In the digital era of global film distribution, we often hear this phrase: “The world is getting smaller.” That certainly feels true. But let’s take a step back. The world is the same size as it has always been, and it is full of opportunity for indie docs and the people who make them. What has changed is the emergence of digital platforms that provide audiences all over the world access to the same film. For documentary filmmakers to maximize audience, impact and revenue on a global scale, it is critical to understand these new digital opportunities in relation to the added value of
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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! Phillip Lopate on why Chantal Akerman mattered: "Some words that spring to mind about Akerman's work are: annoying, irritating, stubborn—but in the best possible sense. She was not obliging, thank God. She was not afraid to try your patience. She would push past the stage when the alleged single "point" was made
You've got to hand it to TIFF Docs programmer Thom Powers and the team at Toronto's singularly walloping fall festival. Cutting their signature conference in half has made the event much more focused and practical. There were few dead moments in the new one-day Doc Conference. Things started off briskly with Powers' interview of Asif Kapadia. The North London director of Amy and Senna was "full value," as the Brits like to say, with an assured account of how his two recent doc hits were created. After the success of Senna, his fascinating doc about the legendary Brazilian auto racer, he was
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! Dan Mirvish at Filmmaker Magazine lays out eight different strategies for dealing with piracy: "As independent filmmakers, we have a more nuanced relationship with the pirates. As 'gifted and misunderstood artists,' we want to share our art with the world. So, the more people who see it, the merrier! And, as
Field of Vision, a new platform for short-form and episodic documentary, launches September 29, in collaboration with The Intercept and parent company First Look Media. Field of Vision will commission up to 50 original nonfiction works a year, pairing filmmakers with developing stories around the world. The visionaries behind Field of Vision—Academy Award-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras, Cinema Eye Honors co-founder and filmmaker AJ Schnack, and former Hot Docs director of programming Charlotte Cook—had spent the last year developing and honing the idea, building the infrastructure, and
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 folks at Kartemquin reflect on what the "Happy Birthday to You" fair use win means to them: "In one of the most infamous cases of the unfair 'clearance culture' that existed before filmmakers began reclaiming their fair use rights to use copyrighted material, we were forced to pay to license this scene from
GRANT DEADLINES ROY W. DEAN FILM GRANTSThe Roy W. Dean Grant funds short films, documentaries, and independent features that are budgeted under $500,000. They must be films that are unique and make a contribution to society. They fund compelling stories about little known subjects, historical films, and films that touch hearts, with a focus on films that bring important information to light, as well as films about little known people when there is a good story. Deadline: September 30, 2015 BERTHA BRITDOC CONNECT FUNDThe fund is looking to support smart, strategic outreach campaigns for
While the percentage of documentaries by women that were screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) fell short of 50 percent this year, the numbers are getting closer. Perhaps the outcries from Manohla Dargis in The New York Times and many others are paying off. TIFF Docs showed a number of extraordinary films directed by or starring women—or both. The most remarkable film in the TIFF Docs section was, in this writer's opinion, by performance artist/composer Laurie Anderson. TIFF's estimable doc programmer Thom Powers compares Anderson's film to Chris Marker's Sans Soleil—high
On our first shoot with Mark Landis, the prolific art forger and main subject of Art and Craft, we rode along with him on an errand to Hobby Lobby for art supplies. We'd just spoken with and filmed Landis in his apartment for hours, but when he keyed the ignition of his late mother's red Cadillac, we immediately saw him in a startling new light. Big Band jazz, the confident and iconic soundtrack of his parents' generation, filled the car, and the music fit like a glove. The moment was immediately cinematic, the kind that seizes your attention, affects creative choices moving forward, and
Editor’s Note: On October 21 at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Los Angeles, IDA will present Davis Guggenheim in conversation with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz. The two will explore his wide-ranging body of work that includes culturally significant and brilliantly crafted films. Learn more and purchase tickets. Hollywood almost got its hands on Malala Yousafzai. The Pakistani teenager's story has just the right ingredients for a studio venture: resilient and resourceful child, struggle, political violence, activism and an uplifting ending. But luckily, producers Walter Parkes and