Sheffield DocFest announced May 29 the Jury Members for the festival’s five prestigious competition categories; the International Competition, International First Feature Competition, International Short Film Competition, the Tim Hetherington Award, and the International Alternate Realities Competition. They join the previously announced members of the Youth Jury.
Thirty-seven films are competing this year across the five categories, with the winners announced during the Festival’s Awards Ceremony at Crucible Playhouse on Sunday 14 June.
As previously announced, the festival will open with the protest doc We, The Hated by UK doccer Rich Felgate, ahead of a programme that presents 80 feature films and 24 shorts, including 45 World Premieres, 17 International Premieres, 5 European Premieres, and 35 UK Premieres from 64 Countries.
Also announced are further additions to the public and industry programmes. Click here to see the complete programme.
The 33rd edition of the festival takes place in venues throughout Sheffield, 10-15 June 2026.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION JURY (scroll down for selections)
The Jury Members for the International Competition are: producer and broadcaster Mark Edwards, Kiyoko McCraea filmmaker and Program Director at Chicken & Egg Films, and Noa Nwande, Head of International Sales at Watermelon Pictures.
The category features a line-up of six World Premieres, one International Premiere, and one European Premiere, with all eight films also up for the Academy Award® accredited Grand Jury Award which honours films that display strong artistic vision and courageous storytelling.
INTERNATIONAL FIRST FEATURE COMP JURY (scroll down for selections)
The International First Feature Competition jury members are: award-winning filmmaker Paul Sng, Darren Lawford (producer and former trustee of Sheffield DocFest), and Malikkha Rollins (producer and Director of Industry and Education for DOC NYC)
This year’s category features eight debut works, seven of which are World Premieres and one which is an International Premiere. The International First Feature Competition is supported by Netflix.
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMP JURY (scroll down for selections)
The International Short Film Competition Jury members for 2026 are: double BAFTA award-winning director Olaide Sadiq (Grenfell: Uncovered, winner of Sheffield DocFest Audience Award 2025) , Joe Hunting (Creative Director at Painting Clouds), and filmmaker Laura Warner (The Cranes Call, A Last Big Story)
The category features nine World Premieres and one International Premiere. The ten films in this year’s competition are up for the Academy Award®, BAFTA and BIFA accredited Grand Jury Award which honours the best creative approach to documentary under 40 minutes.
TIM HETHERINGTON AWARD JURY
Jurors for the Tim Hetherington Award are: Brenda Danker (Malaysia Freedom Film Network co-founder), Sam Holland (ex-director of Migration Matters festival in Sheffield) and Andrii Kotliar (Ukrainian producer/filmmaker part of the #babylon 13 collective).
Six documentaries will be considered for the Award this year which recognises a film and filmmaker that best reflects the legacy of photojournalist and filmmaker Tim Hetherington and celebrates outstanding humanitarian storytelling. The award is presented in association with Dogwoof.
YOUTH JURY AWARD
The Youth Jury Award is presented by five of the UK’s most passionate young documentary film enthusiasts aged 18-23 – Julianne Gazzingan, Sadie Coll, Jagraj Singh, Clementine Cunningham and Shae Beckford – who have curated a selection of six films that will be considered for this year’s award. “The selected films are a diverse collection that take audiences on a global journey engaging with urgent contemporary issues,” the festival writes.
AUDIENCE AWARD
Each year, the Sheffield DocFest audiences have the opportunity to cast their vote at cinemas and venues for their favourite films and works – every feature film in the programme is eligible for the Film Audience Award.
NEW ADDITIONS TO THE PUBLIC AND INDUSTRY PROGRAMME
New additions to the Public and Industry programme include two new events that complete this year’s Talks Programme. In a landmark conversation with Asif Kapadia (Director, Amy, Senna), Jo Clinton Davis (Controller of Factual, ITV) and Mike Blair (Creative Director, Multistory Media) the creators of 70 UP, discuss the final chapter in the Up Series, one of the most influential documentaries ever made that over more than six decades captured the lives of ordinary Britons. Munya Chiwawa will discuss his latest documentary Wrestling with Trump which explores the link between the American president and wrestling.
Completing the Film programme is the UK Premiere of The Last First: Winter K2 from director Amir Bar-Lev that explores how five were left dead after an attempt to be the first to summit K2, and the World Premiere of Obsession: The Beryl Burton Story an intimate portrait of one of Britain’s greatest cyclists from director Stuart Pollitt.
Two new films will be screened as part of GEN DocFest, the Festival’s new family programming strand. In Horrible Science: Tim Peake’s Stinky Space, astronaut Tim Peake joins Pipette to guide us through what life is line in space for astronauts whilst in CBeebies presents: Hamza Loves Animals, wildlife presenter Hamza Yassin looks at some of the amazing animals which can be found in Africa.
In a special event celebrating the World Premiere of The Archivist, Orbital’s Paul Hartnoll presents a specially-created dance set fusing his own unique brand of techno disco with cult British folk horror and folk music accompanied by Pecsaetan Morris dancers.
Also revealed are new speakers joining the Talks Programme with Barrister & Broadcaster Rob Rinder MBE who joins Investigating True Crime; actor Craig Parkinson who joins the Channel 4 Interview with Joe Bullman: Why Documentary Makers Create the Most Powerful Dramas; former diplomat Alexander Dragonetti who appeared on The Traitors (2025) will join Brexit: How Britain Voted Out; Broadcaster and Journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy who joins How to Get Filthy Rich with Gary Stevenson; and Sile Sibanda BBC Sheffield Radio Presenter, Spoken Word Artist & Creative Producer for Storytrails who joins Behind the Scenes: Educating Yorkshire.
