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Alex Szalat

Alex Szalat Headshot.

Producer and Director 1987-2004

Former commissioning editor at Arte France and head of the documentary department at Arte France 2005-2019

Head of Docs Up Fund since 2019

Articles

Ben Proudfoot and longtime collaborators Nick Wright, the editor, and supervising sound editor Sean Higgins review an initial mix of "The Last Repair Shop" in Breakwater's handsome 5.1 dub stage.
Making a Production: Breakwater Studios
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Film still from Hello Dankness
“A Psychic Ledger”: Soda Jerk Discusses ‘Hello Dankness’
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A woman with white skin smiles at the camera. She has straight brown hair, bangs, and brown eyes and is wearing a light blue button-down shirt.
IDA Member Spotlight: María Luisa Santos
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Photograph of Nancy Buirski greeting festival guests, with Laura Poirtras looking on, at Full Frame in 2009. Photo credit: Steve Bognar
Remembering Nancy Buirski: Founder of Full Frame and Award-Winning Filmmaker
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A person sits in a director's chair at a festival, holding a microphone.
Letter from the Editor, August 2023
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Logos of BPM and The Redford Center over a gray background.
Redford Center and Black Public Media Partner for Climate Stories Open Call
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Logo of the Berkeley FILM Foundation in black and white, over a gray background.
Berkeley FILM Foundation Announces 2023 Grant Recipients
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Two young girls playing together against a backdrop of mountains, weeds, and mounds of dirt.
“Cinema Can Be a Mode for Grieving”: Elaine McMillion Sheldon Discusses ‘King Coal’
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Man kissing a woman on the cheek. Woman is wearing a white dress with red, yellow, white, and blue flower headband.
“Reactionary, But Also Revolutionary”: Jean Eustache’s Mutable Actualities
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Person standing on stairs, leaning against a brown railing and wall. Person is wearing an burnt orange button up, black pants, and a dark gray cardigan. Their dark hair is in a low bun to the left side.
Member Spotlight: Gita Saedi Kiely
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Blue skies and mountains with a person standing alone on one mountain.
The Feedback: Jane Wagner’s ‘Break the Game’
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Old photograph of a person sitting next to a small tv. In the background are building and cars parked on the street.
Coming Together: Tom Palazzolo’s Chicago Shorts
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Two people lying on the floor in an office with dark brown hard wood floors, dark brown wooden chairs. One person is wearing long dark pants with a tan short sleeve button up shirt. The other person is wearing a dark plaid skirt with a white shirt sleeve top, ankles socks, with dark brown shoes.
“It’s Also a Love Story”: Steve James Discusses ‘A Compassionate Spy’
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Filmmaker Niam Itani presents her work at Beykoz Kundura DocLab, Istanbul, May 2023. Caption: Image credit: Beykoz Kundura DocLab
Kundura DocLab 2023: New Crossroads of Form, Genres, and Languages
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Still image from Colectivo Los Ingrávidos' "Tierra en Trance," showing the edges of a 16mm film still with a dancer wearing a traditional headdress.
Sur-realism: Rethinking Documentary From a Latin American Perspective
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Photograph of the Wondery panel at the Hot Docs Podcast Festival Showcase.
From Pitch to Finish: “Local Stories, Global Audiences” with Wondery at the Hot Docs Podcast Festival Showcase
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Letter from the Editor, July 2023
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Image: (left) director Saif Chida - headshot of person wearing blue shirt, black hair and beard, with green trees behind him. (right) producer Olfa Ben Achour of Cirta - headshot of a person wearing a white shirt with small black polka dots, think brown curly hair, with a white wall behind them.
IDA Supported Artist Grant at Durban FilmMart
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IDA and DWU/CWA Local 9003 ratify initial two-year contract
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An art piece by Nat Decker: on the left and right edges of a green, pink, and orange twisted 3D sculpture that looks like it’s made of clay we see 3D iridescent dark grey chrome squiggles
Embrace Friction: ​​Highlights from ‘Embodied Infrastructure: Disabled Immersive Nonfiction’
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A young woman with long hair enjoys a fun day out in the sun. She stands smiling in an open-air field, holding a colorful frisbee. Her hair blows in the gentle wind as she breathes in the fresh air. The woman is dressed casually and appears happy and carefree. She wears a pierced earring, and in her hand, you can see she is special. She is absorbed in the moment and appears to be waiting for someone while playing catch.
Member Spotlight: Daniele Wieczorek
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Still from Blue, director Derek Jarman, 1993.
Documentaries to Watch during Disability Pride Month 2023
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Photograph of Emma Hindley. Courtesy of Zinc Media
Retaining an Eclectic Range: Emma Hindley Discusses BBC’s Storyville
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Still from 'Mãri Hi' showing a group of Yanomami walking through a dense forest.
“We Can Dream Really Far Away”: Morzaniel Ɨramari Discusses ‘Mãri Hi - The Tree of Dream’
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A woman with black hair sits at the chair of a panel and is mid-speech.
Letter from the Editor, June 2023
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Agniia Galdanova and Igor Myakotin
Member Spotlight: Agniia Galdanova and Igor Myakotin
