We are delighted to reveal our full Industry Programme for the 32st edition of Sheffield DocFest, taking place in Sheffield, 18-23 June 2025, which completes our full festival line up. Come and explore the programme.
- Stand out events include Risk, Reach and Relevance: BBC Factual in the Age of Streaming, with Heads of BBC Documentaries, Arts and Specialist Factual discussing how they commission for iPlayer
- Impact Through Indigenous Participation: Beyond Representation to Agency with acclaimed Indigenous director, Alanis Obomsawin
- Protecting the Protest: Filmmakers on the Frontline featuring international filmmakers and legal experts on rising global threats to protest and press freedom, supported by Amnesty International
- A United Front: Transforming Climate Storytelling Through Collaboration & Creativity with Broadcaster and Biologist Liz Bonnin
- Addressing Disinformation through Games, hosted for the first time at Sheffield’s National Videogame Museum
- Backlash: The Murder of George Floyd BBC Docs Download for Freelancers featuring an in depth discussion with the production team and broadcaster Miquita Oliver
- Four pitch sessions for film, TV and audio-makers: Channel 4 First Cut Pitch, Climate Spring Documentary Pitch, The Whickers Film & TV Pitch and The Whickers Podcast Pitch
- Waad Al-Kataeb confirmed as mentor for the Filmmaker Challenge
- DocFest celebrates 20 years of MeetMarket
The festival’s Industry Programme and Market runs in conjunction with the Festival — 35 Industry Sessions for industry delegates, 4 Live Pitch sessions, a broad range of Marketplace Sessions, the Filmmaker Challenge, Alternate Realities, Marketplace Rough Cuts and the Craft Focus, and, celebrating 20 years this year, the festival’s flagship MeetMarket pitching forum (previously announced here).
The Industry Programme dives into the business of documentary in all its many forms, complementing the previously announced film programme and exploring the craft and context behind many of this year’s films. Topics we’re exploring this year include collaborative storytelling, the fight for freedom of the press, the ethics behind AI and emerging technologies, climate change and the environmental crisis, authorship, accessibility, and the risks and responsibilities of telling difficult stories. The festival will also be showcasing a range of funding opportunities, including collaborations with Channel 4, Climate Spring, The Whickers, and the The Whickers Podcast Pitch (see finalists previously announced here).
Filmmaker Challenge
Returning for the fourth year running, Sheffield DocFest presents its Filmmaker Challenge 2025, supported by principal sponsor Prime Video. Six early-career UK filmmakers will be selected to undertake the challenge of making a film on the fly, with a micro budget and equipment support, as well as mentoring from Guest Mentor Waad Al-Kateab, Academy Award® nominee and BAFTA and BIFA award-winning director of 2019’s For Sama. Waad will mentor a cohort of six filmmakers to develop their short films, from inception of their ideas in response to the 2025 theme Where Perspectives Meet, to providing feedback during production and editing and post-production in partnership with Sticks & Glass, via filmmaker 1-2-1s, to the shorts’ showcase at the 32nd edition of Sheffield DocFest.
Waad Al-Kataeb, Filmmaker Challenge Guest Mentor said: "I'm really honoured to be part of this year’s Filmmaker Challenge. These kinds of opportunities, where emerging filmmakers are challenged to respond quickly, creatively, and with urgency, remind me of how I started, and of the many moments in our lives and careers when we’ve had to do the same. I’m looking forward to supporting each filmmaker as they shape their stories, and to learning from their perspectives too."
Sessions
A total of 35 Sessions for industry delegates will include discussions and panels in collaboration with industry sponsors, 5, Al Jazeera, Amnesty International, ARTE, BAFTA, BBC, BBC Studios, Bournemouth University, Channel 4, Documentary Film Council (DFC), Crowdfunder, ESPN, National Geographic, Netflix, New Generation Europe Foundation, Reuters, Sky Documentaries, Warner Brothers Discovery; and partners, AKO Storytelling Institute, BIPOC Eurodoc, Counterpoints Arts, Creative Access, Doc‘n Roll Films, Film in Mind, Stitch N Bitch Editors Collective, The National Videogame Museum, The Observer and Tough Crowd.
This year’s programme spans urgent global issues and everyday practicalities — from protecting press freedom and protest rights to rethinking how we fund, collaborate and create impact. We will explore the pressures and possibilities of nonfiction filmmaking today, including the role of Indigenous agency and AI, the rise of disinformation, branded storytelling, and the importance of centring care in production. Across the week, sessions will also spotlight climate storytelling, the future of political documentaries, and how we build a more inclusive, accessible and sustainable documentary industry for us all.
