Lockdown doesn’t stop the final Sheffield Doc/Fest weekender
Sheffield Doc/Fest’s last Autumn Weekender would have started this Friday 13th. Unfortunately, we will not be able to return to the Showroom on those days, as current circumstances do not allow. We have been deeply touched by the way the team at the Showroom Cinema has calmly built a safe environment, making sure coming back to cinemas was a happy experience. We want to thank every one of them, and every person who came to our screenings, who talked to us and made us feel Doc/Fest has friends who stand by it in hard times. We have shared beautiful, touching, strong and unique films, we have welcomed filmmakers through the wonders of the internet, and had a sense of coming together, that inspires us in such hard times.
This last Weekender, Ghosts & Apparitions, will now run online, on our VOD platform, Sheffield Doc/Fest Selects. We will present a series of poetic films, dreaming about love, life and death. From Siberia to Taipei, from Thailand to a small US town called Truth or Consequences. We will even be showing a short film by the Sheffield Hallam University alumni Oreet Asheri.
Simultaneously, we will keep our Exchange Programme online. It is a programme never before available in such an accessible way in the UK: a group of eight films made with and by indigenous communities in Brazil, free of charge to watch. A programme that tells their stories, myths, and their struggle for respect and dignity. In a time when the Brazilian Government is purposefully throwing these communities into neglect and the dangers of Covid-19, we are celebrating their long-lasting resilience, their beauty and role as guardians of our planet.
In this programme, you can see unique moments, and gain an insider perspective on the daily life of these communities. They testify to life or death fights for their land, and the positive and wise way these families keep their traditions and bonds together. We are sure everyone who delves into this programme will be fascinated, touched, and more knowledgeable.
Both programmes will be available online until Thursday 26th November.
After that, the Doc/Fest team will continue working to bring to Sheffield the best of the world’s documentary and cinema, building moments to come together and learn from films and from each other. The world is uncertain, plans are difficult to make, but we will keep our focus and energy in supporting our local cinemas, our local businesses, and our public in the city of Sheffield.
This article first featured in the Sheffield Telegraph on Thursday 12 November 2020.
