Sheffield Doc/Fest announced April 22 a selection of highlights that will form part of the 2021 festival, including its opening and closing films.
The festival will open with the European premiere of Summer of Soul (…Or When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, a Searchlight Pictures release. It is a film, the festival notes, “that will inspire the next 10 days of the programme through its testimony of a unique moment in history, the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, and the transformative power of culture and music.”
The closing film will be the world premiere of The Story of Looking, the latest film by Mark Cousins. “In a time when our common experiences are shaped by long confinements and a constant assault from images, this film proposes that we look again into the world’s complexities, contradictions and beauty,” the festival notes of the film. Mark Cousins will also be in conversation, live-streamed from Sheffield, about his personal relation to film and images.
In a first for Sheffield Doc/Fest, both Summer of Soul (4 June) and The Story of Looking on (12 June) will also screen simultaneously in cinemas around the UK.
Mark Cousins commented: “We’re honoured to premiere our film on the closing night of Sheffield’s acclaimed Doc/Fest. We hope it will send audiences and delegates back out into the world with hearts aglow and fresh eyes!”
Added Sheffield chief Cíntia Gil: “We wanted to open and close with films that spoke to our programme and to what Sheffield Doc/Fest stands for, and to inspire our audiences after a very difficult time. These films have helped us imagine our programme along the winter lockdown months, and will hopefully add to the joy of coming together again to share life and film before the Summer blooms.”
The festival also announced four films for the Into the World strand. These are:
The Return: Life After Isis by Alba Sotorra, a unique portrait of a group of Western women whose teenage years were spent supporting ISIS, but who now want to return to their countries and transform their lives.
Ghosn The Last Flight, by Nick Green, a portrait of the former CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance charged with various financial crimes. (World prem)
MINAMATA Mandala by Japanese Kazuo Hara, an epic, 15-year journey and three-part film, where Hara treats each individual and the local community with tremendous empathy, and raises necessary global questions about public health, corporate accountability, and the environment.
Alvorada Palace by Anna Muylaert and Lô Politi, set in Brazil’s Presidential Palace and following Dilma Rousseff and her closest members of staff over the days that lead up to the impeachment trial that resulted in her downfall, described as a ‘poignant reflection on the nature of leadership and power.’
The festival runs from 4 – 13 June 2021, in cinemas in Sheffield and online. The full Artistic and Industry Programmes will be announced on Wednesday 12 May 2021.
