Sheffield DocFest 2008

Films with broad appeal not placed in strands.

View other Sheffield DocFest Films by strand: Anti Docs, Arts Docs, Bent Docs, Green Docs, Kinky Docs, MeetMarket Pitched, Music Docs, Nick Broomfield Retrospective, Ogawa Retrospective, Regime Change, Scottish Docs, Sports Docs, Student Docs, Toronto International Film Festival Focus, Youth Jury Doc

Chosen Chosen
Chosen and Second Skin
A1: The Road Musical (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Benjamin Till)
A musical journey from London to Edinburgh, meeting ordinary people along the way.
An Addict's Last Days (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Olly Lambert)
The video diaries of a dying heroin addict.
At Home With The Clearys (Country: UK, Ireland; Year: 2008; Director: Alison Millar)
Barcelona Or Die (Country: France; Year: 2008; Director: Idrissa Guiro)
An encounter with Senegalese people desperate to improve their lot by taking a dangerous boat trip to Spain.
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) (Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath; Writer: Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasava)
The epic story of a family forced to emigrate from Laos after the chaos of the secret air war waged by the US during the Vietnam War.
sleep furiously sleep furiously
sleep furiously and Very Young Girls
Beyond Our Ken (Country: Australia; Year: 2007; Director: Luke Walker, Melissa Maclean)
An exploration of the Kenja cult in Australia.
Bingai (Country: China; Year: 2007; Director: Feng Yan)
A Chinese peasant woman takes on the authorities in her quest for a piece of land to compensate her for the loss of her former home to the Three Gorges Dam.
Blog Stalker (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Todd Rohal)
What it says on the tin.
Les Braves: Jean Widhoff (Country: France; Year: 2008; Director: Alan Cavalier)
Jean Widhoff recounts his experiences in the Algerian war.
Les Braves: Raymond levy (Country: France; Year: 2008; Director: Alan Cavalier)
Raymond Levy recounts his wartime experiences as a member of the French Resistance handed over to the Germans.
Letter To Anna Letter To Anna
Letter To Anna and The Betrayal
Cat Dancers (Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Harris Fishman)
A former exotic cat trainer discusses his life and personal relationships.
Chosen (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Brian Woods)
Three men talk about the sexual abuse they suffered in private schools.
Cold Waves (Country: Romania; Year: 2007; Director: Alexandru Solomon)
An examination of the pivotal role of radio in bringing about the Romanian Revolution.
Corridor #8 (Country: Bulgaria; Year: 2008; Director: Boris Despodov)
Local people comment on the absurdity of a great road through the Balkans which was supposed to unite them all.
Dominick Dunne: After The Party (Country: Australia; Year: 2008; Director: Timothy Jolley, Kirsty de Garis)
Profile of a former Hollywood big-shot and sometime alcoholic who became a forceful crime journalist after his daughter was murdered.
IOUSA IOUSA
IOUSA and Man On Wire
DreamRiders (Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: William S Roulston)
An estranged father and son seek to mend their relationship by cycling together coast to coast across America.
Dreznica (Country: Brazil; Year: 2008; Director: Anna Azevedo)
An experimental exploration of the dream visions of blind people.
The Enemy Within (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Joe Bullman)
A look at antisocial forces in English society and how they compare to their historical counterparts.
Entrenched Abuse: Forced Labor In Burma (Country: Thailand, Burma, US; Year: 2004)
Smuggled footage revealing Burmese ethnic minority peoples forced to build roads and act as human minesweepers.
Fence (Country: Japan; Year: 2008; Director: Toshi Fujiwara)
A look at the controversy surrounding a fenced off piece of Japanese land, just south of Tokyo, still occupied by Americans.
Z32 Z32
Z32 and Smoking With The Hawk
The First Day (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Hannah Skrinar)
A Slovakian Romani girl starts nursery school in England unable to speak the same language as her new classmates.
FLicKeR (Country: Canada; Year: 2007; Director: Nik Sheehan)
A profile of Brion Gysin and his legendary dream machine, designed to liberate the artistic consciousness.
