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Sheffield DocFest · 2012

Sheffield DocFest 2012

Best Of British

A showcase for some of the most impressive documentaries produced in Britain over the past year.

Programme

39 films · 4 reviews

Jump to a film

999: What's Your Emergency?

An inside look at the operation of the emergency services in Blackpool.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Blast Films)

Ali - The Student Revolutionary

Ali was a student in Manchester when a nationwide rebellion broke out in his native Libya. He headed back home to take up the fight – and soon found himself holding a gun for the first time, determined to do his part to end 42 years of misery for his people.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Fil Kaler)

Aluna

The Kogi tribe of Sierra Nevada connect with the spiritual aluna, emerging from their hidden realm to fulfil their inherited duty: preventing the destruction of the world.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Alan Ereira)

Baka: A Cry From The Rainforest

A Baka family in Cameroon are inspired by a 20 year old documentary about their lives to try and return to the old ways.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Phil Agland)

The Betrayal

A woman looks back on her youth and her astonishing betrayal of the left wing anti-Nazi friends with whom he shared her home.

(Country: UK, Norway; Year: 2011; Director: Karen Winther)

Britain In A Day

A documentary compiled from 12,000 clips of what British people happened to be doing on Saturday the 12th of November 2011.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Morgan Matthews)

Chopin Saved My Life

Paul, whose memory it restored after brain surgery, and Momoka, who used it to inspire his community after their town was destroyed by the Japanese tsunami of March 2011, celebrate Chopin’s Ballade Number One.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: James Kent)

Evidently...John Cooper Clarke

A celebration of the life and 40-year career of the punk poet.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: John Ross)

Fabalous

In his flat, filled to the ceiling with the artefacts of his life, Michael J. Howells tells us his story. When he’s not caring for his cat or his MS-stricken wife, he returns to his art, determined to keep depression at bay.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Ed Emsley)

The Four Year Plan

A behind the scenes look at the bid that saved Queens Park Rangers from bankruptcy and the drama in both boardroom and locker room as strict new rules took effect.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Mat Hodgson)

From the Sea To The Land Beyond

Documentary about Britain's coastline.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Penny Woolcock)

Glastopia

A spiritual Utopian vision on the fields of Shangri La, Arcadia, the Unfair Ground, Strummerville, Block 9 and the Common, at Glastonbury.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Julien Temple)

Glory Road

Three young Liverpudlian boxers dream of success - but what exactly does that mean?

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Steve Read)

Gypsy Blood

An exploration of the culture of violence in some Gypsy and Irish traveller families, and how it is passed from one generation to another.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Leo Maguire; Stars: Francie Doherty, Hughie Doherty, Freddy Cole)

In The Shadow Of The Moon

Review preview for In The Shadow Of The Moon

One of the best documentaries I’ve seen in a long time.

Jeff Robson · 4 out of 5
The surviving members of the 1968-72 Apollo missions tell the story of the moon landings in their own words.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2007; Director: David Sington; Stars: Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Eugene Cernan, Michael Collins, Jim Lovell, Edgar D Mitchell, Harrison Schmitt, Dave Scot, John Young) , Official site

Full review See: Sundance Film Festival 2006: Day 10

Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet

The story of the brilliant rock guitarist who didn't let his increasing immobilisation by motor neurone disease stop him from writing songs, entertaining his fans, or seducing beautiful women.

(Country: UK, United States; Year: 2012; Director: Jesse Vile; Stars: Jason Becker)

Jaywick Escapes

Jaywick Sands, Essex. In this forgotten slice of Britain, time slows down. Once the favourite holiday destination for London's East enders, Jaywick is now a community riddled with high levels of crime, unemployment, and anti-social behaviour. But for many of its residents, it is a place to escape the temptations of big city life, to contemplate past mistakes, to hatch new plans…In Nina Pope and Karen Guthrie’s atmospheric film, we step into the pretty seafront cottages to witness life through the eyes of a handful of Jaywick's residents. Teenager Mac roams the town, harbouring a family secret. Born and bred in Jaywick, he’s dismayed that the community has been recently named the most deprived place in the UK. Widowed Nick has returned to Jaywick to begin a new life, but finds himself haunted by bittersweet memories as he roams the boardwalks. Meanwhile, Sara hopes to finally kick away shadows from her past life and get her children back.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Karen Guthrie, Nina Pope)

Lost & Sound

The interwoven stories of a music reviewer, a cellist and pianist, and a dancer who have all had to find new ways of experiencing the music they love after becoming deaf.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Lindsey Dryden)

MES

Cath Gamester has quite a story to tell. When her GP puts her on anti-depressants, she soon finds her waking hours accompanied by a surreal musical choir, as she recounts in this delightful short documentary made by her grandson, Ian.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Ian Gamester)

The Miners' Hymns

Experimental tribute to a long-gone era of UK working-class life.

