Dear friends, 

 

At Doc Society, we believe Public Media is critical infrastructure. Defined by the UNDDR as “the physical structures, facilities, networks and other assets which provide services that are essential to the social and economic functioning of a community or society.” Which is why we have been highlighting campaigns around the world to protect key nodes. This month, we turn to the BBC. 

 

Oh, the BBC. It seems that not another week goes by without a new crisis in the corporation, and let's be clear, the shitshows at W1A are serious, but it is also true that bad actors are stirring the pot.

 

Let’s think about who stands to gain if the BBC were weakened into irrelevance (clue: media and tech oligarchs, authoritarians) and how easy it would be to make that happen under the current Charter Review system, where if the Charter is not renewed every 7 years, the BBC simply ceases to exist.. 

 

Folks, the consultation on the BBC Charter Review is open right now, and we urge you to add your positive voice to this process, as there will be plenty of other voices who will want to destroy Auntie, rather than rebuild her. And rebuild we must  - rebuild governance, the funding model and much else besides, ensuring the BBC’s independence from government and partisan interests and including more of a voice for the public.   

 

The consultation takes the form of a survey, and we heartily recommend the British Broadcasting Challenge’s Guide crib sheet to help navigate the form. The deadline is March 10, so there’s still time for each of us to play our part in reclaiming the Beeb and commit to a stronger, more resilient, more accountable BBC long into the future.

 

Real talk, the relationship can feel complicated, but the big picture is really simple. Public service broadcasters are an essential part of any functioning democratic society, without which we cannot guarantee free and fair elections and healthy debate.  The BBC, the sine qua non of all PSBs is particularly so a vital part of the ecology of the creative sector in the UK and a cornerstone of the information ecosystem globally.  Let's back her and help make her better. 

 

To keep up with the trends happening around the world, we recommend you check out the excellent newsletter from the folks at the Public Media Alliance. Who in the first few weeks of 2026 have reported on the threatened cuts to Swiss and Argentina’s public broadcasting service, an ideologically motivated enquiry into French public media, and the undermining of the independence of the Czech Republic public media. All this while Brazil experiences a historic expansion in public communication with 30 new stations. Friends, the battle for the information ecosystem is on, all over! 

 

Yours with love and rockets, 

 

We couldn’t help ourselves. The track to accompany this month’s newsletter has to be: Video Killed the Radio Star. Press play, turn it up, and let's dig into this month's newsletter. 

 

Team Doc Society 

We’re thrilled to share the recent news of the continuation of the BFI Doc Society Fund and Talent Programme.  As part of the BFI National Lottery Funding Plan 2026-2029, the BFI has committed to invest £7.2m in documentary funding and talent development over three years. Doc Society is renewed as the delegate partner to fund features, shorts, immersive  , and to invest in talent development  through the BFI Doc Society Fund. 

 

The investment allows for an expansion of feature production and development finance, enabling Doc Society to increase the spectrum of support available for documentary filmmakers. In addition to a new immersive fund, a dedicated development fund for feature length documentaries will be introduced. An expansion of production support via two dedicated funding strands - one for emerging directors and one for mid-career to established filmmakers. Stay tuned for updates on the fund’s application opening early in Spring 2026.

Doc Society is currently hiring for multiple roles across the organisation and the BFI Doc Society Fund. If you care deeply about documentary storytelling and want to support filmmakers at different stages of their journey. See our roles below and check out our jobs page for full details here. We look forward to hearing from you!

 

Head of Operations
We’re looking for an experienced senior leader to strengthen our internal systems and support the smooth, sustainable running of the organisation. This role will play a crucial part 

in shaping how we work, ensuring our structures, processes, and operations enable our team and partners to thrive.

 

Consultant Readers and Peer Reviewers – BFI Doc Society Fund

We are appointing 16 consultant readers and peer reviewers to support all four BFI Doc Society Fund award programmes for the 2026 to 2027 financial year. These roles are central to our funding process, helping us assess applications with rigour, care, and a deep understanding of the documentary landscape.

The BFI Doc Society is looking for Black and Global Majority independent UK directors and producers to join us for a delegation to Sheffield DocFest from June 10 to 14, 2026. This will include access to the full public and industry programme, designed to help you find the international collaborators your project deserves. We are covering the essentials so you can focus on the work, including four nights of accommodation, UK return travel, and Industry accreditation.

 

If you are a UK resident with at least one short film under your belt and a feature or immersive project in the works, this is your rally cry. We are particularly keen to hear from those who have never attended the DocFest industry programme before, so get your materials ready before the deadline on Monday, March 16, 2026, 10 AM GMT. Make sure you check the eligibility and apply here!

