There are 49 documentary projects for 2025…
Sheffield DocFest a leading UK documentary festival, and one of the world’s most influential markets for documentary projects, has announced its slate for the 20th edition of the MeetMarket.
Taking place Thursday 19 & Friday 20 June 2025, MeetMarket is part of an expansive marketplace programme of talent development, pitches, roundtables and conferences designed to connect new projects with industry partners that runs across the festival.
The selection includes 49 documentary projects, in development, production, and rough cut stage, to be pitched in one-to-one meetings to UK and International industry representatives and experts.
Record Submission for 2025
Drawn from a record number of 610 submissions, the 49 projects in the 2025 selection encompass 46 countries of production and co-production. New works will be presented from renowned directors such as Mila Turajlic, Carola Fuentes, Kathryn Ferguson and Lindsey Dryden, alongside emerging and young talents presenting their projects for the first time at an international event. This year’s slate includes 17 promising works produced or co-produced in the UK.
An Extended Marketplace
To coincide with the 20th anniversary of MeetMarket, there will be a range of activities including internationally-acclaimed showcases that will be open to all industry pass holders. Details of this will be shared at Industry programme launch on Wednesday 14 May.
World Premieres
This year we are delighted that seven projects that pitched at the MeetMarket in previous years will be returning to Sheffield to have their World Premiere in the film programme. Full details will be announced on Wednesday 7 May.
Patrizia Mancini, Head of Industry, Sheffield DocFest:
“For 2025, and for the 20th edition of the MeetMarket, Sheffield DocFest continues to strive to include a broad range of voices and visions from around the globe and to support original stories across genres.
“With a record number of submissions received this year, the work of the committees has been particularly difficult but a common thread linked many stories that the filmmakers shared with us: the urgency and the importance of a sense of community, the co-creation and collaboration to tell stories that matter, to educate and engage the audiences in these troubled times. From environment to freedom of the press, from indigenous voices to women and LGBTQIA+ rights, the projects reflect courage, resilience and the civic role non-fiction storytelling has in our society”.
The 2025 selection team consisted of 18 UK and international industry professionals.
Their experience includes production, sales, funding, distribution, development, festivals, exhibition and more. The 2025 selectors were: Ana Fernandez Saiz, Arianna Castoldi, Dumitrita Pacicovschi, Elhum Shakerifar, Lara Sousa, Keisha Knight, Lucy Mukerjee, Luis González Zaffaroni, Luke Brawley, Nilotpal Majumdar, Patrizia Mancini, Raul Niño Zambrano, Rodolfo Castillo-Morales, Samuel Tebandeke, Soleil Gharbieh, Sophie Duncan, Théo Lionel, and Yulan Chang.
The 32nd edition of Sheffield DocFest will celebrate the art of documentary and bring creatives from across the world together in Sheffield between 18-23 June 2025.
The full public programme will be announced on Wednesday 7 May 2025.
