documentaries

Ed Stafford: Treat the camera like your friend

Ed Stafford spoke to the Cavendish Conference Centre in Marylebone about his experience as a self-shooting adventurer and presenter of survivalist programmes.

His hit series Naked and Marooned saw him spend 60 days in total isolation, without any tools, on a tropical island. The RTS Futures event saw former Discovery Channel commissioner Elizabeth McIntyre quiz Ed on how he got started and his tips for the RTS Futures audience.

New Adam Curtis film HyperNormalisation comes to iPlayer

(Credit: BBC)

HyperNormalisation will explore the time of uncertainty we currently live in, where even those in power don’t know what to do.

The documentary is inspired by the unpredictable events of recent times – from the rise of Donald Trump to Brexit, the war in Syria, the endless migrant crisis, and random bomb attacks.

It seeks to explain both why these chaotic events are happening, and why we and our leaders can’t understand them.

The Polygamist comes to Channel 4

The Polygamist (w/t) takes a peak at the daily rituals and practices of 15 families living in a small township, whose homes are carved into the face of a vast sandstone rock and where more than half of residents are involved in 'plural marriages'.

The four-part series is produced by KEO Films, who made the refugee documentary The Exodus: Our Journey To Europe for BBC2 and current Channel 4 reality show Eden

Levison Wood explores the Americas for Channel 4

Levison Wood in the Himalayas (Credit: Channel 4)

The former army officer will begin his 1700 mile journey in the north-eastern tip of Mexico, heading through eight Central American countries before reaching the Darien Gap where he hopes to pass into Colombia and South America.

The Darien Gap has long been a pull for explorers.  The 10,000-square-mile expanse of wild tropical forest stretches from Panama to Colombia and is a refuge for outlaws and dangerous wildlife.

Wood has previously lived in Mexico and trained with the British Army in Belize, but the rest of the trip will see him visit new territory.

BBC orders slate of new documentaries

London ambulance (credit: Flickr/eastleighbusman via Creative Commons)

Speaking about the films, to be shows on BBC One, Two, Three and Four, Patrick Holland, BBC Head of Commissioning, Documentaries, said: “We are delighted to announce such a diverse and distinctive range of films from such a terrific group of programme-makers. The variety of stories and filmmaking approaches shows the ambition we have at BBC Documentaries. What unites these projects is the desire to find the very best ways to tell the most important and engaging stories."

Winner of BBC Grierson Trustees' Award announced

Kim Longinotto (Credit: BBC)

Documentary maker Kim Longinotto has been named as the 2015 recipient of the BBC Grierson Trustees’ Award.

The Grierson Trust awards, often referred to as the Oscars of the documentary world, were set up in memory of the Scottish documentary maker John Grierson, to celebrate the best work in the field.

Longinotto has made a name for herself creating films that focus on the lives of women across the globe, giving a voice to many living in repressed societies.

Our Friend in the West: Mike Gunton

Mike Gunton

Last week, I was standing in a fly-fishing shop in a small town in Montana telling the owner I worked for the BBC Natural History Unit. "Oh, so you're from Bristol," was his reply.

OK, he was a wildlife fan and did then ask if David Attenborough was my neighbour, but it does illustrate that Bristol and the NHU's reputation go far and wide.

I joined in my late twenties to work on the Attenborough blockbuster The Trials of Life. I thought I'd stay for the three years it took to make the series and then move on.