Join the “Making the Case for Impact” webinar, co-hosted by the Global Impact Producers Alliance & the Center for Media & Social Impact, to discuss CMSI’s powerful new research findings! “The Documentary Influence: A Social Science Investigation of Film Impact Campaigns” uncovers new evidence that makes the case for why impact campaigns are worth the investment. 

We will hear from researchers and learn about their key findings on how they measured the outcomes of the various impact campaigns. Speakers include David Conrad-Pérez, Paula Weismann, Ros Donald, Lance Kramer, and Set Hernandez alongside one of the Global Impact Producers Alliance's founding voices, Vanessa Cuervo Forero. Register for the event on Thursday, March 26, 2026 at 3 PM UTC. Simultaneous interpreting will be provided in English and Spanish. Register here!

Impact Days brings together international filmmakers, NGOs, IOs, impact practitioners, and philanthropists to develop joint strategies around social justice documentary films. This year, GIPA will host a panel and AMA session on The Anatomy of an Impact Campaign, featuring Naomi Walker, Michelle Plascencia, Miriam Ayoo, Anupama Mandloi, Ben Kempas, and Amber Morning Star Byars. If you’re working at the intersection of film and social change, find out more here.

The ten cinema and immersive projects selected through our ‘Future Proof’ development Lab will be attending CPH:DOX this month to connect with industry and production partners. Delivered by FACT Liverpool and Doc Society, and supported by the BFI Creative Challenge Fund through National Lottery funding, the programme creates focused space for independent makers to develop bold new work that engages with evolving technologies of production and prepares projects for financing. Find out more about the projects and how to meet with them during CPH:DOX here.

Under the theme ‘Media Sovereignty: Rethink, Envision, Redefine,’ CPH:INDUSTRY 2026 addresses one of the most urgent questions of our time: how do we protect the infrastructure of truth in an age of political pressure, platform dominance, and AI disruption?  Whether you are a filmmaker, journalist, or policymaker, join us to imagine solutions that treat media not merely as a consumer product, but as a sovereign necessity for democracy.

 

Curated by Mark Edwards (independent producer), Danielle Turkov Wilson (founder & CEO, Think-Film Impact Productions), and Sameer Padania (independent researcher), and hosted by our own Beadie Finzi - pre-book your ticket and discover the full lineup here. 

What would an AI built by and for documentary filmmakers actually look like? What values should guide it? What should it refuse to do? DoxAI is a speculative design process running throughout CPH:DOX26 - an experiment inviting all festival participants to shape an AI system grounded in the values, questions, and needs of our community. 

You can contribute now through the online portal or stop by the interactive station at Charlottenborg to experiment with the model as it takes shape. Then, on Tuesday, 17th March at 15:00 CEST, join the Atmospheric Intelligences Initiative and Doc Society at Kunsthal Charlottenborg for a 90-minute workshop to explorewhat community-owned AI might look like. 

Sound remains a critical creative force, often hitting our nervous systems before an image even registers. Luke Moody (Head of BFI Doc Society) is heading to CPH:DOX to host this deep dive into the visceral sonic soul of cinema. He is joined by a stellar panel of New Vision filmmakers, including RAD grantee Onyeka Igwe, alongside Hira Nabi and Anne Gry Friis Kristensen, to explore how acoustic ecologies shape our understanding of the world.

 

Come pull apart the nuances of mutuality and coexistence through the medium of sound at Kunsthal Charlottenborg on March 17, 2026 from 12:10 - 13:00 CEST. Check it out here!

We love this festival's commitment to independent voices and the future of documentary cinema, and could not be prouder to have nine films screening at the festival. Come celebrate these extraordinary storytellers with us.

 

All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea (World Premiere; F:ACT AWARD)

Conscious (World Premiere) 

Daughters of the Forest: Mycelium Chronicles (World Premiere; DOX: AWARD)

Fire, Water, Earth, Air (World Premiere; NORDIC:DOX)

Something Familiar (World Premiere; DOX:AWARD) 

To Hold a Mountain (European Premiere)

Our Land (International Premiere)

Molly vs the Machines (Scandinavian Premiere)

80 Angry Journalists (International Premiere)

We also have four Doc Society supported projects presenting at CPH:Forum, one of the leading international co-production and financing platforms for creative documentary. The selected projects are God of the In-Between (Climate Story Fund), War on Women (working title) (Doc Society Fund), We Are Volcanoes (Democracy Story Lab), and Blackest Ever Black (BFI Doc Society Fund). The Doc Soc team will be rooting for you all from the rafters! 

