The Doc'n Roll Film Festival finally arrives in Nottingham on Thursday 3 November, after two false dawns due to that pesky blighter COVID-19. LeftLion sits down with festival organisers and curators Mark McIntyre and Marcus Duffield to talk all things music, the importance of a great documentary and what we Nottingham folks can expect from this year’s event…
This is the first time the Doc'n Roll Film Festival has fully returned since you had to cancel the event in spring 2020…
Mark: Unfortunately, yes, we had to cancel the festival screenings. Ironically, we had two films set up to be shown just at the beginning of both lockdowns. We had the Idles film (Don’t Go Gentle: A Film About Idles) which was completely sold out. Then we had the Rock Against Racism film (White Riot) and we had a full night lined up with speakers and bands and everything, and we lost that to COVID as well. We did get to screen a couple of films last year as Broadway Cinema was reopening, just to get us going again, but this forthcoming festival really is our first full post-COVID event and it feels like a long time coming. But onwards and upwards.
Marcus: I think we sold out that Idles screening twice, so that was doubly annoying.
Can you tell us a little more about what the event will involve?
Mark: The overall festival is running nationally; there is the single festival in London and then festivals in twelve or thirteen cities run parallel to that event. This will be our fourth major festival in Nottingham, and we try to make it very experiential. There will be the showing of the films themselves, and wherever possible we will get the director or the producer involved, and then get local people with a knowledge or an interest to come and interview them. We will also put bands and DJs on, so if you come to a Doc’n Roll event, you’ll be coming to see more than just the film - you’ll be getting a real enhanced experience.
Marcus: We have now spread out too. Previously we have been focused on Broadway, but we have moved to different venues this year. We have screenings at the Old Bus Depot, and Mammoth as well.
If you come to a Doc’n Roll event, you’ll be coming to see more than just the film - you’ll be getting a real enhanced experience
Why do you feel the Doc’n Roll Festival is important?
Mark: When we first started doing Doc’n Roll in London, it was good but if you are living outside of the capital then you don’t want to be travelling down all that way to see four films in a day. So, we bring these films to places like Nottingham, that otherwise you probably wouldn’t see. All the films shown are premieres for Nottingham, you’re seeing it on a big screen with fantastic sound and you’re with people who love their music and it’s a very different experience from watching it on your own. That’s exactly why we do these events.
What do you think makes an effective music documentary?
Mark: I think there are two or three key elements. There must always be a human narrative. If you look at our whole back catalogue, I don’t think you’ll find anything that has a chronological telling of a particular band; that’s not really what we do. We’re looking for a story we don’t know, it's not a mainstream story and has a real human element. The other aspect we’re quite serious about is that it's independent. One of the first films we had shown was by a director who made it for just £5,000. It was done in quite a punky way, by someone who really wanted to get her voice out there. That’s definitely important to Doc’n Roll.
The Doc’n Roll Film Festival runs from Thursday 3 to Tuesday 8 November at venues across Nottingham
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