Dear Readers, In this issue and next, we will look at some of the specific ingredients that go into documentary filmmaking—shooting, editing, writing, composing—exploring the technical subtleties of the craft and the less tangible, more ethereal aspects of the art. Over the past five or six years, the documentary art form has evolved in dramatic ways, with the advent of dynamic new equipment that has served not only to facilitate the process but also to democratize it. Much like the birth of synchronous sound and portable cameras in the late ’50s and video in the late ’60s, the dawning of the
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Best Documentary Feature INTO THE ARMS OF STRANGERS: STORIES OF THE KINDERTRANSPORTProduced by Deborah OppenheimerDirected and Written by Mark Jonathan HarrisNarrated by Judi DenchEdited by Kate AmendPhotographed by Don LenzerMusic Composed by Lee HoldridgeDistributed by Warner Brothers Pictures117 min. For nine months before the outbreak of World War II, Britain conducted an extraordinary rescue mission, unmatched by any other country at the time. It opened its doors to over 10,000 endangered children -- 90 percent of them Jewish -- from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia. Into the Arms of
Sure, you grew up watching every flick you could get your hands on, had an after-school job selling Goobers at the Bijou and worked your way through college as the trivia geek at the Videorama. You were the one in film school who could quote whole scenes from Double Indemnity, and not just the famous exchange about Mrs. Dietrichson’s ankle bracelet. Or maybe you were the pop culture vulture who could recite the full names of all six of Charlie’s Angels. Then again, who couldn’t? Across the ever-widening universe of cable television, there are hundreds of hours of nonfiction programming
The unassuming title of this documentary belies what is one of the most remarkable nonfiction films ever made. From 1971 through 1976, Ed Pincus recorded on 16mm film episodes of his life with his wife Jane, their two young children and the several women with whom Ed had love affairs. It's also a portrait of a particular era—the early 1970s—a time in which a willingness to experiment in life, love and political expression was still present, but on the wane. That title—Diaries—is as unadorned, direct and honest, as is the film itself. What I experienced when I first saw Diaries was not a sense
It’s Oscar time, and the International Documentary Association is proud to be able to say that at least one of the producers on every single nominated documentary – long and short – is a member of IDA. Here are the films with their producers. Bold indicates the IDA members, as always. Best Documentary Feature Into the Arms of Arms of Strangers: Stories of the KindertransportDeborah Oppenheimer, producer; Mark Jonathan Harris, director/writer. LegacyTod Lending, producer/director/writer Long Night’s Journey Into DayFrances Reid, producer/director; Deborah Hoffman, director/editor Scottsboro: An
Dear Readers, Welcome to the Oscars® issue. Winning an Academy Award in front of millions of viewers after years of toiling in relative obscurity can surely change one’s sleep patterns, if not one’s life. Just ask Susan Hadary (see cover), the producer -- with William Whiteford -- of last year’s winner for Best Documentary Short Subject, King Gimp, which profiles artist and writer Dan Keplinger and his valiant struggles to live a productive life despite cerebral palsy. “We’ve been on speaking tours, continuous speaking engagements, continuous press events,” Hadary recounts. “And for Dan, he’s
Editor’s Note: For Richard Roe, who made the award-winning Pop & Me with his son Chris,, selling a documentary to the media takes more than a little luck, pluck and virtue. He explains how he turned a globe-trotting father-son bonding expedition into a cinematic enterprise. You are the best salesman for your project—not your agent, manager, publicist or distributor, if you’re lucky enough to have any of this help. You must discover your niche, be super-aggressive, get publicity and exploit it to the nth degree. Pop & Me is a 92-minute feature documentary film about father-and-son relationships
When I was a college student in the early ‘60s and first discovering feature films, documentaries meant next to nothing to me. I connected them with the stodgy industrial films I saw in grade school—the ones about plastic or progress, the booming voice of the narrator intoning, “Since the Dawn of Civilization…” Then I saw Primary. That a documentary could have such immediacy and raw energy dazzled me. I haven't seen Primary in over 30 years, but I can imagine (if memory serves me right) Senator Kennedy making his way to a speaker's platform, the camera tracking from behind held high above his
Dear IDA Members: IDA 2001 is up and running. In January and February we held our annual seminar series, Documentaries from A to Z: Putting It All Together, at Eastman Kodak in Hollywood. Many thanks to our good friends at Kodak, and particularly Board member Lawrence Cate, for hosting this invaluable program. And thanks also to Board members Barbara Leigh Gregson, Carol Munday Lawrence, Dianne Estelle Vicari, as well as former Board member Steve Roche and Lance Webster and IDA’s Programs & Festivals Administrator Melissa Simon Disharoon for putting it all together. They all performed a yeoman
Dear Readers, Please allow me to introduce myself. While I have produced five issues of International Documentary as Acting Editor, and I had served for four years as Associate Editor, this is my inaugural issue as Editor. And while I will surely miss the archly hip, post-mod, post-deconstructionist, post-semiotic resonance of “Acting” Editor (my quotes), I can certainly acclimate myself to the ponderous actuality of Editor (my italics). I’ve always made my editorial presence felt over the years through feature articles and reports, but I’ve reserved my commentary and observations, up to now