Made a film festival favorite that never reached its full audience...or never got distributed at all? Want to put the power of the web behind a premiere? For documentarians in any of those categories, SnagFAST now offers the fastest way to get from a festival to a global audience.
SnagFAST is the new, expedited, online submissions process from SnagFilms, a digital distribution company nearing its first anniversary--and an ally of the IDA. SnagFilms has put its library of more than 700 award-winning titles--from some of the greatest names in documentary films--in front of a huge audience: 800 million pageviews since launch, on nearly 23,000 web pages, including those of The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, nearly all of the AOL channels, and Politico, hundreds of blogs, and thousands of social network pages like Facebook. SnagFilms splits half of the in-video advertising it receives with the respective filmmakers.
SnagFAST is the new "Festival-Approved Submissions Tool" that lets you to submit films for expedited review and distribution by SnagFilms. If your film has been selected by one of over 100 top film festivals from around the globe, SnagFilms will fast-track its distribution on its web platform. Since SnagFilms supports and respects the curatorial experience of leading film festivals, your festival acceptance qualifies you for digital distribution. SnagFast is a simple online tool, and in 3 easy steps your film can join SnagFilms' top caliber library which includes SuperSize Me, Hoop Dreams, Nanking, to name a few. We invite you to take advantage of this opportunity and go straight from festival to the web with SnagFast. Click here to get started: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/submissions
Traditional distribution can be glacially paced, if you can secure it at all. SnagFAST makes the move from festival to the global audience fast and easy.
This news item is brought to you by a special partnership between the IDA and indieWIRE and SnagFilms.
by Peter Knegt
Sundance Institute announced the selection of 12 Documentary Film Fellows representing six projects to participate in the 6th Documentary Film Edit and Story Laboratory, set to run June 21-28 in Sundance, Utah. The Lab convenes filmmakers in the process of making feature-length independent documentaries for “an intensive week of creative feedback in a supportive community setting.” Films this year include stories of life in Post-Soviet societies such as Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Romania, to the role of the United States in areas such as Afghanistan and Yemen.
“The annual Doc Edit and Story Labs are central to our Program’s support for creative nonfiction filmmakers and commitment to the art form,” said Cara Mertes, Director of the Sundance Documentary Film Program, in a statement. “Creative Advisors and Fellows reflect a wealth of talent, with artists crossing from Fellow to Advisor and back again depending on their current projects. Either role makes a significant contribution to the field of long-form documentary story telling.”
The lab offers an “intensive artist-to-artist collaborative experience where quality nonfiction storytelling is engaged with rigor and candor.” Each artist is encouraged to explore story structure, narrative arc, character development, artistic elements and more.
An international group of Directing and Editing Fellows was selected from projects which have received previous support from the Sundance Documentary Film Program. The 2009 Documentary Edit and Story Lab Fellows in alphabetical order are: Erin Casper (Editing Fellow), Michelle Chang (Editing Fellow), Keiko Deguchi (Editing Fellow), Carol Dysinger (Directing Fellow), Gayle Ferraro (Directing Fellow), Michal Gabor (Editing Fellow), Robin Hessman (Directing Fellow), Toma Kudrna (Directing Fellow), Mona Nicoar (Directing Fellow), Jonathan Oppenheim (Editing Fellow), Laura Poitras (Directing Fellow), Garret Savage (Editing Fellow).
These Fellows will be joined by six Creative Advisors, including Directors and Editors, to jointly engage in the creative process. Editors: Kate Amend (Academy Award-winner Into the Arms of Strangers and The Long Way Home), Joe Bini (Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, Grizzly Man) Richard Hankin (Home Front, Capturing the Friedmans) and Mary Lampson (Harlan County, A Lion in the House), Directors: Greg Barker (Sergio, Ghosts of Rwanda) and Jennifer Fox (Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman, Beirut: The Last Home Movie).
The films selected for the 2009 Sundance Institute Documentary Editing and Story Lab are (with descriptions provide by the institute):
All That Glitters (Czech Republic / Kyrgyzstan) Situated at the a crossroads of global interests, Kyrgyzstan reflects the political rivalry between Russian and America influence, reveals the religious rivalry between Christianity and Islam, and lies between the economic predominance of China and Russia. All That Glitters examines how strange capitalism and democracy can be when introduced to a former Soviet country, one where people never before given autonomy are suddenly expected to make their own financial and political decisions.
