Sheffield DocFest’s 2025 Audience Award has been presented to Grenfell: Uncovered directed by Olaide Sadiq and produced by Ahmed Peerbux, Anna Prichard and James Saville.
The film had its World Premiere at the 32st edition of Sheffield DocFest on 19 June 2024. Director Olaide Sadiq and contributors of the film were in attendance for a special post-screening conversation.
A forensic investigation into the Grenfell Tower fire, Grenfell: Uncovered exposes the corruption, failures and cover-ups that turned neglect into a national tragedy.
Each feature film premiering in the six-day programme was eligible for this award, and festival-goers voted in the thousands for their favourite films.
Sheffield DocFest Creative Director Raul Niño Zambrano and Managing Director Mimi Poskittsaid: “Grenfell: Uncovered is one of those documentaries that stays with you, it’s courageous, meticulous, and absolutely necessary. It exposes the failures, the corruption, and the human cost behind the Grenfell tragedy, but it also gives space to the voices of survivors and families still fighting for justice. We are proud to showcase such essential storytelling, a it reminds us that documentary can demand both accountability and change.”
Olaide Sadiq said: ”Grenfell: Uncovered is a film that will stay with me forever. Piecing together a story that means so much to me and the brilliant team who helped put it together, it is one I hope will impact people all over the world.
“Documenting the painful and shocking revelations of this tragedy was essential to show just how avoidable it was — but what mattered most was giving a platform to the bereaved, survivors, emergency responders, and change-makers whose powerful testimonies shaped this film into what we hoped it would be; a call for change, for justice, and for accountability.
“Premiering at Sheffield DocFest, and feeling the raw, emotional response in the room, was exactly what the victims deserved — and a huge reminder of why DocFest is such a vital celebration of courageous and important storytelling.”
Grenfell: Uncovered is a detailed documentary that traces the events, decisions and systemic failures that led to the devastating 2017 fire in London’s Grenfell Tower.
Drawing on evidence from the public inquiry, investigative journalism and firsthand testimony from survivors and the grieving, the film lays bare a chain of negligence, regulatory failure and corporate greed. As it meticulously reconstructs the timeline leading up to the fire, the film reveals how a preventable disaster unfolded in plain sight, and how those affected are still seeking truth and accountability. A vital and unflinching call for justice, this film demands we remember and that we change.
Grenfell: Uncovered is now available to view on Netflix
Full Winners of the 32nd Sheffield DocFest 2025:
Grand Jury Award for the International Competition
Welded Together – dir. Anastasiya Miroshnichenko (France, Netherlands, Belgium, 2025)
Special Mention: The Gas Station Attendant – dir. Karla Murthy (USA, 2025)
Grand Jury Award for the International First Feature Competition
Comparsa – dir. Vickie Curtis, Doug Anderson (Guatemala, USA, 2025)
Special Mention: Carmela and the Walkers (Carmela y los Caminantes) – dir. Luis Herrera, Esteban Coloma (Ecuador, 2025)
Grand Jury Award for the International Short Film Competition
In a Whisper (Dans un Souffle) – dir. Catarina Gonçalves (Portugal, Hungary, Belgium, 2025)
Special Mention: Oscurana – dir. Violeta Mora (Honduras, Hungary, Portugal, Belgium, 2025)
Tim Hetherington Award
Sudan, Remember Us (Sudan Y’a Ghali) – dir. Hind Meddeb (France, Tunisia, Qatar, 2024)
International Virtual Reality Competition
Speechless Witness of a Wandering Tree
Youth Jury Award
Runa Simi – dir. Augusto Zegarra (Peru, 2025)
Special Mention: The Stand – dir. Christopher Auchter (Canada, 2024)
Shine Global Children’s Resilience Award for Documentary
Comparsa – dir. Vickie Curtis, Doug Anderson (Guatemala, USA, 2025)
The Whickers Pitch, Film & TV Funding Award 2025
1st prize: The Video Guy, Sam Howard and Alexander Dickerson
2nd prize: Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Koval Bhatia
The Podcast Pitch
1st prize: Redemption Man, Chris Mitchell
2nd prize: The Great Gay Penguin Cover Up, Jesse Lou Lawson
First Cut Pitch
Clio Symington
Climate Spring Pitch
Michelle Sanders, Downstream
Al Jazeera Documentary Channel Co-Production Award
Gaza Sunbirds and Power, Elaine
Jon Creamer
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