Oscar Winner Asif Kapadia Joins Sheffield DocFest Industry Program; More Films Added To UK’s Leading Nonfiction Festival
Sheffield DocFest is adding to its program just a few days before the start of the 33rd edition of the UK’s leading nonfiction film festival. Announced Friday: Oscar winner Asif Kapadia (Amy, Senna) will take part in what DocFest is calling a landmark conversation about the Up se…
Sheffield DocFest is adding to its program just a few days before the start of the 33rd edition of the UK’s leading nonfiction film festival.
Announced Friday: Oscar winner Asif Kapadia (Amy, Senna) will take part in what DocFest is calling a landmark conversation about the Up series, which began in the 1960s by chronicling 10 boys and 4 girls growing up in England. Successive iterations followed the kids as they grew into adults, into middle age and now as they approach their golden years. Kapadia will be joined on stage by Jo Clinton Davis (Controller of Factual, ITV) and Mike Blair (Creative Director, Multistory Media) the creators of 70 UP, the last film in the series.
The Up talk is part of DocFest’s industry program. Also added: Munya Chiwawa will discuss his new documentary Wrestling with Trump, which explores the link between the American president and wrestling. (In a related note – for those unaware — Trump is having a giant stage erected on the White House lawn for “a mixed martial arts tournament celebrating” his 80th birthday on June 14).
DocFest, which runs June 10-15, has also added several films to the lineup:
Two new films will be screened as part of GEN DocFest, the festival’s new family programming strand, DocFest reports: Horrible Science: Tim Peake’s Stinky Space Special Exclusive, which sees astronaut Tim Peak join Pipette “to guide us through what life is line in space for astronauts.”
Meanwhile, Toddler Kino x DocFest and CBeebies presents: Hamza Loves Animals features wildlife presenter Hamza Yassin looking “at some of the amazing animals which can be found in Africa.”
The festival announced juries for the 33rd DocFest. Judging the International Competition will be producer and broadcaster Mark Edwards; Kiyoko McCraea, filmmaker and program director at Chicken & Egg Films; and Noa Nwande, head of international sales at Watermelon Pictures.
International Competition “features a compelling lineup of six World Premieres, one International Premiere, and one European Premiere, with all eight films also up for the Academy Award accredited Grand Jury Award which honors films that display strong artistic vision and courageous storytelling.”
These are the jurors announced for the other four competition strands:
International First Feature Competition Jury
Jury members are: award-winning filmmaker Paul Sng, Darren Lawford (producer and former trustee of Sheffield DocFest), and Malikkha Rollins (producer and Director of Industry and Education for DOC NYC)
Shining a spotlight on the boldest new voices in documentary, the International First Feature competition honors the future of non-fiction film, celebrating promising talent. This year’s category features eight debut works, seven of which are World Premieres and one which is an International Premiere. The International First Feature Competition is supported by Netflix.
International Short Film Competition Jury
Jury members for 2026 are: double BAFTA award-winning director Olaide Sadiq (Grenfell: Uncovered, winner of Sheffield DocFest Audience Award 2025) , Joe Hunting (Creative Director at Painting Clouds), and filmmaker Laura Warner (The Cranes Call, A Last Big Story)
The category features nine World Premieres and one International Premiere, highlighting acclaimed directors alongside unique global perspectives in a definitive showcase of boundary-pushing storytelling. The ten films in this year’s competition are up for the Academy Award, BAFTA and BIFA accredited Grand Jury Award which honors the best creative approach to documentary under 40 minutes.
Jurors are: Brenda Danker (Malaysia Freedom Film Network co-founder), Sam Holland (ex-director of Migration Matters festival in Sheffield) and Andrii Kotliar (Ukrainian producer/filmmaker part of the #babylon 13 collective).
Six documentaries will be considered for the Award this year which recognizes a film and filmmaker that best reflects the legacy of photojournalist and filmmaker Tim Hetherington and celebrates outstanding humanitarian storytelling. The award is presented in association with Dogwoof.
The Youth Jury Award is presented by five of the UK’s most passionate young documentary film enthusiasts aged 18-23 – Julianne Gazzingan, Sadie Coll, Jagraj Singh, Clementine Cunningham and Shae Beckford – who have curated a selection of six films that will be considered for this year’s award. The selected films are a diverse collection that take audiences on a global journey engaging with urgent contemporary issues.
In other Sheffield DocFest news, actors Jason Done, Christine Bottomley, Carla Henry, Eva Scott and Lamin Touray have also been confirmed for the special live reading of Queens of the Coal Age written by Guest of Honor Maxine Peake which “details the true story of four miners’ wives—Anne Scargill, Dot Kelly, Elaine Evans, and Lesley Lomas—who occupied Parkside Colliery in 1993 to protest pit closures.
