It's nice to see a film festival get back to its origins. In recent years, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival has grown from a local event showcasing regional/national films to a quasi gala affair, with over 60% of the feature length films coming from abroad. In 1998, the 16th SFIAAFF (March 5-12) returned to a program in which the majority of feature-length films had been made Stateside, evidence that independent film deserves a showcase without being overshadowed by American premieres of foreign productions. This year's festival, however, was not without its
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Out of 170 features and shorts at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, 44 were documentaries, including 1 in Premiere, 2 in Spectrum, 4 in World Cinema (with Nick Broomfield's Kurt and Courtney, canceled due to legal problems but still viewed in a private showing); there were 26 total in the Documentary Competition; and the balance in the Shorts Program and Native Vision in Cinema. This year's Documentary Competition showcased a good mix of sixteen features by fledgling, emerging and veteran filmmakers alike. Following are their reviews: BABY, IT'S YOU — Dramatic Doc :56 Filmmaker Anne Makepeace
The conference (13-14 December 1997) was part of the second Visions Project, the ongoing documentary work shop organized under a wing of Centre International de Liaison des Écoles de Cinéma et de Télévision (CILECT, the world confederation of film schools) for European film school students. Thirty-four teachers were present, from Brazil, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Indonesia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Russia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the U.K. and the U.S. Visions 2 is being led by Madeleine Bergh (Dramatic Institute, Stockholm) and Chap
Congratulations to the Academy Award® Nominees for Best Achievement in Documentary! This year IDA takes special pride in the documentary nominees as three of the ten films nominated were participants in DOCtober"', IDA's screening series inaugurated last fall in Pasadena. Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life, Colors Straight Up, and Still Kicking: The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies each qualified for Academy consideration through week-long theatrical runs as part of DOCtober. We also take special pride in congratulating our IDA member filmmakers whose work is being recognized by the Academy this year
The International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam is now firmly established in Documentary Europe as the Big Event of the year. The 10th IDFA was held last December, and I've been going to it ever since it began in 1988. It was small then, relaxed and informal. Now it is huge. But, miraculously, it's still relaxed and informal. And that, with a thousand or so international guests, is no mean accomplishment. One of the many established features of the festival is a daily gathering at 6 p.m., charmingly called "Guests Meet Guests." One afternoon I found myself having an animated discussion
Its name conjures up images of Roman gladiators being eaten alive while spectators observe with bemused delight. Amsterdam's FORUM may or may not deserve such a connotation. For three solid days, toward the close of the International Documentary Film festival Amsterdam, this separate but linked gathering occurs. The FORUM is dedicated not to screening and discussing completed works but to selling and buying proposals. And the prizes at the FORUM are not statues, certificates or audience approval; the prize is a co-production deal or acquisition money. The setting for this enterprise is the
This is a completely biased festival report: I really like the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. Any film festival where I can 1) get in to see three or four documentaries a day without standing in line at 6 a.m., 2) meet and talk with filmmakers and other interesting people, 3) eat well, and 4) have a little time left for hedonist pleasures is my kind of festival. Hot Springs hits the mark on all of the above and more. Read on. Sometime last summer, I got a telephone call from Marlys Moodie, Filmmaker Relations Coordinator for Hot Springs, inviting me to attend the Hot Springs
So there I was, on my fact finding mission to Cannes, strategizing my investigative assault on MIPCOM '97, armed with a bikini, a champagne bellini and a laptop computer—all from the headquarters of the rich and famous, the Hotel du Cap. From my poolside post on the Mediterranean, I could see the Croisette, the main drag where the conventioneers schmooze and mingle. I could see also the Palais, the convention site itself, where those same attendees sweat and hustle. Opening day of MIPCOM would be tomorrow and soon I too would be joining in the fray. My work attire would go from swimsuits to
Happy New Year! IDA begins 1998 with more members than at any time in history. A recent surge in new members has pushed our worldwide membership to over 2,000! Looking ahead to the new year, this month we will be welcoming returning and new members to the board of directors as well as electing officers for the year. Member services start off the new year with a four-part seminar series, Documentary from A to Z: Putting It All Together. This is a terrific opportunity to hone production skills with some of the best in the field. Special thanks to IDA members Mel Stuart, Barbara Gregson
The theme of the 4th Sheffield International Documentary Festival (October 13-19) was "Making History." A broad range of subject matter and stylistic approaches were evident in the week-long event, including the conventional historical documentaries, personal histories and documenting people as they navigated a defined period in their lives, from a few days to six years. Many professionals from the British television networks and independent production companies joined others in attending the event. The guest directors for this year's offering were Yiktor Kossakovsky from Russia and Alan