Sheffield DocFest is on the rebound.
The 30th edition of the prestigious all-documentary film festival in the North of England just wrapped, witnessing a 17 percent increase in attendance by international and U.K. delegates over last year. DocFest is under new leadership, with Annabel Grundy appointed managing director in November 2022 and Raul Niño Zambrano joining as interim creative director last year. Shortly before the start of this year’s event, Niño Zambrano was appointed to the creative director role on a permanent basis.
Speaking with Deadline, Niño Zambrano drew a distinction between this year’s event and the preceding one.
Raul Niño Zambrano and Annabel Grundy
“Last year was kind of the first one after the pandemic times. There were also train strikes, so there were a lot of things going on,” he said. “We had not announced yet last year the new leadership team — really having...
The 30th edition of the prestigious all-documentary film festival in the North of England just wrapped, witnessing a 17 percent increase in attendance by international and U.K. delegates over last year. DocFest is under new leadership, with Annabel Grundy appointed managing director in November 2022 and Raul Niño Zambrano joining as interim creative director last year. Shortly before the start of this year’s event, Niño Zambrano was appointed to the creative director role on a permanent basis.
Speaking with Deadline, Niño Zambrano drew a distinction between this year’s event and the preceding one.
Raul Niño Zambrano and Annabel Grundy
“Last year was kind of the first one after the pandemic times. There were also train strikes, so there were a lot of things going on,” he said. “We had not announced yet last year the new leadership team — really having...
- 6/20/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The Innerview.In August 2021, when the contracts of Sheffield DocFest’s programming team were abruptly terminated following the departure of festival director Cíntia Gil, they published an open letter in Variety titled “What is a film festival even for?” This question–of what, or who, film festivals are for–hung in the air of the most recent International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), an event that has also struggled with its identity for many years, often trying to successfully encompass various competing objectives and visions. Over recent editions, this approach has created more significant issues. Having faced a declining operating budget, plus reduced income as a result of having to hold 2021 and 2022 editions online due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in May 2022 the festival announced a “restructure” which resulted in a 15 percent reduction of the staff headcount and saw a majority of the festival’s film programmers let go, with a new selection committee announced shortly after.
- 2/16/2023
- MUBI
Screen Star of Tomorrow 2021 Sorcha Bacon and ’Martyrs Lane’ director Ruth Platt are taking part.
The UK’s Birds’ Eye View – an organisation that campaigns for gender equality in all film spaces – has named the participants taking part in the seventh edition of the Filmonomics professional development programme.
Filmonomics is aimed at up-and-coming feature writers, directors and producers of marginalised genders from across the UK. The five-day programme takes place this month and is led by Birds’ Eye View director Melanie Iredale, training manager Simone Glover and Tolu Stedford, who is part of the Birds’ Eye View advisory committee.
The...
The UK’s Birds’ Eye View – an organisation that campaigns for gender equality in all film spaces – has named the participants taking part in the seventh edition of the Filmonomics professional development programme.
Filmonomics is aimed at up-and-coming feature writers, directors and producers of marginalised genders from across the UK. The five-day programme takes place this month and is led by Birds’ Eye View director Melanie Iredale, training manager Simone Glover and Tolu Stedford, who is part of the Birds’ Eye View advisory committee.
The...
- 1/9/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The programmers said they received no note of termination and were told they could “reapply for our jobs when the positions were advertised again.”
The programming team for the 2020-2021 editions of Sheffield Doc/Fest has written an open letter lambasting the festival’s board of trustees following the departure of Cintia Gil as festival director due to “artistic differences” earlier this month.
In a long statement, programmers Juliano Gomes, Qila Gill, Carlos Pereira, Christopher Small, Rabz Lansiquot, Soukaina Aboulaoula and Herb Shellenberger claim that following Gil’s departure they were “silently locked out of our email accounts and all...
The programming team for the 2020-2021 editions of Sheffield Doc/Fest has written an open letter lambasting the festival’s board of trustees following the departure of Cintia Gil as festival director due to “artistic differences” earlier this month.
In a long statement, programmers Juliano Gomes, Qila Gill, Carlos Pereira, Christopher Small, Rabz Lansiquot, Soukaina Aboulaoula and Herb Shellenberger claim that following Gil’s departure they were “silently locked out of our email accounts and all...
