Early entry deadline set for November 6; first in series of Autumn weekenders ‘Into the World’ to come to Sheffield & Online 2 – 4 October; tribute to be paid to the late Sarah Maldoror (19 July 1929 – 13 April 2020) as one of the Filmmakers in Focus for 2020.
Sheffield Doc/Fest has announced a series of deadlines for its 2021 event. These are 6 November 2020 for early birds, 15 January as standard deadline and 8 February for late entry.
The festival screens over 180+ films of all lengths, with the 2020 programme encompassing works from 50 countries around the world, with 49 spoken languages represented.
A festival statement reads: “Sheffield Doc/Fest is an international film and arts festival and marketplace, with a mission to spark imaginations and empower our collective capacity for change through celebrating, championing and debating documentary film and art as a collective form of engagement.
“Through supporting and sharing non-fiction storytelling, Doc/Fest aims to provide a creative space for discovery, challenge and collaboration. As an internationalist and inclusive festival, we embody a commitment to equality and access for all our communities, bringing together established creatives, new voices, and our host city to shape and question stories of the world we live in.
“Sheffield Doc/Fest looks to question the boundaries of documentary through a programme that challenges trends, brings diversity and enriches debate. The festival invites audiences to engage with experiences and stories from different parts of our world and to join the makers in inspiring moments.”
The first of our series of Autumn weekenders: Into the World will come to Sheffield & Online, 2 – 4 October. Screenings will take place at The Showroom Cinema over the weekend, while most titles can also be seen in parallel on Doc/Player, for Digital Industry Passholders, until Thursday 15 October.
The statement reads: “Into the World is about all of us—the distant, the close, the intimate, the political—our worlds and their infinite appearances, challenges and dangers. Films by essential directors with essential themes that take varied approaches to exploring our past, present and collective future.”
Following her recent passing from Covid-19 at the age of 90, Sheffield will pay tribute to the late, great filmmaker Sarah Maldoror (19 July 1929 – 13 April 2020) as one of its Filmmakers in Focus for 2020.
Sarah Maldoror was always on the front line of the anti-colonial struggles and her reputation as a pioneer of “militant cinema” offers an example and an inspiration for the current urgent struggles all across the globe.
As part of the upcoming Into the World weekend (Sunday 4 October) at Showroom Cinema, Sheffield, the festival will present a programme of two key films in tribute, one of which has rarely been seen:
Maldoror’s first short, Monangambée (Algeria, 1969, 18’) shows the cruelty of the colonizing Portuguese authorities in Angola. The film takes its title from the shout of Angolan resistance, meaning “white death.” It was selected for the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes in 1971 and has recently been restored. This is followed by L’Hôpital de Leningrad (France, 1983, 58’), adapted from a short story by Russian writer Victor Serge and shot on 16mm. The feature has only screened once, on French television in 1983, and never before in the cinema.
