Joanna Suchomska, graduate of the Media Practice for Development and Social Change MA and Media Production BA, has been selected for the Grierson DocLab.

Grierson DocLab, with support from Netflix and The Rank Foundation, is a training scheme that helps UK-based newentrants aged 18-25 thrive in the world of factual and documentary programme-making.

Joanna is one of 16 young people who will take part in a programme of training that will enable them to start their documentary making careers. They’ll undertake a week’s training as well as attending the online edition of Sheffield Doc/Fest, editing and camera training, a bursary-supported work placement, and on-going mentoring support.

The scheme takes place over approximately one year, and due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, will mostly be held online. Now in its 9th year, Grierson DocLab has an increasingly strong track record in training and helping aspiring young filmmakers get their first break into the documentary industry.

Joanna said “Focussing on short documentary production during my degree helped me develop practical skills as a documentary filmmaker. I worked on a doc discussing Britain’s housing crisis from the perspective of a local no-fixed-abode community and later produced a short featuring a young migrant’s perspective on the changing immigration policies. I feel very lucky to have met people who trusted me with their stories —I'm currently working on a documentary about women’s reproductive rights in my home country, Poland, and I've assisted on several features. I find myself gravitating towards themes of taboo and controversy, sensitive stories that need to be handled with care. I'm eager to continue building my experience, and to know that I’ll now get to do that as a Grierson DocLab trainee is an amazing feeling!

“Being invited to join the scheme is an opportunity I never imagined would be given to me. I feel incredibly thankful and excited to have been selected, and I'm looking forward to making new connections in the industry and learning in practice how the factual programmes I so much admire are made”.

Find out more: https://griersontrust.org/outreach/