Sheffield DocFest 2025 Round-Up

Last week, Directors UK Board members (and documentary directors) Lottie Gammon and Peter Strachan attended Sheffield DocFest. There, they joined CEO Andy Harrower to observe the current state of factual and meet with factual directors throughout the week, including at our Directors UK drinks.

Lottie and Peter wrote for us about their impressions of Sheffield DocFest 2025. 

Lottie Gammon

For me DocFest kicked off at the Crucible with Kim Hopkin’s hilarious and bittersweet Still Pushing Pineapples, a masterclass in observational filming. I saw many wonderful films but for me the standout was Mr Nobody vs Putin, directed by Pasha Talankin and David Borenstein. A brave teacher, Pasha, faces the unbearable predicament of having to facilitate the brainwashing of his students.

There were heated discussions too, particularly on the panel “Too Hot To Handle: The Future of Political Documentaries” where filmmakers Ben de Pear, James Jones and Havana Marking warned that creeping authoritarianism around that world is chilling commissioning, leaving us with a blander world of safe doc commissioning, with the PSBs under increasing political pressure to avoid ‘difficult’ subjects.

At the Channel 4 First Cut pitch, five emerging directors competed to get their first one-hour commission. The crowd was warm and encouraging and the talent dazzling. It’s a great opportunity, though it did remind me of The Hunger Games. We need more pathways into the industry, because at the moment, this is only one of the very few ways new directors can get a foothold into TV.

Finally, we had a great turn out for our Directors UK drinks and I was delighted to meet many new members. It was also sobering to hear the working conditions we are experiencing laid out so clearly, with one Grierson-winning director telling me “we’re all working harder than we ever have and being paid less”. Our industry is going through seismic change, but that makes our need for community more important than ever - and Sheffield Doc/Fest should remain at its heart. 

Peter Strachan

The Sheffield Doc Fest 25 was intense, in all the best possible ways. Meeting so many new and established directors, not just those with films being screened, was an incredible tonic.

Talking to newbies and established directors, in the cinemas, bars, eateries, and on the streets of the steel city, sharing so many moments of wonderment about the documentary filmmaking process, was testimony to how the passion and craft is very much in good health despite the many challenges we’re facing.

A disappointing note for me was the number of parties that were invitation-only, and not open to all delegates. Based in the Nations, opportunities to meet commissioners and bring together the factual community are very rare, and if the possibility of this happening at such a prestigious festival diminishes, then the event will be lesser for it.

But what a fantastic selection of films. I wish I could’ve squeezed them all in but am now avidly seeking them out elsewhere. I urge you to watch my stand out pick, Mr Nobody Against Putin, a remarkable film about the militarisation of Russian schools, captured by the camera of an extraordinary young teacher whose personal act of resistance through story telling is courage personified.

Other brilliant docs, directed by home grown talent, included Grenfell Uncovered (Olaide Sadiq), Poisoned (Joy Ash) and the wonderful present tense story telling of Still Pushing Pineapples, (Kim Hopkins), which opened the festival and captured hearts.