Sheffield Doc/Fest announced today a selection of highlights that will form part of the 2021 festival, including its opening and closing films.
The festival will open with the European premiere of Summer of Soul (...Or When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised), by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, a Searchlight Pictures release. It is a film that will inspire the next 10 days of programme through its testimony of a unique moment in history, the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, and the transformative power of culture and music.
The closing film will be the world premiere of The Story of Looking, the latest film by Mark Cousins. In a time when our common experiences are shaped by long confinements and a constant assault from images, this film proposes that we look again into the world's complexities, contradictions and beauty. Mark Cousins will also be in conversation, live-streamed from Sheffield, about his personal relation to film and images.
In a first for Sheffield Doc/Fest, both Summer of Soul on 4 June and The Story of Looking on 12 June will also premiere? simultaneously in cinemas around the UK. Participating cinemas so far include; Arts Picturehouse in Cambridge, BFI Southbank in London, Broadway in Nottingham, Chapter in Cardiff, City Varieties Music Hall (in partnership with Hyde Park Picturehouse) in Leeds, Duke of Yorks Picturehouse in Brighton, Eden Court Highlands in Inverness, FACT in Liverpool, Filmhouse in Edinburgh, Glasgow Film Theatre, HOME in Manchester, National Media Museum in Bradford, Phoenix in Exeter, Quad in Derby and Watershed in Bristol. (Physical screenings are subject to government guidelines)
Mark Cousins commented, "We're honoured to premiere our film on the closing night of Sheffield's acclaimed Doc/Fest. We hope it will send audiences and delegates back out into the world with hearts aglow and fresh eyes!"
