Sheffield Fringe was a research project and film programming initiative exploring the intersection of art & documentary practices through screenings, talks, exhibition-making, and publication. The project was active between 2011 and 2019 providing a space and context to strengthen artists’ documentary as a specific form of cultural production separate from market pressures.
Events were held annually in Sheffield to coincide with the Sheffield International Documentary Festival. From 2014 Sheffield Fringe became a biennial gathering celebrating and critically examining documentaries in the interdisciplinary contexts of art and broadcast media.
Five festival-like editions were held in Sheffield and elsewhere screening events were organized in collaboration with Whitechapel Gallery (London), Close-Up Film Center (London), UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art (New York), SALT Beyoğlu (Istanbul), the Buenos Aires Museum of Modern Art (Argentina) and Belvedere Museum (Vienna) among other venues.
Core team: Minou Norouzi and Esther Harris. Tina Borkowski was responsible for the print design and Jonathan Perl for the website.