From the Syrian Civil War, to the anniversary of the Grenfell Fire and Black Lives Matter; this year has seen a heightened urgency for stories told by unheard voices. Coming from a different class, race or gender, getting access to a different community from your own, and spending two or three days on the ground to make a film, is widely considered ‘extractive’. But will extended integration with your subject truly get you to the bottom of their experience?

What does it take to tell an ‘authentic’ story? What does it mean to get under someone’s skin? Whose story is it? Can we as an audience grasp when a story is authentically told or not?

Location: ITV Town Hall – Reception Room B

We hope to see you there.

Chair

Anca Dimofte has worked across the film and TV industry in production and development as well as directing and producing her own documentaries. She currently manages the workshop programme at The Frontline Club where she curates a year-round programme of short courses covering journalism, documentary filmmaking and photography.

Speakers

Deeyah Khan is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning documentary film director and founder of Fuuse, a media and arts company that puts women, people from minorities, and third-culture kids at the heart of telling their own stories. Born in Norway to immigrant parents of Pashtun and Punjabi ancestry, Deeyah’s experience of living between different cultures, both the beauty and the challenges, shapes her artistic vision. Her 2012 multi-award winning documentary Banaz: A Love Story chronicles the life and death of Banaz Mahmod, a young British Kurdish woman murdered by her family in a so-called honour killing. Deeyah’s second film, the Grierson and Bafta award-nominated Jihad, involved two years of interviews and filming with Islamic extremists, convicted terrorists and former jihadis.

Leon Oldstrong  is a former teacher, father and a passionate campaigner against racism. That’s Not Ours is his debut documentary and demonstrates his drive to capture the realities of modern Britain. Leon has an unapologetic approach to exploring issues of race that the mainstream media often neglects and perverts.

Molly Dineen  is a BAFTA and RTS award-winning independent documentary filmmaker, known for her portraits of British institutions and individuals undergoing change. Her films range from Home From The Hill, the penetrating and tender study of a retired colonel, to Lie Of The Land, a revealing look at the lives of British farmers. Her most recent film, Being Blacker follows for three years the life of Blacker Dread featuring “Brixton’s Jamaican community and the man who unintentionally became its kingpin”

Amer, 45, met Raghda, 40, in a Syrian prison cell 15 years ago. Over a number of months they communicated through a tiny hole they had secretly made in the wall. They fell in love and, following their release, married and started a family together.

This film tells the poignant story of their family torn apart by the tyrannical Assad dictatorship. Filming began in Syria in 2009, prior to the wave of revolutions and ongoing changes in the Middle East. At the time, Raghda was a political prisoner and Amer was caring for their young children alone. McAllister filmed in the thriving heart of the Yarmouk Camp in Damascus – now an infamous news story as the Assad regime blocked all aid and food to its inhabitants.

This intimate family portrait probes to understand why people are literally dying for change in the Arab world. As Raghda is released from prison, filmmaker Sean McAllister himself is arrested for filming and the political pressure around all activists intensifies. The family flee to Lebanon, and then to France where they are given political asylum in the sleepy town of Albi, where they now watch the revolution from afar and wait for the fall of Assad.

However, in exile Raghda’s mental heath suffers. We see their new life in France develop, but the war is now between them. In finding the freedom they fought so hard for, their relationship is beginning to fall apart.

A Syrian Love Story won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2015 Sheffield International Documentary Festival.

Directed by: Sean McAllister
Country: UK/France/Lebanon/Syria
Running time: 80′

Heading to Sheffield Doc/Fest this year? Not only does the programme contain a fantastic selection of documentaries, but everyone with a full festival pass also has access to the diverse and inspiring conference programme. We have produced a conference session, Dangerous Storytelling: Documentary Filmmaking and the Safety of Subjects, which will place at the ITV Town Hall Council Chamber at 10:15 AM on Tuesday 9 June.

The relationship between filmmaker and subject is a topic hotly debated by film directors, academics, and journalists. Methods such as undercover filming, encrypted communication and Skype allow filmmakers to reach individuals who may otherwise be reluctant to speak or difficult to meet in person. However, unprecedented access to a compelling story can come with a risk to the individuals at the centre of the film. How can documentary makers without a journalism background practice safe investigative work? When the telling of a story has potential consequences, how can a filmmaker ensure the protection of their subjects? We will be joined by Orlando von Einsiedel, Kim Longinotto, Julianna Ruhfus, and Beadie Finzi to discuss circumstances in which the presence of a camera is risky business.

