{"id":189795,"date":"2025-06-16T19:54:19","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T19:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/189795\/"},"modified":"2025-06-16T19:54:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T19:54:19","slug":"5-unmissable-documentary-films-on-this-years-line-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/189795\/","title":{"rendered":"5 unmissable documentary films on this year\u2019s line-up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sheffield DocFest turns 31 this year, and it\u2019s still the UK’s documentary heavyweight \u2013 the place where you’ll spot next year’s must-watch docs before they hit\u00a0cinemas or streaming platforms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And this year\u2019s fest\u00a0is delivering hope-filled stories from war zones in Ukraine and Gaza, bizarrely brilliant dating experiments from North Korea and China, plus fresh voices from the festival\u2019s jury selection. Here are five from the newly-announced 2025 line-up to watch out for.<\/p>\n

\"Still
\nPhotograph: Sheffield DocFest\u2018Still Pushing Pineapples\u2019 <\/p>\n

Still Pushing Pineapples<\/p>\n

Festival opener Still Pushing Pineapples\u00a0promises uplift and good vibes in abundance. The\u00a0title refers to Dean Michael, the British singer of yesteryear pop outfit Black Lace,\u00a0best remembered for \u201980s hit Agadoo. With his glory days behind him, the film follows Michael\u2019s comeback bid as he embarks on a road trip with his mother and partner.\u00a0A road movie with a few things to say about\u00a0pop culture, it\u2019ll\u00a0be absolutely nothing like all those gushing-but-dull vanity docs\u00a0about legendary\u00a0musicians.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"North
\nPhotograph: Sheffield DocFest\u2018North South Man Woman\u2019 <\/p>\n

North South Man Woman<\/p>\n

There are a couple of dating documentary\u00a0on this year\u2019s slate,\u00a0including\u00a0China\u2019s\u00a0The Dating Game\u00a0(about a bootcamp of rich Chinese bachelors seeking a suitable wife) and this South Korean film. Filmed\u00a0over five years, it follows Yujin Han, a North Korean expat who started her own dating agency matchmaking North Korean women with eligible South Korean bachelors. This could be DocFest\u2019s answer to Celine Song\u2019s\u00a0Materialists<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Still
\nPhotograph: Sheffield DocFest\u2018Red Light\u2019 <\/p>\n

Red Light to Limelight<\/p>\n

This Bengali-language Indian\u00a0doc offers a fresh perspective on sex work in a deeply conservative society. Set in the red-light district of Kolkata,\u00a0Bipujit Basu\u2019s film\u00a0follows sex workers moonlighting as amateur filmmakers. From picking up editing tricks through online tutorials to navigating their personal hardships through the language of film, they attempt to break the cycle of forced prostitution for\u00a0the next generation. Most docs on sex workers tend to be framed from an exploitative or fetishising lens; this one\u00a0humanises its subjects as professionals and budding artists.<\/p>\n

\"Runa
\nPhotograph: Sheffield DocFest\u2018Runa Simi\u2019 <\/p>\n


\nRuna Simi<\/p>\n

Competing for the Youth Jury prize is Augusto Zegarra\u2019s\u00a0Runa Simi, a Quechua-Spanish statement of linguistic rebellion. While Quechua is the most spoken indigenous dialect in South America, it remains an endangered language in the face of Spanish\u2019s prevalence.\u00a0Runa Simi\u00a0is centered around Peruvian indigenous voice actor Fernando, who makes it his mission to dub\u00a0The Lion King\u00a0in Quechua. The Disney classic has been dubbed in 28 languages, but for Fernando, localising it becomes a desperate pursuit, making\u00a0Runa Simi\u00a0an unconventional underdog story.<\/p>\n

\"2000
\nPhotograph: Sheffield DocFest\u20182000 Meters To Andriivka\u2019 <\/p>\n

2000 Meters To Andriivka\u00a0<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s line-up includes several\u00a0doc set\u00a0amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war,\u00a0including Cuba & Alaska<\/a>, which follows two medics in the line of conflict, and A Simple Soldier<\/a>, which captures a filmmaker\u2019s transformation into a soldier after 2022. Particularly hype-worthy is\u00a02000 Meters to Andriivka, a follow-up to director Mstyslav Chernov\u2019s Oscar-winning effort 20 Days in Mariupol<\/a>. The film follows a Ukrainian platoon liberating the Russian-occupied village of Andriivka. But instead of any chest-thumping military jingoism, Chernov and journalist Alex Babenko follow a more nuanced and multi-layered approach to war and its underlying pressure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When does the 2025 Sheffield DocFest take place?<\/p>\n

The festival runs for six days from June 18 to June 23. Head to\u00a0the official site<\/a>\u00a0for tickets and further info.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 68 greatest documentary movies ever made<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The best movies to catch at the cinema in June<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sheffield DocFest turns 31 this year, and it\u2019s still the UK’s documentary heavyweight \u2013 the place where you’ll…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8817],"tags":[748,61592,393,3063,4884,61593,1620,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-189795","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sheffield","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-categories-film","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-film","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-news-film","14":"tag-sheffield","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114694800432658562","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}