Rob's Been At Docfest

I still feel a bit battered and dazed after my big weekend away. Where was I? Ibiza, raving it up at the super clubs? At the Euros, perhaps, lobbing chairs and chasing Russians?

Try Sheffield. I've been at Dofest, the biggest documentary film festival on the planet, along with over three thousand delegates, film-makers and producers. It's six days of sheer bliss for the movie fan who likes a dose of reality.

I wear many hats creatively speaking (that doesn't mean I wear them at a jaunty angle or on my shoulder... Oh, you get the idea). You know me as a writer, but I also cartoon, podcast and indulge in short film-making. With my partner-in-crime Dominic Wade I have put my name to a heaping handful of documentaries over the last ten years or so.

Our latest magnum opus, Steel Is Real... But Carbon Is Quicker is a film about the grass-roots of British cycling. Team GB has a raft of stars and famous names heading to Rio this summer to grab gold on the track and road–legends like Mark Cavendish, Lizzy Armistead and of course Bradley Wiggins. But there's a culture of cycling that got them to the big time, of people out in all weathers, slogging up hills or in velodromes for the sheer love of the sport.

Steel Is Real aims to celebrate these people, and the pioneers that gave Great Britain a place on the list of strong cycling nations. It might seem as if we came from nowhere. We want to show that simply isn't true, and how it takes a community to make a champion.

So we've been running around, catching some movies and chatting to anyone that would talk to us about Steel Is Real - a highly appropriate title for the Steel City. It's been a fun but hectic time. Highlights? Watching Michael Moore's latest in a premiere with the man himself, after a downpour nearly killed the projection equipment (it was a great weekend for staying indoors). An audience with National Treasure Joanna Lumley. An evening vogueing with a New York crew at The Academy. We packed a lot in. Which means it's early nights, lots of water and salads for me for a while now...

What has all of this to do with ethical fashion or charities? Well, nothing. But as part of the promotional push to raise awareness of our film, we reached out to our sponsors, Pier32, for a little help. They provided us with some rather nifty t-shirts using Gildan stock in a lovely soft organic cotton:

http://www.pier32.co.uk/product/gd001-softstyle-tee/.

We couldn't be happier. Look good, don't they?

Not pictured: hangover.

 

Would you like to know more about Steel Is Real But Carbon Is Quicker? Then pop over to our Facebook Page where there's pics and updates of our time in Sheffield. It'll be the first place for news about the film as we move into the post-production stage. Do please Like the page as well: it makes a big difference and gives us the ability to shout about the film to more people.

Yes, this has been an unapologetic plug of a post. Back to normal business tomorrow.