- 8/27/2021
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
Sheffield Doc/Fest, one of the world’s top gatherings for the documentary industry, is in turmoil as its entire programming team appears to have been quietly terminated following the exit of artistic director Cintia Gil last week.
On Friday, in an emotional statement, the festival’s group of seven programmers — Juliano Gomes, Qila Gill, Carlos Pereira, Christopher Small, Rabz Lansiquot, Soukaina Aboulaoula and Herb Shellenberger — spoke out about an ugly clash between the festival’s board of trustees and its outlook for the event, and the artistic team and their curatorial vision.
Noting that the entire group has been with the festival since 2019, under former DocsLisboa chief Gil, they claim they were “silently locked out of our email accounts” days after Gil’s departure, which was chalked up to “artistic differences.” The group also notes that “all traces of our presence at the festival—names, photos, information about our...
On Friday, in an emotional statement, the festival’s group of seven programmers — Juliano Gomes, Qila Gill, Carlos Pereira, Christopher Small, Rabz Lansiquot, Soukaina Aboulaoula and Herb Shellenberger — spoke out about an ugly clash between the festival’s board of trustees and its outlook for the event, and the artistic team and their curatorial vision.
Noting that the entire group has been with the festival since 2019, under former DocsLisboa chief Gil, they claim they were “silently locked out of our email accounts” days after Gil’s departure, which was chalked up to “artistic differences.” The group also notes that “all traces of our presence at the festival—names, photos, information about our...
- 8/27/2021
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
The festival will take place in Sheffield, across the UK, and online.
The programme for the 28th edition of Sheffield Doc/Fest includes the world premiere of the first episode of Uprising, a three-part documentary series from UK filmmakers Steve McQueen and James Rogan.
Doc/Fest 2021 will play 55 world premieres and 22 international premieres, for the event running in Sheffield, across the UK and online from June 4-13.
Scroll down for the Competition titles
First announced last week and playing at the festival as a Special Screening, Uprising will examine three events from 1981 - in January, the New Cross Fire which killed 13 black teenagers; in March,...
The programme for the 28th edition of Sheffield Doc/Fest includes the world premiere of the first episode of Uprising, a three-part documentary series from UK filmmakers Steve McQueen and James Rogan.
Doc/Fest 2021 will play 55 world premieres and 22 international premieres, for the event running in Sheffield, across the UK and online from June 4-13.
Scroll down for the Competition titles
First announced last week and playing at the festival as a Special Screening, Uprising will examine three events from 1981 - in January, the New Cross Fire which killed 13 black teenagers; in March,...
- 5/17/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Festival director Cíntia Gil leads the team.
UK non-fiction event Sheffield Doc/Fest has appointed the artistic team that will curate its 2021 hybrid event, including a five-person film programming team.
The 28th edition of the event will run from June 4-13 both online and in Sheffield, providing Covid-19 distancing measures allow at that date.
Former selection committee member Rabz Lansiquot joins associate film programmer Agnès Wildenstein, festival director Cíntia Gil and deputy director Melanie Iredale on the film programming team, with Jamie Allan also joining up as Exchange programmer.
Lansiquot has been a leading member of arts collective sorryyoufeeluncomfortable since...
UK non-fiction event Sheffield Doc/Fest has appointed the artistic team that will curate its 2021 hybrid event, including a five-person film programming team.
The 28th edition of the event will run from June 4-13 both online and in Sheffield, providing Covid-19 distancing measures allow at that date.
Former selection committee member Rabz Lansiquot joins associate film programmer Agnès Wildenstein, festival director Cíntia Gil and deputy director Melanie Iredale on the film programming team, with Jamie Allan also joining up as Exchange programmer.
Lansiquot has been a leading member of arts collective sorryyoufeeluncomfortable since...
- 2/3/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
In today’s Global Bulletin, Starzplay secures financing in UAE; shooting kicks off on “Frayed” Season 2; Sheffield Doc/Fest picks its curation teams; “Operation Buffalo” lands on Netflix in Apac; National Geographic acquires Sundance hit “Playing With Sharks”; and Movistar Plus deals with Universal to bring Universal Plus to subscribers.
