We are delighted to announce our 2024 Film Programme Team as well as our team of Programme Consultants and Advisers, who will be selecting films for our 31st edition, taking place 12 - 17 June.
Our Creative Director Raul Niño Zambrano leads our programming team and is supported by Film Programme Producer, Mita Suri, who has been with the festival since 2019, and Short Film and Community Programme Curator. Jamie Allan, who returns to our programming team for the fourth year running. We also welcome a team of 5 Programme Consultants and 15 Programme Advisers, whose expertise and perspective spans the full spectrum of the documentary industry.
“Our upcoming festival edition in June is on the horizon, and I am thrilled to introduce our exceptional team of program advisers and consultants. Their remarkable perspectives, extensive expertise, and unwavering commitment to the documentary art form are truly extraordinary. We can’t wait to share the harvest from the films we have received and those that are still on their way. Stay tuned for an unforgettable celebration of documentary storytelling”
– Raul Niño Zambrano, Creative Director
Meet our Film Programme Team
Raul Niño Zambrano - (he/him)
Raul Niño Zambrano joined Sheffield DocFest in 2021 and was confirmed as Creative Director in 2023 ahead of the 30th edition of the festival. Prior this, he was previously Senior Programmer at IDFA (International Documentary Festival Amsterdam) from 2008-2021. During his tenure at IDFA, Raul conducted a ground-breaking study on the position of women within the documentary world The Female Gaze (2014) and initiated the IDFA Queer Day (2013, ongoing). In addition to being a lead programmer on the overall selection, he curated such programmes as Emerging Voices from Southeast Asia, and Cinema do Brasil. He has participated in many international festivals as a juror (Hot Docs, DocPoint, Morelia Film Festival) and as an expert/tutor (DocMontevideo, FESPACO, Brasil CineMundi, If/Then Shorts Global Pitch, DMZ Docs). Raul followed his true passion for documentary film, studying Media and Culture at the University of Amsterdam, after working in the Netherlands as an engineer specialising in wind energy. Raul introduced last year at Sheffield DocFest the Podcast Pitch and the First Impressions strand championing first episodes of documentary series, showing his commitment to present all the spectrum of the documentary form.
Mita Suri - (she/her)
Film Programme Producer
With a background in community cinema exhibition, Mita Suri started working at Sheffield DocFest as a volunteer, then supported the DocCircuit tour as a Distribution Trainee, moving on to be the Film Programme Coordinator and now the Film Programme Producer, where she supervises the delivery of the Film Programme for the festival. She is primarily responsible for DocFest’s many external relationships including filmmakers, national film institutes and distributors; she also manages the submissions process, runs the Youth Jury Programme and leads on DocFest's year-round screenings programme across the UK. She was a programmer for the 2021 Sheffield DocFest Northern Focus film strand.
Jamie Allan - (he/him)
Short Film and Community Programme Curator
Jamie joined Sheffield DocFest in 2021 as the Curator of the DocFest Exchange and now heads up the festival’s short film programme and wider community programming. With a background in documentary filmmaking and community cinema, he is passionate about how collective filmmaking practices and transdisciplinary collaboration can create space for alternative forms of storytelling and exhibition.
Previously he was Curator of the Artist Film programmes at HOME, Manchester’s centre for international contemporary art, theatre and film. He has a Masters in Documentary Film Directing from the DocNomads itinerant film school in Lisbon, Budapest and Brussels, and a Post-Masters in Collective Practices from the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm.
Meet our Programme Consultants
Alfredo Mora Manzano - (he/him)
Ecuadorian documentary film producer, programmer, and writer with over twenty years of experience in the Latin American cinema field. Alfredo has produced the feature documentaries Abuelos by Carla Valencia (nominated for Best First Feature at IDFA), Territorio by Alexandra Cuesta (FIDMarseille, BAFICI), The Great-grandmother has Alzheimer's (DOCTV, Cartagena), and The Beach of Enchaquirados (premiered at IDFA International Competition and awarded at DocLisboa, Major Docs, Guadalajara and Lima), both by Iván Mora Manzano.
Until 2020, he served as the Executive Director of EDOC (Encounters of the Other Cinema), the longest-running and most prestigious film festival in Ecuador. He currently resides in Quito, where he is producing the feature documentaries The Movement of Things by Alexandra Cuesta and Compadre Fannie by Iván Mora Manzano for La República Invisible and Tóxica Films.