Four Questions For A Rabbi (Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Stacey Ross, Jay Rosenblatt)
An exploration of what it means to be Jewish in the modern world.
Gabriel Byrne - Stories From Home (Country: Ireland; Year: 2008; Director: Pat Collins; Stars: Gabriel Byrne, Ellen Barkin)
A biopic of actor Gabriel Byrne, with the man himself very much involved.
Goth Cruise (Country: UK, Bermuda; Year: 2008; Director: Jeanie Finlay)
A trip on the annual Mediterranean Goth Cruise as 150 goths enjoy a holiday.
The Solitary Life Of Cranes The Solitary Life Of Cranes
The Solitary Life Of Cranes and Blog Stalker
Ground Floor Right (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Marlene Schiött Rasmussen)
A portrait of one man and his winged companions in a small London flat.
Home (Country: Israel; Year: 2008; Director: Claire Fowler)
The people of the divided town of Beit Iksa speak about their concept of home.
The Hunt For Moby Dick (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Adam Low)
An exploration of the character of the whale Moby Dick, looking at what whales have meant to human civilisation.
IOUSA (Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Patrick Creadon), Official Site
An examination of economic collapse in the US, and of the forces behind it.
Japan: A Story Of Love And Hate (Country: UK, Japan; Year: 2008; Director: Sean McAllister)
A former high-flyer now struggling to earn a living faces up to a first meeting with the father of the live-in girlfriend who is half his age.
Seaview Seaview
Seaview and Home
Killadelphia (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Emma Cooper; Stars: Louis Theroux)
Louis Theroux explores life in the mean streets of Philadelphia.
Killer In A Small Town: The Ipswich Murders (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Louise Osmond)
An examination of what happened in Ipswich when a serial killer started stalking sex workers.
Land Of Promise - The BFI National Archive (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Various)
Key documentary work from the BFI National Archive.
Letter To Anna (Ein Artikel zu viel, Anna Politkowskaja Und Das System Putin, Der Mord An Anna Politkowskaja) (Country: Switzerland; Year: 2008; Director: Eric Bergkraut; Stars: Narrated by Susan Sarandon)
Interviews with Russian activist and Putin critic Anna Politkovskaya, plus an examination of what happened after her assassination.
Man On Wire (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: James Marsh; Writer: James Marsh; Stars: Philippe Petit), Official Site, Trailer
Documentary about tightrope walker Phillippe Petit's attempt to cross between the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
Mario And Nini Mario And Nini
Mario And Nini and DreamRiders
Mario And Nini (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Chloe Ruthven)
Can diligent mentoring dissuade two lively young boys from getting drawn into the criminal underworld?
Miss Landmine: Augusta (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Katie Churcher)
After losing everything she had in the Angolan Civil War, Augusta dreams of recovering her pride by winning a beauty pageant.
Miss Landmine: Filomena (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Katie Churcher)
After losing her leg in the Angolan Civil War, Filomena wishes to assert that she can still be beautiful and that landmine victims should not be mocked.
Miss Landmine: Luisa (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Katie Churcher)
Luisa used to be considered a great beauty and hopes she didn't lose it all to the landmine which maimed her.
Miss Landmine: Maria (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Katie Churcher)
Maria is 38 and pregnant; she has also lost a leg to a landmine; but she wants to be considered beautiful.
A Northern Town A Northern Town
A Northern Town and Fence
Mr Rakowski (Country: Netherlands, US; Year: 2007; Director: Jan Diederen)
A survivor of Nazi persecution struggles to develop a relationship with his son.
Mum, Heroin And Me (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Jane Treays)
A young heroin addict facing desperate circumstances talks about her strong relationship with the mother who is still trying to save her.
My Mother's Garden (Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Cynthia Lester)
A daughter tries to come to terms with her mother's compulsive hoarding behaviour, which has driven the family from their home.
A Northern Town (Country: Australia; Year: 2008; Director: Rachel Landers)
The residents of an Australian nursing home recall their town's history of racism and brutality.
Osama Bin Everywhere: The Many Faces Of The Islamic World (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Masood Khan)
A journey around the world to meet lots of different people called Osama.
