cousins mansoor

Source: Vera de Kok (licensed under CC by 2.0) / Dave Hulin

Mark Cousins, Kat Mansoor

New works from Mark Cousins and Cow producer Kat Mansoor are among 35 documentary projects selected for Sheffield DocFest’s MeetMarket pitching forum, which returns as an in-person event for 2022 from June 27-28.

The event will run in-person for the first time since 2019; and will continue online in the days following the festival. The selected titles are a mixture of theatrical features, and projects being made for television.

Scroll down for the full list of projects  

Cousins is presenting UK title A Sudden Glimpse To Deeper Things, produced by Adam Dawtrey and Mary Bell. Details are scarce on the project at this stage; Cousins previously worked with the producers on four features including 2021’s The Story Of Looking.

Mansoor is participating as a producer with Re-Evaluation, directed by Toby Bull. Last month Mansoor launched non-fiction film and TV production venture Snowstorm Productions, based in the UK.

Acclaimed UK documentarian Kim Longinotto will take part in the market with Dalton’s Dream, a self-financed feature about reality TV star Dalton Harris, which she is co-directing with Franky Murray Brown.

Also selected for the MeetMarket are I Am Irvine Welsh, a fly-on-the-wall documentary about the Trainspotting writer from Poly Styrene director Paul Sng; and Collateral Echoes, a new project from 2018 Screen Star of Tomorrow writer-director Baff Akoto.

The 2022 projects encompass 25 production countries, including the Bahamas, Central African Republic, Namibia and Estonia.

Eleven of the directors are making their first full-length work, across features and series.

Around 300 decision makers from 20 countries are set to attend the event, including executives from Netflix, Arte, POV, ESPN, and all the major UK broadcasters and public funds.

“The format is all about personal connections,” said Charlie Phillips, executive producer, industry participation at DocFest. “This year’s set of projects will take our decision makers all around the world, with one of our best ever ranges of countries represented.”

“We’re fostering an open, casual culture both at Cutlers’ Hall [which hosts the market] and online, supporting creative voices to find investors, advocates and collaborators,” said DocFest senior industry producer Charlotte Reekers.“ In addition to our MeetMarket line-up, we look forward to soon revealing the talent who will participate in our revamped programmes which are structured to shake up the industry by encouraging dialogue between new talent and experts.”

Seven external assessors selected the MeetMarket projects: Cinetic Media’s Alexis Galfas, The Guardian’s Lindsay Poulton, Fremantle’s Mandy Chang, BFI Film Hub Midlands’ Manon Euler, writer, producer and director Rajesh Thind, Doc & Rio Festival Agency’s Rei Garcia, and Tiny Mungwe from social and environmental impact organisation Steps.

The full DocFest will run from June 23-28.

Sheffield DocFest MeetMarket 2022 projects

40 Years Of Silence (UK-Iraq-Swe) dir. Maythem Ridha, prods. Maythem Ridha, Andreas Rocksén, Mostafa Nagy

#NunsToo Documentary (US-It) dir. Lorena Luciano, prod. Filippo Piscopo

A Fox Under A Pink Moon (Iran) dir. Mehrdad Oskouei, prods. Mehrdad Oskouei, Siavash Jamali

A Sudden Glimpse To Deeper Things (UK) dir. Mark Cousins, prods. Adam Dawtrey, Mary Bell

Between The Rains (Ken-US) dirs. Andrew H Brown, Moses Thuranira, prods. Moses Thuranira, Samuel Ekomol, Andrew H Brown, Ngaihike Napuu

Brigidy Bram: The Life and Mind of Kendal Hanna (Bah-US-S Afr) dirs. Kareem Mortimer, Laura Gamse, prods. Kareem Mortimer, Laura Gamse

Collateral Echoes (UK) dir. Baff Akoto, prod. L-A Appiah

Concrete Land (Jor) dir. Asmahan Bkerat, prod. Sahar Yousefi

Copa ’71 (UK) dirs. Rachel Ramsay, James Erskine, prod. Victoria Gregory

Dalton’s Dream (UK) dirs. Kim Longinotto, Franky Murray Brown, prod. Lorine Plagnol

Eat Bitter (CAF) dirs. Ningyi Sun, Pascale Appora-Gnekindy, prod. Mathieu Faure

Emma & Eddie, a working couple (Hun-Fr) dir. Gabor Horcher, prods. Marcell Iványi, Christine Le Goff

Everest Dark (Can) dir. Jereme Watt, prods. Merit Jensen Carr, Ina Fichman, Michael Bodnarchuk, Jereme Watt

Faces of Agata (Pol-UK) dir. Malgorzata Kozera, prods. Maria Krauss, Peter Fudakowski

Housewife of the Year (Ire) dir. Ciaran Cassidy, prod. Maria Horgan

Hummingbirds (US) dirs. Silvia Castaños, Estefanía Contreras, prods. Jillian Schlesinger, Leslie Benavides, Miguel Drake-McLaughlin

I Am Irvine Welsh (UK) dir. Paul Sng, prod. Natasha Dack Ojumu

Life + Life (US) dir. Contessa Gayles, prods. Contessa Gayles, Richie Reseda, David Felix Sutcliffe

Lock-In (Fin-Sp) dir. Chico Pereira, prod. Kaarle Aho

Matryoshka (Cos-Mex) dir. Maricarmen Merino, prods. Paulina Villegas, Karla Bukantz, Maricarmen Merino

My Extinction (UK) dirs. David Proud, Paul Viragh, prod. Lindsey Dryden

Our Hoolocks (Ind-S Kor-US) dirs. Ragini Nath, Chinmoy Sonowal, prods. Gary Byung-seok Kam, Kweighbaye Kotee

Redlight to Limelight (Ind-Est) dir. Bipuljit Basu, prods. Max Tuula, Maria Gavrilova

Re-Evaluation (UK) dir. Toby Bull, prod. Kat Mansoor

Searching for Mariam (Fr-US) dir. Jehan Selim Harney, prods. Marc Berdugo, Barbara Conforti, Jehan Selim Harney

The Buddhists of Beara (Ire) dir. Maurice O’Brien, prod. Clare Stronge

The Gender Project (working title) (US) dir. Kimberley Reed, prods. Louise Rosen, Kimberly Reed, Robin Honan

The Journalist And The Jailer (Ger) dir. Adithya Sambamurthy, prod. Alex Tondowski

The Portuguese Experiment (UK) dir. Nick Willing, prod. Michele Camarda

The Queendom (Mex) dir. Otilia Portillo Padua, prod. Paula Arroio Sandoval

Time Hunter (Nam-Ger-US) dirs. Daniel Chein, Mark Mushiva, prods. Daniel Chein, Mark Mushiva, David Felix Sutcliffe

To Use a Mountain (US) dir. Casey Carter, prod. Colleen Cassingham

Untitled Fan Ruozhou Project (China-UK) dir. Fan Ruozhou, prod. Chen Daishan

Wife Of (Est) dir. Volia Chajkouskaya, prods. Ivo Felt, Christian Popp, Marius Markevicius

Information about the 35th project is only available to selected decision makers and experts