Sheffield DocFest announced today that the 2023 Audience Award has been awarded to Your Fat Friend. The film is directed and produced by Jeanie Finlay and producer Suzanne Alizart.
Talking about the film and the award Jeanie Finlay said “To bring a film home to Sheff DocFest, a festival that I have been coming to and showing films at for 20 years, has been incredibly emotional and meaningful. Our international premiere at the Crucible Theatre was an experience I will remember and treasure for the rest of my life. This is my ninth feature film, my most personal yet. I thought I had made a film for myself, so to receive the audience award is so wonderful. Thank you to the brilliant Sheffield DocFest audience for showing up and sharing this amazing experience with us. Thank you also to our visionary funders Field of Vision, BFI Doc Society and Broadway Cinema for making this independent documentary possible. We can’t wait to take the film out into the world.”
Sheffield DocFest’s 30th edition took place from 14th to 19th of June, featuring 37 world premieres, 20 international premieres, 10 European premieres, 47 UK premieres, and eight retrospectives from 52 countries. As well as films, it featured theatre productions, podcast events, TV show premieres, and virtual reality exhibitions — making it the festival’s most innovative documentary offering to date.
