I spent Friday, November 7th at AFI Fest 2008 kicking around in future space, attending the second day of AFI Digifest. Digifest is part of the AFI Digital Content Lab (DCL), a research and development incubator for new forms of digital entertainment. Throughout the year, the Lab generates digital media prototypes conceived and built by collaborative teams of professional volunteer mentors. The first day of DigiFest, which I sadly was not able to attend, is dedicated to showing off the prototypes, which this year included project with HBOlab, the online Newshour team, ABC.com, and Earth Echo
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Get the roundup of the eigth Doc Buenos Aires festival.
The 11th annual United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF) returned to the San Francisco Bay Area last month. I had the opportunity to watch the October 22nd lineup, which included Salim Baba (Tim Sternberg, dir.; Francisco Bello, prod.), Taxi to the Dark Side (Alex Gibney, dir.prod.; Eva Orner, prod.), Hammoudi (Anwar Saab, dir.; Tima Khalil, prod.) and Scarred Lands and Wounded Lives-The Environmental Footprints of War (Alice and Lincoln Day, dirs./prods.) . This was my first time at this festival. I was struck by the hometown, grassroots feel, complete with free cookies and coffee and
The "happiest place on earth" is said to be in Anaheim, Calif., but every October in Austin, Texas, more fun can be found at the Austin Film Festival (AFF). Now in its 15th year, AFF features a full-blown screenwriters conference complete with screenplay competitions and screenwriting and film industry panels. The AFF distinguishes itself from Austin's SXSW and other fests by catering primarily to a narrative-driven audience with professional screenwriter and filmmaker aspirations. Noticeably absent were black-clad Starbucks swillers, snarling into cell phones at local restaurants. Everyone at
Q&A with filmmakers Stephen Higgins and Nina Gilden Seavey.
Also: Nick Broomfield's "Five Docs That Broke the Mold."
In March 2006, Paula Kerger joined the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) as its sixth president and CEO. Prior to her appointment at PBS, Kerger was executive vice president, chief operating officer and a member of the office of the president at the Educational Broadcasting Corporation, the parent company of Thirteen/WNET and WLIW New York, two of the nation's largest public television stations. Kerger sat down with Documentary to share her thoughts on the new job, the challenges of fundraising and PBS' place in an iPod world. . What's been the biggest challenge of the job so far? Paula Kerger
When the Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF) announced its intention last year to pull up its stakes and move westward from Hollywood to Westwood, LAFF devotees were initially skeptical, given the dearth of parking and the cramped quarters of the UCLA-dominated section of LA. But from Day One, the festival planners proved everyone wrong. Los Angeles is famously maligned for lacking a center, and attempts at mobilizing the entire city around a single eventwitness the regrettable Turn of the Millennium celebrationare nearly impossible without the marketing muscle to leverage a full-on, months-long