The IDA Membership is composed of directors, producers, composers, cinematographers, students and nonfiction enthusiasts, among others. Members News is the place to find out about their accomplishments and activities.

If you are an IDA Member and would like your news to be featured in the Members News column, please send your blurb (150 words max) to Documentary associate editor Tamara Krinsky at krinskydoc@ca.rr.com. You must include your name and "IDA Members News" in the subject line. Items will be included on a space-available basis.

The Documentary Estela Award went to NALIP LPA Fellow Almudena Carracedo, the director/producer/cinematographer/co-editor and co-writer of Made in L.A. Her film premiered at SilverDocs and the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2007, then went on to win numerous awards before its US broadcast premiere on the PBS series P.O.V. The film was recently nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story-Long Form. Her 2003 documentary short about Tijuana, Welcome: A Docu-Journey Of Impressions, received the Sterling Award for Best Documentary at the SilverDocs Documentary Festival.

She Wants To Be A Matador, a character-driven documentary about female bullfighters directed and produced by Gemma Cubero and Celeste Carrasco, was selected by 2008 Tribeca All Access. www.tribecafilminstitute.org/taa

Miriam Cutler scored the film Chris & Don. A Love Story, which opened in Los Angeles at the Nuart on July 4. The film is the true-life story of the passionate, three-decade relationship between British writer Christopher Isherwood, whose Berlin Stories was the basis for the musical Cabaret, and American portrait painter Don Bachardy, 30 years his junior. From Isherwood's Kit-Kat-Club years in Weimar-era Germany to the couple's first meeting on the sun-kissed beaches of 1950s Malibu, their against-all-odds saga is brought to dazzling life in this joyful celebration of a most extraordinary couple. http://zeitgeistfilms.com/chris&don

For the second time in his 13-year career, documentary film producer Steven Fischer has been nominated for an Emmy Award. On May 12, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, National Capital Chapter, announced Fischer's nomination for his cinematography on the Civil War docu-drama Now & Forever Yours: Letters to an Old Soldier, which Fischer also produced and directed. Northern Virginia Community College, one of the country's largest community college systems, subsidized the six-minute movie. Additional support came from Historic Fairfax City, Inc., The Fairfax Museum, and historic Welbourne Manor. The docu-drama was co-produced by Susie McCauley and Charles Siegel.

Lisa Gray's documentary Life Sentence premiered at the San Francisco Black Film Festival in June and at NewFilmmakers in NY in July. Life Sentence is a personal look at the impact of long-term imprisonment and the adjustment back into society. The film explores the criminal justice system, as well as the hope, ambition and obstacles six men and women have overcome to prove change is possible.

During the trip to Albuquerque New Mexico for the 15th Annual National Philosophy Alliance (NPA) Conference, director David de Hilster showed a 14-minute edited scene from his film The Miracle Year to the NPA members. Shot in 2005 and edited by editor/producers Andrea Tucker and Nick Tamburri, the scene was from the 13th NPA conference held in Storrs, Conn., with many of those in the film present for the first public showing of a scene from the film. Prior to showing the trailer and scene, de Hilster pitched the movie just in case someone there might be interested in taking on the role of executive producer. Turns out luck was on his side. Greg Volk, one of the newest members of the NPA and a brilliant mind in the dissident physics area, officially announced last April that he would be forming an LLC to find finishing funds for the film. Volk, an investor himself, is squarely in the driver's seat as executive producer.

IDA Trustee History^TM (formerly The History Channel) is proud to announce its new relationship with CINE, which is reflected in its sponsorship of the Washington, DC-based film competitions group known for its Golden Eagle Awards. History^TM provided major support for the organization's Golden Anniversary Awards Gala, which was held last April at Washington's just-opened Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue. History^TM's generous sponsorship of the gala and the organization signifies its respect for CINE and its goals.

