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| Tish will open DocFest Photo: Ella Murtha |
Sheffield DocFest has announced that Paul Sng’s Tish will open this year’s festival on 14 June.
The festival describes the film as "an intimate portrait of British documentary photographer Tish Murtha, and her daughter’s fight to preserve her legacy" which "celebrates the vision and profound humanism of this gifted artist".
Sng previously directed Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle and co-directed Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché.
He said: “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 deindustrialisation.
The festival also confirmed that Iranian director Rakshan Banietemad, director of Tales and Under The Skin Of The City, will be this year's guest of honour.
Festival creative director Raul Niño Zambrano said: "I have always admired Rakhshan Banietemad’s work and this year is the perfect chance to celebrate her films and her commitment to documentary filmmaking. Looking back at her films now is a very enriching experience that reminds us of the power of storytelling."
"More than 40 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.”
Annabel Grundy, Sheffield DocFest managing director, said: “We are delighted to open the festival with Tish, as we celebrate 30 years of Sheffield DocFest. TISH shines a light on a working class artist whose work was tragically overlooked while she was alive, and whose story was rooted in the North.
""We are thrilled to welcome back director Paul Sng to Docfest, who presented the film at early-development stage in our marketplace in 2021 and producer Jen Corcoran who came through our own 'Future Producers' school seven years ago.”