Camp Victory, Afghanistan (U.S. / Afghanistan) U.S. National Guardsmen are stationed in Herat, Afghanistan with the Afghan officers they have been sent to train. Together they are charged to bring the 207th Corps of the nascent Afghan National Army into an institution capable of providing security, stability, and a civilian government to a tattered, volatile nation. The Americans came, not to fight, but to teach. Camp Victory is the story of things that keep them apart, and the one unlikely friendship that makes it all seem possible.
Muhammad Yunus Banks On America (U.S.) This film journeys with Dr. Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate and the architect of microfinance, as he continues building opportunities for the poor world-wide and as close to home as in Queens, New York through Grameen micro credit, his original social business.
Our School (Romania) The descendants of former slaves, Romanian Roma (“Gypsies”) continue to live in poverty, at the edges of society. Over the course of several school years, Roma children struggle to break the barriers of segregation in a small Transylvanian town. Our School documents one of the first integration efforts following a European Court of Human Rights judgment similar to Brown v. Board of Education in the United States.
Release (U.S. / Yemen) Filmed in Yemen, Release is a family drama about two men whose fateful encounter in 1996 set them on a course of events that would lead to Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden, 9/11, Guantanamo Bay, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Release is the second documentary (after My Country, My Country) in a trilogy titled The New American Century about America post 9/11.
Russia’s Pepsi Generation (working title) (US/UK) Russia’s Pepsi Generation tells the story of the last generation of Soviet children brought up behind the Iron Curtain. Just coming of age when the USSR collapsed, they witnessed the world of their childhood crumble and change beyond recognition. Told through the lives of a married couple and their childhood friends, the film interweaves their memories of the past and their lives in contemporary Moscow to reveal how Communism’s crossover children are adjusting to their post-Soviet reality.
This news item is brought to you by a special partnership between the IDA and indieWIRE and SnagFilms.
Most recently Byrd co-founded with the United Nations, Envision, a documentary film forum to address global issues. “I informed the board of my decision to depart last November so that I could openly have meetings about my next professional journey and spend a solid year working with the board and staff to ensure a positive and smooth transition,” said Byrd in a prepared statement. “This is a community and an organization about which I care deeply and all of us are working collaboratively to ensure that a leadership change won’t place any unnecessary stress on the organization. I have great faith in our Deputy Directors, Amy Dotson in programming and membership, and Mitch Micich in finance and operations, and their ability to aid in a smooth transition.” Byrd is presently in discussions on her next move, one that will build upon her relationships in the media space and unify her interest in global issues and technology.
“Michelle has done as much as any individual to advance the cause of independent filmmaking in New York,” said Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, IFP Board Chairman, in a statement “All of us at IFP will miss her immensely, but we also acknowledge that this is an opportunity for a new infusion of leadership, energy and direction, and we are excited to begin the search and open a new chapter in IFP’s long history at the center of independent film.”
Ovation TV has acquired an hour-long documentary special Heath Ledger: A Tribute to air on the cable channel in August. The story about the late Oscar-winning actor will air as part of a week-long programming event called Live Fast, Die Young, which will also present specials on Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Marilyn Monroe and more. (via The Hollywood Reporter)
Spanish broadcast network V-me will premiere Ricky Martin's documentary on human trafficking on July 10. Vivir en Libertad: Lucha Contra la Trata de Personas is a 30-minute documentary, co-produced between the Inter-American Development Bank and the Ricky Martin Foundation. The doc was made as part of the Call and Live! project, the first anti-trafficking regional campaign in the Americas. For more information go to www.rickymartinfoundation.org.
KCET, the Friends of the Los Angeles River and students from the Los Angeles Leadership Academy have created an amazing website of video and audio portraits of the Los Angeles River. The site allows users to experience the 52-mile stretch land and meet those who are helping it flow back into our public life and popular imagination. (via KCET)
The 10th anniversary of the Maui Film Festival, which runs June 17-21 in Kahului, Hawaii, will open with foreign-language Oscar winner Departures and Dana Brown's documentary Highwater. The fest will also honor Willie Nelson with its Maverick Award. The award will be presented June 19 at the world premiere of Turk Pipkin's documentary One Piece at a Time, a film about solutions to global problems, with music from Ben Harper and Jack Johnson and appearances by Nelson, among others. (via The Hollywood Reporter)
Plus, don't forget to pick up your tickets for our next installment of our 2009 Doc U Seminar Series: An Evening with Ross Kauffman, the Academy Award-winning director behind Born into Brothels, taking place on June 11 at the Kodak Screening Room in Hollywood, CA. Get tickets and information here.
