Sheffield Doc/Fest
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: Lift Like A Girl
One of the ways in which many societies has changed over the last few decades is in the relationship between women/girls and traditionally macho sports. Whilst there was an initial push-back in some disciplines, particularly boxing, they’ve rapidly become areas where equal participation is starting to at least feel like the norm. Strangely, this is …
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: Splinters
Memories are precarious things. They can be elusive and fragmentary, especially when up against the sands of time. Our minds are tricksters, constantly finding new and imaginative ways to pull the wool over our eyes. That’s why we, as humans, document our experiences; from the early days of cave painting to today’s obsession with social …
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: Charm Circle
As the sayings go, blood is thicker than water and you can choose your friends but not your family. Whilst we might consider ourselves to be enlightened and evolved creatures, in many ways our traditional household structures mimic the animal kingdom and early humans. The units we create and the roles we assign aren’t too …
Sheffield Doc/Fest 2021 Preview
Sheffield Doc/Fest has taken a new direction under the curation of Director Cíntia Gil. Whether by intention or through necessity, given both editions under her curatorship have been during lockdown constraints, there has been a distinct move away from the previous English-language-centric and big film/event focus. Instead, the programme has undergone a transition to become …
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: Sisters with Transistors
Like most areas of life, the music industry has always been a male dominated world. Where women have excelled, it’s normally in spheres which haven’t traditionally been the province of men. Thankfully, this disparity is slowly beginning to change and with-it entrenched attitudes towards female musicians. Those pioneers who entered a man’s world, pushed boundaries …
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: The Filmmaker’s House
Documentaries, probably more than any other genre, span a large spectrum of different elements and sub-genres. Whether that’s in how the film itself is made or the rationale behind its creation. Arguably the most contentious of these is the hybrid documentary or docufiction. A combination of fiction and non-fiction. What makes this style of filmmaking …
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: King Rocker
There’s often no rhyme or reason why one band makes it whilst another never quite takes off. So many factors are at play but it can come down to nothing more than just blind luck or being in the right place at the right time; which can trump all the hard work in the world. …
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: Me and the Cult Leader
On 20 March 1995, members of the Aum Shinrikyo, a doomsday cult, orchestrated five coordinated attacks on the Tokyo Metro. During rush hour they released Sarin gas on three different lines, killing twelve and severely injuring many more. The perpetrators, including the leader Shoko Asahara, were executed, but the group is still operational; albeit under …
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: Influence
We are well and truly living in the era of post-truth, where experts and facts play second fiddle to polemic, propaganda and targeted messaging. This didn’t just happen over the last decade with the arrival of Trump, Brexit and the rise of populism. This took years in the making. Step forward Tim Bell and Bell …
Sheffield Doc/Fest Review: Film About A Father Who
Whilst she might not be a household name to most, Lynne Sachs is well-known within the documentary community. The American experimental filmmaker has been working within the industry for the last thirty years, much of her work involves collaboration and a melding of different mediums. Sachs has been chosen to be subject of a retrospective …