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Festival coverage

Sheffield DocFest

2011

DocFest is back this year with an enhanced line-up structured around four vital themes: Art, Bent, Green and Music. There's also a big focus on the protest film, partly in recognition of changes taking place in the Middle East, and a number of the films screening are highly topical. There's a great line-up of guests including Adam Curtis, Morgan Spurlock and Terry Pratchett. Attendees can listen to talks or participate in workshops and there are lots of opportunities to meet the filmmakers or even learn how to get involved in documentary making yourself. Plus a youth jury team bring a fresh perspective to some of the most exciting, innovative films in the festival.

Other years (14)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • The Perfect Fit
    Review preview for The Perfect Fit

    It takes a special kind of documentarian to look behind the right curtain.

    Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
    A look at the craft of making ballet shoes and the damage done in the pursuit of art.
  • Jimmy
    Review preview for Jimmy

    Smith's restraint and Jimmy's drive combine to make a powerful portrait of a man and his work.

    Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
    A documentary about a disability rights campaigner who suffers from cerebral palsy.
  • Position Among The Stars
    Review preview for Position Among The Stars

    The family are captivating subject matter, the strong personalities frequently tugging in different directions, so that the film is never short of drama.

    Emma Slawinski · 3.5 out of 5
    The effects of globalisation in Indonesia’s rapidly changing society ripple into the life of a poor Christian woman living in the slums of Jakarta with her Muslim sons and teenage granddaughter.
  • Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest
    Review preview for Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

    Few music documentaries manage to pull together this many top contributors.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    The story of the legendary hop hop act, from high school to superstardom and beyond.
  • A Man's Story
    Review preview for A Man's Story

    The confidences he shares with Bonicos may not be deep but they always feel genuine.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    A look at the meteoric rise to fame of fashion designer Ozwald Boateng.
  • Bob And The Monster
    Review preview for Bob And The Monster

    Bob And The Monster takes an affectionate look at rock and a fresh look at drug addiction.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    Musician Bob Forrest talks about his days with Thelonius Monster and his struggle with heroin addiction.
  • Knuckle
    Review preview for Knuckle

    Palmer successfully captures the abundant passion, charisma and loyalty of those involved, yet inescapably through the prism of the community shows a wider, bleaker picture.

    Paul Griffiths · 3 out of 5
    An 12-year journey into the brutal and secretive world of Irish Traveler bare-knuckle fighting.
  • The Interrupters
    Review preview for The Interrupters

    Fascinating, haunting and often very tense, The Interrupters is a solid piece of social comment that gets the camera intimately into the action, and it suffers only in that such an issue demands more be brought into the camera's scope.

    Owen Van Spall · 4 out of 5
    A story of ex-gang members who are now protecting their communities from the violence they themselves once employed.
  • Sound It Out
    Review preview for Sound It Out

    What's so clever about the chattering classes when you've got this?

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
    Documentary about the last record shop in Stockton.
  • Mrs Carey's Concert
    Review preview for Mrs Carey's Concert

    Connolly and Raymond capture both the pressure and exhilaration of practice and performance and include plenty of footage of the teenagers simply going about the process of growing up and learning to work together.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    The determined Mrs Carey prepares her pupils to deliver the concert of a lifetime at the Sydney Opera House.

A–Z of Sheffield DocFest 2011 reviews

Features

  • Bombay Beach dreams
    Alma Har'el talks about collaboration and dance in her debut documentary.
  • Dying wishes
    Terry Pratchett talks about his very personal documentary, Choosing To Die.
  • Let's do it
    Emily James talks about her new documentary on environmentalist activist group Just Do It.
  • Sold out
    Morgan Spurlock talks Pom Wonderful at the launch of Sheffield Doc/Fest
  • A youthful look at Doc/Fest
    Youth jury members look forward to the big event in Sheffield

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