As mentioned in the first post in the series, the nature of my own journalism work steers my choices towards documentaries about conflict, human rights, frontline journalism, and state corruption — but for each year I’ll also recommend a film or two that’s slightly different.

Watergate: One of the most absorbing political scandals in modern history

One of my all-time favourite films, and an influential one in my decision to become an investigative journalist, is All The President’s Men.

In the 1976 film, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford play journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they pursue an investigation into the Watergate scandal, which ultimately toppled the administration of US President Richard Nixon.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that a documentary on the same subject lasting more than four hours might be too much even for me.

But the combination of a story more compelling than fiction with the incredible archive of tape recordings President Nixon made of his conversations as the scandal unfolded means that Watergate never sags.

Directed by Charles Ferguson, the film provides a remarkable insight into the succession of political developments that eventually brought down the president. I could happily have watched another four hours.

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For Sama: Essential viewing on Syria’s civil war

For Sama is one of the most powerful films I’ve ever seen. Directed by Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts, it was filmed over five years in Aleppo, Syria, during the Assad regime’s brutal bombardment of the city.

As bombs lay waste to entire districts of Aleppo — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — Waad is in the heart of it all, filming. Her husband, Hamza al-Kateab, is one of the only doctors left in the city. His makeshift hospital, managing on only the most basic supplies, is forced to relocate as the Syrian army deliberately targets Aleppo’s health facilities.

Amidst all this, Waad and Hamza welcome a baby into the world, Sama. Waad narrates the film as a story for her daughter about the deadly maelstrom into which she has been born.

I had the opportunity to meet Waad and Hamza at a conference on disinformation last year, at which Hamza was speaking. I mentioned to Waad how much I’d appreciated seeing For Sama. “The same thing is happening all over again now in Gaza,” she said.

The Great Hack: How personal data became a political weapon

The Great Hack (Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim) is a gripping work of investigative filmmaking that delves into the nefarious activities of a UK company called Cambridge Analytica, which exploited Facebook user data in an effort to influence voters — including in the UK’s 2016 referendum on EU membership (Brexit) and the election of US President Donald Trump that same year. It was a chilling watch.

The film is a powerful exposé of the influence of social media on elections and the abuse of user data. It brings to the fore issues that are becoming increasingly problematic today, such as user privacy and data rights, echo chambers, and political polarisation.

The issues raised in The Great Hack are also an important backdrop to current concerns about a digital world that is expanding beyond the reach of regulation (some of which I explore in this article), including the dangers of digital discrimination, the growing use of AI to shape what information people see, and influence operations, in which a foreign country or other group aims to shift public opinion using targeted data manipulation.

Watch The Great Hack

Also worth exploring…

In Edge of Democracy, director Petra Costa brings a different perspective to the corruption investigations known as ‘Operation Car Wash’ that led to the incarceration of Brazil’s former President Lula. The film focuses not only on the targets of the investigations, but also on the political weaponisation of the institutions of state that conducted them.

The Brink (Alison Klayman) tells the story of former Trump administration chief strategist Steve Bannon, and in particular his efforts to build a global alliance of far-right parties that share their experiences and expertise in order to convert populist appeal into political power.

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And for something different…

Apollo 11 (Todd Douglas Miller) uses original footage without addition or narration to tell the story of the 1969 US mission to land humans on the moon. It’s one of the most awe-inspiring films I’ve ever seen. There was a deliberate plan for the mission to have state-of-the-art cameras shooting on 70mm film, and the results are spectacular.

The opening night film of DocFest 2019, Diego Maradona (Asif Kapadia) is an immersive account of the extraordinary skills that made Maradona one of the best footballers ever to play the game, alongside an exploration of his background, personality and drug addiction, and how, while playing for Napoli, he was manipulated by the Italian mafia.

The next post in the series will feature a selection of the best documentaries from 2022-23, including films about a fatal clash of interests in the Amazon rainforest, the brutality of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the chilling influence of Christian evangelists on US President Donald Trump.

