麻豆约拍

Editor's note: Charlotte Moore opens her post about the 麻豆约拍's contribution to the Sheffield Doc/Fest, starting this afternoon, with a clip from Despicable Dick & Righteous Richard, a Storyville commission to be shown at the festival - SB.

I'm a bit of a veteran at . I was there in the 90s when it started out as a haven for documentary anoraks with a penchant for obscure Finnish films, and have seen it grow since then - and particularly in the last few years - into one of the biggest events in the international documentary calendar. It's now well established as one of the year's highlights, where those of us who work in the industry get to compare notes on the burning issues of the moment, do business, and of course watch some brilliant films.

The 麻豆约拍 has long been committed to helping Doc/Fest cement its position on the documentary festival circuit, and this year promises to be one of our best yet. One of the films I'm most looking forward to is the premiere of 麻豆约拍 Two's . There has been quite a lot of press attention around the film already, much of it focusing on the rights and wrongs of assisted death, but at the heart of this moving film is an insight into the impossible predicament faced by Terry, and others like him, who must decide how to deal with degenerative and ultimately fatal illnesses.

Our flagship international documentary strand will enjoy a bumper year at Doc/Fest this year, with an impressive ten titles showing over the five days. The films range from The Interrupters - Steve James' longitudinal foray into the world of Chicago's spiralling epidemic of violence, following the men and women who intervene in conflicts before they erupt into violence on the streets of the city - to the hard-hitting Knuckle, which explores the seemingly unshakable tradition of bare knuckled fist fighting among Irish travellers. Not one for the faint-hearted! And then there's Despicable Dick & Righteous Richard, which sees the eponymous 69-year-old protagonist undertake a rigorous moral inventory to make amends for a lifetime's transgressions. And what an inventory it is...

I will be taking part in two sessions during the festival - I will be chairing a filmmaking masterclass for first-time documentary makers, and a commissioning panel with colleagues from , and in which we will be swapping our 'desert island docs'. Elsewhere 麻豆约拍 Two controller Janice Hadlow will be hosting the 麻豆约拍 Interview, talking to the inimitable Adam Curtis about his recent series , which explored how people have been colonised by the machines they have built. And controller Zai Bennett will be hosting an event on Thursday evening to mark the success of the Fresh documentaries strand, dedicated to first-time filmmakers. My Brother The Islamist is a recent film from the Fresh stable, and it will be screened ahead of the event on Thursday. And Bruce Parry will be attending the festival for the first time, letting us in on his fascinating experiences in the Arctic and other far-flung parts of the world.

Sheffield Doc/Fest is an opportunity for us to step back from the coalface of our day-to-day jobs and take stock of how the documentary industry is faring, and where it might be going. I think we're enjoying a boom time at the moment - they have never been in such demand on television, in the cinema, online and on DVD. The 麻豆约拍's repertoire at Sheffield demonstrates that there truly is something for everyone now - whether you want to watch Jig, Sue Bourne's mesmerising peek into the maelstrom that is the Irish Dancing World Championships, or The Camera That Changed The World, Mandy Chang's exploration of the engineers and filmmakers who built and wielded the hand-held cameras that made it possible to record real life as it happened.

On top of all the activity at Sheffield, I announced a number of new documentary commissions earlier this week, confirming the 麻豆约拍's commitment to documentaries: Welcome To Bangladesh, which will do for industrial waste what Bafta-winning did for the slum - make it palatable, respectable, even desirable; Chatsworth, a new three-part series for 麻豆约拍 One, a modern take on Upstairs, Downstairs, offering a glimpse into life in one of Britain's most illustrious stately homes; and 7/7, which I hope will be the definitive film on the deadliest attacks in Britain since World War II - a story of agony, trauma and grief, but also hope, bravery and even forgiveness.

I want to ensure the 麻豆约拍 keeps pushing the boundaries of creativity, and responds to the fast-changing landscape of Britain in the 21st century. Therefore I look forward to talking to filmmakers at Sheffield to get their take on how we're doing, and look forward to reading your comments here.

Charlotte Moore is Commissioning Editor for documentaries at the 麻豆约拍

• Charlotte e in April.
• The Sheffield Doc/Fest starts today. Full details .