coverage sources:

Sheffield DocFest 2021

Press & Media Coverage

Festival Team & Trustees Trustees Alex Cooke, Chair Brian Woods, Deputy Chair Derren Lawford Helen Scott Jo Clinton-Davis Madonna Benjamin Peter Armstrong Shirani Sabaratnam Diana Buckley (Sheffield City Council observer) Sue Cook (Arts Council England observer)

We thank those who served as Trustees until recently Patrick Holland (September 2016 - April 2021) Sharna Jackson (December 2017 - June 2020)

Team Direction

Selection and Film Programming

Cíntia Gil (Festival Director) Melanie Iredale (Deputy Director) Patrick Hurley (Director of Industry) Sylvia Bednarz (Director of Partnerships & Development)

Agnès Wildenstein (Associate Programmer) Cíntia Gil Melanie Iredale (UK Competition, Rhyme & Rhythm) Rabz Lansiquot (Rebellions, Ghosts & Apparitions) Carlos Pereira (Selection Committee) Christopher Small (Selection Committee) Juliano Gomes (Selection Committee) Qila Gill (Selection Committee) Rachel Pronger (Previewer Tomás Baltazar (Previewer) Manon Euler (Selection for Northern Focus) Mita Suri (Film Programme Producer and selection for Northern Focus) Owen Jones (Film Programme Coordinator and selection for Northern Focus) Jamie Allan (DocFest Exchange Film Programme) Carol Nahra (Programme Consultant for the UK) Jeremy Chua (Programme Consultant for Southeast Asia & China) Jonathan Ali (Programme Consultant for the Caribbean) 清水裕 / Yu Shimizu (Programme Consultant for Japan) Dora McKay (Film Programme Assistant)

Film Programme Retrospective Guest Curators Anthony Andrews & Teanne Andrews (We Are Parable) Campbell X David Olusoga George Amponsah Judah Attille Karen Alexander Mark Sealy

Sheffield DocFest 2021

Arts Programme

Design & Rebrand

Herb Shellenberger (Arts Programme Curator) Soukaina Aboulaoula (Arts Programme Virtual Exhibition Curator) Hannah Campbell (Arts Programme Producer) Oliver Roberts (Arts Programme Production Coordinator) Anna Titov (Arts Programme Assistant)

Regular Practice: Tom Finn (Director) Kristoffer Sølling (Director) Christopher Winter (Designer) Julia Luckmann (Designer) Shawn Sawyers (Designer) Connor Campbell (Motion Designer)

Industry Programme

Sheffield DocFest: Eleni Stavrou (Coordination)

Patrick Hurley (Director of Industry) Manon Euler (Industry Programme Producer) Harry Løvstrøm (Arts Talent Market Producer) Sophie Duncan (Industry Programme Assistant) Juliet Moore (Broadcast Production Talent Market Coordinator) Mathy Selvakumaran (International Delegations Assistant) Community Programme Laura Hegarty (Community Programme Producer) Anthea Okereke (Community Programme Coordinator) Jamie Allan (DocFest Exchange Programmer) Communications, Partnerships, Press & Publications Sylvia Bednarz (Director of Partnerships & Development) James Mullighan (Partnerships Executive) Emma McCorkell (UK Press Officer) Gloria Zerbinati (International Press Officer) Sarah Leech (Digital Communications Producer) Ralf Webb (Catalogue & Publications Editor) Matt Turner (Assistant Catalogue & Publications Editor) Eleni Stavrou (Communications Assistant)

Website Design Joi Polloi Sian Gilbert (Digital Producer) James Briggs (Lead Designer) Marcus Williams (Developer) Julian Higman (Developer) Russell Stearman (Technical Director) Access, Operations, Production Mat Steel (Head of Production & Operations) Maria Stoneman (Head of HR & Participation (Maternity Leave)) Ellie Irwin (Operations & Access Producer) Nigel Fischer (Talks & Digital Producer) Greg Walker (Production Manager) Vicki Rolley (Box Office & Front of House Manager) Corrigan Lowe (Administrative & Executive Assistant) Lee Bentham (Operations Assistant) Miranda Mungai (Talks Programme Assistant) Jim Dummett (Digital Print Management, Cinebox) Nick Randles (Digital Print Transport, Cinebox) Finance Fiona Outram (Finance Manager) Cassie Fletcher (Assistant Accountant)

Festival Team & Trustees

Thanks to our Funders, Sponsors & Supporters

Principal Funders, Sponsors and Partners

Major Funders, Sponsors and Partners

Sheffield DocFest 2021

Funders, Sponsors and Partners

Media Partners

Funders, Sponsors & Supporters

Still sourced from ‘Your Next Move’ 1981, 12:27. By Martin John Harris and David Falconer Rea. Courtesy of Yorkshire Film Archive

Sheffield DocFest 2021