Doc/Fest announces titles

Two events to open 22nd edition.

by Amber Wilkinson

The Greatest Shows on Earth: A Century of Funfairs, Circuses and Carnivals will screen on opening night.
The Greatest Shows on Earth: A Century of Funfairs, Circuses and Carnivals will screen on opening night.
Sheffield Doc/Fest has announced the line-up of its 22nd edition with two events on the June 5 night.

Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence will have its UK premiere at one of them. The film - which is a sequel to the award-winning The Act of Killing - sees a family who survived the genocide confront a man who killed one of their clan.

The second opening event is the world premiere of The Greatest Shows on Earth: A Century of Funfairs, Circuses and Carnivals – a music and archive film directed by Icelander Benedikt Erlingsson (Of Horses And Men) which will feature a new score by Georg Hólm and Orri Páll Dýrason from Sigur Rós and the head of the Pagan Church in Iceland, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson. It tells the story of itinerant circus performers, cabaret acts and fairground attractions, with was created with exclusive access to The University of Sheffield’s National Fairground Archive. A live circus show will precede the film and there will be a Q&A from the director and the band members afterwards.

Twelve films will screen in competition - see the line-up here - and the festival will show 150 feature and short documentaries from 35 countries, including 31 world premieres, 13 international, 19 EU, and 40 UK premieres.

The festival will close on June 10 with the European premiere of Monty Python: The Meaning of Live. It will be followed by a conversation with Michael Palin and directors Roger Graef and James Rogan, hosted by comic Josie Long.

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