Documentary - DocHeads

Doc Heads announces a new cinema event for short documentaries across London in March and April...

The cinema programme, in association with Film London, Film Hub London and BFI Film Audience Network, will launch on 16th March at Bertha DocHouse, Curzon Bloomsbury, and will play at selected sites across London in March & April.

Doc Heads believes that the shortform is the future, and this new programme premieres films from some of the most exciting filmmakers of the moment – Oscar-nominated, BAFTA winning, Staff-Picked. Innovative, boundary-pushing and cinematic: it’s an immersive experience designed for the big screen.

But this isn’t just about great films; this is also event cinema. Each screening is themed and offers the audience an opportunity to take part in intelligent discussion with filmmakers and other high-profile speakers around important stories.

The first programme of Doc Heads highlights the stories of the excluded or marginalized and takes us into new corners of the world, experiencing blindness through the eyes of a child; the world of journalists chasing car crashes in Cambodia; teenagers tempted by the far-right in Bradford; poetry in the Calais jungle and the life wisdom of a hot dog seller on the streets of London.

Pete Middleton & James Spinney premiere Radio H, a follow-up to the multi-award winning, critically-acclaimed Notes on Blindness. Throughout the 1980s, John Hulls’ eldest daughter Imogen was the self-styled presenter of ‘Radio H’, an ambitious make-believe radio show recorded on her Fisher Price tape recorder. As a counterpoint to John’s landmark investigation of blindness, this short film revisits Imogen’s childhood recordings, as she reflects on her life growing up with a blind father.

Max Cutting & James Dougan premiere Nightcrawlers of Phnom Penh, a visceral, cinematic insight into the lives of real-life “Nightcrawlers” chasing car crashes in the Cambodian city to sell photos.

Christian Cerami presents the theatrical premiere of BAFTA shortlisted and Grierson nominated Black Sheep, a look at the wave of islamophobia sweeping Britain through the eyes of two young men. Set in the North of England, it explores the dynamics of working-class youth culture, rising inequality and deeply inherent xenophobia.

Stephan Bookas & Tristan Daws’ Refugee Blues charts a day in ‘the jungle’, set to the verses of WH Auden’s 1939 poem Refugee Blues. More intimate than anything seen in the mass media, this documentary poem counterpoints the camp’s harsh reality of frequent clashes with the French riot police with its inhabitants longing for a better future.

Jamie Roberts presents Dinner Time, the world according to hot dog seller Arezki on a Thursday night in Soho.

Doc Heads was established in 2009 to support documentary filmmakers in all ways – through screenings, networking and commissioning opportunities. Since then, it’s expanded to become one of the leading organisations in the documentary world, counting BAFTA, Emmy and Oscar nominated filmmakers amongst its members. Now it aims to bring the world of short documentary to new audiences across the capital through cinema releases and wider distribution.

DocHeads co-founder Katharine Round says, “In recent years shortform has become an exciting space for documentary; allowing filmmakers to experiment with new, bold ideas. We believe our new DocHeads programme offers something special for audiences - the best new films from the most pioneering voices working in documentary today, with a chance to hear direct from the filmmakers and those working on the front lines of some of the issues raised.”

DOCHEADS will be screening at the following sites in March/April 2017:

16th March – Bertha DocHouse
23rd March – Lexi Cinema, Kensal Rise
28th March – Genesis Cinema, Whitechapel
29th March – Horse Hospital, Bloomsbury
4th April – Shortwave Cinema, Bermondsey
5th April – Leytonstone Pop-Up cinema
20th April – Arthouse Crouch End

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