David Farnor | On 25, Jun 2020

Sheffield Doc/Fest is here, but not as we know it, as the 2020 edition of the annual documentary festival heads online for a virtual version of the event.

The line-up includes 115 films, with title streaming on the festival’s own VOD platform, Sheffield Doc/Fest Selects, until 10th July. This month of streaming paves the way for planned cinema screenings later this year. As part of the digital programme are also a host of virtual panels and discussions, including “What Can a Film Festival Be?” (available now on-demand for any industry passholders). But there are also Q&As with talent in the works, and the first is for the challenging, topical film The Viewing Booth.

The 71-minute film sees the filmmaker choose an American student, an enthusiastic supporter of Israel, and invites her to watch and comment on the videos made by a Palestinian activist collective who are filming the daily life of inhabitants of the occupied territories and the behaviour of the Israeli army. The film explores the relationship between viewer, documentary footage, and filmmaker; the way one builds one’s own fiction and analyses sounds and images through pre-established opinions.

Sheffield Doc/Fest’s Festival Director Cintia Gil will be joined by Ra’anan Alexandrowic to discuss the film and to take questions from the audience for a live Q&A, held on Zoom at 7pm on Thursday 25th June.

Anyone can register to take part here.

For our picks from the festival’s streaming line-up, including The Viewing Booth, click here. Otherwise, read on for a breakdown of the other panels taking place throughout the fest:

A Time To Breathe: Addressing Racism in the Film and TV Industry
Friday 26th June – 11am

Factual Television in Times of Economic Crisis
Thursday 9th July – 11am

A Call for Radical Collaboration: New Approaches to Co-production
Thursday 23rd July – 11am

Feature Documentary: A View from the Funds
Thursday 6th August – 11am

Filmmakers’ and Contributors’ Mental Health: How Can We Do Better?
Thursday 20th August – 11am

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