Kartemquin Films' Gordon Quinn reports updates on a number of projects. Terra Incognita continues to do well in DVD and Web-based distribution, and Milking The Rhino is finishing post-production. At The Death House Door was recently broadcast on IFC after a very successful festival run and a host of outreach screenings across the country, including several major events in Texas, in conjunction with death penalty groups. In The Family is going to be on P.O.V. this fall and has taken off with a major civic engagement campaign with a number of events with the folks who have a stake in the issue of genetic disease. With the recent passage of the GENA Act, the issue is now high profile.

Elephant Eye Films' Kicking It, directed by Susan Koch and Jeff Werner, was released June 13 in New York City, followed by expansion to Los Angeles and Washington, DC on June 27. In the summer of 2006, while the football world's attention was focused on Germany, thousands of players around the globe were training hard and competing to be part of the World Cup-the Homeless World Cup. It began in 2001 as a wild idea by a Scot and an Austrian: to give homeless people a chance to change their lives through an international street soccer competition. Five years later, the annual Homeless World Cup had become an internationally recognized sports competition. Five hundred homeless players from 48 nations would ultimately be selected to represent their country in Cape Town, South Africa-coming from such disparate parts of the world as war-torn Afghanistan, the slums of Kenya, the drug rehab clinics of Dublin, the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina, the overflowing public shelters of Madrid, and the unforgiving city of St. Petersburg, Russia, where the homeless have no rights or identity. Win or lose, for these players it would be the journey of a lifetime.

Alexis Krasilovsky, director of Women Behind the Camera, was given a Tribute Award "for your many achievements in independent filmmaking" at the San Francisco Women's Film Festival in April, as well as a Best Documentary Film Award at the Female Eye Film Festival in Toronto. www.alexiskrasilovsky.com.

Former IDA Membership Coordinator Stephon Litwinczuk has just finished his first major documentary production-Behind the Masks: The Story of the Screen Actors Guild, a four-part, five-hour documentary by William Gazecki, funded through the SAG Foundation. Litwinczuk was the associate producer and assistant editor on the fascinating project, in charge of all archival research and acquisition. With a tenacious focus and sincerity, Litwinczuk worked with over 75 archives across the country to bring history to the screen. As assistant editor, he joined the Motion Picture Editors Guild...any Union docs out there? Now he is working on Broken Promises: Indian Trust, by Melinda Janko. The film is about the largest class-action lawsuit against the US Government in regards to the mismanagement of trust funds by the Department of Interior of the Native people's land and resources. Find out more at www.brokenpromisesthemovie.com. Litwinczuk can be reached at heiwafilms@mac.com.

Joan Meyerson wrote the National Memorial Day Concert that was shown on PBS live from the steps of the US Capitol. Performers and guests included Joe Mantegna, Gary Sinise, Denis Leary, Gladys Knight, Idina Menzel, Sarah Brightman and the National Symphony Orchestra. The concert serves as a reminder that Memorial Day is not just for barbecues and beach parties.

Allen Mondell and Cynthia Salzman Mondell of Media Projects in Dallas recently screened their latest film, The Monster Among Us, as an Official Selection at the AFI Dallas International Film Festival this past April. Addressing the alarming rise of anti-Semitism in Europe, the film includes excerpts from almost 200 hours of footage, shot over a three-year period in Germany, Hungary, France, England, Holland and Belgium. Anti-Semitism has surfaced on university campuses, in the media, on the streets, on the Internet, at political demonstrations and in seemingly innocent social situations. The Mondells' previous documentary, A Fair To Remember, co-produced with Phillip Allen, is a roller coaster ride about the biggest, boldest and longest-running annual state fair in the country-the great State Fair of Texas, a civic and cultural icon since its inception in 1888. Since its release in early 2007, the film has captured a 2007 CINE Golden Eagle Award, a 2008 Remi Gold Award from Houston's Worldfest IFF and top honors with a 2008 Silver Telly Award. The original musical score by Texas' own Grammy Award-winning Carl Finch & Brave Combo, and dazzling animation by Dallas-based Janimation (Spy Kids 2 and Spy Kids 3-D), add pizzazz to dramatic archival footage and personal recollections. Fort Worth's Barry Corbin (No Country For Old Men, One Tree Hill, Northern Exposure and Urban Cowboy) lends his famous Texas drawl to the narration. Screened as an Official Selection at the 2007 AFI Dallas, the documentary memorializes the fair's seminal role within the Lone Star State's cultural history.

