BlackTrack @ Sheffield Doc/Fest 2026
As Sheffield DocFest 2026 has come to a close, running from June 10th-15th, let’s look back at the programme with BlackTrack’s recommendations!
Kikuyu Land
Dirs. Bea Wagondu, Andrew H. Brown
Bea Wangondu returns to Kenya's highlands to follow dispossessed landowners racing to file claims before the window closes, and the deeper she digs, the more personal it gets. Cameras smuggled onto tea plantations reveal what workers endure: harsh quotas, intimidation and sexual exploitation at the hands of managers who answer only to corporate owners. As Bea uncovers her own grandfather's role in land dispossession, the investigation pulls apart her family history too. Then in 2025, the Kenyan government moves to weaken the land commission and silence those speaking out, with filmmakers investigating police brutality even facing arrest. What begins as a legal battle becomes something far more dangerous. (Sheffield DocFest)
Crocodile
Dirs. The Critics, Pietra Brettkelly
A group of young filmmakers in Nigeria form a homemade collective with smartphones and recycled materials. Over thirteen years, it becomes a story of creativity, ambition and growing up together. Led by Godwin and Raymond, The Critics turn their backyard in dusty Kaduna into a universe of spaceships, explosions and wild adventures, their short films travelling from local streets to international screens and attracting attention from filmmakers like J.J. Abrams. Shot over 13 years in an immersive style that blends documentary with scenes imagined and performed by the group themselves, Crocodile follows what happens when childhood creativity collides with the pressures of the adult world. As the group grows up, success opens doors but tests the bonds between them in ways none of them expected. Part documentary, part homemade sci-fi epic, Crocodile is unlike anything else you'll see this year. (Sheffield DocFest)
ESPN Showcase: The Brittney Griner Story
Dir. Alexandria Stapleton
The Brittney Griner Story traces the extraordinary arc of one of the most celebrated athletes in women's basketball, from her rise to global prominence to the moment her detention in Russia thrust her into the centre of an international diplomatic crisis. The stark pay gap that drove Griner to play overseas in the first place sits at the heart of the story, raising uncomfortable questions about how women's sport is valued. Her experience as a Black, openly queer athlete in an increasingly polarised America adds further weight, weaving together threads of identity, activism and the ongoing culture wars around who gets to have a public voice. As the diplomatic tension between Russia and the United States escalates around her case, the personal becomes unavoidably political. Gripping and genuinely thought-provoking, this is a portrait of one woman's ordeal that opens onto something much larger. (Sheffield DocFest)
TCB: The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing
Dirs. Louise Massiah, Monica Henriquez
Structured as a series of classes in cultural organising, TCB: The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing reconstructs the life of a woman whose literary works and film collaborations became a catalysing force in 20th century political movements. Toni Morrison, Nikky Finney and filmmaker Haile Gerima are among those who testify to Bambara's humour, fierce commitment to collective action and gift for galvanising artists into community work. TCB: The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing is a warm and stylish portrait that makes a compelling case for why her approach to activism feels as urgent now as it did then. (Sheffield DocFest)
A Last Big Story
Dir. Laura Warner
The veteran war correspondent and news anchor first learns of the story while visiting Zimbabwe, and what begins as a lead becomes a year-long pursuit to expose how a Chinese-owned mine has decimated a community's land and water. With his wife Precious by his side, Snow pursues the story with the same tenacity that defined his decades on screen. A Last Big Story is a testament to a lifetime spent shining a spotlight on vital stories that needed to be told. (Sheffield DocFest)
Hope is a Word
Dir. Maria Galliani Dyrvik
Oil spills keep devastating the Niger delta. Nnimmo Bassey, a poet activist, refuses to lose hope and trains a new generation of voices to fight oil extraction. Nnimmo Bassey has spent his entire life fighting the devastating effects of oil extraction in the Niger Delta, where since the 60s oil spills and gas flaring have ravaged the environment, poisoned people’s lives and displaced entire communities. Building on a long Nigerian legacy, Nnimmo writes poetry to inspire people to fight for their rights, demanding that oil companies take responsibility. (Ginko Film)
MKO
Dir. Ose Oyamendan
MKO unravels the cover-up behind one of Africa's most consequential political crimes. In 1993, Abiola, the world's richest Black man, won a landslide victory that the military swiftly annulled. What followed was years of imprisonment, international negotiation and, ultimately, a death that has never been fully explained. The investigation draws on extraordinary access on all sides of the story: current and former Nigerian presidents, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Abiola's family and the U.S. delegate who was in the room when he died. Those implicated in the annulment also appear, offering conflicting accounts that unravel against one another. As the trail leads through broken promises from Washington and London, the question of who killed Abiola becomes inseparable from the question of who abandoned Nigerian democracy. (Sheffield DocFest)
Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s The Weight of The World)
Dir. Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson
Made with the support of the band and the estate of late founder Maurice White, Earth, Wind & Fire draws on a remarkable trove of visual, audio and written material from the group's own vaults to get closer than ever to the personalities behind the music. The creative ambitions, rivalries, friendships and sheer force of talent that forged their sound all come vividly to life, tracing the journey from their early days through to a global stardom that crossed borders and generations. Their records soundtracked dancefloors, living rooms and protest marches alike, and their influence on funk, soul, disco and pop remains deeply felt. Questlove's film goes deep into the archives to tell the full story, and the groove is very much still there. (Sheffield DocFest)
Notes From The Underground
Dirs. Adrian Van Wyk, Chris Kets
Notes From The Underground traces the city's hip-hop movement from the 1980s to today, rooted in the Cape Flats. At its heart is the relationship between rapper Isaac Mutant and his daughter Lyrix, whose intergenerational exchange becomes a living archive of memory and transformation. Around them, MCs, dancers, DJs and graffiti writers map a broader story of a community shaped by displacement and resistance. Archival footage of forced removals from District Six sits alongside early hip-hop battles, framing lyric-writing as a direct response to oppression. Black consciousness materials smuggled into South Africa through books and penpals reveal just how global this underground scene has always been. Afrikaans is reshaped into defiance, queer voices reclaim space, and Knowledge of Self emerges as spiritual practice. (Sheffield DocFest)
A House Through Time
Dirs. Jonathan Rowlands, Kathryn Feavers
David Olusoga returns to uncover the hidden lives within a single Edinburgh home, tracing centuries of forgotten stories held within its walls. Returning for its sixth series, A House Through Time embarks on a new chapter in Scotland's world famous capital. Olusoga guides viewers through Edinburgh's transformation during periods of political upheaval, industrial revolution, war and urban renewal, examining how national events shaped individual lives within this single property. This special screening was followed by an extended conversation with David Olusoga and researcher Leah Monteiro. (Sheffield DocFest)