Sheffield DocFest Podcast

Channel 4 pioneered the use of The Rig with The Family. Since then the technology has spawned many series from 24 Hours in A&E to One Born Every Minute and it’s now pushing into new territories such as The Marines. After having changed the way that we view many traditional observational documentary spaces, The Rig itself is now transforming. First the more mobile mini-rig used in The Chicken Shop and Nightclub Toilet and now the Digital Rig. Channel 4 commissioned RAW to take The Rig a step further and reflect our digital life - the thoughts and feelings that are captured on mobile phones and computer screens, but which don’t necessarily feature in real world conversations and interactions.

This gave rise to the ‘D-Rig’ which has been used to explore the connections and secret life of students and teens, effectively providing a whole different narrative and perspective on their lives. For 4 months the D-Rig captured every text, call, tweet and Facebook update of twelve students alongside traditional observational filming. This data was then used on screen to tell the complete story of the social network of students. In this session Dimitri Doganis and Emma Cooper discuss the vision for the D-Rig, the impact it had on the narrative (effectively providing two sets of rushes), the implications of using the data and the reaction of the contributors to seeing their digital lives.

Roger Graef OBE has been a leading figure in the TV documentary industry over the last 50 years. As a director, producer and executive producer, he has been responsible for more than 160 documentaries, a number of which have directly influenced policing, criminal justice and social policy. His pioneering contributions include developing the fly-on-the-wall technique and creating the first TV documentary co-production in the UK. Introduced by Brian Woods, Roger Graef is in conversation with Robyn Bright discussing the last half-century of documentary filmmaking in Britain, explored through a chronological selection of Roger’s landmark films.

This session, from Sheffield DocFest 2104, looks at fact-based drama (examples: Argo, Last King of Scotland, Rush) vs docudrama (Dreams of a Life, The Imposter, Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight). With the new UK tax credit designed to encourage drama, comedy and documentaries, how can documentary makers take advantage of it? When does it make sense to look at filming your story as a docudrama or as a fact-based drama? When do the facts get in the way of a good drama and vice-versa? Speakers include Penny Woolcock, Neil McKay, Tony Grisoni and Leslie Lee.

A masterclass on the craft of documentary filmmaking with BAFTA-winning filmmaker Olly Lambert who was awarded the Current Affairs award at the 2104 Arqiva British Academy Television Awards for his film Syria: Across The Lines. Olly has also been awarded the BAFTA Scotland Documentary Series Award for The Great Game with Rory Stewart. Seen as one of the most accomplished filmmakers in factual today, Olly makes films about ordinary people caught in extraordinary situations, thoughtfully portraying their worlds with care and an honest intimacy, and often using their stories to shed light on international current affairs. As recipient of the 2014 Peter McGhee Fellowship award, Olly has been honoured as a filmmaker whose work reflects excellence, intelligence, fairness and scholarship. Grierson, Rory Peck and RTS-winning speaker Olly shares insights into his filmmaking from the perspective of journalist, director and cinematographer.

How are we treating the intimate subject of sex and sexuality on TV? As we increasingly push the boundaries of what we can show on television, are certain subjects still invisible, misrepresented or taboo? Questioning the necessity of being explicit or provocative, our expert panel of leading documentary commissioners and filmmakers look at the changing attitudes towards sex, and their role in shaping our understanding of human sexuality, in all its forms. From female sexuality, to young people, bisexuality, pornography addiction, and on to the elderly, who remind us they're not quietly tucked up in bed. The panel includs Greg Sanderson, Sunny Bergman, Barbara Truyen, Sara Ramsden and Anna Rodgers.

What happens when documentaries attract the attention of Hollywood? In 2014, some great British documentaries have crossed over to the movie business. Leading directors, producers and lawyers share their experiences. Havana Marking’s remarkable Smash and Grab: The Story of the Pink Panthers is now slated to be directed by Danny Boyle as a feature adaptation. Salma, the central contributor from Kim Longinotto’s acclaimed film of the same name, is doing a deal direct with a LA film producer for the rights to her story. And Peter Armstrong, Partner, Harbottle and Lewis has done several complex movie deals on high profile life story titles including Wikileaks, Julian Assange. We hear gripping accounts of the process and also discuss the ethics and rights when selling ‘real life’. Do documentaries and feature films make easy bed fellows…or is it a minefield?

Chair of Arts Council England and TV innovator, Peter Bazalgette, has championed the importance of the arts to all sections of society, regardless of platform or geographical location, defending public funding of arts and culture for all.

In this session, Peter is interviewed by Anna Higgs, head of Film4.0, who asks him about where film and digital fit into ACE’s plans – in a cross-platform age, how do the traditional boundaries between art forms stand up? What’s the future for interactive and digital arts?

Lee Kern brings his one-stop workshop designed to make even the most mediocre filmmakers a force to be reckoned with in the world of independent documentary filmmaking. How to crap on your peers, how to make your subjects cry on camera and then ditch them when you’ve finished – everything you need to know in order to make it to the top is here in this masterclass. You too can become king of the documentary crap heap!

Question: What connects Nick Broomfield, Joan Churchill, Kim Longinotto, Molly Dineen, and Sean McAllister to name only a handful? Answer: They were all set on their journey by the man who founded the National Film & Television School- Colin Young. This session explores Colin Young’s influence on this inspirational generation of filmmakers. What will he do to inspire the next? Messrs Churchill, Dineen, Longinotto, McAllister and Broomfield will encourage The Great Motivator to reveal his secrets. What manifesto would he propose to young filmmakers now? 

In BBC2s Bafta- nominated series Protecting Our Children, unprecedented access took the viewer to the heart of the issues facing Britain’s social workers. But it also presented enormous challenges to the programme makers, as well as unusually at-risk contributors. So how did they do it, and what were the pitfalls along the way? Brian Woods, who has himself produced several award-winning films around vulnerable children, talks to the series producer Sacha Mirzoeff as well as contributor and social worker Ben Crang , and director of photography Petra Graf.