As you may have noticed, the judges of our bursary scheme are looking for strong visual ideas that stand a good chance of being selected at film festivals. We want to help you get your docs made AND seen by folk far and wide, so they need to get played. This means you’d be wise to understand what festival programmers look for when selecting films from the mountains of entries.
I asked Hussain Currimbhoy, the newly appointed programmer at Sheffield Doc/Fest, to offer up some hints for improving your success of making a film that gets picked and played. Here is what he wrote me kindly for your consumption:
There are so many things that make a good festival doc but it’s hard to make a checklist of ingredients. Without doubt, there is always a handful of films that defies all the rules and become a hit! But here are a few tips that can’t hurt:
Go somewhere that has not be explored before! If your subject is really unusual you’ve automatically got a chance at standing out. If your doc does address a subject or issue that has already been covered take the time to watch the predecessors carefully. Take an alternate angle and you’ll nullify a large percentage of criticism about your project in the early stages of pitching.
People always say story, story, story and it’s true – a developed and confident narrative (but not necessarily a standard style, act-driven formula) gets what you want to say across better than desultory shards of info and facts.
Hire a cinematographer. If your budget is too small or the subject is too intimate, get a grasp of the basic principles of cinematography. From a festival point of view we are interested in docs that deliver an experience in cinema. Really shaky cameras, bad framing or colour are not just prosaic but they will leave the audience feeling nauseous.
Remember your soundscape too. Sound really influences the audience interpretation of your film psychologically just as the picture does. Sound is often a last-minute thing in both fiction and non-fiction filmmaking, and can be to the detriment of your film if it’s not loved as much as the picture.
Research your festivals before you enter them. What did the festival screen in the past, what are they looking for now? It will save you some pain and some money and will easily increase your chances of selection if your film and the fest share a direction.
Talk to as many people as you can about your film before you shoot, while you shoot, after you shoot. A doc will be seen by so many different people each with a distinct point of view so you have to take into account people who are and who are not doc-savvy, novices to your subject, men, women, gay, straight, supporters and detractors. Oh, but you also have to do this while remaining true to your vision… 
P.S. If I’m stuck on a desert island and can only have seven docs with me I’m taking: Terror’s Advocate (France/B. Shroeder), Hold me Tight, Let me Go, (UK/K. Longinotto) Portrait of Jason (USA / S. Clarke) On the Road: A document (Japan/ N. Tsuchimoto) The English Surgeon (UK/G. Smith) The Seven Sins of England (UK/ J. Bullman), Le Filmeur (France/ A. Cavallier)
