You don’t need a Netflix subscription to watch the streamer’s latest crop of original documentaries. Five short docs led by U.K. and Ireland-based filmmakers have premiered on Netflix’s Still Watching YouTube channel.
The five films all received support from Netflix’s Documentary Talent Fund, which is currently in its second year. The members of the current cohort each received £30,000 (approximately $38,000) to support projects that have a shared theme of “connection.” The films arrived on YouTube after premiering at London’s Ham Yard Hotel on January 31.
A news update from Netflix explained that the streamer launched the Documentary Talent Fund to “break down barriers of access for emerging filmmakers.” As you might guess based on that description, the five docs distributed on the Still Watching hub come from a diverse group of directors. There’s Sperm Donors Wanted, a live stage show featuring a transgender performance and hundreds of his potential sperm donors; Black Stroke, which asks why 87% of Black people in the U.K. can’t swim; and Turn Up The Bass, a profile of a deaf DJ.
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“It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with such talented filmmakers and watch each team’s ideas blossom into fully formed documentaries,” said Netflix Director of Documentary Film Kate Townsend. We are immensely proud of the tenacity, grit, and creativity demonstrated to get the films made and presented to this final standard of excellence. Each film is an exciting glimpse into the future talent of UK documentarians.”
The projects that round out the second Documentary Talent Fund collection are the Ukraine-set Two Months and the cultural exploration Iranian Yellow Pages. All of the docs can be found on the Still Watching channel, which reaches more than six million subscribers.
