Award Shortlist: Eating Earth
The Whickers & Sheffield DocFest Podcast Pitch Award 2026
Hundreds of entries from 59 countries received.
15 ‘outstanding, highly impressive pool of entries, that showcased the very best in director-led storytelling, offering rare access to compelling characters and bringing fresh, global perspectives to the stories shaping our world today were shortlisted
My entry Eating Earth made it onto that list.
I've done my happy dance and waiting to find out if I make it to the final 5, who will be invited to pitch at the Sheffield Doc Festival in June.
What is Eating Earth about?
“My friend Dorcas told me her secret; she eats calabash chalk, hides it around her house, and still cannot stop consuming it despite knowing the toxic risks during her three pregnancies. When her confession cracks open my own buried memories of pica, we follow the earth from London to Nigeria and into the laboratories, revealing how a tradition treated as sacred by some is diagnosed as disorder by others, and why almost no one dares to question what they’re doing.”
This story came from a casual WhatsApp conversation with my friend Dorcas. Our overdue catch up started with the normal updates; work, family, hair styles and holidays. Then Dorcas sent me a link to her Instagram video that stunned me.
Crunch and cracking of hard crumbling stone is all I heard. I watched and winced as she used her beautiful white teeth to crush the clay substance in her mouth to soothe her.
Dorcas mentioned she wanted to raise awareness and less than two months later here we are.
I’m really proud to be part of a creative group that's had their ideas recognised by a prestigious bunch of people. Thank you Whickers and Sheffield Docfest.
Earth Eaters sits alongside other entries, such as The Digital Immortals of Varanasi, Lullabies from Ukraine, The Baconian Heist, My Memory Fails Me and Escazú Souls. Full list here.
“In the four year history of The Podcast Pitch we have never had so many entries from such a richly diverse spread of locations and ideas. Each one offers something vibrant and original. Each one deserves to be heard.”
- Artistic director Jane Ray
