Sheffield DocFest Podcast

By Sheffield Doc/Fest

What's Sheffield DocFest Podcast about?

Sheffield Doc/Fest is a world leading and the UK’s premier documentary festival, celebrating the art and business of documentary.

We’re a hub for all documentary and factual content across all platforms, from feature length to shorts, and including interactive and virtual reality projects.

www.sheffdocfest.com

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Sheffield DocFest Podcast episodes:

07.03.2020
Michael Dapaah aka Big Shaq talks….
Comedian, rapper and all-round sensation Michael Dapaah (aka Big Shaq) joins Karen Gabay (BBC radio host and TV producer) to discuss how he gets his message to the masses: whether communicating with his 1.4million Instagram followers, the 325 million viewers...
06.19.2020
Imaginary Friends: Stories from ‘the Loneliest Generation'
In 2018, the UK’s Ministry of Loneliness was installed to combat the issue of isolation. Generation Z has been singled out as ‘the loneliest generation’, with social media’s effects often receiving the blame. Chaired by mental health expert and academic...
06.07.2020
Cinema and State: Developing Policy Frameworks for Feature Docs
UK film policy is almost entirely geared towards fiction, while the unique challenges facing the documentary sector are overlooked. It’s high-time the UK had a bespoke policy framework to support its documentary makers. What kinds of interventions are needed? How...
05.22.2020
Real drama: What's Next for the Access Doc?
So you’ve got brilliant, hard-won access, now what? With fiercer competition for audiences, it’s what you do with that access that’s all important. We explore the ingredients needed for a hit series – from the inspiration behind the idea, to...
05.08.2020
Secrets and Lies: Testimony and Archive in Contemporary History
This session from Doc/Fest 2019 explores the resurgence of archive and testimony in history filmmaking, with a panel of producers and contributors from some of the BBC’s most successful projects. The panellists discuss the opportunities afforded by the interplay between...
04.28.2020
Craft Summit: Filming the Unfilmable
How do documentary filmmakers tackle the most taboo of subjects and tell stories that can’t be shared openly, while respecting the ethical, legal and personal sensitivities of the people involved? This session from Doc/Fest 2019 explores radical and hybrid formats...
03.27.2020
Commissioning: Documentary for Broadcast
Highlighting their priorities, leading commissioners talk about forthcoming commissioning opportunities as they take part in Doc/Fest's version of Question Time. Commenting on recent successes, they discuss the changing landscape, the renewed focus on diversity and how producers can keep innovating...
03.13.2020
My Big Break
Pursuing a career in Film or TV can be a daunting experience, and in the early stages of doing so it’s easy to feel that those around us find success with impossible ease. A panel of Film and TV professionals...
02.28.2020
Funding and Commissioning: Feature Documentary
With everything solid melting into air, and the documentary landscape never more varied and complex, this panel asks leading commissioners, funders & distributors: how do independent filmmakers get creative feature length documentary work made and seen today? In a panel...
02.14.2020
Through the Eyes of the Other: Craft Summit 2019
We explore the craft of directing through films that focus on a central character. Taking us deep into their films and filmic method, 2 directors explore approaches to character, the relationship at work, and what happens if it goes wrong?...
01.31.2020
Breaking the Class Ceiling
In 2018, socio-economic inequality in the television and film industry became National news, when the Panic! report revealed that the industry was becoming less welcoming to talent from working class backgrounds. Much lip-service was paid to improving access in the...
01.17.2020
Rodney P talks Bass, Beats and Docs
Since forming the seminal hip-hop group London Posse in 1987, Rodney P has been widely regarded as the Godfather of British hip-hop, and has collaborated with a diverse range of artists including Omar, Roni Size, Nitin Sawhney and Björk. More...
01.03.2020
Channel 4 Interview: Paddy Wivell
In twenty years of directing documentaries for Channel 4 and the BBC, Paddy Wivell has made a name for himself for the seemingly effortless and compassionate way he connects with his subjects, from African tribes to Orthodox Jews and psychiatric...
12.20.2019
Bush, Boobs & Body Positivity with the Slumflower
Chidera Eggerue preaches her messages of self-love and body positivity to thousands on her blog, The Slumflower, and with hugely successful campaigns like #saggyboobsmatter. Her 2018 debut book, What a Time to be Alone, quickly became a top 10 best-seller...
12.06.2019
BAFTA Masterclass: Asif Kapadia
The Academy Award and multi BAFTA-winning filmmaker, Asif Kapadia, elevated the art of archive documentaries with Amy and Senna, films which were both critically acclaimed and box office hits. His latest film Diego Maradona, explores the life of one of...
11.27.2019
Paul Greengrass in Conversation
Having cut his teeth on the investigative documentary strand World in Action, known for its forceful and unorthodox journalistic approach, Paul Greengrass has become one of the world’s most popular filmmakers. His films, which often explore real-world anxieties and confront...
