The 15th annual Sheffield Doc/Fest opens today with over 140 films and 50 sessions featuring 250 key industry speakers.

The films, including many award-winning documentaries from around the world, take the shape of several themed strands highlighting the current trends of documentary filmmaking.

The 2008 strands include last year’s popular Green, Bent, Anti Doc, Sports and Music strands, alongside a new strand, Kinky Docs: a celebration of sex and its representation in documentary. Doc/Fest’s retrospective of Japanese documentary classics will also continue in 2008, specially curated by Mark Cousins.

For the first time this year, Doc/Fest will introduce a leading strand of documentaries about a specific cultural issue. As the opening of Doc/Fest 2008 coincides with the announcement of the next US President, this year’s festival will be led by a series of films that investigate Regime Change.

As the world begins to explore what the change in this highly influential government will mean, Doc/Fest will highlight the best documentaries from around the world that interrogate and celebrate the impact of a ‘shift in power’ on our everyday lives.

Heather Croall, Festival Director, says: “Britain is the biggest documentary producer in the world and the Sheffield Doc/Fest is the most significant event in this country, and well on the way to becoming the most significant in Europe.

“Doc/Fest is the only place in the world where you will meet all the British documentary industry under one roof. It is the perfect place to launch your latest documentary, pitch new ideas, meet future co-production partners and get insider tips from some of the world’s best documentary makers.”