This year’s Festival Guest of Honour is Maxine Peake (Credit: Craig Fleming)
Sheffield DocFest has announced the initial lineup for this year’s festival.
The 2026 edition of Sheffield DocFest, ‘Realities in Motion’, will take over Sheffield from 10-15 June, featuring this year’s Festival Guest of Honour Maxine Peake, as well as Miriam Margolyes, Chris Packham, Andrea Arnold, and a special event dedicated to one of the world’s most famous living documentary makers, Sir David Attenborough.
Sheffield DocFest has also announced that for 2026 it will present a family strand of the internationally renowned festival aimed at audiences of all ages.
“Sheffield DocFest is a key moment in the UK’s cultural calendar where audiences can experience the very best in documentary filmmaking,” organisers said.
“Each year hundreds of artists and filmmakers from all over the world descend on the North of England in June to present groundbreaking world premieres and talks that inspire fresh perspectives, challenge conventional thought and invite audiences to consider alternate realities.
“One of the world’s most influential markets for documentary projects, the festival showcases the full breadth of the form across film, television, podcasts, immersive and virtual reality and art, presenting some of the most exciting creative minds from across the globe at all stages of their careers.”
The programme is curated from around 3,000 entries worldwide, presenting a “distinctive mix of bold, vivid and socially conscious work” showcased in iconic city venues and unusual spaces throughout Sheffield.
Renowned naturalist, environmentalist and campaigner Chris Packham will reflect on his “career-defining programmes” with the BBC (Credit: Courtesy of the BBC)
Raul Niño Zambrano, creative director, Sheffield DocFest, said: “‘Realities in Motion’ captures something essential about where we find ourselves in 2026, a moment defined as much by uncertainty as by constant transformation.
“At Sheffield DocFest this June, we embrace change not as something fleeting, but as an ongoing force that shapes how we see and understand the world.
“The programme title also speaks to movement in its most active sense, from grassroots activism to global technological shifts, reminding us that realities are continually being reshaped through collective momentum.
“We are incredibly proud and honoured to welcome such extraordinary voices to this year’s edition, including our Guest of Honour Maxine Peake, alongside Andrea Arnold, Miriam Margolyes and Chris Packham as part of our talks programme – artists and thinkers who truly embody the spirit of a world in motion.”
The DocFest Guest of Honour for 2026, BAFTA nominee Maxine Peake (Peterloo, I Swear), will be in conversation with filmmaker Paul Sng (Tish, Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché) discussing how working class voices are represented in the media and on screen in the age of populism.
Peake revealed: “I feel very giddy about being this year’s ‘Guest of Honour’. I adore Sheffield DocFest and the brilliant way it promotes and highlights documentary films and their makers.
“Documentary film is absolutely essential to human existence. It is able to mine and shine its focus on humanity and our lived experiences like no other medium can.”
Elsewhere, BAFTA winner Miriam Margolyes makes her DocFest ‘debut’ to reflect on truth-telling and explore why bold storytelling matters in an increasingly polarised public sphere.
Oscar-winning director Andrea Arnold (Cow, American Honey) will also join producer and close collaborator Kat Mansoor for an intimate conversation exploring the porous boundaries between fiction and documentary, while Sir David Attenborough at 100: A Living Legacy will deliver a special conversation that brings together leading voices to reflect on his extraordinary legacy and explore how it is shaping the future of environmental storytelling and activism.
Renowned naturalist, environmentalist and campaigner Chris Packham will reflect on his career-defining programmes with the BBC in this year’s BBC Interview, too.
Finally, for the first time, Sheffield DocFest will also present a brand new dedicated family strand in 2026.
Designed for all ages and covering flagship events with some of the biggest names in children’s entertainment to interactive workshops, the full programme will be announced at the end of this month.
More information is available on the Sheffield DocFest website.