Sheffield DocFest announces 2023 programme

Sheffield DocFest, the UK’s leading documentary festival and one of the world’s most influential markets for documentary projects, has revealed its full Film programme, Alternate Realities exhibitions, and public talks.

The 30th edition of the Festival invites audiences and industry to ‘Spark Curiosity’ with documentary – and each other – in Sheffield, 14-19 June 2023. A further announcement to complete the industry programme will follow on 17 May.

Alex Cooke, chair of the Board of Trustees, said: “We are delighted to celebrate our 30th edition with such a strong and varied line up. From humble beginnings, Sheffield Docfest continues to grow, helping to forge lasting careers, develop new talent, and facilitate exciting new works to be funded, produced, and exhibited. We are very grateful to our dedicated partners and sponsors for helping us to inspire the next generation of filmmakers and audiences, and to be so instrumental in promoting the thriving documentary culture we are so proud of.”

As previously announced, Sheffield DocFest opens with the World premiere of Tish, on 14 June 2023, an intimate portrait of British documentary photographer Tish Murtha, and her daughter’s fight to preserve her legacy. The film is also screening in the International Competition.

In Tish, Paul Sng celebrates the vision and profound humanism of this gifted artist. As the film questions the value placed on art and artists from working class roots, we follow Tish’s daughter Ella, as she fights to preserve her mother’s legacy. No less striking than the work of its subject, Tish is a powerful tribute to a vital artist, activist and social chronicler, and a rallying call to all whose engagement with art questions who gets seen and heard, who doesn’t, and why. This is a story of contemporary Britain, of the fight for culture, as well as the life of a mother and activist.

“We are so happy to present a truly international, intersectional and innovative line-up of films and events as we celebrate our 30th edition,” said Annabel Grundy, Sheffield DocFest MD. “Sheffield DocFest has a long history of bringing new perspectives into the documentary arena, inspiring industry and audiences to immerse themselves and discover something new.”

Sheffield DocFest 2023 film programme totals 122 films (86 features and 36 shorts), drawn from just under 2,500 entries, including 37 World Premieres, 20 International Premieres, 10 European Premieres, 47 UK Premieres and 8 retrospective films, from 52 countries of production. 54% of the films in the programme are directed by women. Titles screen in three competition sections – International Competition, International First Feature Competition and International Short Film Competition. In special programmes, and in six strand sections: Rhythms, Debates, People & Community, Memories, Rebellions and Journeys.

“Covering the whole spectrum of documentary storytelling, from direct documentation of events to poetic experimental art works, and everything in between, the 2023 film programme is full of stories that will spark audience’s curiosity like never before,” said the festival’s creative director Raul Niño Zambrano. As a team we have selected the most thought provoking, cinematic and relevant works of recent non-fiction, and will proudly present them in June with the context and attention they deserve.”

The festival will host an eclectic competition reflecting what is happening in the world of documentary in 2023.

The line-up for this years’ International Competition comprises nine films, up for the Grand Jury Award for the International Competition, nine films in International First Feature Competition supported by Netflix, and ten films in International Short Film Competition, Five documentaries will be considered for the Tim Hetherington Award, presented in association with Dogwoof; seven films will be considered by the Youth Jury, and the International Alternate Realities Competition will honour the best innovative non-fiction work. Winners will be revealed during an awards ceremony at Crucible Playhouse on 18 June.

Highlights here include:
• International First Feature Competition – The Body Politic (World Premiere), directed by Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough, follows Brandon Scott during his leadership campaign and first year as Mayor of Baltimore. Scott is viewed by some as a contender for the national stage – those who have the audacity to dream that his commitment to healing a fractured yet resilient city is a hope they can believe in. Not A Bedtime Story (World Premiere) is directed by Lila Penagos and Tomás M Astudillo, and the film follows co-directer Lila who has fond childhood memories of her father telling her bedtime stories. She now asks him to tell her real stories about his past as a guerrilla fighter.
• International Competition – The Price of Truth (World Premiere) is a powerful and often suspenseful portrait of Dmitry Muratov, the editor of Russia’s only independent newspaper. Muratov auctioned his Nobel Peace Prize and donated the proceeds to Ukranian refugees, and days later a masked attacker poured paint laced with acetone over him, permanently damaging Muratov’s sight. The director, Patrick Forbes, and special guests will be attendance. STEPHEN (World Premiere) is directed by Melanie Manchot and follows Stephen who is auditioning to play himself in an inventive, cinematic and moving exploration of addiction and mental health.
• International Short Film Competition – Can I Hug You? (World Premiere) is an astoundingly intimate film which is directed by Iranian filmmaker Elahe Esmaili. It follows Hossein Behboudi Rad who brings his parents together to confront a difficult secret from his past. Valerija (World Premiere) follows filmmaker Sara Jurinčić who travels to the island where her grandmother is buried. This experimental journey takes us back through her lineage of female ancestors.

