documentary.org Blogs

'The Cove' Team's Sting Operation Revealed

IDA Editorial Staff — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:56:37 -0500

While attending the first evening of DocuDays LA 2010, The Cove director Louis Psihoyos more than hinted that while he and his Oceanic Preservation Society team were in town for Oscar-related events, they were also working on some covert operations with law officials to bust up an illegal ring of some sort. He even told us to keep an eye on the newspapers.

Now we know what he was talking about.

The Oscar-winning crew discovered that popular Santa Monica sushi restaurant Hump, was serving whale. A sting operation involving tiny cameras, surveillance equipment and the whole bit revealed that the restaurant ...

Roger Ross Williams (Finally) Delivers Acceptance Speech

IDA Editorial Staff — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:25:41 -0500

While appearing on Larry King Live, the now famously "Kanye'd" Academy Award-winner for Best Documentary Short Subject, Roger Ross Williams got another shot at delivering his acceptance speech. See it here:

Academy Hosts DOCS! for Oscars Nominees

twhite — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Above Photo: Matt Petit/(c) AMPAS

Academy Award-winner Rob Epstein (The Times of Harvey Milk; Common Threads) opened the DOCS! event at the Academy's Goldwyn Theater Wednesday night by thanking the IDA for hosting the Oscar nominees in the doc categories for the past 27 years. And with that, the torch was passed to its rightful owner.

According to IDA Founder Linda Buzzell, in a piece she wrote for Documentary Magazine on the occasion of IDA's 20th anniversary, the Oscars Reception was one of IDA's first public events, spurred by the fact that Nigel Nobel, winner for the 1981 short Close Harmony, ...

Awards Roundup: March 2-8, 2010

twhite — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

OK, we've heard all about the Oscars and the Independent Spirit Awards, but the world did keep spinning last week, and a fairly significant number of kudos rolled in from outside of LA--from Ireland, the Czech Republic, Iceland, Switzerland and New Zealand. And from the Bay Area, where San Jose-based Cinequest had the temerity to program its 20th edition this past week. In addition, the San Francisco Film Society announced its Film Arts Foundation Documentary Grant Finalists, including Steve James (Hoop Dreams) and Nancy Buirski, founder and former artistic director of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.

1) Awards

Czech Lions Awards Best Documentary: Forgotten ...

Video: Oscar Winners at DocuDays

IDA Editorial Staff — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:46:04 -0500

Regardless of the Kanye West-like activity when Music by Prudence producer Elinor Burkett grabbed the mic from director Roger Ross Williams during his acceptance speech for winning the award for Best Documentary Short Subject, the two played sorta nicely at the IDA's DocuDays 2010 Los Angeles event (even if Burkett was, shall we say, quicker, to answer questions--even when they were directed toward Williams).
See the full Music by Prudence post-screening Q&A which features Williams, Burkett, the film's subject Prudence Mabhena and others right there:

We had another Oscar-winner to-be in our company on Friday, March 5 when The Cove director Louie ...

'The Cove,' 'Music by Prudence' Take Doc Oscars

twhite — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Culminating an awards-laden year that began with the Audience Award at Sundance 2009, The Cove, directed by Louis Psihoyos and produced by Fisher Stevens and Paula DePre Pesman, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary. Stevens accepted the honor we tried to make an entertaining film that also tried to enlighten everybody. Rick O'Barry whose not only a hero to this species but to all species. And just as Stevens introduced Psihoyos as "the man who came up with the idea," Rick O'Barry, the man devoted to saving the dolphins, held up a sign, "Text...Dolphin," and the Academy denied the ...

DocuDays LA, Day 1: Activism Takes Center Stage

IDA Editorial Staff — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:37:54 -0500

If there was a theme to 2010 DocuDays L.A.'s first night it was activism.
The two films which screened at the three-day, multi-city event focused on individuals who stood up for what they believed in, even if it meant facing off against a larger and seemingly-insurmountable foe. (See pictures from the night here and here on our Flickr pages.)
The first movie of the night, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, tells the story of former war planner Daniel Ellsberg and how his decision to leak 7,000 pages of a top secret Pentagon report to ...

'Anvil,' '45365' Take Nonfiction Honors at Spirit Awards

twhite — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

In a journey that began at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival with lots of acclaim but no distribution offers, the story of Anvil! The Story of Anvil reached a rousing crescendo last night with an Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary, capping an Awards Season that garnered a bevy of kudos, including an IDA Award in December.

"I think we're both going on, having spent these incredible few years together on this amazing journey," director Sacha Gervasi exclaimed backstage. "I feel a sense of completion. I wanted to make a movie I was proud of, with people I liked-I did that. ...

