Grace Jones - The Musical of My Life, The Lovers and the Despot and Irene’s Ghost to receive funding following Sheffield Doc/Fest pitching session.

Three feature documentaries are to receive support from the BFI Film Fund following a pitching session at Sheffield Doc/Fest.

The three projects are Sophie Fiennes’ Grace Jones - The Musical of My Life, a journey into the private and public worlds of Grace Jones, Robert Cannan & Ross Adam’s The Lovers and the Despot, about a celebrity director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il and forced to make films, and Iain Cunningham’s Irene’s Ghost, chronicling the journey of the film-maker to build a picture of the mother he never knew.

Lizzie Francke, BFI Film Fund senior executive, commented: “We were blown away by the quality of all the projects selected to pitch at the Sheffield Doc/Fest session. The pitch session provides a valuable opportunity to pinpoint those documentary projects with the potential to capture the imagination of cinema audiences, and the creative vision of filmmakers to bring characters to the big screen in thought-provoking and exciting ways.”

The BFI has also committed to further engagement on George Amponsah’s hybrid observational documentary Down By Law and Steve Loveridge’s Untitled M.I.A. Project.

Along with Francke, the panel comprised of director of the Film Fund Ben Roberts, BFI senior distribution manager Katie Ellen and head of SXSW film Janet Pierson.

Previous documentaries backed by the BFI Film Fund include 20,000 Days on Earth, Night Will Fall and Dark Horse.

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