'The Last Mountain' is the winner of the 2011 Pare Lorentz Award.
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Bill Haney's film to receive honorary award.
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 is Eddie Schmidt, producer of This Film Is Not Yet Rated (Kirby Dick is the director). Synopsis: This Film Is Not Yet Rated is an unprecedented investigation into the secret MPAA film
by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady Alfred Hitchcock said, "Drama is life with the dull bits cut out." As two filmmakers who take years to complete each project, always facing over 100 hours of material, we take these words very much to heart. To synthesize countless vérité scenes, interviews, images and characters into a well-told story is the goal we constantly chase as a directing team. We have been making films as a team for 10 years and are now working on our fifth documentary feature. While our craft and approach has changed since our first feature debut ( The Boys of Baraka; 2005; ITVS
While most attention at this time of year is focused on the Academy Award nominees, they're not the only awards handed out that honor documentaries. Here's an overview of honors and critics' picks for 2005. American Cinema EditorsBest Edited Documentary-Nominees: Grizzly Man (Joe Bini); James Dean: Forever Young (Michael J. Sheridan, ACE; Jack Tucker, ACE; Patrea Patrick and Fred Roth); March of the Penguins (Sabine Emilani). Boston Society of Film CriticsBest Documentary: Murderball (Dirs.: Henry Alex Rubin, Dana Adam Shapiro)Runner-Up: Grizzly Man (Dir.: Werner Herzog) Broadcast Film Critics
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 is Patricia Foulkrod, director/producer, of The Ground Truth. Synopsis: Hailed by Sundance filmgoers as "powerful" and "quietly unflinching," Patricia Foulkrod's searing documentary
"The media is owned by three people. A lot of stories aren’t covered. I think documentary makers are amongst the last bastion of independent reporting. It’s harder and harder to do what we do." - Joe Berlinger On Monday, October 17, documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger ( Crude, Brother's Keeper, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster) met members of the documentary community at Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater to watch his most recent film, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory. This three-part documentary series is unique to the genre - it revisits its subjects year down the road, turning from an
Producers of reality and documentary programming Authentic Entertainment have just signed on to be a Silver Sponsor of the 2011 IDA Documentary Awards. This annual fundraiser, which celebrates outstanding achievements in documentary filmmaking, is pleased to have this first-time partnership with an organization that consistently produces award-winning non-fiction projects. Authentic joins ITVS, Stella Artois, Kodak and others to support an exciting night of celebration for our community and our esteemed nominees. The 27th annual IDA Documentary Awards is set for December 2, 2011 at the DGA
At first glance, Danfung Dennis' Hell and Back Again gives the impression of a highly cinematic fiction film. Terrence Malick's latest war epic, perhaps? The filmmaker's access is so intimate, the sound design so engaging, and the imagery so arresting, it's unfathomable that the film could be shot, and the sound recorded, by one man. But it was. And its success is the result of a confluence of factors--right place, right time, right characters--but perhaps most remarkably, the filmmaker's unrelenting tenacity learned from years working as a war photographer, and the fairly recent development
"Before I met you," one Emmy-nominated, highly skilled documentary filmmaker said to me, "I thought a producer was just an accountant." Several years ago at the IDA Awards, an esteemed member of our community stood at the podium and made a crack about how when he takes a producer credit on his collaborator's films, "We all know what that means"--which is to say, he isn't doing much of anything. Everyone had a good laugh. And I can't tell you how many pitch meetings I've gone into as a potential documentary director, despite over 10 years of producing credits that also include cinematography