After a whirlwind weekend at this year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest, some notes on a few films seen. One unknown entity, one surprise highlight and a final statement from a legendary filmmaker. Three demonstrations of the scope and strength of modern non-fiction filmmaking.
Since humble beginnings at the start of the new millennium, East End Film Festival (EEFF) has grown into one of the capital’s most interestedly and diversely programmed festivals. Having been through a number of iterations since it’s establishment, first linked to Tower Hamlets council, then Raindance; since 2006 the East End Film Festival has stood alone as a fiercely independent, reliable fixture in London’s film festival circuit. In that period, they’ve presented the best in independent film from the local area and wider, premiering features from Ben…
Running just a few weeks after its larger cousin Sheffield Doc/Fest, Open City Documentary Festival has, in just a few years, established itself as a formidable provider of quality documentary filmmaking in London. Founded by Michael Stewart, a documentary producer and lecturer in Social Anthropology at UCL, alongside the school and their year round screening programme, Open City aims to champion creative non-fiction filmmaking and showcase a mixture of new talent and interesting, disruptive works from more well known documentarians. This…
Sheffield Doc/Fest, one of the world’s foremost showcases for documentary filmmaking, have revealed their programme in full ahead of the festival next month. The programme includes 160 films and 25 alternate realities projects, a talk with Michael Moore alongside the (premiere) of his new film, and mini retrospectives on the recently departed Chantal Akerman and the very much alive D.A. Pennebaker, who’ll also appear in conversation. As we have noted before with no small amount of pride, there are 20+ films…
A new festival, co-curated by BRITDOC‘s Luke Moody and Nico Marzano from the ICA, Frames of Representation offers a selection of the sort of documentaries that rarely reach UK audiences through regular distribution. Presenting new styles, methods and forms for non-fiction filmmaking, the programme focuses on films that present their subjects in unique and innovative ways. Their inaugural edition is based around the theme of the ‘New Periphery’, looking at documentaries that bring marginalised individuals to the forefront of the screen and offer voices to…
Last night, LOCO unveiled their programme, alongside a swish new website. With twelve days of comedy focused cinema, events, parties and a terrific training weekend for young filmmakers, (more on this soon) LOCO is one of the friendliest, most convivial film festivals in London. As they put it at their launch, “it’s about meeting filmmakers, screening good films, making partnerships and bring people together.” We’ve flicked through their lovely print brochure and picked five possible highlights amongst the programme.
BFI’s LGBT-orientated festival Flare returns for a special 30th edition next month, and the programme has now been released. The festival, known as London LGBT Film Festival until a re-envisioning a few years ago, is the biggest LGBT film festival in Europe and seems to grow in scale and stature each year. This year sees the inclusion of over 100 features and 50 shorts, and a wide looking events and industry programme. This year’s programme is split into three enigmatically titled…
On Friday, the London Short Film Festival rolls around for its thirteenth edition. With thirty-eight programmes of new British shorts, six dedicated documentary strands, four international shorts nights, as well as a host of unusual retrospectives, it looks to be the most packed, bumper edition of the UK’s largest showcase of short film yet. Firstly, our congratulations to the 100+ Shooting People members who have work included in the festival. Normally, we’d attempt to list our talent, but with so many individuals involved,…
Some news from Sheffield’s Doc/Fest, set to run 15th and 16th June next year. Firstly, perhaps of interest to our younger and student members, applications are open for the festival’s enviable Youth Jury programme. Those selected get a full pass to the festival with access to some of the key individuals involved at a three day Directors UK event, as well as their own section to judge and prize to offer in the Youth Jury Award. Deadline is 15th Jan, so get…
Chevalier is the latest film from Attenberg director Athina Rachel Tsangari and like other films of the loosely collected Greek New Wave, this is not a film that deals in character arcs, personal stories or even clear-cut emotions, it is instead an experiment, or more explicitly in the case of Chevalier, a game. Herd a group of characters into a rarified situation and then examine the consequences. In this situation Chevalier monitors the petty, trivial competitiveness of six upper or…