The panelists:

Beadie Finzi (Chair)
Beadie Finzi is one of the founding directors of BRITDOC, a non profit film foundation supported by Channel 4 Television, Ford Foundation and Bertha Foundation as well as a number of US and European foundations. Having worked in documentary for the past 20 years, Beadie is in heaven in her role at BRITDOC – whose mission is to befriend independent filmmakers, fund great films (120 to date), broker new partnerships, build new business models, share knowledge and develop audiences globally.

Kim Longinotto
Kim Longinotto is an award-winning and critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker. Best known for her unobtrusive observational style and focus on female subjects crossing a multitude of international boundaries, Kim was the subject of a two-week career retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 2009 and was awarded the Inspiration Award by Sheffield Doc/Fest in 2010. She has directed 20 documentaries, a selection of which include Eat the Kimono (1989), Rock Wives (1996) Divorce Iranian Style (1998) and Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go (2007). Rough Aunties (2008) won the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009. Her most recent films Pink Saris (2010) and Salma (2013) are set in India.

Orlando Von Einsiedel
2014 saw the completion of Orlando von Einsiedel’s debut feature length documentary, VIRUNGA, focusing on the conservation work of rangers within Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Winning 40 international awards, it showcases Orlando’s ability for drawing out intimate and personal stories in challenging locations. Orlando previously directed award-winning films spanning Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Arctic, covering a diverse range of stories. He has been nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA, a Directors’ Guild of America Award, and an Independent Film Spirit Award.

Juliana Ruhfus
Juliana Ruhfus is the senior reporter for Al Jazeera’s ‘People & Power’ investigative and current affairs strand where she has worked since 2006, when her film on Liberian ex-combatants launched the channel’s programming content. Nearly 30 films later she has gone undercover in Turkmenistan and in Cambodian orphanages, produced the five part ‘Corporations on Trial’ series, and her two-part investigation into the trafficking of Nigerian women into the Italian sex-trade is one of the most-watched People & Power shows in its history. In 2010, she was awarded the Ochberg Fellowship, and in 2011 she received a scholarship for Harvard’s Global Trauma Program. She is currently on the European board of directors for the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma. In 2003, and again in 2007/08, Juliana has also worked as an expert consultant for the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee monitoring violations of the arms embargo on Somalia.

In many areas of the world it is becoming increasingly difficult and dangerous for foreign journalists and filmmakers to gain access and cover stories as they unfold. Today, thanks to user-generated content these stories no longer remain unreported. With pressure to bring viewers the news as it is happening, is there enough time to verify the material? How does this uncorroborated footage affect the contract with the viewer?

This panel will address the technology and the techniques used today, looking at how content is verified, and how you can empower people to tell their own stories and distribute it to local and international communities.

Matthew Eltringham is an RTS award-winning journalist and editor of the BBC College of Journalism, the body responsible for training the BBC’s 6,500 journalists. He was the founding editor of the BBC’s user generated content team that has transformed the way the BBC uses social media in its daily journalism. He has worked across TV, radio and online in his 19 year career at the BBC.

Rina Tsubaki leads and manages the Verification Handbook and the Emergency Journalism initiatives at the European Journalism Centre in the Netherlands. While the Verification Handbook provides step-by-step guidelines for how to deal with user-generated content (UGC) during emergencies, Emergency Journalism brings together resources for media professionals reporting in and about volatile situations in the digital age. Her previous work focused on the role of citizens in the changing media landscape.

Malachy Browne is news editor with Storyful, the first news agency of the social media age. Headquartered in Dublin and with staff in Asia and the US, Storyful helps its news clients discover, verify and distribute the most valuable user-generated content on social media platforms. A coder turned journalist, Browne takes an interest in the confluence of technology and journalism.

Fergus Bell is the international social media and UGC editor for the Associated Press. He leads the operation to source and verify user-generated content so that the AP can acquire and publish this content across formats. He also trains and advises AP’s global staff in UGC acquisition and social media monitoring. In 2013 Fergus co-founded a committee for the Online News Association that looks at the ethics and standards of UGC and digital newsgathering in the news industry.

The Syrian conflict is in its third year, and it is largely freelancers who assume the great risks in covering the events. The Frontline Club has recently launched the report Newsgathering Safety and the Welfare of Freelancers to consider how these risks can be mitigated.