Award Noms, IDA Members Meet at Mixer

IDA Editorial Staff — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:46:48 -0500

The International Documentary Association held a special awards week mixer last night at The Standard Hotel, Hollywood. Independent Spirit Award and Oscar nominated filmmakers, IDA members and staff mixed and mingled in the swanky setting.
Enjoying the night were the filmmakers behind More Than a Game, Which Way Home, The Cove, Rabbit a la Berlin, Music by Prudence, Burma VJ (most docs which can be seen at DocuDays™ 2010) and IDA Board Members, Marjan Safinia, Senain Keshgi, Bob Niemack, Eddie Schmidt, Adam Chapnick, Steve Reich, Gilda Brasch and more!
See great pictures from the night below and then check ...

The Big Screen: March 2010

twhite — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

DocuWeeks 2009 alums Severe Clear (Dir.: Kristian Fraga) and Kimjongilia (Dir.: NC Heikin) open in theaters this month, as does IDA Fiscal Sponsoree See What I'm Saying (Dir.: Hilari Scarl). Also on tap for March are a couple of Hollywood-oriented docs: Peter Hanson's Tales from the Script, about the art and business-and travails-of the screenwriting trade; and Don Hahn's Waking Sleeping Beauty, a chronicle of golden age of animated blockbusters, from The Little Mermaid through The Lion King. New York's Film Forum brackets the month with Felix Moeller's Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Süss, about Third Reich era filmmaker Veit ...

Awards Roundup: February 22-March 1, 2010

twhite — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

It was a relatively quiet week in Awards Nation, as the media arts world deferred to the final barnstorming days of the 2010 Winter Olympics. While that spectacle kept the world's attention, the filmmaking community enjoyed a spattering of kudos-including the International Digital Emmy Awards and the Streamy Awards, presented by the International Academy of Web Television. And basking in the Gold Medal glow of Team Canada glory, the Genie Awards brain trust recovered quickly from its Olympian hangover to announce nominees. The NAACP Image Awards honored Jeff Stinson and Chris Rock's Good Hair as Outstanding Documentary, while MIPDOC named ...

IDA Hosts Mixer on Tuesday, March 2

IDA Editorial Staff — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:03:40 -0500

The International Documentary Association is proud to announce a special awards week mixer, Tuesday, March 2 from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. at the The Standard Hotel, Hollywood, 8300 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA.
Join other IDA members as well as documentary filmmakers nominated for this year's Spirit and Academy Awards as the 2010 awards season comes to a dramatic close. IDA staff and board members will help you get connected to the documentary community, share your projects, meet new friends and build your professional network.
No Host Bar. Event parking is valet only. IDA Mixer participants will receive a special sticker upon check-in ...

Keri Putman Named as Sundance Institute's Executive Director

twhite — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Keri Putnam, who recently served as president of production for Miramax Films, has been named executive director of the Sundance Institute. Ken Brecher, her predecessor, stepped down last April. Putnam is scheduled to start her new position in mid-April.

"In the spirit of moving forward with new ideas and a fresh approach in the environment that surrounds us, Keri's appointment reflects the new direction in which Sundance Institute is headed," Robert Redford, the institute's founder and president, said in a statement. "Keri Putnam has a passion for the arts, a leading profile in the film community, and a stellar reputation for ...

Doc News Shorts: February 24, 2010

IDA Editorial Staff — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:40:43 -0500

Today's theme: Hello and Goodbye...
Austin-based distributor, marketing and festival scheduler B-Side is closing effective March 1. CEO and founder Chris Hyams announced the news in a post on the B-Side blog, citing economic pressures and the ongoing upheaval in the film business as the reasons behind the decision of their investors to stop funding the company. He writes, "The timing is especially disappointing, as the past year has been our best ever. In 2009, we opened our New York office and launched a new distribution business, successfully releasing 8 films. We grew to 220 film festival partners worldwide and started ...

Awards Roundup: February 16-21, 2010

twhite — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Amid the hoopla of the Winter Olympics, Awards Season continues, and Festival Circuit 2010 is chugging through Month Two. After splitting the critics awards with Anvil! The Story of Anvil, The Cove has continued its dominance of the guild awards, with Mark Monroe taking home the Writers Guild Award for Documentary Screenplay. Among other recently concluded festivals, Lucy Walker's Waste Land followed up its Audience Award win at Sundance with an Audience Prize at the Berlinale, as well as an Amnesty International Prize there. Among the winners at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Montana included Lixin Fan's Last Train ...

Doc News Shorts: Feb. 19, 2010

IDA Editorial Staff — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:13:59 -0500

The Cove director Louie Psihoyos blogs about the adventure in getting his Oscar-nominated doc out to the world at The Wrap. Find out about the film's comparisons to Avatar (yes, that Avatar), how it's inspired Quentin Tarrantino to think about making a doc and more.
Strand Releasing has acquired all U.S. rights to Picture Me, a documentary by Ole Schell and Sara Ziff about the glitzy world of high fashion modeling, from photo shoots with celebrated photographers to runway shows in New York, Milan, and Paris. New York-based Paladin acquired Angela Ismailos' doc Great Directors, which celebrates films and filmmaking ...