11.08.2019
Jenn Nkiru talks Film, Art and Cosmic Archeology
Filmmaker and ‘cosmic archaeologist' Jenn Nkiru is one of the UK’s most exciting directors, with a unique and distinctive visual style. Her films are powerful explorations of black identity including commissions for Nowness, Frieze, Gucci and Channel 4. She has...
10.25.2019
A Conversation with Werner Herzog
Arguably one of the greatest living filmmakers, who battled Klaus Kinski on the set of Aguirre, Wrath of God, dragged a ship over a hill for Fitzcarraldo and famously ate his own shoe on film after a losing bet, came...
05.24.2019
Vicky McClure: Dementia & Music
We welcomed BAFTA-winning actor Vicky McClure, star of This is England (produced by Sheffield based Warp Films), as well as Line of Duty and Broadchurch, to Sheffield Doc/Fest for the first time in 2018, to discuss her new BBC series,...
05.10.2019
Brian Reed & Richard Miron in Conversation
Brian Reed (Host and co-creator of S-Town) and Richard Miron (Director/Producer of For the Birds) explore the real life mysteries and strange tales that inspired their work. Chaired by Lyndon Saunders (University of Salford). This talk was part of the...
04.05.2019
Whose Story: Authentic Voices in Storytelling
From the Syrian conflict to Black Lives Matter; now more than ever there is an urgency for stories told by less represented and authentic voices emerging from affected communities. Getting access to a community not your own, to spend a...
03.22.2019
Times Up: The Industry Response to Bullying & Harassment
Allegations against Harvey Weinstein and numerous others exposed a deeply troubling side to the film and TV industry. Following the birth of the ground-breaking anti-sexual assault and women's empowerment movements #MeToo and #TimesUp, we debate how the industry is responding....
03.08.2019
The BBC Interview: Mary Beard
One of our favourite talks from the 2018 festival: Charlotte Moore, Director of Content at the BBC, interviews public intellectual, feminist, author and television presenter Mary Beard. In her trademark accessible style, Britain's best-known classicist discusses her broadcasting career as...
02.22.2019
Documenting Grenfell: a Problem in Plain Sight?
In 2017 the Grenfell Tower tragedy shook the nation: claims of gross negligence, government cuts, and lack of political action angered communities, and the demand for justice and call for change began. For many the tragedy highlighted the deep divide...
02.08.2019
Poverty in the UK: New Approaches to Storytelling
Poverty in the UK is increasing for the first time in two decades. We are seeing more people struggling to make ends meet. Does television set out accurately the complexities of living in poverty, or too crudely as either a...
01.25.2019
Jamal Edwards MBE: SBTV, Music & Mental Health
Britain's hottest young entrepreneur Jamal Edwards, founded YouTube-based SBTV in 2006 with a self-recorded grainy rap battle. Now hailed as one of the most important digital youth culture platforms, SBTV boasts over 950,000 subscribers and 600+ million views and has...
01.11.2019
Craft Summit 2018: Documentary Subjects How Close Do You Go
This interactive and probing session uses the experience of a psychologist to gain insight into the art of directing actuality, the portrayal of character and examine whether we can ever get too close to the subject in documentaries. Moderated by...
12.07.2018
Khalik Allah: Exploring a New Film Language
Self-taught photographer and filmmaker, Khalik Allah's profoundly personal work has been described as "street opera"; visceral, haunting and honest. Having previously worked with Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep, Khalik's feature debut Field Niggas, garnered critical acclaim from the cultural press...
11.23.2018
My Big Break
Film and TV professionals at varying stages in their career discuss the successes (and challenges) that paved their way into the industry. With a panel made up of two BAFTA Breakthrough Brits, the Creative Producer of two award-winning feature documentaries,...
11.09.2018
Not Another Diversity Panel!
Factual television is not an equal playing field. Women, ethnic minorities and those from a working class background are underrepresented in the industry. Apanel of commissioners and creators discuss the obstacles facing the factual industry in creating a truly diverse...
10.26.2018
BAFTA Masterclass: Matthew Heineman
Matthew Heineman, the BAFTA- and Oscar- nominated director, is one of the most exciting documentary filmmakers working today. His films City of Ghosts and Cartel Land offered searing comment on the fight against ISIS and the war on drugs. In...
10.11.2018
Best of Times, Worst of Times: The Future of Feature Documentaries
Are we entering a new "Golden Age" for feature documentary? Will new funding sources create a flurry of blockbuster features, or is cinema exhibition inexorably declining as audiences ‘Netflix and chill’? The rising power of SVOD platforms opens up new...
09.28.2018
Munroe Bergdorf: Women, Gender & Activism
As both a high-profile activist and an international model, Munroe Bergdorf's experiences as a transgender woman remain the driving force behind her work. Voted 8th in Pride Power's Top 100 List 2017 Munroe uses her public platform to campaign for...
