PitchDoctorPitchDoctor
BroadcastersSign in
Broadcasters / BBC / Bbc Storyville

BBC

Bbc Storyville

Format

Feature Documentary / Auteur Cinema

Length

60–90 min

Timeslot

Tuesday late night, BBC Four / BBC iPlayer

Exposé length

3–6 pages

Editorial tone

Cinematic, auteur-driven, emotionally deep. Storyville shows documentaries that would hold up in a cinema. The narrative is rigorously structured — not a TV explainer format, but narrative film. Personal perspectives, unusual access, visually ambitious. The best Storyville films have their own cinematic signature. Voiceover only when it serves the story, never as information delivery. Emotional impact is the goal, but never manipulative. Trust in the image, trust in the story.

What this format covers

  • ●Personal stories with universal resonance
  • ●International subjects — any country, any culture
  • ●Political and social conflicts told from close range
  • ●Art, music, subculture — if told cinematically
  • ●Long-term observational films and archive-driven narratives
  • ●Investigative stories, if executed cinematically
  • ●Directors with their own vision and clear point of view

What this format does NOT want

  • ●TV reportage or journalistic explainer formats
  • ●Talking-head documentaries without visual concept
  • ●Short formats under 50 minutes
  • ●Promotional films for organizations, companies, or campaigns
  • ●Pure wildlife or nature films
  • ●Formats that look like TV — Storyville wants cinema
  • ●Didactic or pedagogical films

Visual expectations

Cinema quality is non-negotiable. Storyville expects films that work on the big screen. Careful camerawork, considered composition, atmospheric lighting. Archive material is used creatively, not as filler. Animation sequences are welcome if artistically motivated. Drone shots, time-lapse, underwater footage — all permitted if they serve the story. The visual language must have its own point of view.

Expected exposé structure

  1. Title (punchy, evocative)
  2. Logline (1–2 sentences: What is the story? Why now?)
  3. Synopsis (detailed, dramatically structured)
  4. Director's statement / authorial perspective
  5. Access to protagonists and locations
  6. Visual concept / stylistic references
  7. Director biography with filmography
  8. Production company and financing status

Example productions

  • For Sama (Waad Al-Kateab, 2019)
  • The Imposter (Bart Layton, 2012)
  • Searching for Sugar Man (Malik Bendjelloul, 2012)
  • Fire of Love (Sara Dosa, 2022)
  • All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen, 2022)
  • The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012)
  • Flee (Jonas Poher Rasmussen, 2021)
  • Notes on Blindness (Peter Middleton & James Spinney, 2016)

Editorial notes

Storyville is the BBC's flagship strand for international auteur documentary. The slot is late night on BBC Four and prominent on iPlayer. Storyville acquires finished films (acquisition) but also develops original projects (commissioning). For commissioned productions a detailed treatment is expected, ideally with sizzle reel. International co-productions are the norm. Storyville films regularly screen at Sundance, IDFA, Sheffield Doc/Fest, CPH:DOX. Budget range: £150,000–500,000 for commissioning share. Mandy Chang has been Commissioning Editor since 2008 and shapes the strand.

Ready to pitch to BBC?

PitchDoctor generates a format-compliant exposé tailored to Bbc Storyville's exact editorial expectations.

← All 98 broadcaster formats