Perspectives on Iran
The festival previously announced that this year will have a special focus on Iran, which includes a retrospective of Guest of Honour Rakhshan Banietemad. Playing in tandem with Rakhshan Banietemad’s films are a selection of new and vital documentaries. They range from female filmmakers surveying the limitations placed on their lives and work, a reassessment of the male gaze in cinema and an account of the insidiousness of censorship, to a dark portrait of political
interrogation and a celebration of friendship across two continents. Together, they explore the challenges of everyday life in Iran, but also hope for changes and a brighter future.

Strands
Rhythms focuses on music documentaries and performances; Debates features films on wide-ranging important topics which need to be discussed; People & Community includes stories that celebrates togetherness through family, friendship and communities; Journeys includes transformations and explorations. Memories explores how the past informs the present; and Rebellions focuses on stories of people striving for social change and fighting for what matters.
Highlights here include:
● Rhythms highlights – Let The Canary Sing (International Premiere) explores the personal and public life of Cyndi Lauper in this probing yet hugely entertaining portrait; In TLC Forever (International Premiere) the biggest-selling American girl group of all time look back at their groundbreaking yet tumultuous career; Wham! (World Premiere) is an intimate celebration of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s enduring friendship.
● Debates highlights – Every Body (International Premiere) is directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Julie Cohen who is focusing on the lives of three intersex people, in an heartfelt and urgent call for equality; All the Flowers (World Premiere) is a tender portrait of Tabaco y Ron, a small brothel in a Bogotá neighbourhood that’s home to many of the city’s trans sex workers; White Nanny Black Child (World Premiere) is a raw and heart wrenching documentary which follows a group of adults finding solace in sharing their experiences of growing up as children of Black Nigerian immigrants who were fostered unofficially by white British families.
● People & Community highlights – The compelling Otto Baxter: Not A F***ing Horror Story (World Premiere) follows Otto Baxter, a 35-year-old man with Down Syndrome who has always struggled to explain how he feels, while he writes and directs a comedy-horror-musical, to help him understand his life so far; Your Fat Friend (International Premiere) is director Jeanie Finlay’s portrait of popular writer, blogger and activist Aubrey Gordon and it is a celebratory account of an individual who embraced their identity and challenged lazy stereotypes; 1001 Days (International Premiere), charts the work of a group of women – mothers and survivors of abuse – who take on the role of health workers in their local neighbourhood in the outskirts of Johannesburg. It’s an intimate, challenging and unflinching portrait of motherhood and change-making in modern-day South Africa.
● Journeys highlights – Laura McGann’s The Deepest Breath (UK Premiere) tells the story of Italian freediving champion Alessia Zecchini who is determined to set a new record for the sport alongside his diving partner – descending to the greatest depth without the aid of scuba diving equipment. A stunning film which captures the shredded nerves and suspense as they ready themselves for the dive; My Friend Lanre (World Premiere) sees director Leo Regan repurpose 25 years of footage to present a powerful collection of vignettes exploring his friendship with Lanre Fehintola and his addictions. It is charming, funny, devastating and, by its close, a bravely personal testament to this one person’s life and work.
● Memories highlights – Donyale Luna: Supermodel (International Premiere) explores the remarkable life and career of Donyale Luna, one of the first Black supermodels who graced the covers of both Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar in Europe. Luna’s life is chronicled through a rich trove of archive footage and interviews with family and friends, who detail the obstacles Luna overcame to achieve worldwide fame before her untimely death aged 33; In the deeply personal and disarmingly honest documentary, Is There Anybody Out There? (UK Premiere), filmmaker Ella Glendining decides to go in search of people who can share their experience and feelings about having a body like hers. In doing so, she challenges lazy ableist assumptions, experiences a number of unexpected surprises and encounters people who look like her. With great warmth and an infectious joy for her body and life as it is, Glendining challenges us to question the way we see others, like and unlike ourselves.
● Rebellions highlights – 20 Days in Mariupol (UK Premiere) is directed by Ukrainian filmmaker and journalist Mstyslav Chernov and presents an unsparing portrait of Mariupol under siege and the bravery of those struggling to survive in it; In Total Trust (UK Premiere) director Jialing Zhang’s highlights how surveillance reaches new levels of invasiveness in China, where advances in technology allow the state increasing control over public, private and political life; On The Line: The Richard Williams Story (UK Premiere) is a gripping story of determination and resilience against oppression, from the visionary man who raised Venus and Serena to change the course of tennis history.

For more information on the festival’s Podcast Stories, Alternate Realities programme and summit, Talks, and further details about ticketing, please visit Sheffield DocFest’s website.