09.14.2018
The Channel 4 Interview: Guy Martin
Sheffield Doc/Fest and Channel 4 welcomed the Grimsby-born, TV adventurer, record breaker, motorcycle racer and lorry mechanic to the Festival for the first time. With inspirational documentaries, produced by North One, spanning world speed records, Formula 1 motor racing, the...
07.27.2018
Sir Lenny Henry in Conversation with June Sarpong MBE
Doc/Fest and Sky were delighted to welcome Sir Lenny Henry to the 2017 Festival. In conversation with June Sarpong, the celebrated comedian and actor discussed his game-changing career, his documentary work for Sky Arts and his drive to make change...
03.26.2018
Maxine Peake - My Desert Island Docs
Sheffield Doc/Fest was thrilled to welcome the acclaimed Salford-based actress and writer Maxine Peake to the Festival for the first time. Talking to Guardian journalist Simon Hattenstone Maxine discussed her love of documentary film and those docs that have inspired...
03.09.2018
How Do You Reach The Other 99%? The New Opportunities for Docs Online
Viewing of high quality factual TV content online has had a massive explosion in the last 18 months – with documentaries attracting millions of global viewers, but as a UK production company or an independent documentary maker, is online production...
02.23.2018
How to Make Fast Turnaround Docs
In these strange times with "the media” under attack in the West, there’s an urgent need for trustworthy storytelling that responds to current events – and documentary filmmakers are increasingly a part of this. As news organisations invest more in...
02.09.2018
Doc/Question Time: Is the Media Failing to Reflect the Real Opinions of the People?
A distinguished panel from the world of film, media and politics discuss the rise of populism, ‘echo chambers’ and question how open we all are to contrary points of view in today’s media. The session was chaired by William Horsley...
01.26.2018
What Does Brexit Look Like? 'Artistic Responses'
Filmmakers and commissioners at the 2017 Festival discuss the creative impact of Brexit on documentary-making in Britain. A year after Britain voted to leave Europe, we ask how best to represent the voices of those on both sides of the...
01.12.2018
Commissioner Question Time: Specialist Factual for all Platforms
Should Specialist Factual be a genre that takes more risks? With broadcast giants like Netflix and Amazon changing the landscape of TV, taking risks and winning big, how should terrestrial and cable channels be responding? Is it time for specialist...
12.29.2017
Peter Greenaway CBE: Where Next for Storytelling?
Acclaimed director and artist Peter Greenaway is widely regarded as one of the most important innovators of our time. His work stretches back to the 1960s and includes the feature The Cook the Thief his Wife her Lover and the...
12.15.2017
Commissioner Question Time: Feature Length
How do different commissioners define a feature documentary? Is it based on viewer expectations, the importance of the central issue or simply its duration? Is a deeper level of access, revelation or visual ambition a must too? With feature docs...
11.13.2017
Female Trailblazers: New Ways of Working in Media
There is a new vanguard in our media culture. A growing pool of talented and experienced women, tired of waiting for the film and TV industry to reach the 21st century, are driving it forward themselves. The voices of working...
10.27.2017
The BBC Interview: Louis Theroux meets Nick Broomfield
In a career spanning more than four decades, Nick Broomfield is one of the most influential documentary makers of our time. Having initially carved his name in hard hitting observational fare, when ‘Driving me Crazy’ went awry in 1988 Nick...
10.13.2017
New Genderation: Has Factual Kept Up With the Revolution in Gender and Sexuality?
Documentaries about the LGBT community have broken into the mainstream. Films like My Transexual Summer, Gay and Under Attack and Girls to Men have told a diverse range of stories. While some of these were celebrated, others were accused of...
10.13.2017
Freddie Flintoff & Robert Penn Talk Docs & Chips
Doc/Fest welcomed cricketing legend and former England captain, along with journalist and co-presenter Robert Penn, to the 2016 Festival, to talk about their popular series for Sky 1; ‘Flintoff: Lord of the Fries’ and ‘Freddie Fries Again’. Freddie and Rob...
09.29.2017
Olly Alexander Talks Documentary
Doc/fest were thrilled to welcome Olly Alexander, frontman of the British electronica trio Years and Years to the Festival to discuss the making of his first documentary 'Olly Alexander: Growing Up Gay’. The film has recently screened on BBC3 as...
09.15.2017
D.A. Pennebaker & Chris Hegedus in Conversation with Francine Stock
Talking to BBC Radio 4 Film Programme presenter Francine Stock, renowned filmmakers and Academy Award-winners D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus discuss their latest film Unlocking the Cage, as well as look back over a body of work spanning 40 years....
09.04.2017
Exploring the American Markets
Continuing the recent trend of aggressive M&A; activity, streaming giants Netflix and Amazon snapped up a wealth of documentary content at this year’s Sundance festival in January. With the US, still a major export territory for UK content producers what...