We are so excited for Lexi Powner and James Lewis’ doc to have its world premiere at the 40th anniversary edition of BFI Flare, London’s LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, running from 18-29 March. This extraordinary film reveals the historical injustice that has criminalised and subjugated LGBTQIA+ people across the globe. The same powerful groups that continue to exert their influence globally are attempting to push queer people back into the closet. This is essential viewing - make sure you catch a screening. 

 

We’re thrilled to spotlight 80 Angry Journalists, directed by András Földes & Anna Kis, as the film has its European premiere at the 28th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival (5–15 March). When Hungary’s leading independent newsroom was taken over, eighty journalists resigned en masse and set out to build a new free press from scratch, risking everything to defend media freedom. Do reserve your tickets, folks. 

We are excited to share that our Indigenous Impact Alliance website is now live, which holds a groundbreaking collective strategy initiative led by Indigenous documentary teams, Yintah, Singing Back the Buffalo, Sugarcane, Remaining Native, and Bring Them Home.

 

It includes the newly launched Rez Tour Resource Guide, created by Amber Morning Star Byars of Good Trade Productions, which supports film teams partnering with Indigenous communities with intention, respect, and reciprocity. Grounded in lived experience and generations of Indigenous filmmaking knowledge, this is offered as a living resource for teams committed to building relationships that extend beyond the screen. Watch the full length case study video and explore this resource here.

Stay tuned for more insights from the Indigenous Impact Alliance in the coming months!

At the 2025 GIPA Assembly, members of the Global Impact Producers Alliance came together to recognise and celebrate the unique superpowers of Impact Producers across our community.  Among the highlights were two powerful panel conversations. This month, GIPA is sharing one of them with us as their provocation: Pushing Against Binaries and Embracing Complexity, moderated by Carol Misorelli.

It was such an eye-opener and is a conversation worth sharing with our community. Enjoy the read! With thanks to the panellists Gabi Juns, Miki Redelinghuys, and Vivian Schröder for their insight and generosity.

A new case study for an XR (Extended Reality) piece about transgender identity and gender dysphoria from BODY OF MINE, now live on the Impact Field Guide. 

 

While the Guide's focus is, and will continue to be, documentary film, these case studies include lessons learned and acknowledge how other forms of storytelling contribute to positive social impact. Friends, check out the new resource, explore the guide & please do suggest a resource, training, or funding opportunity here.

The Points North Fellowship supports early and mid-career feature documentary teams. Six fellows from around the world are selected to convene ahead of the Camden International Film Festival for workshops, mentorship, and a live pitching event. Applicants must have a feature-length project in production or post-production. The fellowship also provides a range of professional development opportunities, including access to funders, broadcasters, and distributors. More info here and apply before the deadline on March 23rd, 2026! 

Roy W. Dean Spring Grant - Independent filmmakers from any country working on unique projects that aim to contribute to society are eligible to apply for the Roy W. Dean Grant from From the Heart Productions. The grant offers $3,500 in cash, along with $20,000 in services and discounts for production and post-production. Projects must have a budget under $500,000 and may be in any stage of production. Check it out here and apply before the March 31st, 2026 deadline! 

 

Monthly Gathering for Creatives - Film in Mind is running a monthly gathering open to anyone seeking connection and care in community with filmmakers who understand the demands of long development journeys and busy production schedules. A moment of pause can be generative, can unblock creative resistance and set a new path for sustainable practice, away from burnout. For full information, visit their website!

 

Another Film In Mind event, “Between Takes: Guided Reflection to Rejuvenate Your Film”, will take place on Wednesday, March 11th, 2026, at 9 AM PT. This is for virtual IDA Members only. Check it out and register here!

 

Free VFX Management Essentials Training - The Production Guild is running a series of FREE 2-day VFX Management Essentials training courses in collaboration with ScreenSkills for Production Managers, Line Producers, Producers, or Showrunners who work in unscripted production. Led by VFX Consultant Sophie Jackson, the course demystifies VFX, from budgeting and workflow to working effectively with vendors, with no prior experience required. The course is for people living and working in the UK. Upcoming dates include HETV & Theatrical Docs on 18th – 19th April (apply by 1st April) or 18th – 19th July (apply by 1st July), and Unscripted TV on 6th – 7th June (apply by 20th May). 

 

WORLDING 2026 is Open for Applications with an open call for its fifth incubator, inviting interdisciplinary teams from anywhere in the world to co-create climate future stories that lead to real-world impact. Working across documentary, social XR, and game engine technology, community-based design, land-use planning, data visualisation, and climate science, it sits at the edge of innovation and impact. This fully virtual incubator runs from May 13 to 27, 2026, and submissions will be accepted until March 16. Learn more and apply here.  

 

 

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