Our very own international film festival, Sheffield DocFest, returns in a couple of weeks, bringing another packed programme of documentaries, premieres, podcasts and post-screening debates to the city.
With film-makers, broadcasters and famous faces all descending on the Steel City, we coaxed our resident documentary obsessive Mark Perkins out of a darkened cinema and into the daylight for a chat with festival director Raul Niño Zambrano about this year’s themes, surprise guests and why documentaries continue to resonate in increasingly chaotic times.
REFLECTING OUR CHANGING REALITY
What can audiences expect from DocFest this year? I read that the theme this year is ‘Realities in Motion’.
Yes. We always try to have a tagline that reflects the world at the moment – something that acts as the umbrella for the whole project. We chose this to reflect how what we accept as reality is, in effect, a process of continuous change.
We are very organic in terms of reacting to the films we receive because every year we notice different trends emerging in the submissions. This time around, three noticeable strands surfaced repeatedly – activism, climate change and music documentaries.
The opening night film is called We, The Hated. It turns the lens on the campaigners behind the Just Stop Oil protests, which have certainly divided and polarised public opinion. It also encompasses two of those themes – activism and climate awareness.
Everyone will have preconceptions about Just Stop Oil and they did receive a lot of online hate. This film asks questions about what they are doing, but also why and how the media treats them so badly.
The film isn’t just about Just Stop Oil. It’s more about people with conviction doing what they are passionate about, and what we think of activism in general.
MAXINE PEAKE TAKES CENTRE STAGE
You always have a guest of honour. Who is it this year?
We’re thrilled that our guest of honour this year is Maxine Peake, who has a body of work which we hope we can reflect across the course of the festival.
She has been a great ambassador for documentaries and for the festival, but more widely for championing working-class voices. She is definitely representative of the soul of what we are and what we try to achieve.
We wanted to shed light on her work, but we began by asking her to programme some films for us. After that, we asked what else she wanted to do.
She has chosen two powerful archival works, The Wanted 18 and Nightcleaners, plus the highly anticipated world premiere of The Archivist.
Audiences will also have a chance to see her in conversation on the Lyceum stage, providing insight into her career in performance and writing. She will also be part of a live performance of her own play, Queens of the Coal Age.
She has a strong local connection in that she performs with Eccentronic Research Council alongside Sheffield musicians Dean Honer and Adrian Flanagan. Together they will headline our Saturday night line-up with a live performance of Dreamcatcher Tapes.
This has its roots in a project originally by Delia Derbyshire, combining recollections of people’s lockdown dreams with their own unique psychedelic soundtrack.
OPENING UP TO YOUNGER AUDIENCES
Are there any new features this year?
One of the biggest additions to the festival this year will be Gen DocFest, a brand-new strand designed to welcome children, families and young people into the DocFest experience.
We’ll have Toddler Kino and Baby Kino screenings, which are an extension of what the Showroom Cinema has been doing recently for parents with young children. The relaxed screenings aim to create a welcoming cinema environment where families can enjoy films without the usual pressures of visiting the cinema.
In addition to that, there are other events for younger audiences. There’s a Wild Futures mini lantern parade, with lantern-making workshops leading up to the event, and FRONTLINEdance are presenting The Explorers in Training, which mixes dance, storytelling and music for children under six, their families and people with disabilities.
The festival has also teamed up with CBBC for A Thoroughly Horrible Morning, which will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the worlds of Horrible Histories and Horrible Science.
PODCASTS CONTINUE TO GROW
Are you continuing your podcast strand?
Absolutely. Podcasts are getting bigger and better every year and we have established a tradition of staging live recordings and launches as a regular part of the festival experience.
We have an exclusive Audible original series launch and immersive listening event with journalist Charlie Webster, which will be very exciting. Chris Packham will also be here with a live launch of his new BBC podcast.
The podcast strand has produced some memorable moments. Last year we had Michael Sheen on stage launching his BBC podcast Buried. It was about the environmental scandal surrounding ‘forever chemicals’ entering the ecosystem, finding their way into animals and then into our food.
One year on, that story has evolved into a film playing at the festival this year, illustrating the close relationship between podcasts and the documentary world.
MIRIAM MARGOLYES, KATIE PRICE AND 24-HOUR FILM
What are you most excited about this year?
Our really exciting achievement is finally getting Miriam Margolyes to DocFest. Ever since we announced she would be here, she’s become a major ambassador for us, and every time she does an interview she mentions that she’ll be visiting for the first time.
Under the fitting title of No Filter, she will be talking with collaborator, film-maker and friend Simon Draper. Some time ago, he set out simply to make a podcast with her, but got drawn into her orbit. As the podcast became a road trip, they became firm friends, and he felt his life transformed by getting to know her.
We’re also very excited to have Katie Price here. I’m often sceptical about celebrity documentaries because they tend to be self-promoting. When this was submitted, I thought, ‘Here we go, another celebrity doc’, but I think people will be surprised because it really does something different.
Most people have already made judgments about her and what she has done, but the filmmakers had the freedom to film and edit as they wanted. There is a trend for celebrity documentaries to be made by the celebrities themselves, but that’s not how documentaries should be.
By not positioning herself as executive producer, the film is allowed to paint a really honest picture – something more revealing and human than audiences might expect.
And the Filmmakers Challenge is always exciting, where new filmmakers are given the resources to make a documentary film, but with only 24 hours to film it.
We’ve expanded the number of participants and therefore the number of films this year, so production-wise they have to be completed before the festival.
It teaches valuable lessons about making films, making decisions under pressure and sometimes finding a story out of nothing.
A SHEFFIELD SOUNDTRACK
Music has always featured prominently in DocFest. What do you have planned this year?
We’re very excited about our music strand this year, which has a distinctly Sheffield edge to it.
Eccentronic Research Council, as I mentioned, have a strong local element, but we also have a real coup with the documentary Heaven 17: The Last Temptation.
The band are approaching their 50th anniversary and this film, which follows their final tour, really belongs at Sheffield DocFest. We were so keen to have it that we booked it before the film was even finished.
After the screening on Friday night at the Lyceum there will also be a short live performance.
Zambrano is equally excited about the return of Questlove following the success of Summer of Soul at DocFest in 2021.
He’s bringing his new documentary about Earth, Wind & Fire. He was given full access to their archives and audiences really will learn so much about them.
Elsewhere in the festival, Ultimate Thunder offers a very different take on music culture and will be a night not to be missed.
The documentary follows a Leeds-based punk collective, most of whom have some form of learning disability. It charts a three-year struggle to overcome a host of problems while trying to live their dream of performing.
It’s about music, but also community, friendship and determination, and they are all incredibly excited to be here.
Head to sheffdocfest.com for tickets and details of the full programme