(Country: UK; Year: 2010; Director: Bill Morrison; Writer: Bill Morrison)

Mostar

The most fought over city in the Bosnian war, Mostar remains home to Nedzad Kasumovic. He was a shopkeeper with a young family when the conflict began; twenty years on he looks back on the war that was fought on his doorstep.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Josh Bamford, Sebastian Feehan)

No Regrets

Voluntarily signing up for the armed forces seemed like a good idea at the time to Max Woods. Now back from Afghanistan, having seen a lot at a young age that he really shouldn’t have, he and his friends tell us how the experience has impacted everyone’s lives.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Jim Smith)

One Mile Away

Review preview for One Mile Away

Almost certainly one of the year's best films.

Scott Macdonald · 4.5 out of 5
Documentary on gang violence, its victims and its perpetrators.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Penny Woolcock)

Full review

Ping Pong

Review preview for Ping Pong

This might not seem like the most exciting piece of cinema but you'll be surprised by how quickly you find yourself rooting for its vivacious heroes.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A documentary following eight players on their way to the over-80s world table tennis championships.

(Country: UK, Canada; Year: 2012; Director: Hugh Hartford; Stars: Les D'Arcy, Rune Forsberg, Sun Lao, Terry Donlon, Dorothy DeLow, Lisa Modlich, Ursula Bihl, Inge Hermann)

Full review

Quadrophenia: Can You See the Real Me?

The making of the rock opera Quadrophenia.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Matt O'Casey; Stars: Pete Townsend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Keith Moon)

The Reluctant Revolutionary

Filmed over a period of one year, this documentary reveals the tension present in Yemen three months prior to the first protests – a result of thirty-three years of Ali Abdullah Saleh’s dictatorship. Director Sean McAllister takes a seemingly unobtrusive protagonist and turns him into a genuine hero who experiences his country’s revolution at first hand and, in doing so, makes events tangible for the viewer.

(Country: UK / Ireland; Year: 2011; Director: Sean McAllister; Stars: Quais Al-Qalisi)

Roll Out The Barrel - The British Pub On Film

An anthology of short films about pubs, reflecting on their cultural significance and the historical changes they have undegone.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Philip Trevelyan, Richard Massingham)

Sassie's Gran

Once she got over the shock, Belfast native Jean wasn’t too surprised when her grandson Scott came out – after all, he’d always liked dressing in her clothes and jewellery. In this warm hearted short film, their story is told through still images.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Derville Quigley)

Seven Seven

Seven Seven is a feature length film that examines the human cost of the 7/7 bombings.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Ben Anthony)

Shadows Of Liberty

Jean Phillippe Tremblay examines how the media in the US is in the controlling hands of a handful of commercial enterprises exercising extraordinary political, social, and economic power.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Jean-Philippe Tremblay)

Stalked

When a single, thirty-something writer living in London awoke to find a woman he'd met just hours earlier saying she loved him, alarm bells started to ring. Six months later, his life changed for the worse. Stalked reveals how a confident young man ends up a terrified victim.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Lottie Gammon)

The Story Of Film: An Odyssey

Mark Cousins' epic exploration of cinematic history.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Mark Cousins)

Superheroes Of Suburbia

Across Britain, a small and secretive band of people are donning comic book style costumes and taking to the streets to fight crime. Meet the real life superheroes.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Christian Watt)

This Life That Chose Me

Bea, Carol and Jenny grew up as men, but experienced from early on the certainty that they were trapped in the wrong body. Each tells about her transformational journey from an unhappy male to the middle-aged woman we see today.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Chloe White)

Tripoli Stories | Graffiti

“In every spray of the can you feel a part of your emotion is released from inside of you, to the wall to the people.”  After the Revolution, long suppressed feelings are appearing on building walls in Tripoli.

(Country: UK, Libya; Year: 2012; Director: Anas El Gomati, Ibrahim El Mayet)

The War Next Door

Follow director Ferdinand Haberl to Tunisia, where hordes of Libyan refugees have fled, as the end nears for Muammar Ghaddafi. Haberl finds himself on a bizarre and cynical journey, caught in the middle of a hopeless humanitarian aid mission, random superstars and 100,000 suffering people ignored by the media.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Ferdinand Haberl)

We Went To War

In 1970, in the midst of a drawn out Vietnam War, a young British director Michael Grigsby made a film about three young veterans returning home. I Was A Soldier is an acclaimed classic – the first to depict the ravages of the war on soldiers considered to be home safe and sound. Forty years later, Grigsby and his co author Rebekah Tolley return to Texas to see what has become of his three characters.

(Country: UK, Ireland; Year: 2012; Director: Michael Grigsby)

A Working Men's Club In Sheffield (Ein Arbeiterclub in Sheffield)

The lives of the Sheffield working class in the mid-1960s.

(Country: UK; Year: 1965; Director: Peter Nestler)