DocTalk 2025

MEET THE PROGRAMMER – BASIL TSIOKOS (SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL)
Programming for the past twenty years at the highly influential Sundance Film Festival, Basil Tsiokos has been at the forefront of documentary’s dynamic artistic and commercial growth. Considering the tremendous number of films he has watched and the relationships he has built with many of them, how can Tsiokos identify what stands out as particularly meaningful? We meet him now in reflection on some of the touchstone films and key experiences that have shaped his approach to programming over time. Tsiokos will also reflect on how industry changes have affected programming and on what a “Sundance documentary” means today. Gain behind-the-scenes insight into festival curation from one of the industry’s most experienced programmers.

LOOK INTO MY EDIT – DOCUMENTARY EDITORS AS PSYCHIC MEDIUMS
The Antenna 2025 film Look Into My Eyes portrays psychic mediums as highly perceptive people with a flair for offering empathetic, expressive interpretations of what they sense to be important. Could not the same be said of documentary editors? In this session, acclaimed editors convene to share their experiences with this year’s festival films. How do they channel the “spirit” of a film from a vast amount of physical material? What kinds of questions did they need to ask their collaborators throughout the process of translating a vision into a fitting form? And how do they know when the edit’s restless search has ended and it is ready for picture lock? Join editors Hannah Buck (Look Into My Eyes, Confessions of a Good Samaritan), Nels Bangerter (Apocalypse in the Tropics), Gabriel Rhodes (Gaucho Gaucho), and Malika Zouhali-Worrall (Union) for a spirited conversation about editing.

IT’S FUNNY BECAUSE IT’S TRUE: A MASTERCLASS WITH PENNY LANE
Join acclaimed filmmaker Penny Lane (Nuts!, Hail Satan?, Listening to Kenny G, Confessions of a Good Samaritan) for a masterclass that dives deep into her bold approach to documentary filmmaking. Known for her wit, innovation, and willingness to challenge conventions, Penny explores how humour, experimentation, and provocation can reimagine what nonfiction cinema can achieve. Drawing from her award-winning body of work, she’ll share her creative philosophy, insights into her process, and lessons from a career dedicated to making films that are as provocative as they are entertaining.

THE LONG VIEW: IMPACT OVER TIME
“Impact” has become a cornerstone of the documentary field, often focused on immediate efforts to increase audience accessibility, amplify participants’ voices, and drive measurable change. But a filmmaker’s relationship to a film, its participants, and its issues often extends far beyond a traditional impact campaign. From the vantage point of time passed, how does a filmmaker consider the accrued values and various reverberations of a film? Using Maya Newell’s Gayby Baby as a case study, this session explores how a film’s impact evolves over time. Released in 2015, the film garnered significant attention and sparked national debates, but how has it been meaningful since? In conversation with Newell, we examine the film’s ripple effects—from influencing education policies to shaping its participants’ actions—and how these experiences have informed Newell’s later work.

DocTalk is supported by Screen NSW, City of Sydney Council and the U.S. Embassy Australia.