Financing
Mena streamer Starzplay Arabia has secured debt financing of $25 million from Abu Dhabi-based independent investment firm Ruya Partners. The funding will be used to reinforce Starzplay’s geographic and customer reach as well as the acquisition and production of new original content. According to the announcement, the influx of capital, building on $125 million in funding secured since the company’s 2015 launch, will also support Starzplay’s future ambitions through a potential IPO.
Starzplay was the first SVOD platform to acquire a license in the UAE, giving it an early boost over competitors and spurring significant year-on-year growth that has...
Financing
Mena streamer Starzplay Arabia has secured debt financing of $25 million from Abu Dhabi-based independent investment firm Ruya Partners. The funding will be used to reinforce Starzplay’s geographic and customer reach as well as the acquisition and production of new original content. According to the announcement, the influx of capital, building on $125 million in funding secured since the company’s 2015 launch, will also support Starzplay’s future ambitions through a potential IPO.
Starzplay was the first SVOD platform to acquire a license in the UAE, giving it an early boost over competitors and spurring significant year-on-year growth that has...
- 2/3/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
This year’s TV Drama Vision event (January 29-30) at the Goteborg Film Festival, which in 2020 will present 40 new series, has finalised its line-up. The sold-out showcase, which has grown in international prominence in recent years, will host attendees from CAA, Curtis Brown, Gersh, Wiip and the local Salomonsson agency, as well as buyers from the likes of Entertainment One, Banjay Rights, HBO Europe, and Beta Film. It will also welcome Caroline Benjo and Carole Scotta, co-founders of French outfit Haut et Court, as keynote speakers to discuss working between cinema and episodic. During the two-day event, there will be a panel on the future of the European model of high-end TV production, an overview of cash rebate opportunities in the Nordic region, and a competition of five Nordic drama series, which will be up for a $22,000 prize. The nominated series are: 22 July, Caliphate, When The Dust Settles, Happily Never After,...
- 1/20/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Sheffield Doc/Fest senior programmer Adam Cook has resigned from his role following allegations made on Twitter by a woman claiming to be his former fiancé.
The festival, which investigated the matter this week, said today, “Sheffield Doc/Fest informs that as of yesterday, Adam Cook, our Senior Programmer, handed in his resignation, with immediate effect, which we accepted.
“The artistic direction of the Festival remains with Festival Director Cíntia Gil, and will continue to stand for our fundamental values, and as a platform for reflection, discussion and collective engagement.”
News regarding our Senior Programmer…https://t.co/OBRWOWnvOS pic.twitter.com/7ZijsFcyCZ
— Sheffield Doc/Fest (@sheffdocfest) December 20, 2019
Cook only joined the festival last month to serve under new festival head Cintia Gil. He resigned after a filmmaker claiming to be his former fiancé posted a detailed account of their relationship on Twitter in which she made a number of allegations about Cook’s behavior.
The festival, which investigated the matter this week, said today, “Sheffield Doc/Fest informs that as of yesterday, Adam Cook, our Senior Programmer, handed in his resignation, with immediate effect, which we accepted.
“The artistic direction of the Festival remains with Festival Director Cíntia Gil, and will continue to stand for our fundamental values, and as a platform for reflection, discussion and collective engagement.”
News regarding our Senior Programmer…https://t.co/OBRWOWnvOS pic.twitter.com/7ZijsFcyCZ
— Sheffield Doc/Fest (@sheffdocfest) December 20, 2019
Cook only joined the festival last month to serve under new festival head Cintia Gil. He resigned after a filmmaker claiming to be his former fiancé posted a detailed account of their relationship on Twitter in which she made a number of allegations about Cook’s behavior.
- 12/20/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Luke Moody said ‘dinosaurs’ of UK TV had narrowed focus of the festival programme.
Luke Moody, director of programming at the UK’s Sheffield Doc/Fest’s has left the festival, blasting the ‘factual TV dinosaurs’ for restricting plurality and ‘putting forward a colonial focus’ on international issues. His departure comes as DocLisboa co-director Cíntia Gil prepares to take on the role of director, succeeding Liz McIntyre.
Moody left the festival team last week, telling the BFI’s Sight & Sound magazine he quit after this year’s festival, blaming the UK factual TV departments’ dominance of the Doc/Fest board,...