National Geographic Digital Motion, the digital film archive containing moving images from more than 40 years of IDA Trustee National Geographic Television and documentary film production, has announced a new partnership with ArchieMD Inc., a leading health and science education company that creates innovative products using state-of-the-art 3-D visual and interactive technology. Digital Motion will add a collection of ArchieMD's health-related animations, which consist of human anatomy and physiology, diseases, health conditions, medical procedures and more. ArchieMD produces new content on a weekly basis, and National Geographic will regularly integrate new assets into the body of work available.

Holly Stadtler, president and owner of Dream Catcher Films, Inc., proudly announces the world premiere of Finding Our Voices: Stories of American Dissent. The film screens Tuesday, July 29 at 8:00 p.m. at the Action on Film Festival, Laemmle Theater, One Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, Calif. (www.aoffest.com). The festival nominated the film Best Political Documentary and Best Female Director. Finding Our Voices presents the inspiring stories of eight courageous Americans who proclaim with their lives that "peace is patriotic," and dissent the responsibility and birthright of a truly democratic people. From a grandmother who lost her son at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and didn't want his legacy to be one of more innocents dying, to a Congressman, and from a diplomat and soldiers who fought in Iraq to other activists, this film reveals the sacrifice and motivation of very different people who spoke out for peace. Not just another Iraq war film, the movie is about standing up for what you believe. www.findingourvoices.com

Andrea Stockert, executive producer and founder of Los Angeles-based production company One Giant Leap Media, has been honored with two highly sought-after Telly Awards in the 29th Annual 2008 International Telly Award Competition. Stockert was an editor for the freediving documentary Sink Faze, which took home two Tellies-one in the High Definition category and one in the Low Budget category. Stockert is a veteran of the television industry, having produced on projects for FOX, Showtime, TLC, Discovery Channel HD, Speed Channel and Animal Planet. She has just returned from shooting and directing a documentary series exploring the formation of a controversial all-female Mixed Martial Arts league in Auckland, New Zealand. The series features 12 fighters (including Amanda Lucas, daughter of legendary filmmaker George Lucas) preparing for and fighting in a championship bout.

Producer/director Jeffrey Schwarz of Automat Pictures premiered his new feature documentary Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon at Newfest 2008. Wrangler is the outrageous story of 1970s porn icon Jack Wrangler and how he rose to the top of the gay, and then straight, adult film industry. www.wranglermovie.com. Schwarz also directed and produced In The Gutter, a look at the history and cultural significance of "grossout movies" (comedy and horror). The film, which features interviews with John Waters, Adam Rifkin, David Ansen, Chris Gore and IDA's own Eddie Schmidt, among many others, will premiere on Starz on July 29.

Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts announces an extraordinary new scholarship program for Dodge students and faculty to develop documentaries overseas and build awareness and visibility for worthwhile Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in different countries. Focusing on the issue of human rights, the first year's team will travel to Cambodia. This unique initiative, funded by a $1 million private grant, is presented in conjunction with Chapman Law School and Chapman's Wilkinson College of Letters & Sciences. For this inaugural endeavor, veteran documentary filmmaker/Professor Jeff Swimmer and Chapman Law School Professor Dr. John Hall led five students-three Dodge students, one law school student and one student from Wilkinson College-to Southeast Asia to develop documentaries for Khmer Arts Academy and Tiny Toones, two arts focused NGOs in need of assistance to create more public awareness for their work. Prior to the two-week trip, the selected students spend the spring semester not only researching the area and organizations from a film perspective, but also exploring legal and cultural implications of the human rights issues. Students complete the project with a course in Fall 2008, when they edit, complete post-production and discuss marketing and distribution of their final work.