Name Sirkka Moeller
Organisation Sheffield International Documentary Festival
Title Festival Programmer
t: 0114 276 5141 e: sirkka@sidf.co.uk
What does your organisation do? We organise and run an annual, week-long international documentary film festival and television conference. We also co-ordinate a touring programme of documentary films in co-operation with the bfi.
What does your job involve? Programming the festival’s film programme, from the research and selection of the films to the final presentation. Liaising with funding institutions and international guests, providing material for the festival catalogue and co-ordinating print transport. During the festival I introduce film screenings and host Q&A sessions. Together with the bfi I programme the festival’s tour.
Who else have you worked for and what did you do? I have been working for various European Film Festivals since 1988, mostly in freelance or temporary positions. Before coming to Sheffield I worked as Director of Sales, Documentaries, for Munich-based sales agent and production company TELCAST International. Prior to that I worked as Subtitling Editor for Film & Video Untertitelung in Cologne, Germany.
What do you enjoy most about your present post? Working together with an excellent team and delivering an internationally acclaimed event that serves the needs of the documentary community.
What do you find most difficult in your present post? Working in the UK with its fairly low level of public funding for the arts, compared with other EU countries; and balancing the needs of sponsors with artistic integrity.
What is your career ambition? To help the UK documentary community look beyond the country’s borders and become more aware of what’s happening internationally.
Who has influenced your career to date the most – and why? Kathy Loizou, our former Festival Director, now Director of Showcomotion; and Kerstin Hagrup, former Director of Filmkontakt Nord, Copenhagen.
If you could have done any job, what would it be? Compile the Oxford English Dictionary.
If you had three wishes for the future of the arts, what would they be?
• That local councils show more recognition of the value of cultural events
• That future cuts in spending don’t threaten the arts and cultural activity
• That film-makers never stop experimenting.