As the next millennium approaches, the "International" in IDA is getting more attention than ever. Getting IDA ready for greater international presence at festivals and markets are board members Sven Berkemeier and Marina Goldovskaya. Over the past few months they've been working to develop additional partnership s outside North America and to increase benefits and opportunities for TDA members around the world. Sven and Marina welcome your suggestions on how IDA can continue to improve relationships and services to documentarians around the world. Already, though, their efforts and those of
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Dear IDA Members: More than 500 people gathered under the stars for a beautiful summer evening at the Ford Amphitheater in the Hollywood Hills to honor David Wolper, and thrill to a rare screening of the 1973 documentary Wattstax. Produced by Wolper and directed by Mel Stuart, Wattstax stands as one of the great music performance/social issue documentaries of this century. Joining us that evening was Rain Pryor, honoring her father, renowned comic Richard Pryor, who made his film debut in Wattstax. Also in attendance was actor LeVar Burton, who is known to us all as Kunta Quinte of the Wolper
How was David Wolper successful in creating an enormous body of documentary work spanning half a century? I asked Mel Stuart whose work with Wolper spans almost two decades for some answers. According to Stuart, "Wolper realized the need for the documentary form on television over 40 years ago, and he focused on creating quality programming. Simply put, he was the right man at the right time. Considering the number of cable outlets on the air today, it seems hard to believe now, that in 1958, three networks were the only game in town. Other than ABC, CBS, and NBC, there were no other networks
The Valley Dan Reed Channel Four International The Murder of JFK: A Revisionist History Matthew White, Waleed B. Ali MPI Media Group On The Ropes Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgen Highway Chantal Bernheim The Brunner File: Story of a Mass Murderer Hessischer Rundfunk, Georg M. Hafner, Esther Schapira Mountain Rivals Rob Harrison-White A Place Called Chiapas Nettie Wild, Betsy Carson, Kirk Tougas Where the Sky Meets Land Frank Muller Euroarts International GMBH September 11, 1973: The Last Stand of Salvador Allende Raymonde Provencher, Robert Cornellier, Patricio Henriquez A Calcutta Christmas
Twenty six years ago, Black people from all over Los Angeles, gathered together for a concert that became a landmark documentary dealing with the Black experience of those times. Wattstax, executive-produced by David Wolper and Al Bell of Stax records, and, directed by Mel Stuart, was originally conceived as a straight concert film commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Watts riots. Stax Records recruited musical groups from their label representing some of the greatest names in gospel, blues and soul music. Billed as "A soulful expression of the living word" the event included Stax
David Wolper will be the first to tell you that he has absolutely no interest in writing or directing. “I am a producer,” he proclaims modestly. That seems like an understatement from a man who has produced no less than 700 films, garnering 150 awards including two Oscars, 50 Emmys, seven Golden Globes and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. He has also been inducted in to the Television Hall of Fame, presented with the French National Legion of Honor, and is the recipient of the first IDA Mentor Achievement Award. What is Wolper’s definition of a producer? He sums it up succinctly: “I make
The National Media Education Conference (NMEC) is an annual project of the Partnership for Media Education (PME), a collaboration of private and public sector organizations. Formed in 1997, PME founders saw the need for an annual conference so that educators could learn the principles of media education. The 1999 NMEC conference took place June 27 through June 30, 1999, in St Paul, Minnesota. Media education experts, educators, youth leaders, prevention specialist and young adults attended the conference. Turner Broadcasting System, Channel One Network, The New York Times, Discovery
IDA scored its first sale on behalf of filmmakers they represented at the second annual MipDoc. The IDA presence at the two-day screenings event, held April 10-11 at Cannes, preceded the six-day MipTV, and provided an opportunity for independent documentary makers to have their works seen by buyers from around the world. Thanks to the continued support of the Reed Midem Organization (an alliance conceived by IDA Trustees Ron Devillier and Brian Donegan last year), IDA was able to pursue its initial foray into the world of television by representing 10 of its members’ programs. The single
June 28th, 1999 marked a new watershed for the International Documentary Association, when the New York documentary community banded together to officially welcome the East Coast office of the IDA. Hosted by HBO, in conjunction with the Bryant Park Summer Film Festival, our rooftop party was treated to a stunning view of the classic Oscar winner, All About Eve which was projected across a giant screen. Over 150 guests attended this opening gala, including many of our East Coast members, Board of Trustees, Board of Directors as well as a number of TV and film company executives from HBO, The
Congratulations to all of the documentary nominees in the 71st Academy Awards®' For best achievement in documentary features: Dancemaker, Matthew Diamond & Jerry Kupfer The Farm: Angola, U.S.A. Jonathan Stack & Liz Garbus The Last Days, June Beallor, James Moll & Ken Lipper Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth, Robert B. Weide Regret to Inform, Barbara Sonneborn and Janet Cole For best achievement in documentary short subjects: The Personals, Keiko Ibi A Place in the Land, Charles Guggenheim Sunrise Over Tiananmen Square, Shui-bo Wang & Donald McWil liams. For a few minutes on Sunday, March