On the day of its commencement, some notes on some of the films playing this year’s Open City Doc Fest, a festival that whilst young and small in scale compared to some of the other documentary festivals, is proving increasing impressive and ambitious. Offering challenging and intelligent programming in both the film and industry sections, and an approach that favours creative, smart documentary filmmaking over the more audience-friendly material you find leading elsewhere, Open City have been consistent from the beginning with their ambitions. It looks like this year will be the year they are most successful in achieving them.

In this first dispatch, three docs that are radically different in subject matter, but all address their relevant subjects with a deftness that disregards grander gestures for a gentle touch and an artful guiding hand.

British comedy innovator Alice Lowe provides her insight on your submissions for the June Film of the Month.

In this second dispatch from Doc/Fest, two films adapted from texts of some kind, and an exploration of the various challenges and opportunities that arise from this process. In a way, all filmmaking is about finding the right cinematic language to externalise something that exists only in the head of the filmmaker, but in these films that process of translation is unusually present.

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 Wheatley and Noah Baumbach in recent years, and hosting guests like Ken Russell, Tracey Emin, Julian Temple, Clive Owen and Mike Figgis. This year’s programmes offers films, concerts, guests and events of a similar calibre. We look at five things playing at this year’s fest at end of the month that you should take a look at.

Omer Fast is a Israel born, Berlin based video artist turned feature filmmaker. Born in Jerusalem, he spent much of his youth travelling back and forth between Israel and the United States. Much of his art builds from this dual-identity. “I grew up with two identities and two languages that I had to speak fluently, and so what is always connected to my work is this notion of being perceived as authentic, and how much that is a performance.” His films work with these dualities and contradictions, blending fact and fiction, reportage and storytelling, personal experiences and those of others, all the while mixing modes and approaches.

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 year features their best programme yet, featuring 60 features alongside mini-retrospectives of the films of the Ross Brothers and of filmmaker and ethnomusicologist Vincent Moon, as well as masterclasses with Lucien Casting-Taylor, Marc Isaacs and Helena Třeštíkov, and a number of intriguing sounding panels and talks. Here are five features you might want to book early for.

Robert Eggers, director of the terrific horror phenomenon The Witch, has returned with his feedback on the April finalists for Film of the Month, choosing Cowboy Ben as the clear standout within a trio of impressive, and particularly beautifully shot, shorts. Congratulations to the various cinematographers who are not mentioned here, as well as the directors credited..

A terrifically well shot, compact but fully realised drama that plays out the whole history of a relationship in less than 10 minutes, for Robert, Scott Rawsthorne and Jon Shaikh’s Cowboy Ben “is anchored by a fantastically tormented performance by Shaun Dooley. His face is both perfectly haggard and perfectly child-like. The film is simple (in the best way) and confidently executed, with the tension building extremely well to the inevitable and satisfying climax.”

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 made by members of Shooting People there, so we hope anyone who has a film at the festival will let the community know about it so we as delegates can be sure to watch them. In addition to this, we select five films from the wider programme that look of particular interest in a very strong year, two of which were made by the membership.

May the 4th be with you!

Yes, it’s our annual SCRIPT PITCH SCI FI SPECIAL.

That means you have before you the best new script projects in the SF genre. Anywhere. That’s a fact.

Here are the loglines from this year’s Sci-Fi Pitch.

To read complete pitches and to contact any of the writers, please email Andy.