Thirty-one members have put themselves forward for election to the board of the new Documentary Film Council. Voting will open May 13 and close three weeks later on Friday 31st May. The election results will be announced June 3.
The UK-based sector-wide body was launched at Sheffield DocFest 2023 with a remit “to represent the UK’s independent documentary community, facilitate transparent communication within the sector and take effective, coordinated action to address the key issues facing the sector.”
“This is a fantastic response that exceeds even our most hopeful expectations,” DFC wrote in a statement dated May 1, adding that the deadline for new members to join the DFC and be eligible to vote is May 10.
“Standing for election isn’t an easy thing to do, and the fact that so many people are willing to put themselves forward shows just how much energy and commitment (not to mention expertise and experience) that we’ve got in this organisation and in our sector more broadly. Regardless of the outcome of the vote, each and every one of the candidates deserves a massive amount of respect for standing up and offering to put their shoulder to the wheel.”
“For now, let’s celebrate the bravery of all our candidates for putting themselves forward and encourage everyone in the UK who should be voting in this election to participate. This is the first time in UK documentary history that our sector has elected its own representatives. Let’s make sure there’s a turnout we can be proud of,” DFC added.
The voting process will be overseen by an external election management agency using a ranked choice system (often described as Single Transferable Vote in the UK or Ranked Choice Voting in the US). When voting opens, every member of the DFC who is eligible to vote will be emailed a unique code and link enabling them to cast their ballot.
The candidates are as follows. Click here to read the statements of each.
- Olu Adaeze, Director/Producer – Ikenga Creative Lab
- Zan Barberton, Documentary Director and Editor – Boundary Pictures
- Fotios Begklis, Documentary Practitioner and Senior Lecturer – London College of Communication
- Lyn Champion, Executive Producer/MA Documentary Senior Lecturer – BBC/Nottingham Trent University
- Flore Cosquer, Managing Director – Scottish Documentary Institute
- Wayne D’Cruz, Distribution Manager – MetFilm
- Fiona Fletcher, Film Freelancer / Film Relationship Manager – British Council
- Maia Krall Fry, Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships – Creative UK
- Roisín Geraghty, Producer / Head of Industry & Marketplace – Docs Ireland
- Jessi Gutch, Freelance Filmmaker – Fig Films
- Martin Hall, Course Leader / Senior Lecturer – York St John University
- Kim Halliday, Composer & Musician
- Emma Hindley, Lead Commissioning Editor – BBC Storyville
- Melanie Iredale, Director – Reclaim The Frame (formerly known as Birds’ Eye View)
- Isra Al Kassi, Co-founder & Director – T A P E Collective
- Leslie Lee, Producer/Director
- Delphine Lievens, Distribution Consultant – Freelance
- Ben Lowe, Producer/Director – High Performance
- Richard Melman, Executive Producer/Producer
- Christine Morrow, New and Emerging Talent Executive – Northern Ireland Screen
- Sarah Mosses, Founder & CEO – Together Films
- Andy Mundy-Castle, Director/Founder – Doc Hearts Limited
- Franky Murray Brown, Independent Filmmaker
- David Pearson, Director, Producer & Executive – Storyspring
- Jane Ray, Artistic Director – The Whickers
- André Singer, Chief Creative Officer – Spring Films Ltd
- Hannah Skolnick, AP / Director
- Mita Suri, Film Programme Manager – Sheffield DocFest
- Maxine Trump, Director – Help Films
- Dionne Walker, Film & TV Producer and Doc Maker – NMS Film & TV Productions Ltd (Company Director)
- Sandra Whipham, Co-Director – Doc Society
