The Tim Hetherington Award at Sheffield doc/fest
Tim Hetherington was a photojournalist who died on the front line in Libya in 2011. In 2013 an award was given in his name for the first time at the Sheffield Doc/Fest. His mother spoke at the ceremony, even though coming to Sheffield had been difficult as it was the place where she had last...
Sheffield Doc/Fest: The winners as announced by @JeremyJHardy
Jeremy Hardy presented the trophies at the Sheffield Doc/Fest Awards ceremony, celebrating the best of the many documentaries that had been shown over the past five days. The Student Award, for people who, as Hardy put it, ‘should have been out rioting,’ was awarded to Boys, directed by Marc Williamson. Jury spokesperson Kate Townsend said, “…this particular...
Film review: God loves Uganda – so why is hate being preached in his name? #Sheffdocfest
Day three of the excellent Doc/Fest. I had already seen several interesting films since arriving in Sheffield. Indeed I had already seen several interesting films that day. I walked into the Showroom cinema and pulled out my ticket for God loves Uganda, a film that had premiered at Sundance. Screen 8, it said in the top...
Help fund a UK film – How a filmmaker is changing ideas of roles for older women @threedaysfilm1
Want to help finance a UK film? Then read on! The independent filmmaking community is embracing a new British filmmaker, Vanessa Bailey, a 44 year-old actress who decided to produce her first film, ‘Three Days’, after growing frustrated by the limited roles available for older women. Taking matters into her own hands, Vanessa brought together...
Film review – Rafea: Solar Mama or The World’s Stupidest Husband #SheffDocFest
Men don’t come out of Rafea: Solar Mama very well. The film was shown today at Sheffield Documentary Festival and in the Q&A with the directors afterwards it was suggested that it could have been called The world’s stupidest husband, as the attitude of the husband is so ridiculous. Rafea: Solar Mama shows the development of...
Surviving Syria – freelance journalism in war zones #SheffDocFest
‘It’s a completely valid thing to do, to risk your life for journalism‘ Vaughan Smith. That war reporting is dangerous has never been in doubt. The situation in Syria is however much more dangerous than before. Olly Lambert has been reporting from war zones for a decade and said at Sheffield Doc/Fest that in Syria...
Film review: Forget Me Not, 2012 – should Alzheimer’s patients be at home or in a home?
Forget Me Not is a documentary by David Sieveking about the decline of his mother who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He introduces and describes the story in voice over, whilst appearing in shot himself all the way through. The film has three lead roles – Sieveking himself, Malte his father and of course his mother...
Dirty Wars, 2013 – ‘We call them American Taliban’ – drones, kill lists and US covert ops
Dirty Wars is a 2013 documentary from Richard Rowley starring investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill. The two men have been friends for over a decade after meeting in Iraq whilst reporting on the Iraq war. ‘The Global War on Terror is the most important story of a generation,’ Rowley said at the Sheffield Documentary Festival, ‘…but...
Chris Marker’s Le Joli Mai: a baggy film of Paris, Algeria and Cats #sheffdocfest
I don’t think, it’s the ultimate wisdom… Chris Marker died last year and in tribute to the French film maker the Sheffield Documentary festival opened with a showing of Le Joli Mai. This is a 1962 documentary about Paris which Marker directed in collaboration with Pierre Lhomme. Another documentary, Chronique d’un été, had been made by Morin...
