Dear DFC Members, Allies and Supporters,
Autumn greetings from the DFC! We hope you had a wonderful summer break. We’ve been busy here at DFC and are excited to share the latest updates on how we’re driving our organization forward. As always, if you have a few hours to spare and would like to support our efforts – or if you have new ideas to bring to the table – please don’t hesitate to reach out.
DocFest AGM and Open Assembly summary findings now available
Thanks to everyone who attended the second annual DFC Assembly at Sheffield DocFest in June. This was our second Assembly after the launch of the DFC last year and our first Annual General Meeting (AGM), marking the end of our first year of operation. It was also an opportunity to welcome the first-ever elected board of representatives in the history of UK documentary film, which was very exciting. Check out the short video above for some highlights of the event.
After the AGM, Elhum Shakerifar (Producer, Curator & Writer, Hakawati) and Flore Consquer (Director of the Scottish Documentary Institute; DFC Trustee) hosted the Assembly, which focused on the formation of DFC member sub-groups – one of the priorities identified by members last year. You can read our write-up of the Assembly here.
As noted in the write-up, developing sub-groups is challenging because it involves striking the right balance between support from the centre and facilitating groups to emerge organically according to their own needs. Right now, we’re focusing on the launch of the DFC’s Discourse forum (see below), because any sub-groups that emerge will also be able to use this to organise. If anyone out there is really keen to get a sub-group going in the meantime, please get in touch with us at [email protected]. In Bristol, DFC members have already met and are looking to combine forces with the Bristol Unscripted Network (BUNs)… (see details about the Oct 14 screening below).
Read the summary findings here
DFC Directory; now with enhanced search
Our Directory of members continues to grow, helping to raise the profile of our sector and showcasing the amazing talent within the DFC. To ensure it represents all members and remains a valuable resource, we’ve made it a requirement for new members to add their profile when joining the Council. A warm welcome to all our recent members!
If you’re already part of the DFC but haven’t updated your profile yet, we encourage you to do so. Joining the Directory is quick—just head to ‘Account,’ ‘Edit Profile,’ and click ‘Update’ when finished. You’ll be in great company alongside hundreds of other members, and it’s a fantastic way to increase your visibility in the UK documentary community.
We’ve also partnered with Little By Little Films to improve diversity representation by adding more identity categories (class, disability, ethnicity, gender, and nationality) in the ‘Edit Profile’ section. Once enough members share this information, we’ll enhance search functionality to support targeted recruitment for underrepresented groups.
Help us make the Directory as inclusive and impactful as possible by completing your profile today!
Add or update your directory profile
DFC Discussion Forum – a national online comms platform for DFC Members
The need for a national online peer-to-peer communications platform for our sector was discussed again at the Assembly. As noted above, we’re working on this! A DFC Discourse forum is currently in development and will be launched in the coming months. Discourse is a 100% open source discussion platform designed to facilitate democratic communications for online communities. When it’s live, the UK documentary community will have its first ever national peer-to-peer communications tool. Its success will depend on user engagement so please look out for this and get involved when it’s up and running.
Bristol / South West screening of Endurance, Oct 14th at Watershed
Some DFC members in Bristol have made contact with another nascent documentary-focused group, the Bristol Unscripted Network (BUNs). They’re hosting a London Film Festival (LFF) preview screening of Endurance (Jimmy Chinn et al) at Watershed on October 14 at 6pm. This is a BUNs event but DFC members are very welcome, too – the more the merrier! – and there will be plenty of time for drinks in the bar afterwards. It’ll be great to meet other DFC members in person and talk with our new friends in BUNs about building documentary film culture in the South West.
Fundraising continues – partnership framework coming soon
Finally, as you all know, the DFC has been run on a volunteer basis since our seed-funding ended in December last year. This has inevitably hindered our progress and we want to thank everyone as we keep the organisation going in this most challenging of moments. However, we are working hard to try to secure the DFC’s financial future. As well as several promising meetings with potential funders in the calendar, we are also preparing to launch our new partnership framework to encourage a range of organisations to support the Council’s existence. We’ll share it here as soon as it’s ready, so watch this space…
The Cost of Docs Survey 2024
The deadline for The Whickers’ annual Cost of Docs Survey has been extended to Friday October 25th. This is a vital means of generating much-needed data on our sector so please take the time to complete it and share around your networks. The more data we generate, the more representative the results will become and the more likely it is that they can help change things for the better. The survey closes at midnight so please make sure your experience is represented.
There’s lots more to say but we’ll leave it there for now and will be in touch with more updates soon, including details of our discounts page launch and virtual December get together – keep December 13 free!
In co-operation,
DFC Leadership Team