What's Sheffield DocFest Podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Sheffield DocFest Podcast episodes:

Michael Dapaah aka Big Shaq talks….

Imaginary Friends: Stories from ‘the Loneliest Generation'

Cinema and State: Developing Policy Frameworks for Feature Docs

Real drama: What's Next for the Access Doc?

Secrets and Lies: Testimony and Archive in Contemporary History

Craft Summit: Filming the Unfilmable

Commissioning: Documentary for Broadcast

My Big Break

Funding and Commissioning: Feature Documentary

Through the Eyes of the Other: Craft Summit 2019

Breaking the Class Ceiling

Rodney P talks Bass, Beats and Docs

Channel 4 Interview: Paddy Wivell

Bush, Boobs & Body Positivity with the Slumflower

BAFTA Masterclass: Asif Kapadia

Paul Greengrass in Conversation

Jenn Nkiru talks Film, Art and Cosmic Archeology

A Conversation with Werner Herzog

Vicky McClure: Dementia & Music

Brian Reed & Richard Miron in Conversation

Whose Story: Authentic Voices in Storytelling

Times Up: The Industry Response to Bullying & Harassment

The BBC Interview: Mary Beard

Documenting Grenfell: a Problem in Plain Sight?

Poverty in the UK: New Approaches to Storytelling

Jamal Edwards MBE: SBTV, Music & Mental Health

Craft Summit 2018: Documentary Subjects How Close Do You Go

Khalik Allah: Exploring a New Film Language

My Big Break

Not Another Diversity Panel!

BAFTA Masterclass: Matthew Heineman

Best of Times, Worst of Times: The Future of Feature Documentaries

Munroe Bergdorf: Women, Gender & Activism

The Channel 4 Interview: Guy Martin

Sir Lenny Henry in Conversation with June Sarpong MBE

Maxine Peake - My Desert Island Docs

How Do You Reach The Other 99%? The New Opportunities for Docs Online

How to Make Fast Turnaround Docs

Doc/Question Time: Is the Media Failing to Reflect the Real Opinions of the People?

What Does Brexit Look Like? 'Artistic Responses'

Commissioner Question Time: Specialist Factual for all Platforms

Peter Greenaway CBE: Where Next for Storytelling?

Commissioner Question Time: Feature Length

Female Trailblazers: New Ways of Working in Media

The BBC Interview: Louis Theroux meets Nick Broomfield

New Genderation: Has Factual Kept Up With the Revolution in Gender and Sexuality?

Freddie Flintoff & Robert Penn Talk Docs & Chips

Olly Alexander Talks Documentary

D.A. Pennebaker & Chris Hegedus in Conversation with Francine Stock

Exploring the American Markets

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