What great variety in this Wakefield Doc Fest lineup – our 9th annual festival!
All are films chosen on individual merit, the beauty of the images, the depth of
the storytelling. Remarkable examples all of the beauty of the documentary film.
Altogether, they create a narrative of our lives, concerns and issues, now, in
2018. Come and be moved by these stories. Join us.
Free Special Event
Told largely through the fluid use of never-before-seen National Geographic footage shot at the time, and using her diaries and current reflections, the film traces the early years of Jane Goodall's studies of chimpanzees in the wild, telling the remarkable story of how this incredibly young and not-formally-educated woman was chosen by Louis Leakey and sent out to develop and execute a totally different kind of wild animal study, by living among them.…
Showtimes
Main Series
On the Globe and Mail's Top Ten films of 2017, winner of three Best Documentary prizes, SHINERS travels the world to introduce us to the men and women who make their living cleaning our shoes. "At one extreme, we meet impoverished shoe shiners of La Paz, Bolivia, some of whom wear ski masks to do their work because they consider it so shameful. At the other extreme is a Tokyo entrepreneur who has turned his craft into a luxury service performed in a cozy parlour where clients enjoy a glass of bubbly…
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Main Series
OFF THE RAILS tells the remarkable true story of Darius McCollum, a man with Asperger’s syndrome whose overwhelming love of transit has landed him in jail 32 times for impersonating New York City bus drivers and subway conductors and driving their routes.…
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Main Series
In the 1980s, Vancouver-born artist Richard Hambleton was the SHADOWMAN, a spectre in the night who painted hundreds of startling silhouettes on the walls of lower Manhattan and, along with Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, sparked the street art movement. …
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Main Series
From acclaimed director Steve James (HOOP DREAMS, LIFE ITSELF), ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL tells the incredible saga of the Chinese immigrant Sung family – owners of Abacus Federal Savings of Chinatown, New York – who are charged with fraud by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R Vance, Jr. in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.…
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Main Series
Worlds collide on the frontline of climate change. Kenyan farmer Kisilu Musya records climate change’s roller-coaster ride of flash floods and devastating droughts. For the past five years, he’s kept a video diary documenting the damaging effects of wild weather on his family’s life and livelihood.…
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Main Series
An intimate and unique portrait of three people caught up in the chaotic and often violent development that is shaping modern day Cambodia. Shot over six years, the film charts the growing wave of land rights protests that led to the 'Cambodian Spring' and the tragic events that followed.…
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Main Series
Doug Nichol’s loving tribute to the writing machine of a bygone era, CALIFORNIA TYPEWRITER is leaving an indelible mark on festival audiences. This crowd-pleasing film – named after one of the last remaining typewriter repair shops in the USA – celebrates the design, tactility and permanence of the typewriter.…
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Main Series
From his Portland, Oregon apartment, Chris Kirkley is rewriting the rules of the music industry. It's his soul's passion to record and archive modern West African music and deal it to the small but growing following he's amassed from his Sahel Sounds project.…
Showtimes
Québec Directors Saturday Matinée Series
Every summer, all over Québec, they’re the favourite hangouts for locals and passing tourists. Called cantines or casse-croûtes, these small seasonal businesses are often run by passionate folks who have made it their mission to preserve this distinctive corner of Québec culture.…
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Québec Directors Saturday Matinée Series
Meandering through the thoughts and opinions and actions of 24 people on three continents named David, you are left with poignant observations and meditations on where we are, at this point in the world, 2018.…
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Québec Directors Saturday Matinée Series
A visually stunning and inspiring exploration of the life and work of internationally acclaimed Canadian dancer and choreographer Louise Lecavalier. An irrepressible artist, Lecavalier worked intensely with choreographer Édouard Lock and the company La La La Human Steps during the 1980s and beyond…
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Québec Directors Saturday Matinée Series
Pascal Marchand, an aspiring poet from Montreal, arrived in the mythical land of Burgundy to work the harvest at age 21. Enchanted by the region, he settled there and embarked on an unlikely path to winemaking stardom. Now over 30 years later, he is renowned as an artist and innovator.…
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Special Event at THE BLACK SHEEP. Wakefield Doc Fest's Closing Gala is a very special screening of the newly remastered MONTEREY POP, the seminal rock concert film from master documentarian D.A. Pennebaker. And after the film, stay put for a concert with Greg Stone and WKFLD PWR CMPNY!…
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