The documentary ecosystem around the globe has been supported by a number of excellent organizations. Over the past 23 years the European Documentary Network (EDN) has been a key leader in the field and a partner of IDA. Recent changes at EDN have raised serious concerns from some of its members, which they have shared in the letter below. URGENT INFORMATION TO ALL EDN MEMBERS The European Documentary Network (EDN) is a membership-based NGO, founded 23 years ago and based in Copenhagen, Denmark. EDN works to improve the conditions for documentaries in general, primarily in Europe but also
Latest Posts
The Tribeca Film Festival is a wild carnival of commerce and creativity, often in the closest of embraces. It kicked off epically, with Roger Ross Williams’ The Apollo (at The Apollo!). The film is more than a history of the legendary venue for African-American talent. It’s also the story of successful struggles by African-Americans of all kinds to find voice and place in a society that relentlessly marginalizes them. With a superb balance of celebrity moments, interviews and performance, it enchants while it also reshapes thinking. And, of course, it entertains. It should be part of the
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. Drawing on unprecedented access, Foster, from Academy Award-winning filmmakers Deborah Oppenheimer and Mark Jonathan Harris, traces a complex path through the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services, challenging some of the most enduring myths about foster care and Interweaving first-hand stories of those navigating the child protection system with insights from social workers, lawyers and other advocates. The film, which is a project of IDA's Fiscal
Over the span of a few weeks, Werner Herzog will have had three films released. There is the world premiere of a feature film at Cannes, Family Romance LLC, shot in Japanese with Japanese actors; the festival premiere of his BBC documentary, Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin, at Tribeca Film Festival; and the theatrical release of Meeting Gorbachev, which he co-directed with longtime collaborator André Singer. Documentary spoke on the phone with the 77-year-old filmmaker about the latter, which is somewhat of a departure from what one might expect from a Herzog documentary. Herzog was
Erin Lee Carr ( Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop; Mommy Dead and Dearest) has built an impressive career turning ripped-from-the-headlines stories (she is the daughter of late media icon David Carr, after all) featuring society’s “monsters” into sober reflections on society itself. So perhaps it was only a matter of time before the deft documentarian decided to tackle one of the most outrageous scandals in recent memory: the aiding and abetting of pedophile doctor Larry Nassar over decades by Michigan State University, USA Gymnastics and the organization’s Olympian-making
Bakur , which translates to “North” in English, is a documentary made with inside access to the Kurdish separatist group, PKK, who are considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and NATO. This was the first time any film crew had ever accessed these camps. Filmed during the peace process in 2013–2014, Bakur intimately explores the daily reality of guerrilla fighters residing in the mountains of northern Kurdistan. It is a fresh perspective with real personal stories of men and women who have chosen to join the armed resistance in order to create a new future. The two Turkish
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. Premiering May 3 on HBO, and streaming later on HBO GO and HBO Now, Erin Lee Carr’s At the Heart of Gold: Inside The USA Gymnastics Scandal goes beyond the headlines of the decades-long pattern of sexual abuse of female athletes by Dr. Larry Nassar, an osteopathic physician for the US women's Olympic gymnastics team, as well as a physician at Michigan State University. Carr’s film reveals a dangerous system that prioritized winning over everything else, including protecting
The Honorable Kevin K. McAleenan Acting Secretary U.S. Department of Homeland Security Washington, D.C. 20528 Dear Acting Secretary McAleenan: We are a coalition of 103 civil liberties, civil rights, corporate responsibility, faith-based, human rights, immigrant rights, journalism, media, privacy, and government transparency organizations, legal service providers, and trade associations. We write to express our deep concern with reports of surveillance and targeting of activists, journalists, and lawyers by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Those reports indicate that Customs and
Roman philosopher Seneca once said, "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Apparently, Rachel Lears was listening. Her self-created luck began in 2016. Having directed two feature documentary films ( Birds of Passage and The Hand That Feeds), she had the preparation. She took the opportunity after the 2016 presidential election to contact the political action committees Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats to propose a documentary project about their plan to forge a new path to Congress for ordinary working people. Through the PACs, she met four women who had decided to
IDA invites your participation in our survey designed for documentary filmmakers to share insights about their favorite equipment, user experiences, and biggest challenges.