Carmen Thompson (she/her)
Carmen is a programmer, curator and creative producer based in Edinburgh. Her interests centre around cinema from the African continent and the Black diaspora, perhaps most specifically at their intersections with non-fiction storytelling. She currently works as Programming and Audience Manager (UK/International) for award-winning film exhibition and distribution company We Are Parable, and as a programme consultant for both Red Sea Film Festival and Durban FilmMart. Carmen also sits on the boards of British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) and Glasgow Film, and is chair of the board of Document Human Rights Film Festival. She is a voting member of BAFTA Scotland.
Chloë Roddick (she/her)
Chloë has been a film programmer and writer for nearly 15 years. Currently based in Mexico City she is a Senior Programmer for the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), where she works on both international and Mexican cinema strands. She is also currently Head of Mexican Documentary for that Festival. Between 2019 and 2021 she was the Director of Programming for the Tulum International Film Festival (FICTU). She is a programme consultant for Sheffield DocFest and watches docs for Ambulante and SXSW.
Chloë writes about film for Sight & Sound, and also curates and assists on programmes of Mexican cinema for festivals and institutions like Il Cinema Ritrovato, the BFI, MoMA and the Cinémathèque française, among others.
John Badalu (he/him)
John Badalu has been working in the film industry for over 20 years. Badalu has worked as a Festival Delegate and Programmer for festivals such as Berlin, Shanghai and Tallinn International Film Festival between 2011 to 2019. He co-founded numerous film festivals back home in Indonesia including Q! Film Festival., a festival that opened dialogues on LGBTQ+ and Human Rights issues. Badalu is also an independent producer with films that have premiered in Cannes, Sundance, Locarno, Rotterdam and Busan. The last 3 films that he produced and co-produced have screened at Cannes (Basri & Salma in A Never-Ending Comedy), Busan (Where The Wild Frangipanis Grow) and IDFA (Under The Moonlight).
Kim Young woo (he/him)
KIM Young woo studied visual arts & TV at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, US. He worked for the selection committee of Busan International Film Festival as a programmer in charge of Asian cinema until 2019, and worked for DMZ DOCS Korea as a programmer until 2021. KIM is a board member of the Seoul Independent Film Festival and currently works as a programmer. Kim is also working for Red Sea International Film Festival as a programmer in charge of Asian/Korean cinema and has been working as a program advisor to LOCARNO, IDFA, and other festivals in the EU.
Meet our Programme Advisers
Aderinsola Ajao (she/her)
Aderinsola Ajao is an arts manager and film curator based in Lagos, Nigeria. Her work cuts across the creative and cultural industries, and her writing has appeared in publications including Chimurenga, Africiné, Awotele, MUBI’s Notebook, Glänta, The Sun, La Furia Umana and The Hollywood Reporter. She was previously Programme Officer at Goethe-Institut Nigeria, and is currently Regional Programme Manager for West/Central Africa at the Johannesburg office of Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council. She has participated in the Fespaco/Africiné Critics’ Workshop; the Berlinale and Durban Talents Press; CICAE’s Arthouse Cinema Management Workshop, and the Southern Africa – Locarno Industry Academy. She has been on film juries at DOK Leipzig, Márgenes Film Festival, Film Africa, and CPH:DOX. She was a guest curator at the 15th Go Short International Film Festival. Aderinsola is also the founder and curator of Screen Out Loud, an independent cinema programme organized in partnership with Alliance Française Lagos.
Clodagh Chapman (she/her)
Clodagh Chapman is a writer, director and programmer for theatre, film, and television. She has previously been part of the programming teams for Sheffield DocFest and BFI Future Film Festival, run sold-out events for BFI London Film Festival, BFI Flare and HOME Manchester, and had new film writing commissioned by Open City DocFest. As a writer and director, Clodagh work has played in competition at BAFTA-qualifying festivals worldwide, and toured to major venues across the UK. She is currently developing projects with HOME Manchester and Little Stitch Productions, and has previously been selected for talent development with BFI NETWORK, Young Vic, Box of Tricks, and Rope Ladder Fiction. Clodagh is also a reader for the Bush Theatre, and co-creates new work with young people for the National Theatre and The Lowry.