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Occasionally I have a moment of doubt as to whether I’ll make it to the following year’s festival. But once there I find myself wondering how I could have contemplated missing it.

Many of the documentaries the festival has showcased over the years - usually world, UK or international premieres - are among my favourite films. Every year I learn about a new part of the world, a new issue, a new way of looking at things.

In a series of articles over the coming weeks, I’ll share with you what for me were the most compelling films at the festival each year, starting with 2016-2018.

The nature of my work means my choices tend to focus on documentaries that deal with human rights issues, conflict, frontline journalism, and state corruption - but for each year I’ll also recommend a film or two that’s slightly different.

2016: James Foley & Kirsten Johnson

The most memorable film for me at my first ‘Sheffield’ was the deeply affecting Jim: The James Foley Story, about the photojournalist who at the age of 40 became the first US citizen executed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The film was made by Jim’s childhood friend, Brian Oakes, and features moving interviews with Jim’s friends, family, colleagues and fellow hostages, alongside the story of how he was captured and imprisoned first in Libya and later, by ISIS, in Syria.

Jim was passionate and courageous; but more than anything, this film is about his humanity, his generosity, and his kindness.

Watch the trailer

Another stand-out film from DocFest 2016 was the fascinating Cameraperson by Kirsten Johnson, which provides a refreshing perspective on documentary filmmaking - from behind the camera.

Cameraperson tells the personal story of Johnson’s 25-year career as a cinematographer, working on impactful and hugely successful films such as the Oscar-winning Citizenfour - in which Edward Snowden exposed illegal US government surveillance - and Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, about the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

I also remember Michael Moore warning at the festival of the likelihood that the UK’s referendum on EU membership a few days later would return a ‘Leave’ decision, and that Donald Trump would win the US presidency in November that year…

And for something different:

My Scientology Movie (John Dower) - an exposé of the secretive and controversial Church of Scientology written by and starring Louis Theroux

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2017: Russian sports doping & nuclear arms

The stand-out film for me in 2017 was the Oscar-winning Icarus. The film starts out as a bid by director Bryan Fogel, a keen amateur cyclist, to expose the limitations of the sport’s anti-doping system.

In doing so, Fogel stumbles upon a sporting scandal of epic proportions: a former head of Russia's national anti-doping laboratory confesses his complicity in alleged drug test manipulation at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi - at which Russia won 13 gold medals.

Even now, Russia remains banned from Olympic sport as investigations into state doping allegations continue.

DocFest 2017 also featured Eric Schlosser’s The Bomb, a hypnotising meditation on humanity’s obsession with weapons of mass destruction.

Screened at Sheffield’s state-of-the-art cinema The Light, the film captures the power and beauty of nuclear explosions in a way that is uncomfortably compelling.

Also worthy of mention from 2017 are Risk (Laura Poitras), a close-up portrait of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange; and The Force (Peter Nicks), about misconduct and attempted reforms in the Oakland Police department.

And for something different:

Whitney “Can I Be Me” (Nick Broomfield) - about the music industry’s manipulation of the supremely talented Whitney Houston

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2018: Frontline journalism & war crimes

This year’s outstanding film was Chris Martin’s Under the Wire, another devastating story of a journalist killed while reporting. This time, the tragedy was that of the indomitable US frontline reporter Marie Colvin.

The film tells the story of what turned out to be a deadly mission to Syria by Colvin - a war correspondent for the UK’s The Sunday Times newspaper - and freelance photographer Paul Conroy, to cover the plight of civilians trapped in the city of Homs.

It was February 2012, the second of what was to be a three-year siege of Homs in response to anti-regime protests in the city. Homs was under relentless bombardment by the Syrian army, including what were described by Colvin as "absolutely sickening" indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

The festival also featured The Congo Tribunal (Milo Rau), a remarkable film that brought attention to an often-neglected conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that has claimed more than 6 million lives.

The film project assembled witnesses, perpetrators and analysts for a three-day civil tribunal in front of a panel of experts to examine the atrocities that were carried out with impunity over more than two decades.

