New date for Sheffield Doc/Fest

The festival has been held in the autumn for 15 years but organisers have announced that it will take place from June 8 to 12 in 2011.

The thinking behind the decision is that a summer slot, with its brighter days and warmer weather, will attract more local punters.

Several community-wide activities will be taking place, including plans for a special outdoor documentary film screening.

The event will still boast a film programme of more than 120 of the world's best documentaries.

Steve Hewlett, chairman of Sheffield Doc/Fest, said: "Sheffield Doc/Fest is an outstanding UK and international success story.

“Over the past four years, delegate attendance has risen from 500 in 2005, to 1,885 in 2009.

“But there's a bit of a pile-up of European documentary festivals in the autumn so after much consideration we've decided to move to June.

“This move will allow more inventive programming, more public outreach and allow us to improve our offering and enable us to work more effectively with other creative organisations in Sheffield.

“We'll also be announcing a couple of important partnerships with international documentary organisations in the coming weeks.

“Britain is the home of documentary film and Sheffield Doc/Fest will take its place among the best documentary festivals in the world.”

The 2010 international film programme, which last year featured 19 world, eight European and 45 UK premieres from 45 countries, already boasts strong UK documentaries from Marc and Nick Francis (When China Met Africa), David Sington (The Flaw) and Penny Woolcock (On The Streets).