Sheffield DocFest Podcast

With a distinguished panel of leading documentary makers and commisioners, this year's Question Time will be tackling some of the biggest issues facing documentary making today. Is there any room left on the main TV channels for serious documentaries about deeply unpopular topics? Is the title and brand now everything? Has the 'Reality TV' bubble finally burst? With recent successes like the Armstrongs and Trawlermen, is there now a chance for a new kind of docu-soap? Are new media like YouTube and pod-casting really adding anything to the art of documentary? And if content is the only thing that matters in the digital future what opportunities does the digital age present?

We may shoot with the best of intentions, but sometimes the people we film are left vulnerable or feel very aggrieved. Yet in this media-savvy age, where people willingly offer their lives, families, children, bodies and pets to be filmed, don't the public know just what to expect? This session probes case histories and experiences to examine what should be our moral "duty of care" towards those who have agreed to take part in our films. Just when does the subject of our desire to document, explore or expose become a victim of the process?

We may shoot with the best of intentions, but sometimes the people we film are left vulnerable or feel very aggrieved. Yet in this media-savvy age, where people willingly offer their lives, families, children, bodies and pets to be filmed, don't the public know just what to expect? This session probes case histories and experiences to examine what should be our moral "duty of care" towards those who have agreed to take part in our films. Just when does the subject of our desire to document, explore or expose become a victim of the process?

This is part 2 of a masterclass with Paul Watson from 2006, chaired by Alan Hayling.

Paul Watson's latest film is a searing, moving portrait of a hidden bit of Britain. But the film has a second purpose: it deconstructs the documentary-making decisions Paul has taken in the course of its making the film. In effect, the film is itself a documentary masterclass. In this session, Alan Hayling and Paul Watson look in detail at the scenes and characters Paul chose not to include in the film and the choices that finally shaped the completed documentary.

The BBC's Director of Television Jana Bennett is one of the corporation's most senior executives. She's been there through the beginnings of the digital age and now looks after all the BBC's television channels. She's worked abroad running The Learning Channel of Discovery and even received an OBE for services to science broadcasting. So she's a very big wheel, but what doe she think about documentary? Well her background in news, current affairs and latterly science programmes really does, in documentary terms at least, make her one of us. Anyone who knows her willI'm sure acknowledge her sharp mind and quick-wittedness when it comes to whether films are any good. And if anyone has seen the future in terms of audience taste and interest, its most likely to have been Jana. So what works and what doesn't? Where's the most exciting new talent? And what is the future for British documentary on television and beyond? From October, Jana Bennett is the BBC's Director of Vision and delegates at Docfest have a chance to hear about her plans first at this not to be missed Friday Night BBC Interview.

What is the role of the documentary art form? How can filmmakers survive in warzones, when the 'dangerous' corners of the world are now everywhere? A free, open conversation, with illustrative clips and blogs. Recent civilian casualties in Lebanon, Israel, Gaza, Iraq and elsewhere insist that we ask what docmakers, citizens and broadcasters can do to prevent war and visualise real/reel peace? Clips of new and old films will be screened to spark active discussion with panelists and audience.

So you've made your documentary - now where to put it? Is anyone still paying out there? Amidst all the potential of digital distribution, are cinema and TV still important? Join a panel of feisty international distributors who will each offer a different perspective on the digital 'revolution' and expose what's solid and what's fluffy. Best of all, you'll learn not only how to get the world to see your documentary but how to get paid for it to.

In recent times PACT has successfully fought hard for changes in new media rights and new terms of trade. This panel unpacks the details of the deals and looks at the impact these changes have had on producers and documentary makers in the UK. In this changing production environment are the conditions going to continue to favour the super-indies or will the micro-companies also flourish alongside them? Is the answer to look to international funding and production partners? Will creating niche programming in a global market be the way forward? In the new media climate, is the playing field levelled or will the gap between the super-indie and the micro continue to grow? Should market-forces be allowed to sort it out for us? 

With films like 'Burma VJ' using footage from high street cameras and mobile phones, and the wealth of films and documentary initiatives arming people with cameras rather than guns, there seems to be a dawning of a new age of citizen journalism which can result in films and footage reaching a mass audience. This session looks at the way in which both citizens and local filmmakers around the world can contribute to documentarying issues that previously were left to the Western filmmakers.