And for something different:

McQueen (Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui) - a revealing documentary about the magnetic personality and troubled life of fashion designer Alexander McQueen

People’s Republic of Desire (Hao Wu) - a story of the personal fallout from becoming a streaming sensation in China

The next article in this series features the mind-blowing story of the first moon landing, an epic film about the Watergate scandal, and the chilling story of voter manipulation using Facebook data in the year of Brexit and Trump’s first election…

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DocFest 2025 was one of the strongest documentary programmes I’ve seen in a decade of annual pilgrimages to Sheffield.

For me, the festival was defined by three films about the Ukraine war, one about the brutality of the US prison system, and an investigation into the disputed authorship of one of the world’s most famous wartime images.

1. A Simple Soldier

A Simple Soldier, by directors Artem Ryzhykov and Juan Camilo Cruz, tells Artem’s own story of how a filmmaker with a determination to play his part in defending his country ended up on the frontlines of Ukraine’s war with Russia.

Artem is told if he wants to film on the frontline he has to enlist for three years of active service - and he has five minutes to decide. Despite knowing he’s far from a natural soldier, his immediate instinct is to say yes.

2. 2000 Meters to Andriivka

2000 Meters to Andriivka is the sensational follow-up to the Bafta- and Oscar-winning 20 days in Mariupol from Mstyslav Chernov.

Combining Chernov’s own footage with that shot from soldiers’ bodycams, the film gives us a first-hand experience of a Ukrainian platoon’s mission to liberate a strategic village from Russian forces.

The intimacy of the footage as we meet soldiers under fire as they navigate a narrow strip of heavily protected forest - to ultimately take back a bleak and decimated Ukrainian village - is mind-blowing.

Here’s where to watch 2000 Meters to Andriivka

3. Mr Nobody Against Putin

Oscar-winning Mr Nobody Against Putin tells the story of Pavel Talankin, a schoolteacher and videographer who witnesses the propaganda campaign the Russian state is waging on its own children and decides he cannot idly stand by.

Talankin begins to covertly film the state’s indoctrination practices as they become more and more extreme. Children are forced to march in school corridors, tested on their knowledge of the history of Russian claims to Crimea, and given scripted answers to teachers’ questions - which Talankin must film.

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Talankin is unable to resist other small acts of subversion - at one point replacing the daily national anthem with Lady Gaga’s Star Spangled Banner. His opposition to the war makes him guilty of treason, and ultimately Talankin must flee the country.

Here’s where to watch Mr Nobody Against Putin

4. The Alabama Solution

The Alabama Solution is a horrifying exposé about the sometimes fatal abuses perpetrated by prison guards in the state prison system in Alabama.

The Oscar-nominated film follows inmates at Easterling Correctional Facility in Clio, Alabama, as they use contraband mobile phones to document abuses perpetrated in the prison and make efforts to organise in support of fellow inmates’ basic human rights.

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Among the tragic cases delved into over the course of a six-year investigation is that of Steven Davis, who was beaten to death by prison guards. The inmates who sought to organise protests over prison conditions and mistreatment have themselves been brutally punished.

Here’s where you can watch The Alabama Solution

5. The Stringer

The Stringer follows war photographer Gary Knight as he investigates the origin of one of the most impactful wartime photographs ever taken.

The 1972 photograph, commonly referred to as Napalm girl, captured a girl fleeing an attack by US-allied South Vietnamese air forces on the town of Trảng Bàng during the Vietnam War. The Pulitzer Prize-winning image is widely credited with galvanising US public opinion against the war.

The Stringer combines field research, key witness interviews, and forensic evidence assembled by Paris-based investigative NGO Index, to cast doubt on the attribution of the photo to a Vietnamese-American Associated Press photographer - instead identifying the local stringer who almost certainly captured the image.

Here’s where you can watch The Stringer

Together, these five films offer a powerful reminder of documentary cinema's ability to place audiences at the heart of conflicts, injustices and contested truths that might otherwise remain unexplored.

I’m hoping for more of the same at this year’s festival - and I’ll be sure to report back.