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Sheffield DocFest · 2010

Sheffield DocFest 2010

Doc/International

A selection of the most impressive recent documentary films from around the world.

Programme

34 films · 8 reviews

Jump to a film

12th & Delaware

The abortion battle continues to rage in unexpected ways on an unassuming corner in America.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Rachel Grady, Heidi Ewing) , Official site

12 Angry Lebanese - The Documentary

A multiple award winning documentary looking at a drama project in a Lebanese prison.

(Country: Lebanon; Year: 2009; Director: Zeina Daccache)

Belair

A look at the remarkable film legacy of Julio Bressane and Rogerio Sganzerla, unseen in its time due to pressure from the military dictatorship.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2009; Director: Bruno Safadi, Noa Bressane)

Big Birding Day

A group of men aim to break the world record for the largest number of bird species heard in 24 hours.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: David Wilson)

Catfish

An internet flirtation leads to a complicated romance in which things are not as they appear.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman)

Dirty Pictures

Ageing scientist Alexander Sasha Shulgin discusses his invention of MDMA and his wife talks about the importance of being able to make love on the new drugs they experiment with.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Etienne Sauret)

Fragments Of A Lost Palestine

A filmmaker visiting her ailing mother aims to show the vibrant, positive side of Palestinian culture that goes on even in times of conflict.

(Country: France; Year: 2010; Director: Norma Marcos)

Geral

An introduction to the devoted fans of Flumensiese football club.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2010; Director: Anna Azevedo)

Hope

Review preview for Hope

The film contains some beautiful photography, and its subjects are presented with dignity and humour. It is a pity that it soon becomes rambling.

Val Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
A visit to a Turkish village scarred by war whose cyclical approach to time is confounded by the young people's desire to leave for the city.

(Country: Turkey; Year: 2010; Director: Rodi Yüzbasi)

Full review

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child

The story of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, whose work defined, electrified and challenged an era, and whose untimely death at age 27 has made him a cultural icon.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Tamra Davis)

Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work

Review preview for Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work

What is most surprising about this film is not the dilligence with which Sundberg and Stern set about following the course of Rivers through a year of her life - although that is certainly in evidence - but how incredibly welcoming she is.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Honest and open portrait of the groundbreaking comedienne.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Ricki Stern, Annie Sundberg; Stars: Joan Rivers, Melissa Rivers)

Full review See: Article on Joan Rivers at Sheffield DocFest

The Kids Grow Up

Director Doug Block explores his relationship with his daughter Lucy and his distress at the realisation that one day she will leave home.

(Country: US, UK, Germany, Netherlands; Year: 2009; Director: Doug Block; Stars: Doug Block, Lucy Block)

Koul Farah

An elderly shepherd discusses his self-appointed mission to protect an ancient Elamite temple and its archaeologically precious engravings.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2010; Director: Mahvash Sheikholeslami)

Life With Murder

A look at the consequences of a couple's decision to support their son after he was convicted of the murder of their daughter.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2010; Director: John Kastner; Stars: Brian Jenkins, Leslie Jenkins, Mason Jenkins)

Love In One Breath

An introduction to the ney, a type of reed flute, exploring its importance to Mevlevi philosophy.

(Country: Turkey; Year: 2010; Director: Kahraman Gunes, Dicle Atan, Aysenur Yalcin, Gokay Gurtunca)

The Miscreants Of Taliwood

A trip to the Pakistan-Afghanistan borderland where filmmakers risk their lives to make the social melodramas and comedies loathed by the Taliban.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2009; Director: George Gittoes)

Mogadishu Dreaming

A Somalian immigrant to Australia explores his identity through landscape paintings.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2010; Director: Lesley Branagan)

The Mystery Of Flying Kicks

Review preview for The Mystery Of Flying Kicks

At times this appears to be a documentary about looking things up on Google.

Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5
Documenting the phenomenon of trainers being left hanging from telephone poles, trees and the like.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2010; Director: Matthew Bate; Writer: Matthew Bate) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

My Perestroika

Review preview for My Perestroika

Another documentary gem from the incredibly strong factual line-up at Sundance 2010.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Five Muscovites talk about their lives and the changing state of Russia over the past 35 years.

