This year’s Sheffield DocFest International Competition selection is made up of 5 world premieres and 4 international premieres, featuring “cinematic and thought-provoking documentaries” – hailing from Australia, Brazil, Lebanon, Mexico, Poland, Spain, UK, US, and Ukraine – which “engage with reality from a multitude of perspectives,” the festival writes.
The films in selection reflect “the full spectrum of documentary production, from the courageous collective filmmaking on the frontline of war in One Day in Ukraine; to the experimental exchange of video letters during the pandemic in Swing and Sway. Formally, there are films that take a creative approach to reality, using the tools of scripted narrative to portray true stories as in Sansón and Me and Singing on the Rooftops,” festival organisers continue.
“And films that demonstrate an impressive depth of focus and commitment to their protagonists, from the singular, intense intimacy of Man on Earth, to the granular portrayal of Beirut in After the End of the World. Two films explore the very different lives of creators, from the renowned writer and activist Andrea Dworkin in My Name is Andrea to the multifaceted African American artist David Hammons in The Melt Goes On Forever: The Art & Times of David Hammons,” the festival statement continues.
“And fittingly for Sheffield DocFest, the selection is rounded out with a film about the love of community and cinema. A Bunch of Amateurs focuses on Britain’s oldest amateur filmmaking club established in 1932 in Bradford, Yorkshire.”
Two of the selected films – My Name is Andrea, and Swing and Sway – previously participated in MeetMarket, Sheffield DocFest’s flagship documentary pitching forum, while at the development stage. And A Bunch of Amateurs was part of Sheffield DocFest’s docs-in-progress showcase at the Marché du Film in Cannes in 2021.
Raul Niño Zambrano, Head of Film Programmes, says “These nine powerful films reflect the wide range of documentary filmmaking. They are distinctive in their approach and style and invite us to reconnect with the world in new ways. Each of these films invites audiences to engage with them; to be inspired and even challenged by the stories they tell.”
The nine selected in International Competition are:
After the End of the World (Lebanon, 2022) by Nadim Mishlawi (World Premiere). Set amongst the constantly changing city of Beirut, this rousing film explores the knowledge and history spaces can hold, and what happens when those spaces disappear.
A Bunch of Amateurs (UK, 2022) by Margareta Szabo, Kim Hopkins (World Premiere). This affectionate tribute to silver screen dreamers details a group of cinephiles and their attempts to save their amateur filmmaking club.
Man on Earth (Australia,2022) by Amiel Courtin-Wilson (World Premiere). In this visceral, intensely intimate film, 65-year-old Bob has decided to end his own life after four years of living with Parkinson’s Disease and surrounds himself with family and friends to say goodbye.
The Melt Goes On Forever: The Art & Times of David Hammons (USA, 2022) by Harold Crooks, Judd Tully (World Premiere). A striking portrait of an African American artist who has steadfastly remained an outlier in the art world but whose work is an essential commentary on race in the US.
My Name is Andrea (USA, 2022) by Pratibha Parmar (International Premiere). Using archival footage and re-enactments, director Pratibha Parmar brings new light to the work of feminist writer and public intellectual Andrea Dworkin.
One Day in Ukraine (Ukraine/Poland, 2022)) by Volodymyr Tykhyy (World Premiere). Media activist and filmmaking collective Babylon’13, formed during the Maidan uprisings, focus on the events of March 14, 2022 – the 2,944th day of the Russian-Ukrainian War.
Sansón and Me (Mexico/USA, 2022) by Rodrigo Reyes (International Premiere). Rodrigo Reyes reconnects with Sansón, a Mexican migrant sentenced to life in prison, who he met when he was the translator at his trial.
Singing on the Rooftops (Spain, 2021) by Enric Ribes (International Premiere). The life of octogenarian Gilda, a drag-queen in Barcelona, changes dramatically overnight when they are asked to take care of an abandoned three-year-old girl.
Swing and Sway (Brazil, 2022) by Fernanda Pessoa, Chica Barbosa (International Premiere) Two filmmaker girlfriends – one in Brazil, the other in the US – send each other video letters, each inspired by a woman experimental filmmaker, over the course of one tumultuous year of the pandemic.
