Sheffield DocFest — A–Z of films

There's lots of great material and La Bruce himself speaks at length about what his work has meant to him at different stages in his career.

It's a story which has been told many times now. But this short film finds a fresh way to tell it.

Like many Utopian thinkers, Curtis appears to have fallen into the trap of thinking that because his theories fit well in some instances they can be applied to everything.

The film appears to have had a long and somewhat troubled genesis of its own.

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

This is a tough but beautiful landscape and it has bred tough but beautiful people as director Alma Har'el's film goes on to elegantly illustrate.

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

It's the emotional insights, and the laughter, that lift Becoming Chaz above the average observational documentary and give it wide-ranging appeal.

A nice idea which could have been better executed, even on a low budget.

An extraordinary achievement - certainly one of the best films of the year.

If there is anybody who can provide insight into the lives of those long-vanished it must be Herzog.

It’s hard to feel too much pity for Spitzer as the clichéd ‘man who had it all and threw it away’, but the film shows his virtues and faults, and presents a compelling, if occasionally anecdotal, case for there being conspiracy.

What comes over very strongly in the film is that Vivienne is an endearing mixture of the anarchic and the down to earth.

What he’s talking about and looking for is oddity masquerading as normality.

This is a serious documentary of the quality we have come to expect from such series as Life On Earth.

Kopple makes room here for opponents to state their case, although it's clear throughout which side she's on.

The photography is sumptuous throughout - we often forget that this is a documentary, such is the quality of the footage.

The team did build quite strong emotional ties with these families.

Charles Ferguson's documentary - unlike the subject matter he is broaching - makes a virtue of economy.

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.

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

The team's ability to keep filming in chaotic situation is impressive, especially when they are largely amateurs.

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.

This carefully crafted and wonderfully edited documentary stands as a warm and absorbing tribute to Tanja Liedtke's work, her impact on the dance scene around her and as a testimony to the joys of creativity itself.

Manages to do justice to Makeba’s wonderful talent and noble activism.

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

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.

Robb's patiently observant camera shows us something of the allure of radical groups like this.

It’s definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, having more the feel of a gallery installation than a feature film.

Funny and also very sad.

Spurlock is mesmerising in his pitches.

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

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

A thorough and provocative portrait.

The movie also has much to say about this none-too-subtle take on voyeurism, and the nature of unexpurgated creativity uninhibited by copyright.

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

The film’s undoubtedly a dream ride for any boy racer.

I feel grateful to Terry for making this film and I urge you to see it.

Some forms of forceful police tactics against demonstrators are captured directly and make quite striking viewing.