Deepthi Pendurty (she/her)
Deepthi was the festival manager for Dharamshala IFF from 2018 until 2022 and oversaw various aspects of the festival including operations, partnerships, programming, submissions process and building the year round programme, and until 2023 managed and built programmes that provide training, project accelerators, support and development resources for producers at ProducerLAND in Goa. Deepthi also has over 9 years of experience in television programming & production in Hyderabad and Mumbai, and is the co-founder of Hyderabad Children’s Theatre Festival. She has a Masters in Communication from the University of Hyderabad.
Edwin Mingard (he/him)
Edwin Mingard is a visual artist, filmmaker and curator. He has founded several organisations at the intersection of film and social change including Deptford Cinema (London) and Satellite, an artist-led production company and commissioner. He is a Curatorial Advisor for SIDE Gallery (Newcastle Upon Tyne). Edwin was a 2020 Bloomberg New Contemporary, and longlisted for the 2021 Aesthetica Art Prize. He is currently developing a new feature length film with support from Chisenhale Gallery, Arts Council England and Freelands Foundation.
Fahd Ahmed (he/him)
Fahd Ahmed is a British/Pakistani editor and producer based in London. He is the founder and creative director of Studio Amorem, a studio located in East London. He was the producer on the leading multi-series Arab Ramadan show, Kannak Tarah. He has edited for the BBC and was a story editor on the PBS-funded 3-part docuseries, A Town Called Victoria. He has been an editing fellow in the Gotham Edit Lab, Close-Up Initiative Edit Lab and the prestigious Sundance Story and Edit Lab. Recently, he co-produced and edited the feature documentary - Q (Jude Chehab, 2023.) Q has been awarded the Albert Maysles Award (Tribeca), the Grand Jury First Feature Award (Sheffield Docfest) and was named by Vogue as one of the best documentaries of 2023. He is currently nominated for an IDA Award for Best Editing.
Harry Kalfayan (he/him)
Kalfayan is a film programmer, channel manager and editor from London. He has been a part of the programming team at DocFest for the past three years, and currently works at Channel 4 on their long-form distribution on YouTube. He co-founded the non-fiction film platform Opensources, who have organised events at the ICA, Autograph ABP and HKW in Berlin. Previously he worked across post-production, production and film marketing at Al Jazeera, Little Dot Studios and Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Festival. He is a trustee at the Independent Cinema Office and is on the screening committee for True/False Film Festival 2024.
Lesedi Oluko Moche (she/her)
Lesedi Oluko Moche is a film festival programmer, creative producer and documentary film advisor. She is the former festival director of the Encounters International Documentary Festival and has programmed documentary films for the Durban International Film Festival and Curated films for the European Film Festival. Her experience as producer includes television talk shows, non-fiction podcasts, and independent documentaries. Lesedi finds joy in places and spaces where storytelling, in all its forms, reigns supreme.
Mariana Hristova (she/her)
Mariana Hristova a Bulgarian film critic, cultural journalist and programmer, with a special interest in the cinema of the Balkan countries and Eastern Europe as well as avant-garde, amateur and underrepresented cinema. She is a regular contributor to Cineuropa, Klassiki Journal, Kino Magazine and Filmsociety.bg, holder of the Balkan film website Altcine.com's film critic award, and member of FIPRESCI. She currently lives in Barcelona, Spain where she programs for various festivals and institutions. She also works as an indexer at FIAF - the International Federation of Film Archives.
Martijn te Pas (he/him)
Martijn te Pas studied Psychology, English and Film & Television Studies at the University of Amsterdam. From 2000 onwards until 2019 he was part of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) as senior programmer. He was an advisor for the IDFA Bertha Fund and also read projects for the IDFA Forum. Between 2000 and 2020 he travelled to many film festivals as a guest or jury member. Martijn also was a documentary advisor of the Dutch Mediafund (currently NPO Fund) between 2007 and 2013.
In 2019 Martijn moved from Amsterdam to Stockholm and in 2020 he was Guest Documentary Programmer at Nordisk Panorama. Currently he is a programmer and festival advisor of MIRAGE - a hybrid/documentary festival in Oslo.
April 2020 Martijn started e u R O P E doconsultancy which is aimed at directors and producers and offers tailor made SWOT analysis of films both at development and edit stages. Martijn also offers expert advice and guidance on curation, festival and distribution strategies.
Martijn is an advisor of Eurimages, worked for SFI Talent to Watch in 2023 and is an EAVE and Sources 2 alumnus. Occasionally he writes reviews - and interviews filmmakers for Business Doc Europe.
