There’s been plenty of talk recently about how Sheffield can best put itself on the map – but few events achieve that quite like Sheffield DocFest. As the UK’s leading documentary festival, and one of the world’s most influential platforms for documentary storytelling, DocFest turns the city into a hub of global creativity every June. This year marks its 32nd edition, with a record-breaking line-up of premieres, immersive exhibitions, industry heavyweights and bold new voices from 68 countries.
To find out more about what’s in store – and how it all comes together – we sent our resident DocFest devotee, Mark Perkins, to sit down with the festival’s Creative Director, Raul Niño Zambrano.
It’s as exciting as ever to be looking forward to the latest DocFest. What can we see on the opening night?
We’ve chosen the film Still Pushing Pineapples, directed by Kim Hopkins. Sheffield audiences may well remember her, as she made A Bunch of Amateurs, which was such a massive hit in 2022 – and of course it also had its premiere here at DocFest. This new film is about Dene Michael, the singer in Black Lace, who has spent his entire career singing ‘Agadoo’ – once voted the worst song ever.
But of course, there are a lot more layers to the film. Rather than focusing on that moment in the spotlight, the film takes the form of a road movie, following Michael’s daily struggles as he performs, meets fans and dreams of a comeback. It’s a portrait of him, his mother and his partner, and is really the story of a working-class hero. Kim is local too, so it’s a northern story we’re proud to support.
Is it possible to say what you’re most looking forward to in the six-day festival?
We’re very excited about having Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato as our guests of honour this year. Their names may not be all that familiar to the public, but the list of shows they’ve been behind will be. They’ll be talking about RuPaul’s Drag Race, The Rocky Horror Show, to name just a couple, and we have a world exclusive when we reunite the two of them with Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish to reflect on the story behind The Adam and Joe Show. It’s really interesting that when Adam and Joe had an idea, it was Fenton and Randy who got behind them – with the money to produce their shows.
They both pay a lot of attention to fandom and audiences, and have a real commitment to the queer community. In the United States right now, that’s particularly important, with Trump being very critical of queer content and the broadcasting of documentaries. It seems like the perfect time and place to have a big conversation. They’re also good friends with Ronan Farrow, the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, who they’re helping with podcasts and films – and who they’ll be in conversation with.
How much has the rise of streaming affected documentaries?
We always welcome TV documentaries as well as those intended for initial cinema release. The quality of documentaries on TV is now so high that we’ve had to turn down several submissions, simply because we have no space. One of this year’s highlights will be the world premiere of the first episode of Heston: Journey to the Edge of My Mind, where Heston Blumenthal explores his diagnosis of bipolar disorder and the impact it’s had on his life. He’ll also be joining us for a post-screening Q&A.
Another aspect of the evolving face of documentary is the increasing presence of podcasts. I notice they feature more and more in your programme.
Yes. A group of people with ideas for podcasts will be coming to Sheffield to pitch to our panel, and two of them will be awarded a total of £20,000 to help produce their winning ideas. Our Podcast Stories strand is now in its third year, where we stage live recordings of podcasts that people can attend and be part of.
And you always stage films and events that appeal to local audiences.
Yes, we hope so. Local football fans won’t want to miss Podcast Live: Here We Go! The Art of the Football Chant. Professor Les Back will be making the case for football chants being a kind of modern folk music, playing lots of examples and giving the audience a chance to sing their own.
Another event is Sheffield on Film, which is being shown at the Crucible and captures 90 years of Sheffield history in 90 minutes – I’m sure that’ll be a big hit. We’ve also included the film A Story Left Behind, which shows how a researcher uncovers the fragmented story of the first Somali woman in Sheffield. By resurrecting her memory, the film questions whose stories get told – and who gets to tell them.
And the Alternate Realities strand looks as strong as ever.
This year, we’re excited to have given the entire Alternate Realities exhibition to one person – artist and filmmaker Baff Akoto. Collateral Echoes, staged at Site Gallery, documents police brutality against Black and immigrant communities in the UK since 1969. His work is all about starting conversations – and keeping them going – while celebrating those communities. We’ve handed over the whole gallery, and it will include VR installations, holograms and musical performances.
Can you give us some idea of how films are selected for DocFest? I imagine you get far more applications than you can show.
It’s a very long process. This year we received around 2,800 submissions. We have 20 advisers and consultants from all over the world – from places as diverse as India, the US and Uganda. Naturally, people in different parts of the world will have very different perspectives and their own areas of interest.
Some may love experimental films, others may focus on social issues or music documentaries. Somehow we whittle them all down to the 116 films you see in the programme. We aim for a balance – some are journalistic, while others are more poetic. If we receive a large number of films from Ukraine, for example, we need to reflect that in our final selection. This year, we received three films from Ecuador – we’ve had none in the last ten years – so clearly something is happening there, and we want to support it. Balance is the big word. There will be something for everyone.
See Mark’s top picks for the festival here, and find the full programme at sheffdocfest.com.
