Over the next month, we at IDA will be introducing our community to the filmmakers whose work is represented in the DocuWeeks™ Theatrical Documentary Showcase, which runs from August 3 through August 30 in New York City and Los Angeles. We asked the filmmakers to share the stories behind their films—the inspirations, the challenges and obstacles, the goals and objectives, the reactions to their films so far. So, to launch this series of conversations, here are Mike and Tim Rauch, co-directors of StoryCorps Animated Shorts Eyes on the Stars, Facundo the Great, and Sundays at Rocco's. Synopses
Latest Posts
We interviewed filmmaker Tali Yankelevich about her vision, her inspirations, and what she hopes to get out of DocuWeeks.
The director of 'La Jetee' and several non-fiction pieces passes on at age 91.
Representatives from two different archives and a filmmaking team spoke to a crowded house at The Cinefamily about how and where to start looking for archival footage.
Also: Features on 'Rize'; 'School of Rock'; Al Wasserman, 1921-2005
In recent years, Asian-American cinema has enjoyed a mini-boom, with both dramatic films and documentaries by and about Asian-Americans earning big distribution deals and mountains of press. Groundbreaking narrative pieces such as Justin Lin’s Better Luck Tomorrow and Alice Wu’s Saving Face stand alongside Ramona Diaz’s celebrated documentary Imelda and Spencer Nakasako’s cross-cultural story, Refugee. Much of that notoriety is thanks in large part to NAATA, the National Asian American Telecommunications Association. This year, NAATA celebrates its 25th anniversary as a cultural organization
A review of 'Risky Business: Financing & Distributing Independent Films'
The South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival unfolds every spring in Austin, Texas, paralleling an international music jamboree and an interactive media conference by the same name. The boundaries among the three events often overlap. The 2005 film festival featured a strong infusion of music documentaries--perfect fare for locals and visitors to Austin, which calls itself the "Live Music Capital of the World." Interactive media themes also spilled into the film conference. Just as Internet news sites and weblogs ("blogs") have mushroomed online, with bloggers chronicling events such as the US
By Brigid Kelly and Thomas White When the Discovery Channel first launched in 1985 with 156,000 subscribers, the Cold War was in full bloom, Apple had introduced its first Macintosh just a year earlier, mullets and Madonna dominated pop culture and high-carb diets were in. Twenty years later, the Discovery Network is an empire of 14 channels, including Discovery Channel, that collectively reach 1.2 billion subscribers in 160 countries, and the world is a very different place. Discovery's story is one of opportunity and good timing. According to Billy Campbell, president of Discovery Networks