Paul Sng’s Tish, an intimate portrait of British documentary photographer Tish Murtha, and her daughter’s fight to preserve her legacy will open this year’s 2023 Sheffield DocFest.
In Tish, director Paul Sng (Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché, Dispossession) celebrates the vision and profound humanism of this gifted artist. As the film questions the value placed on art and artists from working class roots, we follow Tish’s daughter Ella, as she fights to preserve her mother’s legacy. No less striking than the work of its subject, Tish is a powerful tribute to a vital artist, activist and social chronicler, and a rallying call to all whose engagement with art questions who gets seen and heard, who doesn’t, and why. This is a story of contemporary Britain, of the fight for culture, as well as the life of a mother and activist. The voice of Tish is played by Maxine Peake (Funny Cow).
Paul Sng, Director of Tish, says: “We’re completely delighted that Tish has been chosen to open Sheffield DocFest, a huge honour in a fitting city to launch a film about a photographer whose images show the fun, mischief and ingenuity of working class communities. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Tish Murtha used her camera to interrogate the detrimental impact of Thatcherism and de-industrialization. More than forty years later, her images retain an urgency and empathy that speak to the concerns faced by people struggling to pay for food and energy bills in the present day. While this film celebrates the calibre of Tish’s work, it also asks questions about the value placed on working class artists and the communities that nurture them. These are important questions, now more than ever.”
The festival will welcome Iranian film director and screenwriter, Rakhshan Banietemad, as the Guest of Honour for 2023. Rakhshan Banietemad will attend in person and will present a Retrospective of six films, including the World Premiere of her latest short, Narratives Ad Hominem. The retrospective will be complemented by six features (including five UK premieres) from other filmmakers selected by Banietemad and our programming team.
Rakhshan Banietemad says: “Although the Women, Life, Freedom movement was formed in Iran, its reflection spread throughout the world and will undoubtedly be influential in women’s movements in similar societies. The 2023 edition of Sheffield DocFest is smartly focusing its attention on the importance of the women’s movement by showing a number of Iranian documentary films. I am pleased that I have been invited to the Sheffield DocFest as a guest of honor and I will be present at this prestigious festival to introduce some of my documentary films.”
Joining the speakers line up of public talks and events at the festival, satirist and broadcaster Munya Chawawa, presenting a talk titled Satire in Documentary, supported by Channel 4.
He will discuss his unique approach to integrating satire in non-fiction keeping viewers engaged and cleverly informed. BAFTA nominated for his Channel 4 documentary How to Survive a Dictator, Chawawa continues to be one of the biggest and brightest talents in UK television.
Munya Chawawa, Broadcaster, says: “I’m looking forward to coming back to Sheffield, my university hometown. At this year’s DocFest I’ll be sharing more of what I have been up to in the documentary space, how I have built my career so far, and how humor can be a powerful tool for truth-telling.”
Rakhshan Banietemad’s retrospective:
OUR TIMES
Iran – 2002 – Rakhshan Banietemad – 75 min.
WE ARE HALF OF IRAN’S POPULATION
Iran – 2009 – Rakhshan Banietemad – 47 min.
ANGELS OF THE HOUSE OF SUN
Iran – 2009 – Rakhshan Banietemad – 53 min.
SEE YOU TOMORROW ELINA
Iran – 2011 – Rakhshan Banietemad – 52 min.
HEY, HUMANS
Iran – 2016 – Rakhshan Banietemad – 66 min.
NARRATIVES AD HOMINEM
Iran – 2023 – Rakhshan Banietemad – 22 min (World Premiere)
Perspectives on Iran:
PROFESSION: DOCUMENTARIST
Iran – 2014 – Shirin Barghnavard, Firouzeh Khosrovani, Farahnaz Sharifi, Mina Keshavarz, Sepideh Abtahi, Sahar Salahshoor, Nahid Rezaei – 80 min.
MY WORST ENEMY
France – 2023 – Mehran Tamadon, Mehran Tamadon – 81 min. (UK Premiere)
HOW DARE YOU HAVE SUCH A RUBBISH WISH
Iran – 2022 – Mania Akbari – 72 min. (UK Premiere)
WHERE GOD IS NOT
France – 2023 – Mehran Tamadon – 112 min. (UK Premiere)
AND, TOWARDS HAPPY ALLEYS
India – 2023 – Sreemoyee Singh – 75 min. (UK Premiere)
BETWEEN REVOLUTIONS
Romania, Croatia, Qatar, Iran – 2023 – Vlad Petri – 63 min. (UK Premiere)