Emily Copley, Talks & Sessions Senior Producer says: “In our industry sessions at Sheffield DocFest this year, we’re spotlighting the documentary world as it is — urgent, inventive, and at times under threat. From new approaches to storytelling and distribution, to safety, solidarity, and the ethics of authorship, this programme is designed to offer a mix of practical knowledge, provocation and inspiration. I’m proud to bring together such a wide range of voices and experiences — from Oscar-nominated directors to emerging changemakers — for honest conversations about where the documentary field goes next.”
Craft Focus Sessions
This year’s six craft-focused sessions are threaded throughout the festival, celebrating the creative practice at the heart of nonfiction filmmaking. Whether unpacking sound, story, music, archive, ethics or edit, these sessions open up the process behind some of the most distinctive work in and outside of the programme. Craft Focus Sessions include: a candid look at the craft, politics and challenges of editing; essential guidance on navigating music rights; a masterclass with audiomaker Eleanor McDowall that resurrects the overlooked legacy of creative radio storytelling; a timely discussion on how AI is reshaping access, ethics, and authenticity in archival storytelling; a masterclass with Oscar-nominated director, Petra Costa; and a session exploring harm prevention and protection across production.
Live Pitches
Sheffield DocFest will host four live sessions for selected emerging directors to pitch their non-fiction projects to panels of judges — The Whickers Film & TV Pitch vying for the coveted £100,000 Film & TV Funding Award; the Channel 4 First Cut Pitch to secure a commission for a 60-minute film, and one month of fully-paid development and mentorship with an indie; The Whickers Podcast Pitch — an independent jury award two prizes of £15,000 and £5,000; and the inaugural Climate Spring Documentary Pitch offering £10,000 development funding, narrative consultation and support from Climate Spring to the winning climate story. Winners will be announced as part of the festival Awards Ceremony on Sunday 22 June.
Marketplace
Sheffield DocFest MeetMarket runs in conjunction with the festival providing networking opportunities and practical sessions and roundtables. The Switchboard provides advice on the people to meet at this year’s market, Snap Chats is the networking mixer, while DocFest Roundtables are intimate sessions with experts in series, festival, distribution and creative fields. Returning for 2025 are two Marketplace breakfasts, this year supported by Unifrance and Al Jazeera, open to passholders with the aim to start the Market days with a relaxed networking mixer.
Patrizia Mancini, Head of Industry says: “This year we are thrilled to announce an extended Marketplace with returning showcases held in collaboration with Doc Society and the Palestine Film Institute, and Chicken & Egg Films are also coming back to Sheffield to celebrate their 20th anniversary.
For the first time at DocFest we are also excited to collaborate with the renowned European workshop Ex Oriente, supported by the Institute of Documentary Film in Prague, and to welcome a talented group of filmmakers and producers from Central & Eastern Europe to Sheffield. By joining forces our common goal is to highlight creativity, foster collaboration and international co-productions, as already shown in the projects shared within the MeetMarket selection as well in the festival programme with documentaries who have been part of Ex Oriente in recent years. We have two workshops with Industry experts: producer and IMS adviser Henrik Underbjerg, and sales and festival veteran Inka Achte. Both will be open to participants for a deep dive into new models of equitable co-productions, festival strategies and distribution. We are also very happy to welcome back our fantastic Talent Schemes, along with the new addition of the Queer Realities Director’s Lab, supported by the BFI Creative Challenge Fund. On top of this exciting programme are our not- to-be-missed Switchboard & Consultancies and Industry Roundtables. We look forward to welcoming creatives, storytellers and industry experts to learn, discover, connect and share our common love for non-fiction storytelling.”
Talent Meetings
The festival presents two selective schemes for new talent: Amplify: Production Talent supports eight early career professionals working in TV production to connect with executives, and is supported by BBC and Channel 4. Alternate Realities XR Artists Forum supported by Arts Council England, brings eight new media artists developing a project in the intersection of art, technology and documentary, looking to expand their network and get advice from experts in the field.
Delegations
Sheffield DocFest will welcome a number of delegations to the city in 2025, including returning delegations from Scotland (coordinated by the Scottish Documentary Institute and supported by Screen Scotland), Chile (coordinated by Chiledoc), Palestine (coordinated by the Palestinian Film Institute) and the IGNITE-Talent programme coordinated by Docs Ireland.
New delegations in attendance include France (coordinated by Unifrance), Iraq, and cohorts from Chicken & Egg Films as well as New Generation Europe Foundation.
Sheffield DocFest is made possible thanks to the support of our partners, funders and sponsors, including Principal Funders BFI Audience Projects Fund, awarding National Lottery funding, Sheffield City Council and Arts Council England.
