BFI Film Fund films at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2015

Filmed over five years in Syria, Lebanon and France, A Syrian Love Story follows the struggle of two revolutionaries on a journey of hope, dreams and despair: for the revolution, their homeland and each other. It was selected for funding by the BFI following a 2014 BFI Film Fund documentary pitching session, held in partnership with Sheffield Doc/Fest.

Sean McAllister is known for his frank, intimate films about ordinary people caught up in political and personal conflict. His 2004 film The Liberace of Baghdad won the jury prize at Sundance. Since then his other films have included Japan: A Story of Love and Hate (2008) and The Reluctant Revolutionary (2012).

TBC

How to Change the World tells the story of a tight-knit group of friends who mounted some of the most daring and significant environmental protests in history. The film tells the story of Greenpeace’s founders from 1971 when they hired a fishing boat and sailed it into a nuclear test zone, to 1979 when they stepped back from their leading role to create Greenpeace International.

Jerry Rothwell’s feature documentaries include Deep Water (2006; co-directed by Louise Osmond), about Donald Crowhurst’s ill-fated voyage in the 1968 round-the-world yacht race, and Town of Runners (2011), about the small Ethiopian village known for producing Olympic champion runners.

11 September 2015

This compelling real-life thriller unravels the truth behind Sweden’s most notorious serial killer. In a story that has haunted the Swedish nation for 30 years, misfit loner Thomas Quick confessed to the rape, murder and cannibalisation of over 30 men, women and children, yet new evidence suggests that he may not have been the culprit. But why would an innocent man confess to being a serial killer?

Director Brian Hill is a veteran director of highly acclaimed documentaries, mainly for Channel 4 and BBC2 and via his own production company Century Films. He is the winner of three BAFTAs and has tackled subjects including climate change, post-traumatic stress disorder and child trafficking. His new film was backed by the BFI following a successful bid at a BFI Film Fund documentary pitchingsession.

14 August 2015

Other BFI funded films screening at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2015: Dark Horse, The Stuart Hall Project, The Nine Muses.