Details have been announced today on BRITDOC 2006 – a new feature-documentary festival taking place in the UK this summer (26th – 28th July) in recognition of the social, political and cultural importance of documentary films in the UK.

The festival was founded by Beadie Finzi, the festival director, and Jess Search, chief executive of the festival and founder of the Channel 4 British Documentary Film Foundation (which launched last year and is behind the festival). It aims to change the landscape of British feature-documentary filmmaking – bringing the biggest names in documentary filmmaking from around the world to Britain for three days of networking, master-classes, special events and screenings in order to stimulate our theatrical documentary market and put the spotlight on our documentary talent.

BRITDOC 2006 is borne out of a belief that documentaries matter, they have the power to change hearts and minds and a dedicated festival is necessary to stimulate content ideas and facilitate partnerships so that the format can flourish in the UK. UK documentary filmmakers are amongst the best in the world, yet up until now there has been no dedicated event focussed specifically on the feature documentary format and no real British impact on the theatrical documentary market. BRITDOC 2006 aims to change that.

Please see further details attached on the festival, which takes place at Keble College, Oxford, including some of the British and international films that will be playing in competition, information on the one-to-one master-classes with world-renowned filmmakers such as Morgan Spurlock and Nick Broomfield, and the pitching competition which will take place at the epic Sheldonian Theatre.