Essential Doc Reads is a weekly feature in which the IDA staff recommends recent pieces about the documentary form and its processes. Here we feature think pieces and important news items from around the Internet, and articles from the Documentary magazine archive. We hope you enjoy! IndieWire's Chris O'Falt covers Showtime's secret documentary on President Trump's Tax Evasion. When the New York Times editors hit publish on yesterday’s exhaustive report detailing how Fred Trump fraudulently funneled millions to his son — President Donald J. Trump — Showtime’s cameras were rolling. A holdover
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Ross McElwee’s brilliant Sherman's March was a revelation when I first saw it in 1987. I had never seen anything like it—a one-man band filming his own tumultuous, heartbreaking, hilarious journey through the South, and searching for love while trying to make a documentary about General William Tecumseh Sherman’s March to the Sea during the Civil War. I was newly out of film school, trying to get my first screenplay produced with the help of the Sundance Institute, and writing scripts for others. I didn’t know it then, but the lessons I learned from Ross’ film would inform my own journey years
Documentary recently spoke with Professor Dennis Aig, Ph.D., the Program Head of the MFA Program in Science and Natural History Filmmaking at Montana State University. A native of Brooklyn, Dr. Aig found his way to Montana by way of Columbus, Ohio, where he had earned his Ph.D. But more about that later on in the interview. What brought you to teach and eventually become an integral part of the film program at Montana State University? Dennis Aig, Ph.D.: When I finished my doctorate, like most Ph.D. students, I was absolutely broke. There was a corporate position that opened with this
Dear Readers, When IDA launched the Getting Real conference in 2014, we were intentional in adhering to the tagline, "A Filmmaker to Filmmaker Event." We listened to our community and gauged the needs, issues and concerns that weren't being addressed in a way that truly empowered the filmmakers. That inaugural Getting Real laid the groundwork for the intervening years, in which we turned ideas and insights into actionable items through conversations and confabs across the country. The second Getting Real, in 2016, affirmed itself as not just a convener but as a catalyzing force. Issues on the
Dear Documentary Community, IDA’s biennial Getting Real '18 documentary conference is upon us, and it feels like the right time to look back at what has happened since our last gathering in 2016—and to look a little bit forward too. In 2016, the themes of Getting Real—career sustainability, diversity and the evolving craft of documentary storytelling—were the big topics. And these themes make a return in varying forms in 2018. The questions and issues underlying them do not lend themselves to easy solutions and quick fixes. And yet if we stand back, we can see that some progress, stuttering as
The #MeToo movement has seen investigations, arrests and convictions across media as the public conversation shifts. For women, things are getting better. We're slouching towards parity—or are we? The Getting Real 2018 conference offered a space to examine recent events, identify problems, share resources and brainstorm solutions in a session called “After #MeToo.” The conversation featured six incredible film industry professionals and spanned a range of topics, from everyday sexism to sexual misconduct. Panel moderator Nicole Page is an entertainment and employment attorney with Reavis Page
In 2018, journalism is a dangerous career. Professionals and citizen journalists find themselves attacked on social media, on the phone or in person, despite acting in the public interest. Perilous situations persist, from jeering and intimidation to jail or death threats. Such circumstances demand that journalists develop a targeted skill-set to promote the safety of themselves, their team and their work. Mitigating risk is more than protecting one's physical safety. Journalists must also advance and refine their sleuthing skills to discern truth from lie, a once-basic tenet of journalism now
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. With the midterm elections a month away, tune in to POV October 1 for the TV premiere of Kimberly Reed's Dark Money, which takes viewers to Montana to tell the story, through the perspective of one intrepid investigative journalist, of campaign finance and its impact on politics, democracy and governance. Student Athlete, which premieres October 2 on HBO, examines the complex rules of amateur athletics in America and how they affect uncompensated athletes and their families
The ArcLight Cinema and its surroundings are not typically crowded at 9:00 a.m. on a weekday morning. But over the past three days, the area was swarming with credential-wearing, tote-carrying documentary filmmakers and smiling, helpful, eager volunteers clad in bright orange T-shirts. Nonfiction had descended on Hollywood. What were my takeaways from Getting Real? Fifty-two pages of furiously scribbled notes, two large handfuls of precious business cards, a long list of documentary films to catch up on, reconnections with old friends I had not seen in years, and many new acquaintances made
As the conference is named Getting Real and this dispatch is of a more personal nature, my job here is to, yes, keep it real. That’s why I must confess: when I'm really enthused about something, I use rhyming expressions. My response to my Wednesday Getting Real experience? It rocks my socks. In fact, it's the bee's knees. All day, I felt the enormity and depth of the wisdom, talent, experience, passion, creativity and intelligence surrounding me, during every panel and presentation, in every gathered audience. Whether or not we find our way in this world depends on people like the attendees