BFI DOC SOCIETY FUND
The BFI Doc Society Fund supports and nurtures independent non-fiction film and immersive projects by UK filmmakers, prioritising expansive, director-led storytelling.
Flatpack Festival 1-2-1s
1-2-1 Advice Sessions at Flatpack Festival 2025
Tuesday 13th May, 8 - 9.30 pm // Sobremesa, Birmingham
Wednesday 14th May, 3.30 - 5pm // Location TBC (near Mockingbird Cinema), Birmingham
Midlands documentary talent! Our Film & Production Executive Hannah Bush Bailey will be attending Flatpack Festival 2025 and is available for 1-2-1 meetings. A great opportunity to discuss projects or ask advice about our funds.
Creative Non-Fiction Playlist
Applying to the Made of Truth Fund and keen to get some more inspiration or insight into the wider short film landscape?
We've put together a selection of freely available, great short films that have been successful at international festivals, across forms and approaches. Worth a watch, and there are a few Made of Truth funded titles in there too!
Webinar: Features & RAD Funds
BFI Doc Society Webinar: Features & RAD Funds
Wednesday 7 May, 12:00 - 13:00 // online
Join our team for this open access webinar about our Features and RAD (Research & Development) Funds for independent UK feature documentary, addressing key criteria, guidelines and often-asked questions.
This session will be BSL interpreted.
Open City Documentary Festival: Long Visions
Open City Documentary Festival
Long Visions: Developing an Artist’s Feature Documentary
Thursday 8 May, 11:00 - 12:30 // Rich Mix, London
Join BFI Doc Society and artist filmmaker Rhea Storr for an open conversation about Rhea’s new moving image installation work Subjects of State, Labours of Love and her current path to developing her feature-length film Freedom Dreaming. We will discuss the production processes and interconnectedness of the two works, as well as wider approaches in Rhea’s practice. This will be an extended conversation with opportunity for attendees to ask questions and participate.
This conversation will be hosted by Luke Moody, Head of the BFI Doc Society Fund. Tickets are £5, or free if you have a festival Rich Mix Venue Pass.
Flatpack Festival 2025 Panels
BFI Doc Society is pleased to support two documentary panels at Flatpack Festival 2025 in Birmingham, alongside hosting a number of 1-2-1 meetings on 13 and 14 May. We are also running a few 1-2-1 advice sessions, please see the top section of this page.
Mirror Images: A Conversation on Personal Filmmaking
Tuesday 13 May, 18:00 - 19:15 // The Mockingbird Cinema (Screen 2), Birmingham
The Flatpack programme includes a few features docs in which filmmakers point the camera at their own family, as well as themselves. In this panel we delve into this phenomenon a little further, in conversation with directors Duncan Cowles and Victoria Mapplebeck, who will explore the ethical considerations and lasting legacies of asking family members to don a clip-on mic and talk candidly into a video lens. Hosted by Hannah Bush Bailey, BFI Doc Society Film & Production Executive.
Tickets (free)
Desert Island Docs
Saturday 17 May, 16:45 - 18:00 // The Mockingbird Cinema (Screen 2), Birmingham
You’re stranded on an island with nothing but a screen, a DVD player (remember them?) and 5 DVDs. There’s one caveat though - the DVDs have to be documentary films.
This is the proposition we’ll be giving two documentary filmmakers (both BFI Doc Society grantees) Dorothy Allen-Pickard and Alessandra Celesia. Expect clips and lively conversation. Hosted by Sanne Jehoul, BFI Doc Society Talent Development Programme Manager.
Tickets (free)
Open City Documentary Festival: 1-2-1s
Open City Documentary Festival: 1-2-1s
Thursday 8 May // Rich Mix, London
Following our panel event Long Visions at Open City Documentary Festival (scroll down for further info), the BFI Doc Society team will be taking 1-2-1 meetings in The Lab space at Rich Mix. Booking will open on 14th April.
Independent Tax Credit Webinar
Independent Film Tax Credit Webinar - November 2024
In November 2024 BFI Doc Society and Documentary Film Council hosted a webinar with Chantel Burrell and Anna Mansi from the BFI Certification Unit, to shed light on the new Independent Film Tax Credit for UK film productions. The session was tailored to documentary productions and fully recorded. You can now watch it back here, and read more in this document.
1-2-1 ONLINE ADVICE SESSIONS - OPEN ACCESS
Book your 15-minute 1-2-1 online advice session with a member of the BFI Doc Society team! Open to filmmakers and producers across the UK, this is an opportunity to discuss projects or ask advice about our funds.
During April we will focus on roundtables for the opening of our Made of Truth Fund. We will release 1-2-1 slots for May in due course.
