Sheffield is the focus as festival earns top billing

With a line-up including some of the most renowned film makers in the world, Sheffield Doc/Fest is set to be even bigger than last year.

"We are constantly growing," says the festival's film programmer, Hussain Currimbhoy. "This year we've got Joan Rivers. That's going to take us up to the next stage."

The festival will open with the UK premiere of Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work by award-winning filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg.

Currimbhoy says: "It's an honour that she wants to be here in Sheffield. And she's going to be in the audience ready to take questions after the film."

Speaking with rapid excitement, Currimbhoy reveals the other highlights of the festival. "This year we have a lot of Yorkshire-based films. We've got a film about Andrea Dunbar by Clio Barnard and one about Alan Bennett and his career as a playwright. We are also very excited about Rolf Harris joining us. We're going to be showing a film about his life and career with a glimpse of his work in progress for Arena. That really is a highlight for me."

This year the theme of the festival is community film making. Currimbhoy explains: "We're going to underprivileged areas and getting to see great stories. It's very exciting getting to see what these areas are all about."

With a large focus of the Middle East this year, Currimbhoy explains why he is eagerly anticipating these films. "All we ever see is bad news about the Middle East but we're highlighting what else is going on. We're showing at least one Middle East film a day with discussion panels after each."

The festival will be showing hits from other festivals along with new and unseen films from a wide range of artists. There will be 131 films from 24 countries from all over the world. "People are going to get the full film experience," says Currimbhoy.

Sheffield has been put on the map as the home of documentaries, but why the South Yorkshire city?

"Sheffield has become the hub for documentaries over the years and now it's part of an international hub – it's progressive and exciting. It opens up to stories and embraces documentaries," says Currimbhoy.

Now in its 17th year, how has the festival managed to not only attract vast numbers of visitors, but keep it fresh and exciting? "We keep trying to change," says Currimbhoy.

"We keep up with audience taste and make documentaries accessible. This year we're showing documentaries that can be viewed online, in the cinema and on your mobile phone."

The great thing about the festival is that it encourages people to get involved.

"We're holding masterclasses with people like Anand Patwardhan, India's most renowned documentary filmmaker, and we're going to be looking at the art and craft of making documentaries and the business of documentary making.

"Plus we have the Sheffield Doc/Fest Awards and the Meet Market which is a great opportunity for people to pitch ideas and generate money for films," says Currimbhoy.

Doc/Fest runs from November 3-7 in Sheffield. Full schedule available at www.sheffdocfest.com

HIGHLIGHTS

The Abor: Clio Banard captures the life of Yorkshire playwright Andrea Dunbar, who wrote her first play, The Abor, at 15, and died at 29. Barnard uses actors to play the roles of the writer and her family and friends but has replaced their voices with audio from interviews with their real-life counterparts.

Alan Bennett and the Habit of Art: Adam Low's film depicts the making of Bennett's latest play, The Habit of Art, which is about the relationship between poet WH Auden and composer Benjamin Britten. Bennett and director Nicholas Hytner talk about the making of the film, from Bennett's first musings on it, through the many scripts during which the final play took shape.

Arena: Rolf Harris Paints his Dream: Multi-award winning documentarian Vikram Jayanti follows Rolf Harris as he creates a new painting for BBC Arena, so extraordinary that it is a surprise.

Joan Rivers: A piece of work: Ricki Stern's and Annie Sundberg's film follows Joan Rivers for a year in her bid to find more work. With no signs of slowing down at 75, we follow Rivers from tiny clubs in New York to bringing her show to Edinburgh and London. We watch her struggle as a female stand-up and see a glimpse of what lies beneath the wit, plastic surgery and laughter.

Marwencol: Jeff Malmberg's film was nominated for the 2010 Special Jury Award. Marwemcol is about Mark Hogancamp, who was left brain damaged after a drunken argument outside a bar. On his road to recovery, he constructs a miniature Second World War European town, populated by crafted scenes of soldiers and Barbie dolls with Mark as the hero.