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‘The most devastating documentary you will see this year’

THE TELEGRAPH ON ‘ATOMIC PEOPLE’

Benedict Sanderson is a multi-BAFTA-winning director and cinematographer. He makes bold, atmospheric, visually striking films full of heart and humanity.

‘Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart’, Ben’s latest drama documentary was released on Netflix in January 2026 and was the No.1 feature film for 2 weeks (No.2 worldwide), scoring a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film tells the horrifying yet inspirational story of Elizabeth Smart, abducted from her Utah home in 2003, and drew universal praise for placing the victim at the centre of the story. Unfolding like a tense thriller, Rolling Stone magaizne called the feature film ‘‘heart-stopping’, the New York Times praised its ‘fascinating and disorientating narrative’, while the Guardian described Elizabeth’s testimony as ‘Truly inspiring’.

Part horror, part family drama, part thriller, See No Evil, filmed and directed by Ben for Passion Pictures/Channel 4, and released December 2025, recounts the epic and profoundly disturbing story of John Smyth and the cover-up that brought down The Archbishop of Canterbury - the first time this has ever happened in the Church of England’s 500 year history. Told over two parts, the documentary ranges across UK and Africa, and is told through the eyes of John Smyth’s own family, his extraordinary victims, and the journalists who battled to expose the cover-up and bring Smyth to justice. The series drew widespread acclaim, with The Guardian describing it as ‘immaculately made, deeply harrowing’ ★★★★, the Daily Mail ‘Chilling’ ★★★★★, while The Telegraphfound it ‘Extraordinary’ . The Times said it was ‘Remarkable television… The storytelling in this documentary is expert and extremely moving… A profoundly disturbing but excellent exposé ★★★★.

Ben’s 90 minute feature documentary ‘Atomic People’, co-directed with Megumi Inman, premiered at Sheffield Documentary Festival in May 2024, and was then released on the BBC and PBS in the US. It tells the extraordinary stories of 15 survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki in 1945. The Radio Times described it as ‘a most remarkable, moving, & harrowing piece of television’, while The Guardian called it ‘ a deeply moving, quietly devastating film’ ★★★★. It was given 5 stars by The Financial Times ★★★★★, The Independent ★★★★★ The Daily Mail ★★★★★, The Irish Independent ★★★★★ & The Telegraph ★★★★★. In 2025 it won a BAFTA for Best Specialist Factual Documentary. It was also nominated for a Grierson and Rose D’Or, and won an RTS, and RTS Craft award for Editing and Special Jury Prize at the Venice TV Festival.

In 2023, Ben wrote and directed ‘Dublin Narcos’ for Blast! Films & Sky Documentaries/ NOW TV. The series mixes scripted drama & documentary to recount the drug-fuelled history of Dublin from the 1970s-2000s. The Guardian called it a ‘brilliant three-part documentary’ & the Sunday Times ‘Illuminating and gripping TV’. It was nominated for two BAFTAs for Best Factual Series & Cinematography, a Grierson Award & three Royal Television Society Craft Craft awards for Directing, Cinematography and Editing.

Over 5 years, between 2018-2023, Ben directed & filmed 2 series (5 episodes) of the acclaimed Minnow Films/ BBC observational documentary series ‘The Detectives’. Embedded with elite police units these high risk verité films follow the pursuit of violent drug gangs in Greater Manchester involved in exploitation, kidnap & murder. In Spring 2024, Ben won a BAFTA for his cinematography on ‘The Detectives: Taking Down an OCG’, while the previous series, ‘The Detectives: Fighting Organised Crime’ was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Factual Series in 2022 & won an RTS Craft award for Best Editing. The Sun described the series as ‘TV gold’.

In 2022, Ben directed and filmed the investigative three part biography ‘Mother Teresa: For the Love of God?’ (Sky Documentaries/ NOW TV), an explosive reassessment of the saint featuring interviews from whistleblowers within the Catholic Church. The Guardian gave it 4 Stars and said it had, ‘Damning testimony from a killer witness’. The Times called it ‘A complex and fascinating profile’.

Over a 20 year career Ben has filmed and directed episodes of the Netflix global hit ‘DOPE’ & worked as a director on multiple award-winning series including ‘Hospital’ (BBC 2), ‘Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds’ (Ch4) and ‘24 hours in Police Custody’ (Ch4). He has also written & directed drama shorts, including ‘Vigilante’, the story of a shopkeeper during the 2011 London riots, which was shown & won awards at film festivals worldwide.

Ben honed his filmmaking skills in-house at the BBC, having worked up from warehouse floor to trainee lighting cameraman at Procam, the global equipment provider. Whilst there he worked as a camera assistant on iconic British comedy ‘Peepshow’. Originally from Manchester, Ben lives in London.

Contact

benedicts@passion-pictures.com

https://www.instagram.com/benedict.sanderson