We couldn't be prouder to have put the finishing touches on Doc'n Roll's 10th anniversary edition – and our most exciting London festival lineup yet.
It all kicks off tomorrow, Thursday 26 October, with a sell-out screening of The Session Man at the Barbican, and runs through to Sunday 12 November – and tickets are going fast!
View the 2023 programme and book tickets
Our 10th year is a milestone in Doc'n Roll Film Festival's story. We're proud to say that what began in 2014 as a boutique East London music discovery film festival has grown into a critically acclaimed celebration of the best of music on film that we'll also be taking to 12 other UK cities this year. Over the past decade, we have championed a myriad of global music subcultures, and showcased the best in independent cinema and the work of hundreds of first-time filmmakers along the way.
From Nick Cave to TLC, Zombies to Marc Rebillet, Cyndi Lauper to Pavement
In 2023, we're proud to be presenting 25 premiere feature documentaries, including six world premieres. And once again this year, our lineup takes in everything from household names to cult geniuses, and takes viewers from the UK and US to the wide world beyond. We've got films about TLC, Cyndi Lauper, Nicky Hopkins, The Zombies, Max Roach, The Elephant 6 Recording Co, lockdown YouTube sensation Marc Rebillet, the first-ever authorised film about Nick Cave’s seminal band The Birthday Party, and much more. We're also thrilled to spotlight the stories of brilliant cult artists including Judee Sill, Jackson C. Frank, Earth, Pavement, Redd Kross, Pauline Oliveros and Zeal and Ardor.
Join us at London's best cinemas, Q&As + afterparties
This year we're heading back to some of the city's best-loved and most innovative screens: Barbican Cinema, Rich Mix, The Castle, The Garden, the Rio, Hackney Picturehouse, Ritzy Picturehouse, Finsbury Park Picturehouse and London College of Communications. There'll also be post-screening Q&As with directors, artists and other key players, and our legendary afterparties, too.
Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Bristol, Brighton, Hastings + beyond...
In addition to screenings in the capital, we're taking the best of the fest on the road, with satellite regional screenings of selected films in 12 cities; Brighton, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Hastings, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Stockport, Totnes and Glasgow.
Doc'n Roll Jury Award for Documentary of the Year 2023
This year's festival will conclude with the announcement of the Doc’n Roll Jury Award – Best Music Doc of 2023, prior to our festival-closing screening of Storm Heaven: Trampolene at Hackney Picturehouse on 12 November. There are six films in competition this year, and they'll be judged by our panel of music and film industry luminaries: award-winning filmmaker and photographer Alfred George Bailey, BBC6 Music presenter Deb Grant, Goat Girl band member and filmmaker Ellie Rose Davies, film critic Jason Solomon, Jack Oliver (Head of Co-Production, Sky) and Lizzie Gilliet, Head of Documentary at Misfits Entertainment.
The shortlisted films in competition are:
The Session Man: Nicky Hopkins
Even Hell Has Its Heroes: Earth
Free Party: A Folk History
TLC Forever
Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill
Miucha, the Voice of Bossa Nova
Ten great years: huge thanks to everyone who got us here!
Thanks to everyone who made the first ten years of Doc'n Roll possible: the filmmakers and the artists and scenes they cover, our numerous cinema partners, the volunteers who every year turn Vanessa Lobon and Colm Forde's two-person team into an army, and, of course, to all the film lovers who've supported us. See you down the front!
Doc'n Roll 2023: book your tickets now!