Luke Moody, director of programming at the UK’s Sheffield Doc/Fest’s has left the festival, blasting the ‘factual TV dinosaurs’ for restricting plurality and ‘putting forward a colonial focus’ on international issues. His departure comes as DocLisboa co-director Cíntia Gil prepares to take on the role of director, succeeding Liz McIntyre.
Moody left the festival team last week, telling the BFI’s Sight & Sound magazine he quit after this year’s festival, blaming the UK factual TV departments’ dominance of the Doc/Fest board,...
- 7/23/2019
- by Robin Parker Broadcast
- ScreenDaily
Sheffield Doc/Fest, one of Europe’s leading documentary festivals, has named Cíntia Gil as its new festival director.
Gil will join from Portuguese event DocLisboa, which she has co-run with Davide Oberto who himself will be leaving to focus on work at the Torino Film Festival. Gil will join the UK fest in November so as to oversee her last DocLisboa in October.
At Sheffield, she will replace Melanie Iredale who stepped up as interim director for the 2019 edition. Iredale will return to her post as deputy director, which she has held since 2014.
Gil has previously served on juries at the Berlinale, Mar del Plata and FIDMarseille. A search is under way to find Gil’s successor at DocLisboa.
This year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest saw Luke Lorentzen’s Midnight Family take home the grand jury award.
Gil will join from Portuguese event DocLisboa, which she has co-run with Davide Oberto who himself will be leaving to focus on work at the Torino Film Festival. Gil will join the UK fest in November so as to oversee her last DocLisboa in October.
At Sheffield, she will replace Melanie Iredale who stepped up as interim director for the 2019 edition. Iredale will return to her post as deputy director, which she has held since 2014.
Gil has previously served on juries at the Berlinale, Mar del Plata and FIDMarseille. A search is under way to find Gil’s successor at DocLisboa.
This year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest saw Luke Lorentzen’s Midnight Family take home the grand jury award.
- 7/5/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
In this week’s International TV Newswire, “Money Heist’ fanbase heaves with anticipation at Part 3, two prominent European doc fests change directors, All3Media confirms “Dark Money’s” pre-sales credentials; Zfd favorite “Worst Witch” gets an Nhk makeover; and Econet Media’s satellite TV biz goes into administration:
‘Money Heist’ Part 3 Anticipation Boils
Two weeks out from its July 19 Netflix global release, expectation for “Money Heist” Part 3 (aka “La Casa de Papel” Temporada 3) is coming to a boil. “Money Heist” Parts 1 and 2 ranked as the second most-binged Svod Spanish-language show in the world in June, app TV Time revealed to TodoTVNews this week, beaten only by “Alta Mar,”· the latest from “Velvet’s” Bambu and another Netflix show. Adding to the excitement, “Money Heist” Part 3 does not now appear to be just an extra season, moreover, but creator Alex Pina’s ambition to create the biggest Spanish series ever. Already, at a June 20 Madrid press conference,...
‘Money Heist’ Part 3 Anticipation Boils
Two weeks out from its July 19 Netflix global release, expectation for “Money Heist” Part 3 (aka “La Casa de Papel” Temporada 3) is coming to a boil. “Money Heist” Parts 1 and 2 ranked as the second most-binged Svod Spanish-language show in the world in June, app TV Time revealed to TodoTVNews this week, beaten only by “Alta Mar,”· the latest from “Velvet’s” Bambu and another Netflix show. Adding to the excitement, “Money Heist” Part 3 does not now appear to be just an extra season, moreover, but creator Alex Pina’s ambition to create the biggest Spanish series ever. Already, at a June 20 Madrid press conference,...
- 7/5/2019
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Greetings from Free Forests“And even if nothing turned out how we'd hoped; it would not have changed what we'd hoped for.”–Jean-Luc Godard, The Image Book Two weeks before the opening of Doclisboa, one of the world’s most respected festivals of non-fiction cinema, Artistic Director Cíntia Gil sent out a press release revealing pressure the festival faced from the Ukrainian and Turkish embassies. The former accused Doclisboa of supporting terrorism for programming the world premiere of Aliona Polunina’s Their Own Republic, a film which takes a pro-Russian battalion in the Donetsk People’s Republic as its subject. It is also a film made with artistry that shows us a window into a point of view our liberal bubble may prevent us from seeing—the sort of expansion of our purview which makes festivals so valuable, especially when we are confronted with positions to which we are opposed.
- 11/12/2018
- MUBI
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