The first place one thinks of when considering of New York City is Manhattan. Why not? It has the most amazing skyline on the planet. What can compare to Broadway when it comes to theater? With that small island hosting museums such as the Whitney, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, how could you not think of Manhattan? But Manhattan is a small part of the richness of what is New York City. The city is made up of five boroughs and one of the greatest happens to be just across the East River, bordering on the Atlantic Ocean. Queens is named after
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Diane Weyermann was recently appointed to the newly created position of Executive Vice President of Documentary Production at Participant Productions ( Good Night and Good Luck; Murderball; The World According to Sesame Street ). Weyermann comes to Participant from the Sundance Institute, where she was director of the Documentary Film Program. Prior to Sundance, Weyermann developed and directed the Soros Documentary Fund (SDF) of the Open Society Institute, which supported international documentary films and videos dealing with contemporary human rights issues, social justice, civil liberties
Over the next couple of weeks, we at IDA will be introducing our community to the filmmakers whose work will be represented in the DocuWeek TM Theatrical Documentary Showcase, August 18-24. 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 continue this series of conversations, here are Steven Ascher and Jeanne Jordan, directors/producers of So Much So Fast. Synopsis: So Much So Fast unfolds like a nonfiction novel. Stephen Heywood finds out he has the paralyzing
The Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, launched in 1955 by Frances Flaherty, four years after the passing of her legendary husband, has for the past 50 years served as a summertime sojourn into the conceptual catacombs of cinema. A weeklong gathering of 150 filmmakers, educators, scholars, students, programmers, curators, archivists and the occasional journalist, the Flaherty, as it is known, provides a context for new and old independent media from around the world, by filmmakers both established and emerging, to be screened and then discussed, debated and dissected. This year's edition took place
"This is it! This is it!!! This Is It!!!!!!!!" Those three words resonate with me. Let me tell you why. When I was in eighth grade, my friend Dave and I were watching TV after school one day, and we came upon a movie on PBS about a bunch of graffiti artists in New York City . I grew up in the suburbs, and NYC was always a second home to me. Every weekend my family would drive down to the city. These trips were full of adventure, but what I remember most was the graffiti. It was everywhere--on the walls, on the trains, on buildings, on billboards. I loved it. So naturally, when this movie came
Mario Batali (left) and Michael Stipe at Batali's restaurant, Otto Enoteca Pizzeria in New York City Burned out on James Lipton's questionnaire and Oprah's daily feel-good chat fest? Sundance Channel is betting on a new interview format to lure viewers who are looking for something a little different. The six-part documentary series Iconoclasts, which premiered on November 17 and runs through December 22, pairs headline makers and creative visionaries for an hour of personal conversation and storytelling. "Over the years, we've gotten a lot of documentary portrait pitches for films about
Over the next few weeks, we at IDA will be introducing our community to the filmmakers whose work will be represented in the DocuWeek TM Theatrical Documentary Showcase, August 18-24. 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 kick off this series of conversations, here are Steve Skrovan and Henriette Mantel, directors/executive producers of An Unreasonable Man. IDA: How did you get started in documentary filmmaking? Steve Skrovan: I started as a stand-up
Our last Doc U seminar of the year focused on the art of the interview.
Swaying palms, oversized sunglasses and Blackberrys galore... You guessed it: I was at the Los Angeles Film Festival, held in June and organized by the newly baptized FIND (Film Independent, formerly IFP West). Audiences were treated to a muscular line-up of over 20 feature docs, many riveting and thought-provoking. Mark Becker's Romantico is an intimate portrait of a Mexican troubadour returning home to the impoverished border town of Salvatierra, after years of playing love songs for tips in San Francisco 's hip dive bars. Gorgeously shot on film, with luminous, immaculate images, Romntico
After scoring a hit with Grizzly Man and garnering a standing ovation at the Toronto Film Festival screening of Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man, Lions Gate Films hopes to continue its documentary success with the recently announced The U.S. Vs. John Lennon, a co-production between Lions Gate and LSL Productions that began pre-production in September. The film covers the period in Lennon's life from 1966 to 1976, examining his evolution from musical superstar to peace activist, and the US government's efforts to silence him. Yoko Ono, Lennon's widow, has pledged her support and cooperation to the