Independent filmmakers, Olly Lambert and Mani, both made award winning films in Syria receiving wide acclaim for their powerful storytelling and unprecedented access. Head of High Risk for the BBC Simon Marr will also join the panel, which will be chaired by veteran journalist and filmmaker Inigo Gilmore.

This session will address the extremely treacherous challenges of filmmaking and reporting in one of the world’s deadliest places. What does the Syrian war tell us about the future of freelance journalism and independent filmmaking? How do we take necessary safety precautions – whilst managing to produce a great film?

Watch last year’s session ‘Dying to tell the Story’ with Founding Director of the Frontline Club Vaughan Smith, photographer Giles Duley and Siobhan Sinnerton, Commissioning Editor at Channel 4. Last year journalist Inigo Gilmore also chaired the debate.

In anticipation of this year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest, the biggest event in the UK’s documentary calendar, the Frontline Club is hosting a networking party for documentary filmmakers and those working in distribution and production.

With drinks sponsored by Chivas Regal, the party will pause at 7.30pm for a short panel discussion on how you can get your documentary distributed and how to get the most out of an industry festival like Sheffield.

Moderated by Charlotte Cook, Director of Programming at HotDocs.

With:

Nick Fraser, Editor of Storyville, the BBC’s documentary strand.

Mette Hoffmann Meyer, Head of Documentary at Danish broadcasting corporation DR.

James Mullighan, Festival Liaison, Cinelan.

Lucas Ochoa, Head of Film at Pulse Films.

Sponsored by: 

The Frontline Club is proud to announce our fourth event in association with The Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation. At Sheffield Doc/Fest, on Friday 10th of June, we will be hosting an evening of Documentary Matchmaking at the BRITDOC Bar to pair great new projects with the right people in the industry to help make them happen.

Directors and producers are invited to introduce their work in progress projects to a crowded room including leading producers, editors, commissioners and possible collaborators. Each project will have a few minutes to display what they are doing and what advice and/or help they need from the experts in the room. Projects displayed will be at varying stages of production, ranging from early developments all the way through to the completion stage.

Several projects presented at previous events have gone on to great things, with You’ve Been Trumped by Anthony Baxter and Hell and Back Again by Danfung Dennis both playing at this year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest.

If you want the chance to stand up and present your project, or even just show a short clip, send us information about your project – a link to a clip or trailer (if you have one) – and identify what you would hope to find at the event (a producer, an editor, a mentor, advice etc) by Friday 3rd June.

Please email charlotte.cook@www.beta.frontlineclub.com to apply.

Next Wednesday Sheffield Doc/Fest 2010 begins and this year’s programme is outstanding. We’re really proud to be attending and I wanted to let you know the variety of things Frontline is involved in at the festival.

For the last year we’ve been running, with the Channel 4 BritDoc Foundation, the very successful Documentary Matchmaking event at the club and we’re now taking it with us to Sheffield. The aim of this event is to pair exciting new projects with people that can help get them off the ground, or fill in the missing piece to progress the project further. We invite a number of producers, editors, composers, cinematographers etc to come and view the selected projects and hopefully match projects with people who’d like to be involved.

We have now begun taking projects for the Matchmaking party at Sheffield so if you would like to present yours please do email me here asap.

Event details – Friday 5th November – 20:00-21:00 : Matchmaking Hour at the BritDoc Bar

C4 BRITDOC Foundation and Frontline Club brings together Directors, Producers and Editors.

We are also producing two panels this year and details of those are below.

Really hope to see you there!

Exposing the Truth – Investigative Journalism in Documentary

Venue – Site 1
Thursday 4th November 11am

Moderator: Alan Hayling

Panel: Kevin Toolis, David Henshaw, David Bond, Franny Armstrong

With newspapers cutting back on investigative journalism departments, are documentaries picking up the slack? Do filmmakers receive the same legal protection as the print media and does the medium have the same impact when exposing stories? We will be discussing the power of investigative filmmaking and its challenges and triumphs.

Don’t Shoot I’m a Filmmaker

Venue – Town Hall Reception Rooms
Saturday 6th November 2.30pm

Moderator: Kevin Sutcliffe

Panel: Tim Hetherington, Laura Poitras, Havana Marking, James Brabazon, Jezza Neumann

For most filmmakers there are some stories too dangerous to consider, but there are a select few prepared to put their lives at risk to show us the truth. We will be looking at how to approach a story that takes place in a country or situation usually considered out of bounds. Discussing this area of storytelling are a group of filmmakers with varied shared experience to give an insight into the riskier side of filmmaking.