9:45am – Welcome + Introduction from the Festival Team

This year’s keynote session will be led by the team from Glimmerama, the creative distribution arm of Glimmer Films, the company behind this year’s festival film All Rivers Spill Their Stories to The Sea and previous festival opening film Your Fat Friend. Jeanie and Suzanne will discuss ideas for rethinking the engagements documentary makers have with audiences through innovative release strategies. Presenting case studies learned from their experiments in documentary distribution crafted for specific audiences, they’ll present a new frontier for film releasing done with care.

The process for using and clearing archive material in docs can feel daunting… and expensive. This session will demystify the archive journey, featuring an expert panel who use archive material every day and help others to do it too. What archive is out there and available to use, and how do you research and discover it? Who do you ask for permission, what are the costs, and how do you negotiate them? What does it mean when material is in the public domain, and is fair dealing actually a thing in the UK? Beyond the admin and finance side, what are best practices of using archive creatively and interestingly in your film?

Featuring:
Stephen Slater, archive Producer specialising in space
Gonzalo Chacon, director at Footage Farm, UK archive library specialising in Public Domain material
Janet Mc Bride, archive film consultant
Simon McCallum, archive projects curator, BFI

Chair: Charlie Phillips

More than any other film art form, the film is really made in the edit with documentaries, and your editor has to be your best friend. This session features three top UK editors who will talk about what you need to do as directors and producers to make the edit go well.

Featuring:
Nicole Hálová (All Rivers Spill Their Stories To The Sea)
Emelie Mahdavian (The Lake, Sundance Special Jury Prize 2026)
Cassandra Roberts (Stich and Bitch Editors)

Chair: James Collie

Bring your own, or buy from the amazing eateries around Quarterhouse.

A session with filmmaker and researcher Ed Webb-Ingall on his new book The Story of British Video Activism. The event will trace the democratising impact of portable video recording technology from the late 1960s to the early 21st century. Webb-Ingall will introduce pioneering and dynamic videomakers showing how video played a powerful role in local and national campaigns on issues including housing, labour struggles and racial justice.

Ed Webb-Ingall will be joined in-conversation by Charlie Phillips.

Meet some of this year’s brilliant short filmmakers featured in the festival programme, and hear how they got their films made. Featuring:

Daisy Ifama (Rap Baby)
Roopa Gogineni and Farhaan (Riding Time)
Louisa Rechenbach (Concrete Roots)
Callum McCulloch (The Weavers)

Chair: James Collie

Anna Mansi, director of film and video game certification at the BFI, will present a practical guide to the Audio Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC) and Independent Film Tax Credit (IFTC) for documentaries – essential tools for every UK filmmaker to know how to access.

Who’s out there offering new opportunities to get your documentaries funded and otherwise supported? Hear from some documentary supporters who you may not have otherwise been aware of – what they’re looking for, how you can approach them, and what they’re excited about in documentaries right now.

Featuring:

Sylvia Bednarz, Managing Director, Grierson Trust
Janine Thomas, Assistant Commissioner, BBC Storyville
James Weddup, Fund Manager for slate development and majority co-production, Global Screen Fund (BFI)
Harriet Guggenheim,  co-founder and co-director, Placeholder Films
Jamie Allan, Talent Development Manager, BFI Doc Society Fund

Chair: Charlie Phillips