Sheffield DocFest Podcast

The documentary genre is currently undergoing an intense period of scrutiny and reassessment. Damaged by accusations of fakery, charged with unfair manipulation and increasingly marginalised and subject to cutbacks, is it the end of the line for the genre? Once the pride of British television, have the channels and the public lost their appetite for documentaries? In an age of celebrity-smitten, format-crazed factual, who is commissiong them now? This year's Question Time tackles these and other key issues with a panel of leading documentary makers and commissioners.

Direct download: BBC_Q_Time_2007.mp3
Category:TV & Film -- posted at: 11:37am UTC

The relationship between filmmaker and contribution is fundamental to the success or failure of all documentaries. But we rarely hear directly from the people who, for whatever reason, agree to appear in our films. This session allows some very different contributors, in the presence of their filmmakers, to talk about how it was for them. Alexis Arquette was filmed as she went through a sex change and at one point withdrew access. Gary was cast as a bigot in Joe Bullman's docu-drama 'The Seven Sins of England', while Monthy and Betty had their lives scrutinised in Mark Isaac's observational documentary 'All White in Barking'. Would they do it again if they had known what they know now?

Direct download: 13_How_Was_It_For_You.mp3
Category:TV & Film -- posted at: 3:02pm UTC

Presenter-authored documentaries have been around for almost 40 years. At its core the genre tries to turn serious debate into informative entertainment by the power of the presenter's personality and on-screen presence. In this session we look at the current rise of celebrity and cultural commentator fronted documentaries. Is this new form of authorship just a trend that pulls in viewers or is it the savior of the dying television documentary?

Direct download: 14_Im_A_Celebrity.mp3
Category:TV & Film -- posted at: 9:51am UTC

1