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Still from 'Users,' depicting an owl staring in the darkness. Courtesy of Icarus Films
Documentary Plays With Our Blind Spots: The Transcendent Cinema of Natalia Almada
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Still from 'In the Rearview,' depicting a view of a road blockade from the inside of a van.
The Preview: Seven Documentaries to Catch at Sheffield DocFest 2023
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Subjects of the movie Paris is Burning, posing for the camera. They are all in glamorous makeup and fashion and colorful clothing.
Ringing in Pride Month: LGBTQIA+ Documentaries to Watch
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A man sits in a beige button up in a chair in front of greenery. In front of him hands and arms clasping, as if they are slating on a movie set.
Between Silences and Memory: Spotlighting Three Central American Documentary Directors
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Still from 'Richland' depicting a statue of a family walking proudly in front of two columns of American flags, which border a series of manicured lawns. Photo credit: Helki Frantzen
Exclusive: Clip from Irene Lusztig's 'Richland'
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Photograph of a white man holding a microphone, giving a speech in front of a small crowd. Photo courtesy of Doc10
Doc10's 2023 Vanguard Award Recipient Shane Boris Urges Risk-Taking in Producing
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Still is from DC/DOX's Closing Night film 'The Space Race.' A Black man wearing glasses and a blue space suit with the American flag patch on the left arm, stands in front of a console on a space craft.
“We Are Grounded Here”: DC/DOX’s Inaugural Edition Goes Live
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International Documentary Association (IDA) logo
CWA/DWU and IDA reach tentative agreement on initial 2-year contract
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Still from 'Q.' Eyes closed, Hiba's face is softly lit against a light background, with a tear streaming down her cheek.
The Preview: Nine Documentaries to Catch at Tribeca 2023
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Screen of a welcome sign for Visions du Réel. Two men standing in front of the screen, one on left is 'Pianoforte' director, Jakub Piatek.
Visions du Réel 2023: Centering Creative Risks
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A 1943 NYWTS photo of Frank Sinatra mobbed by fans, found in the Library of Congress. The photo's cutline reads: "It took all these Pasadena, Calif., policemen, if you can believe the story, to rescue singer Frank Sinatra from the hordes of fans that beseiged him when he got off his train at Pasadena. Looks like that old black magic is really taking hold in California."
How to Discover Rights-Free Materials For Your Film: Two Examples
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A woman with white skin smiles at the camera. She has short, curly salt-and-pepper hair, blue eyes, red lipstick, and is wearing a quilted black leather blazer.
Member Spotlight: Heather Tanning
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Still from 'Searching for Onoda.' Ricardo Nunez, from the farming town of Burol, who survived an Onoda attack but came away from it with a permanent limp. Photo credit: Mia Stewart.
Domitable Myth: Three Depictions of Japanese Holdout Soldier Hiroo Onoda
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IDA staff at IDA office during Getting Real 2022
Meet Our Team
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Still image from 'Pure Unknown,' depicting a pair of gloved hands cradling and gently wiping the hand of someone who is deceased.
Right to a Name: Valentina Cicogna, Mattia Colombo, and Protagonist Cristina Cattaneo Discuss ‘Pure Unknown’
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A banner-style event flyer announcing the "Nonfiction Access Initiative." On the right side of the image, curved, circular objects are intertwined with each other in dark blue, light green, and grey colors. Below the heading, white and light green text over a blue background proclaims, "JOIN THE MOVEMENT for direct support for media makers with disabilities!"
Community-Based Research: IDA’s Ranell Shubert on Launching the Nonfiction Media Makers with Disabilities Survey
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The wide angle image shows an group of more than 100 people are sitting facing Stanley Nelson who has a microphone in hand is presenting with light spotlighting him.
Member Spotlight: The Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers West
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Photo courtesy of CPH:DOX. Still from 'Theatre of Violence.' A person with dark skin, wearing a brown rimmed hat and a blue coat, holding a cellphone, stands in a green field with a dirt path.
Reinscribing Violence: Emil Langballe and Lukasz Konopa’s ‘Theatre of Violence’
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Still from "When My Sleeping Dragon Woke." Young, brown skin person looking through a key hole.
The Feedback: Chuck Schultz and Judah-Lev Dickstein’s ‘When My Sleeping Dragon Woke’
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MoMI Curator of Film Eric Hynes introduces a Working on It session at First Look 2023. Photo credit: Thanassi Karageorgiou
First Look 2023: The Ties That Bind
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Abby Sun
Letter from the Editor, April 2023
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Still from "The Tuba Thieves," directed by Alison O'Daniel, showing Nyke's hands in the moment right before she signs the film's title.
Compensation and Transfiguration: Alison O’Daniel’s 'The Tuba Thieves'
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Photo credit: Brennan Vance. Film: You Were My First Boyfriend. Two people dancing with confetti falling around them.
SXSW 2023: ‘Queendom,’ ‘You Were My First Boyfriend,’ and ‘Another Body’
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Image featuring the headshots of the seven fellowship winners and mentors of the 2023 Bitchitra Collective Documentary Film & Media Fellowship.
Bitchitra Collective Selects Seven Filmmakers for Inaugural Fellowship
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