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Festival coverage

Sheffield DocFest

5 June – 12 May 2015

The Look Of Silence will play on opening night
The Look Of Silence will play on opening night

The UK's most popular dedicated documentary film festival returns for its 22nd edition from June 5 to 12. This year it will celebrate its opening night with two events - a screening of The Look Of Silence and the world premiere of The Greatest Shows on Earth: A Century of Funfairs, Circuses And Carnivals.

Among the sections this year is a strand dedicated to documentarian Albert Maysles, who died earlier this year.

Other years (14)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • The Damned: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead
    Review preview for The Damned: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead

    If you're only vaguely familiar with the Damned, this documentary will leave you wondering where you've been all your life.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    Documentary about the punk pioneers.
  • Landfill Harmonic
    Review preview for Landfill Harmonic

    The creative spirit displayed by the young, adventurous musicians in the Landfill Harmonic is a joy to behold.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
    Garbage from a landfill is used to create instruments for the local children, who form the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, Paraguay, which turns their lives around.
  • Meru
    Review preview for Meru

    Both Chin and Ozturk have professional filmmaking experience but even so, what they manage to capture is remarkable given the conditions.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A documentary about the ascent of an unconquered mountain.
  • Tell Spring Not To Come This Year
    Review preview for Tell Spring Not To Come This Year

    Saeed Taji Farouky and Michael McEvoy's bleak snapshot of life in the Afghan National Army comes as a sharp reminder of the impact of 'unfinished' conflict on local populations for whom an 'exit strategy' is not an option.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    Follows two soldiers from the Afghan National Army over the course of their first year fighting without NATO support.
  • Death Of A Gentleman
    Review preview for Death Of A Gentleman

    A brave and shocking statement of the blinding obvious - success drives money and money corrupts.

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 4.5 out of 5
    Two cricket journalists, Sam Collins and Jarrod Kimber, set off on a journey to the heart of the second most popular sport on Earth, only to stumble upon something more sinister than they could ever have imagined.
  • The Divide
    Review preview for The Divide

    Katharine Round has produced a film that feels human and substantial.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    The story of the rising gap between rich and poor, told through seven individual accounts.
  • Orion: The Man Who Would Be King
    Review preview for Orion: The Man Who Would Be King

    With such a fascinating subject, it's hard for director Jeanie Finlay to go wrong.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    The mystery and surprising history of the man with Elvis Presley's voice.
  • 16 Years Till Summer
    Review preview for 16 Years Till Summer

    16 Years Till Summer shows what can be done on a low budget with patience, insight and attention to detail.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    A convicted criminal returns home to nurse his father, bringing a dangerous mix of troubled past and big ambition into the lives of those that love him.
  • Containment
    Review preview for Containment

    The film successfully unsettles the viewer by demonstrating the number of headaches the rush to harness the power of the atom has left us.

    Owen Van Spall · 3 out of 5
    Documentary on the potential future problems from the world's nuclear waste.
  • Best Of Enemies
    Review preview for Best Of Enemies

    Neville and Gordon wisely embed the verbal duels into the surroundings.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
    A behind-the-scenes account of the explosive 1968 televised debates between the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F Buckley Jr, and their rancorous disagreements about politics, God, and sex.

A–Z of Sheffield DocFest 2015 reviews

Features

  • The music makers
    The musicians of the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura tell their stories.
  • Getting on the train
    Favio Chávez on the stories behind Landfill Harmonic.
  • Capturing Cateura
    Juliana Peñaranda-Loftus and Alejandra Amarilla discuss Landfill Harmonic.
  • Mountain highs
    Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi on the challenges of Mount Meru.
  • Beyond the red carpet for Iris
    Stars of the fashion world reflect on Albert Maysles.
  • Public enemies
    Robert Gordon shares his perspective on William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal in Best Of Enemies.
  • Enemy mine
    Morgan Neville on William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal, Best Of Enemies.
  • Celebrating survival
    Kim Loginotto and Brenda Myers-Powell talk about documentary Dreamcatcher

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