Mathy Selvakumaran (she/her)
Mathy is a creative producer, writer and activist. Working in the intersection of the arts and disability activism, her greatest passion lies in finding and amplifying character-driven narratives of disability and illness, particularly stories told from within the community and from the lens of those lived experiences. She consults for organisations such as Unlimited and The Writers Lab, and has spoken on panels for Slate/Eclipse and the National Paralympic Heritage Trust. As a disability activist, she has been featured on BBC television and radio, in national newspapers and on online platforms such as HuffPost, and has been invited to speak in Parliament with Muscular Dystrophy UK. She also produces youth-led filmmaking programmes in educational settings. In recognition of her dedication to championing diversity in the creative industries, Mathy has been recognised as a Trailblazer of the Future by Campaign Magazine, and is an alumna of the Rare with Google Leadership Academy. Having worked at DocFest in various roles in the Industry and Programming teams since 2017, she is excited to come back to the festival as a Programme Adviser.
Rachel Pronger (she/her)
Rachel Pronger is a writer, curator and producer. She is a programme adviser for Sheffield DocFest, BFI London Film Festival and Aesthetica Short Film Festival, and a team member of SiNEMA TRANSTOPIA. As co-founder of archive activist feminist collective Invisible Women, Rachel has co-curated screenings for BFI Southbank, Cinema Rediscovered, HOME Manchester, BalkanCanKino Athens, London Short Film Festival and Glasgow Film Theatre. Her writing has been published by outlets including Sight & Sound, The Guardian, MUBI Notebook, Art Monthly, Little White Lies and BBC Culture. Originally from Bradford, she is currently based in Berlin.
Tara Brown (they/them)
Tara Brown is a Film Curator and Creative Evaluation Consultant. They describe themselves as a Black fat queer non-binary trans disabled femme. Inspired by the principles of Disability Justice their primary goal is to ensure that cinema is as accessible, diverse and brilliant as possible! Currently they are a Trustee for Reclaim The Frame, an Assistant Programme Advisor for London Film Festival and Programmer for Fringe! Queer Film + Arts Fest and London Indian Film Festival.
From a background working in community events and art education, they have been lucky to work with Bernie Grant Art Centre, Barbican Centre, Lewisham Council, BFI, Wellcome Collection, Fringe Queer Film + Arts Fest, London Indian Film Festival, Home, Whitechapel gallery, the vacuum cleaner and more.
Toni Lee - they/them
Toni Lee is a programmer, filmmaker and impact producer based in Leeds. They are part of the organising team at the annual Leeds Queer Film Festival and have previously worked at Journey's Festival International, on a dedicated programme of films made by and with Asylum Seeker and Refugee Filmmakers. Their film work is concerned with the idea of Queer identity and expression, as well as forming a dedicated Film Unit on organising and social liberation in West Yorkshire. Toni works as an Impact Producer at Reclaim the Frame supporting the work of filmmakers from marginalised genders and their fullest expression through meaningful community engagement.
Zeynep Kaserci (she/her)
Zeynep is an artist-researcher and producer with a background in visual anthropology. For the past two years, she has worked as a producer at Close Up, a non-profit NGO dedicated to working with emerging documentary filmmakers from Southwest Asia and North Africa. Recently she participated in the EU funded project ‘Alexandria: (Re)activating Common Urban Imaginaries’ as an artist-in-residence, investigating urban and social processes in Alexandria through its connection to the wider Mediterranean region. The project resulted in a publication that was showcased at MUCEM, Bozar, and Citadellarte. Previously, she conducted fieldwork on the relationality between embodied work and experiences of gender inequality in Turkey, and her short documentary Ocak shot as part of this research was screened at festivals and art galleries such as the RAI, Jean Rouch Film Festival, William Morris Gallery. Currently, she is based in London and works as a cultural programmer.
Zinha Morgan-Bennett (she/her)
Emma "Zinha" Morgan-Bennett is a native New Yorker living in London. Zinha first discovered her love of documentaries through her undergraduate studies in Anthropology and Black studies, and she has since embarked on a career as a director and programmer interested in stories surrounding race, reproduction and apocalypse in both nonfiction and fiction narratives. She is a graduate of Goldsmiths University's Documentary Masters, a 2020 Marshall Scholar, and currently in residence at Birmingham Open Media.