A review of Betsy A. McLane's 'A New History of Documentary Film, Second Edition.'
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Oil on Ice, a multi-faceted media project about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, deals with the ongoing conflict over drilling for oil there. Located in the northeast corner of Alaska, the 19 million-acre refuge is one of America 's greatest wild natural treasures. The film won IDA's 2004 Pare Lorentz Award for representing the "democratic sensibility, activist spirit and lyrical vision of the legendary documentarian." Stunning in its photography and soundscape, clever in its construction, passionate in its environmental concerns, Oil on Ice is much more than a prize-winning film
Each winter 130,000 geeks, gadget freaks and consumer electronics nuts gather at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas to peer into the immediate future. Most years there are lots of promises, and a few new products. But this year was very differentand very important for documentary filmmakers and content creators of all kinds. The importance is not in any one technology or box, but in a series of trends that will rock the very foundation of content creation, sales and distribution. High-Definition Video The Sony HVR-Z1 and HDR-FX1 are game-changer devices. They will
Today it is even harder to bring a documentary feature into the world successfully than it is to make one. The traditional system for distributing documentaries is in critical condition. But as old distribution paths have become more treacherous, promising new ones are opening up. The challenge for every documentary filmmaker is to understand the current distribution crisis, assess older and newer options, and design approaches that will maximize their chances of reaching the widest possible audience. While access to production improved dramatically for independent filmmakers during the past
The Gateway to the West. The River City. St. Louis, Missouri. Not necessarily the first place you think of when it comes to documentary filmmaking, but within the last few years, as in many other parts across the country, documentaries have entered a renaissance period here. Filmmaking tools are now so affordable that anyone willing to invest the time and energy to tell a story can do so. Audiences have finally realized that some of the most compelling stories come from the truest form of drama--documentary films. In St. Louis there is no shortage of engaging stories and aspiring artists who
PlusCamerimage, the Bydgoszcz, Poland-based festival devoted to the art of cinematography, celebrated its 20th anniversary this year; the festival ran from November 25 to December 1. Camerimage was founded in Torun, Poland, and then in 2000 moved to Lodz, home of the renowned Polish film school, so the festival has a distinct emphasis on learning, education and training for students to go into the film industry. The documentaries on the Camerimage slate included such festival hits as Bart Layton's The Imposter, Seungjun Yi's Planet of Snail and Michael Glawogger's Whore's Glory, while this
For the first time in its 12-year history, Doc Buenos Aires shifted from its European base of support to a very powerful presence of North American decision-makers who attended what is the largest market/pitching forum for Latin American film production in the continent. Historically, the forum has had very strong ties with Europe, and France in particular—Carmen Guarini, one of the forum's founders, studied with Jean Rouch in Paris West University Nanterre La Défense, and the event was founded in part by the French Embassy and the Documentary Department of the French Ministry of Foreign
On Friday, December 7, 2012, the biggest names and faces from documentary film and non-fiction production in the past year all gathered at the Directors Guild of America Theater in Los Angeles to celebrate this year's achievements in the medium. Renowned illusionist, comedian, and larger-than-life personality Penn Jillette hosted the 28th year of this Awards program, which recognized a gamut of productions in 15 different award categories. The ceremony, which kicked off after A&E's pre-party honoring IDA Career Achievement Award winner Arnold Shapiro, was full of laughs, heart-felt words about
The construction of subjectivity in first-person documentary is given serious consideration in The Cinema of Me: The Self and Subjectivity in First Person Cinema, a collection of first-person essays from several talented film theorists and practitioners. These essays examine the roles of geopolitical contexts, ethnicity, cultural identities and personal histories, and offer a timely understanding of this documentary sub-genre. Special attention is given to the fact that first-person films are often not a cinema of "me," but of someone else who informs the filmmaker's sense of him or herself