As previously announced, the 2026 Guest of Honour is UK actor Maxine Peake whose curated programme will include the introduction of three hand-selected films: Nightcleaners– a landmark of British political and feminist cinema following the struggle of female night cleaners in 1970s London, and The Wanted 18, about a Palestinian village whose 18 cows were declared a threat to national security; as well as a deep-dive discussion on working-class representation in cinema; a curated reading; and live music performance.
Actors Jason Done, Christine Bottomley, Carla Henry, Eva Scott and Lamin Touray have also been confirmed for the special live reading of Queens of the Coal Age written by Peake, which details the true story of four miners’ wives—Anne Scargill, Dot Kelly, Elaine Evans, and Lesley Lomas—who occupied Parkside Colliery in 1993 to protest pit closures.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
- Colors of White Rock by Khoroldorj Choijoovanchig / France, Mongolia / 2026 / 82mins / European Premiere
- Disciples by Pankaj Johar, Sunaina Kapoor/ India, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Qatar / 2026 / 81mins / World Premiere
- Filthy (Sucia – Per què no vas fer res?) by Bàrbara Mestanza, Marc Pujolar / Spain / 2026 / 82mins / International Premiere
- Lesbian Lines by Cara Holmes / Ireland / 2026 / 77mins / World Premiere
- MKO by Ose Oyamendan / Nigeria, United Kingdom, Canada, USA / 2026 / 108mins / World Premiere
- The Archivist by Rob Curry, Tim Plester / 2026 / 98mins / World Premiere
- The Apologist by Kristof Bilsen / Belgium, Netherlands, France / 2026 / 82mins / World Premiere
- Time Machine Maidan (Машина Часу Майдан) by Roman Liubyi, Volodymyr Tykhyy/ Ukraine, Germany / 2026 / 86mins / World Premiere
INTERNATIONAL FIRST FEATURE COMPETITION
- A City in the Forest by Lev Omelchenko, Nolan Huber / USA / 2026 / 98mins / World Premiere
- Hope is a Word by Maria Galliani Dyrvik / Norway, Italy, Nigeria / 2026 / 82mins /
- World Premiere
- Magma (Le Magma) by Mia Bendrimia / France, Algeria, Qatar / 2026 / 88mins / World Premiere
- Matininó by Gabriela Díaz Arp / Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic / 2026 / 87mins / International Premiere
- The Way You See Me (Como tú me ves) by M Sin Título / Mexico, Argentina / 2026 / 85mins / World Premiere
- The Wind’s Thirst (La Sed del viento) by Alejandro Valbuena / Canada, Colombia / 2026 / 84mins / World Premiere
- The Wolf by Wancheng Gu, Prasad Shetty / India, France / 2026 / 89mins / World Premiere
- WOLF by Christian Cargill / United Kingdom / 2026 / 88mins / World Premiere
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION
- 3 Lost In Towers 跳房子 by Jingyuan Liang, Shizhao Ye / China / 2026 / 17mins / World Premiere
- all that appears solid is built on blood by Izdihar Afoyuni, Gelare Khoshgozaran / United Kingdom, Palestine / 2026 / 11mins / World Premiere
- Anatomy of a Portrait (Anatomía de un Retrato) by Juan Felipe León / Colombia / 2026 / 23mins / World Premiere
- Do You Know That I’m With You by Darya Andijan / Netherlands / 2026 / 23mins / World Premiere
- Maybe Tomorrow by Waad Al-Kateab, Wafa Mustafa / United Kingdom, Syria, Germany / 2026 / 40mins / World Premiere
- Pelo Lindo by Josue Garcia Prado / Guatemala / 2026 / 24mins / World Premiere
- Red Elephant by Iqran Rasheed / Pakistan, Belgium, Hungary, Portugal / 2026 / 22mins / World Premiere
- Relic by Sam Howard / Northern Ireland / 2026 / 13mins / World Premiere
- Stalin Boys by Bianca Giaever, Ora DeKornfeld / USA / 2026 / 22mins / International Premiere
- Wild East by Maia Wikler / Romania, Sweden, Austria / 2026 / 36mins / World Premiere
YOUTH JURY AWARD
- All Rivers Spill Their Stories To The Sea by Jeanie Finlay / United Kingdom, Germany / 2026 / 99mins / UK Premiere
- Crocodile – The Critics by Pietra Brettkelly / New Zealand, Nigeria / 2026 / 100mins / UK Premiere
- Landscapes of Memory by Leah Galant / USA, Germany / 2026 / 79mins / International Premiere
- Past Future Continuous by Morteza Ahmadvand, Firouzeh Khosrovani / Iran, Italy, Norway / 2025 / 76mins / UK Premiere
- Replica by Chouwa Liang / Australia, France / 2026 / 90mins / UK Premiere
- The Way We Move by Vanessa Joo Dumont, Nicolas Davanel / France, USA / 2026 / 95mins / European Premiere
TIM HETHERINGTON AWARD
- Birds of War by Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak / United Kingdom, Syria, Lebanon / 2026 / 85mins / UK Premiere
- Life Support by Daniele Rugo / United Kingdom / 2026 / 93mins / World Premiere
- The Long Cuban Night (Cuba y la Noche) by Sergio Fernandez Borras / Spain, Colombia, Cuba / 2026 / 100mins / European Premiere
- Saigon Story: Two Shootings in the Forest Kingdom by Kim Nguyen / Canada / 2026 / 91mins / International Premiere
- TCB – The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing by Louis Massiah, Monica Henriquez/ USA, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Senegal / 2025 / 105mins / European Premiere