Rich Kid, Poor Kid Rich Kid, Poor Kid
Rich Kid, Poor Kid and Killadelphia
Outlawed: Extraordinary Rendition, Torture And Disappearances In The "War On Terror" (Country: US; Year: 2006)
First hand accounts of extraordinary rendition and torture.
Patria Mia, Nomad Direction (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Duska Zagorac)
Chinese immigrants in Bosnia struggle to develop a coherent new identity.
PRL De Luxe (Country: Poland; Year: 2008; Director: Edyta Wróblewska)
A visit to Nowa Huta, the model Communist city built within Cracow.
Radio Heads: Igor (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Adam Gutch, Chu-Li Shewring)
A radio listener tells his story.
Radio Heads: Liverpool Unzipped (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Adam Gutch, Chu-Li Shewring)
Who are the people out there listening to Liverpool radio?
The Hunt For Moby Dick The Hunt For Moby Dick
The Hunt For Moby Dick and Goth Cruise
Radio Heads: Mick And Clive (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Adam Gutch, Chu-Li Shewring)
A portrait of two keen radio listeners.
Radio Heads: Open Line (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Adam Gutch, Chu-Li Shewring)
A look at the relationship between radio broadcasters and their audience.
René (Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2008; Director: Helena Treštíková)
A petty criminal, continually in and out of jail, develops a career as a writer.
Rich Kid, Poor Kid (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Zac Beattie)
An examination of the gap between rich and poor people in the UK through the lives of two girls from opposite ends of the same street.
Seaview (Country: Ireland; Year: 2007; Director: Nicky Gogan, Paul Rowley)
Life at a former Butlins holiday camp... now home to asylum seeking refugees.
My Mother's Garden My Mother's Garden
My Mother's Garden and Watch Me Disappear
Second Skin (Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Juan Carlos Pineiro Escoriaza)
A journey into the world of MMPORGs.
sleep furiously (Country: UK; Year: 2007; Director: Gideon Koppel)
Rural Wales faces change from all sides as the population ages.
Smoking With The Hawk (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Kim Flitcroft)
A self-professed hard man bets on pool, fends off a machete attack and tries to train his hawk to be a killing machine.
The Solitary Life Of Cranes (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Eva Weber)
What is life like for crane operators far up above our familiar urban landscapes?
THE TAILOR (Country: Spain; Year: 2007; Director: Oscar Perez)
A confused tailor and his assistant struggle with language difficulties and their increasing suspicion that a cameraman is watching them.
The Time Of Their Lives (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Jocelyn Cammack)
Three forceful elderly women, still active in social and political circles, speak frankly about death, their increasing fragility, and what life has meant to them.
The Unquiet American - Cameron Hickey (Country: UK, US; Year: 2008; Director: Cameron Hickey)
What does it mean to be an American today?
The Unquiet American - Katy Chevigny (Country: UK, US; Year: 2008; Director: Katy Chevigny)
A look at American life behind the headlines.
The Unquiet American - Senian Kheshgi (Country: UK, US; Year: 2008; Director: Senian Kheshgi)
A glimpse of what life is like for ordinary Americans.
The Unquiet American - Steve James (Country: UK, US; Year: 2008; Director: Steve James)
The experiences of an everyday American guy as his country faces an uncertain future.
Veil (Country: Norway; Year: 2008; Director: Thomas A Østbye)
What is underneath this Muslim woman's veil? It's a camera, observing the strange ways in which people react to her as she wanders round a shopping centre.
Very Young Girls (Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: David Schisgall)
An examination of young girls as they are duped, tricked and coerced into selling themselves for sex in a surprising, and people-focussed film.
Wait For Me (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Ross Kaufman)
A mother discusses her emotional search for her son, lost in the mountains of India.
Watch Me Disappear (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Lucy Cohen)
A look at the circumstances that can lead to people disappearing and dying alone.
Z32 (Country: Israel; Year: 2008; Director: Avi Mograbi)
Safely hidden behind animated masks, young Israelis talk about crimes they committed against Palestinians whilst serving in the army.
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