Sheffield DocFest is on the rebound.
The 30th edition of the prestigious all-documentary film festival in the North of England just wrapped, witnessing a 17 percent increase in attendance by international and U.K. delegates over last year (2,550 delegates vs. 2,188 in 2022). DocFest is under new leadership, with Annabel Grundy appointed managing director in November 2022 and Raul Niño Zambrano joining as interim creative director last year. Shortly before the start of this year’s event, Niño Zambrano was appointed to the creative director role on a permanent basis.
Speaking with Deadline, Niño Zambrano drew a distinction between this year’s event and the preceding one.
“Last year was kind of the first one after the pandemic times. There were also train strikes, so there were a lot of things going on,” he said. “We had not announced yet last year the new leadership team — really having a creative and a managing director. I think that has given a really good signal, like, ‘Oh, we are settled.’”
Unsettled would be a way of describing DocFest in 2021 after festival director Cíntia Gil resigned “as a result of artistic differences over the present and future direction of the Festival with the Board of Trustees,” according to a board statement at the time. Shortly afterwards, the programming team said they had been unceremoniously let go, although DocFest later allowed them to reapply for their positions.
This year, under mostly sunny skies and warm weather, the festival welcomed 37 world premieres, 20 international premieres, 10 European Premieres, 47 U.K. Premieres and 8 retrospective films. “It was the festival’s most innovative documentary offering yet,” Sheffield said, “which, in addition to films, included a theatre production, live podcast events, premieres of TV series and virtual reality exhibitions.”
Among the world premieres was Chris Smith’s documentary Wham! about the British pop supergroup of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. Via remote, Smith and Ridgeley participated in a Q&A after the premiere. Nobel Peace Prize-winner Dmitry Muratov, the Russian journalist and subject of the world premiere documentary The Price of Truth, attended in person, taking part in a Q&A with director Patrick Forbes.
Among other highlights, Maya Daisy Hawke, editor of the Oscar-winning documentary Navalny, gave a master class in editing moderated by former Sundance Film Festival Director Tabitha Jackson. Actor and activist David Harewood came to Sheffield for an in-depth talk about his work in the documentary space.
As the festival neared its close, Niño Zambrano told us he was hearing positive reaction from attendees.
“I think the response had been really good. You never know how things will land, but really good feedback,” he noted. “One word I like is that people are saying it’s a ‘calm’ festival, so that means that people are really taking the time but are not in a rush. That’s the feeling I really want people to have, that you can go have a meeting, you can also go to a screening, you can [attend] a Q&A, you can maybe have dinner and then go to a party… I like how people feel comfortable to not be in a rush.”
At most film festivals – Sundance, for instance – you have to count on publicists or your own personal contacts to get invites to the most coveted parties. Sheffield DocFest embraces a far more inclusive approach – the festival pass gets attendees into social events, of which there are many (parties and receptions were thrown by National Geographic, Channel 4, Acme, Sky Documentaries, the Grierson Trust, the Irish delegation, Brazil Delegation, Chiledoc and the Chilean delegation, among others, as well as by the festival itself).
“We have only one pass. That’s it. I don’t want to put obstacles for people,” Niño Zambrano underscored. “With the pass you can just go into everything.”
He highlighted the MeetMarket, held at Cutler’s Hall, described as “one of the world’s largest documentary and factual markets and pitching forums” where selected projects get the opportunity to “meet with international industry representatives among 200+ international funders, broadcasters, distributors, festival programmers and exhibitors.”
“I think networking is one of the big things that we have,” Niño Zambrano noted, “the MeetMarket and also the meetings that are part of the industry are not only taking place in Cutler’s Hall but are also outside.”
Niño Zambrano, a native of Venezuela, did not begin his career in film.
“In my past, I was a mechanical engineer, and then at some point I really made a big, big turn,” he laughed. “I always loved cinema. I was watching like three films a day, even as an engineer. Then it came to a point in my life when I [thought], ‘Do I really want to be always an engineer?’”
He concluded he wanted to make a change and then “started from zero” studying film in Amsterdam. Later, he joined the staff of IDFA – the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam — and rose up the programming ranks. “I was always interested in documentaries, so it was really kind of in my DNA. Like watching [Frederick] Wiseman was a party for me.”
Niño Zambrano shared insight into his goals for the festival going forward.
“I really want to be this home for documentary — when you think of documentary that you have to come here,” he said. “For everybody in the U.K. to feel, ‘If I have an idea or I want to make a project or I have a film, that’s the place I have to be.’ And of course, internationally, that’s something that we have been doing for 30 years, a lot of people sending us their films, they really want to be in world premiere here. They really have chosen us to be that platform.”
The 30th edition of DocFest unfolded at a moment of considerable worry within the documentary field, exacerbated by a slowing acquisition market, budget cutbacks at many distribution platforms, narrowed content interests at the streamers, and other factors.
“The anxiety is real,” Niño Zambrano said. “Broadcasters are not having the same money they had before. Streamers are also cutting things. I think everybody’s feeling that. In the U.K. for example, also after Brexit… [filmmakers] have to find their own way as well in terms of finding money in different ways, also within the policies within the U.K.”
DocFest, he said, plays “a very, very important role” in that environment, because it brings together filmmakers from around the world. “I see more co-productions, for example, I see more co-creation. You are forced to really work more in collaboration to make it happen, which I think is a very good step.” Referencing the attendance of delegations from around the world, he said, “They realize ‘Yeah, we can actually do something together…’ I think these connections are really happening, and we are of course, [helping] orchestrate everything, making sure that these things can happen.”
With the industry facing significant headwinds, the chance to get together at a festival can rally spirits and fortify professionals for the challenges ahead.
“I want just to nurture the whole documentary industry,” Niño Zambrano said, “whether you are the filmmaker or the producer or the editor, that you really find your place here.”