(Country: US, UK, Russia; Year: 2010; Director: Robin Hessman) , Official site

Full review

Nostalgia For The Light (Nostalgia De La Luz)

Review preview for Nostalgia For The Light

Patricio Guzmán has wisely chosen to step back and let the story unfold largely by itself.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A documentary about astronomers in Chile's Atacama Desert who gather to consider the stars while beneath the ground lie the remnants of ancient civilisations.

(Country: France, Germany, Chile; Year: 2010; Director: Patricio Guzmán; Writer: Patricio Guzmán)

Full review See: Diary article on the Glasgow Film Festival

The Oath

Review preview for The Oath

A low-key, but fascinating, documentary.

James Benefield · 4.5 out of 5
The story of two men whose fateful encounter in 1996 set them on a course of events that led them to Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden, 9/11, Guantanamo, and the US Supreme Court.

(Country: US, Cuba, Yemen; Year: 2010; Director: Laura Poitras)

Full review

Once Upon Our Time

A father is prepared to do anything to help his violin prodigy son achieve success, but is gradually losing him in the process.

(Country: Tunisia; Year: 2010; Director: Hichem Ben Ammar)

Player Hating: A Love Story

A documentary about young hip hop artist Half-a-Mill and his struggle to deal with an aggressive, highly competitive environment.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Maggie Hadleigh-West)

Quadrangle

Review preview for Quadrangle

History replicated in the editing suite, composition compelling, illuminating.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
Two couples recount their complex sexual and romantic involvement.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Amy Grappell)

Full review

Russian Lessons

An investigation into Russian actions during the 2008 war in Georgia, revealing the little known story of the ethnic cleansing in the region since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

(Country: Georgia, Germany, Norway; Year: 2010; Director: Olga Konskaya, Andrei Nekrasov)

Secrets Of The Tribe

Is the academic Anthropology community capable of generating real knowledge about mankind? The scandals and the infighting regarding the representation of indigenous Indians in the Amazon Basin seems to indicate that the answer may be a resounding no.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2010; Director: José Padilha)

Sex Magic, Manifesting Maya

A sex shaman asks his lovers to help him in using sex magic to recover his one true love.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Jonathan Schell, Eric Liebman)

The "Socalled" Movie

Review preview for The "Socalled" Movie

Newcomers may find it hard to get into because we are only played short snatches of all this interesting music.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
The story of rapper Josh Dolgin, alias Socalled, and his fusion of hip hop with traditional Jewish music.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2010; Director: Garry Beitel)

Full review

Sons Of Perdition

In the polygamist community cultivated by the notorious (and now incarcerated) “prophet” Warren Jeffs, women are a commodity, children are reared to be ignorant, and free thought is surrendered. For a group of teenage boys, the desire for autonomy means banishment from their homes and families. This fascinating documentary explores the heartbreaking losses and hopeful determination of these exiles as they struggle to make new lives in mainstream America.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Tyler Measom, Jennilyn Merten) , Official site

Tickets

A docudrama about an ambitious young woman who travels to Singapore to sell cinema tickets in the hope of becoming a movie star.

(Country: Singapore; Year: 2009; Director: Sherman Ong)

Vapor Trail (Clark)

John Gianvito explains his dedication to uncover and challenge the military negligence that has harmed generations of people in the Philippines.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: John Gianvito; Stars: John Gianvito)

Waiting For Superman

examines the crisis of public education in the United States through multiple interlocking stories—from a handful of students and their families whose futures hang in the balance, to the educators and reformers trying to find real and lasting solutions within a dysfunctional system.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Davis Guggenheim)

The Wilderness Downtown

An experimental interactive animation.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Chris Milk)

William S. Burroughs: A Man Within (William S Burroughs: A Man Within)

A biopic of revolutionary writer William S. Burroughs, exploring his drug use, his sexuality, his methods, his madness and his work.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Yony Leyser; Stars: William S. Burroughs, Peter Weller)