Leading figures from the UK documentary world have thrown their support behind an open letter from the Documentary Film Council (DFC) raising the alarm about the predicament of the UK indie doc sector.
Despite rhetoric about this being a golden age of documentary, the letter claims the sector “faces an existential threat”. Production funding for indie docs has plummeted and chances of distribution and exhibition for many are “non-existent.” Broadcast slots are also dwindling as are deals with streaming platforms while many of the titles that do get commissioned tend to be in the true crime or celebrity genres.
“Sustaining careers in these conditions is all but impossible aside for a relatively privileged few, which has direct implications for filmmaker wellbeing and the docs sector’s devastating lack of diversity,” the letter said.
It adds that the true crime boom and the popularity of celebrity-led docs have meant that “many colleagues, executives and policymakers outside the indie docs community are unaware of the crisis unfolding in our midst.”
Among those who have signed the letter are Kim Longinotto, Sean McAllister, Orlando von Einsiedel, Jeanie Finlay, Jerry Rothwell, Andre Singer, Mark Cousins, Andrew Kötting, and Mike Lerner.
Next steps
The DFC was set up earlier this summer just prior to Sheffield DocFest to lobby for the sector and to highlight challenges facing UK documentary. Joint acting CEOs are Emily Copley and Steve Presence. The organisation was launched in the wake of the UK feature docs research project led by Presence at the University of the West of England in Bristol. The research, published in 2021, suggested the documentary sector suffered from a lack of visibility compared to the rest of the UK screen industry and highlighted the fragmented nature of UK documentary.
“It [the creation of the new organisation] was a big ask, really, from the independent documentary film sector that a nationally representative body be set up in order to better coordinate and represent the interests of the community,” said DFC board member Sandra Whipham, director of Doc Society.
The organisation has been set up as a co-op with initial seed funding from Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). It is now looking to raise further funding. Some support is coming through membership fees (which have been kept purposefully low). The hope is to secure what Whipham calls ”meaningful support” from the broadcast and commercial sector.
“The independent documentary film community is a crucial part of the public interest eco-system and, at the moment, [this] space is very much under threat,” Whipham commented. “The members are very concerned about skills and training. There isn’t really any skills and training addressing independent documentary filmmakers. It is very focused on high end TV and the more commercial end of the sector.”
DFC was formally recognised by the UK government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in June but does not stand to receive any backing from the British Film Institute (BFI).
“The BFI have said they are not able to fund us because part of what we are doing is advocacy so there is a potential conflict of interest there. That is not a route we can go now,” Whipham explained. “[But] we do feel there needs to be adequate state-level support and recognition of documentary film. Those conversations are definitely something that we would welcome.”
Fellow board members have also shared their thoughts about the new outfit.
“It felt hugely empowering for me to see that that this organisation was being put in place,” said DFC chair Roisín Geraghty (an independent film producer who is head of industry at Docs Ireland). She pointed out that, currently, “a lot of documentary makers are not in a position to make a living.” At the development stage in particular, filmmakers are often required to work without funding.
“It is hopefully a body that can try and lobby for more investment in documentary and more opportunities for people not to leave documentary due to financial trouble,” agreed filmmaker and board member Paul Sng (whose latest feature doc Tish had its world premiere at Sheffield DocFest and will be launched in cinemas next month by Modern Films).”Initially, in the short term, it (DFC) is a way of bringing us all together. When there are issues about funding, representation and all those issues, it is a way to bring us all together.
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