Over the years, we have supported the development of many films through our Fiscal Sponsorship Program, a formal arrangement in which IDA helps a documentary to obtain grants and donations. Participating in our Program is an alternative to starting one’s own nonprofit, allowing a filmmaker to seek grants and solicit tax-deductible donations for a documentary with the support and endorsement of the IDA.
Several hundred filmmakers and their diverse films make up IDA’s Fiscal Sponsorship Program membership. Many of these films are now successfully completed, and some of the more recent ones are making the rounds on the festival circuit.
We are excited to announce that three films involved with IDA’s Fiscal Sponsorship Program have made it into the 2012 Sundance Film Festival! The Queen of Versailles, The Invisible War, and Escape Fire will all be premiering in Park City starting tomorrow. Learn more about each of the films below:
With the epic dimensions of a Shakespearean tragedy, The Queen of Versailles follows billionaires Jackie and David’s rags-to-riches story to uncover the innate virtues and flaws of the American dream. We open on the triumphant construction of the biggest house in America, a sprawling, 90,000-square-foot mansion inspired by Versailles. Since a booming time-share business built on the real-estate bubble is financing it, the economic crisis brings progress to a halt and seals the fate of its owners. We witness the impact of this turn of fortune over the next two years in a riveting film fraught with delusion, denial, and self-effacing humor. Lauren Greenfield’s newest is has been chosen at the Opening Night documentary, playing at 6pm tomorrow, January 19 as part of the U.S. Documentary competition.
Casualties of war rage beyond the battlefield. As ranks of women in the American military swell, so do incidents of rape. An estimated 30 percent of servicewomen and at least 1 percent of servicemen are sexually assaulted during their enlistment. And not by the enemy, but at the hands of fellow soldiers. With stark clarity and escalating revelations, The Invisible War exposes a rape epidemic in the armed forces, investigating the institutions that perpetuate it as well as its profound personal and social consequences. The Invisible War premieres at 3pm on Friday, January 20 at the Temple Theatre as a part of the U.S. Documentary competition.
Our healthcare system is broken. Potent forces fight to maintain the status quo in a medical industry created for quick fixes, rather than prevention; for profit-driven, rather than patient-driven, care. Healthcare is at the center of an intense political firestorm in our nation's capital. But the current battle over cost and access does not ultimately address the root of the problem: we have a disease-care system, not a health-care one. After decades of opposition, a movement to introduce innovative high-touch, low-cost methods of prevention and healing is finally gaining ground. Destined to be hailed as the definitive film on American healthcare, Escape Fire offers a way out—a primer on how to save the health of a nation. Escape Fire premieres on Friday, January 20 at 11:30am as a part of the Doc Premieres in competition.