Transplants to Los Angeles in the early '90s may have had little-to-no exposure to its mayor, Tom Bradley, until his televised appearance during the Rodney King Riots of 1992. If that is the case, it would be an unfair moment from which to judge a man who served a record five terms as the mayor of the City of Angels. What we saw on the television screen that night was a man who looked as if he was being held hostage. Glassy-eyed, his speech stilted, he seemed at a loss to find a balm for his adopted city. He understood the community's outrage and frustration, and it must have seemed like the
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Dear Readers, It’s Awards Season, that high-stakes, high-rolling extravaganza that runs from the Toronto International Film Festival to Oscars night, and for documentary makers it’s an exhausting, exhilarating process to hit the campaign trail for such a low-odds/high-yield prize. Once the film is qualified, then the race begins: First to the Short List, next to the Nominees and, finally, to the Winners, bringing down the curtain on a bi-coastal hobnobbing marathon. Along the road to Oscar, there are other high-profile honors—the Independent Sprits, the Gothams, the IDAs, the critics’ awards
Dear IDA Community, This past year, it's been hard to miss stories about our world facing up to diversity and equality problems. Thanks to a number of ambitious studies that are hard to refute–and technology tools that make them easy to share–we now see the make-up of our unconscious bias in stark numbers. I believe most of us are deeply struck by the imbalances. They reflect neither the world we live in, nor the world we want to live in. I recently faced my own unconscious bias when programming documentaries for a screening series I host in Los Angeles at ArcLight Cinemas. In late 2014, I
2016 marks the 10th anniversary of the Sundance Film Festival's New Frontier program, the section where filmmakers and technology innovators are invited to push the boundaries of storytelling. Festival-goers itching for immersive, genre-exploding experiences can revel in the three distinct feature films, a handful of shorts, 30 virtual reality (VR) experiences, a live performance, 11 site-specific installations and a wealth of panel discussions, all curated by Sundance's forward-thinking programming team. But the heavy lifting in this section should primarily be accredited to Shari Frilot
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! The AV Club's A.A. Dowd asks, "Why can't the best documentary of the year be a Best Picture nominee?": Some of all this probably has to do with the member makeup of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences. The majority of Oscar voters (over 6,000 of them total) are industry professionals working, in some
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! Making a Murderer is making huge waves. Both The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter discuss the impact the series has had on prosecutor Ken Kratz. First, Daniel Victor from The New York Times: The 10-part series, by the filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, depicts a true-crime saga that seethes with
Big changes are happening at Discovery Channel. As a place on the dial initially associated with nonfiction, science-centric programming, Discovery has in the last decade shaken off this niche designation and gone on to produce Emmy Award-winning shows like Deadliest Catch, Planet Earth and MythBusters. Last year marked another sea change when the channel announced that HBO's John Hoffman and Tribeca Film Institute's Ryan Harrington would come onboard the good ship Discovery to steer it toward yet another, bolder direction. With Hoffman appointed Executive VP of Documentaries and Specials, and
In his rich and impactful career, Haskell Wexler inspired, mentored and befriended scores of filmmakers, who, spurred by not only his artistic verve but also his unwavering commitment to social issues and his singular wit and wisdom, went on to make a difference in their own careers. We reached out to various friends and colleagues of Haskell Wexler to share their thoughts about the late filmmaker. Although Joan Churchill (my wife) and Chris Burrill (a dear friend) knew Haskell for much longer, I finally met him around 20 years ago when asked to do sound for an interview he was shooting for a
Haskell Wexler, who passed away Sunday morning at 93, earned the 2006 IDA Career Achievement Award not only for his exemplary artistry as a cinematographer and director, but, just as important, for his unwavering commitment to social justice. He saw the power of documentary as a dynamic tool for change early on in his career. He made a film in the 1950s about the civil rights movement in Tennessee, and his 1965 film The Bus documents the cross-country journey of a San Francisco delegation bound for the epochal March on Washington in August 1963. Wexler enlisted the services of two other late
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! From Screen Daily, docmakers in Europe struggle for funding, while in the US, players like Netflix and Amazon have kept the documentary form thriving: With Netflix and Amazon Studios acquiring and commissioning feature-length documentaries too, the opportunities for factual film-makers to put their work in front