Kassim The Dream, the IDA Award-nominated documentary from Kief Davidson, opens today in New York. The film tells the story of world champion boxer Kassim "The Dream" Ouman--born in Uganda, kidnapped by the rebel army and trained to be a child soldier at the age of 6. When the rebels took over the government, Kassim became an army soldier who was forced to commit many horrific atrocities, making him both a victim and perpetrator. He soon discovered the army's boxing team and realized the sport was his ticket to freedom. After 12 years of warfare, Kassim defected from Africa and arrived in the United States. Homeless and culture-shocked, he quickly rose through the boxing ranks and became World Junior Middleweight Champion.
For an interview with Davidson held in conjunction with the IDA Award nomination, click here.
Despite the best efforts by the documentary community to save it, the Documentary Institute at the University of Florida was recently eliminated. The institute had generated a petition in April that generated over 1,100 signatures, but neither that achievement nor a second consecutive Student Emmy Award was enough to sway the guardians of the ivory tower. According to Gainesville.com, the University of Florida itself recently announced a total of over $30 million in budget cuts and 58 layoffs for the coming academic year.
"As you probably know, Florida has had its share of budget problems--including severe cuts to higher education," says Churchill Roberts, co-director of the institute, which operated out of the university's College of Journalism and Education. "We had the misfortune of having a new dean [Dr. John W. Wright] who didn't value documentary and decided it wasn't central to the mission of the college. He was quoted as saying it was too expensive."
Dean Wright had cut the institute's $200,000 in 2008, which, according to Churchill, had paid for "assistantships, documentary thesis projects, travel, equipment, and seed money for faculty projects." The institute survived the next year on grants and gifts, as well as royalties from the sale of its films, which include Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power, Freedom Never Dies: The Legacy of Harry T. Moore, Giving Up the Canal, Campaign for Cuba and Last Days of the Revolution.
But no sooner had the axe fallen when three universities expressed interest in taking over the program, and one, which will be announced officially at a later date, went a step further and offered positions to Roberts' colleagues, Sandra Dickson, Cynthia Hill and Cara Pilson. The Documentary Institute will officially move to that soon-to-be-disclosed university in 2010.
As for Roberts,."I'll remain here to administer our grants. We just received an NEA grant which doesn't become effective until July 1 and we have a $200,000 pledge from the Jerome A. Yavitz Charitable Foundation, which is being paid over time."
The exodus involves at least 20 staffers and is from the top down, including Festival Director Britta Erickson and Artistic Director Brit Withey and co-founder Ron Henderson.
"A dramatic mass exodus is underway at the Denver Film Society, organizer of the three decade old Denver International Film Festival. Longtime veterans of the organization, including Festival Director Britta Erickson and Artistic Director Brit Withey, as well as esteemed co-founder Ron Henderson, have resigned in Denver. And now they are being followed out the door by some seventeen other people at the Film Society and the festival. The move marks a striking mutiny currently taking place at the leading Colorado film institution."
AJ Schnack offers insight to the situation, backing up the theory that the departures are the result of tension under the leadership of new DFS executive director Burleigh “Bo” Smith. He writes:
"There has been unease over the leadership of Smith since late last year, particularly in an organization as tightly bound as the DFS had been throughout Henderson's leadership and in his passing the torch to Withey and Erickson in 2007."
Developing...
Read the entire indieWIRE article (and see a list of people leaving the Denver festival and Film Society) here.
Read AJ Schnack entire piece here.
On May 14 director and political activist Robert Greenwald became the star of our latest 2009 Doc U Seminar Series event, when the IDA and Greenwald's Brave New Studios hosted An Evening with Robert Greenwald. During the sold out event, Greenwald discussed how he fell in love with making documentaries, how people first discovered his film Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers, how the Internet and sites like YouTube are expanding his reach, and more.
The video of highlights is available on our site. It has also been posted on the IDA's YouTube channel.
Plus, don't forget to pick up your tickets for our next installment of our 2009 Doc U Seminar Series: An Evening with Ross Kauffman, the Academy Award-winning director behind Born into Brothels, taking place on June 11 at the Kodak Screening Room in Hollywood, CA. Get tickets and information here.
Then, we couldn't wait to hear what GM executives had to say about it.
But we really couldn't wait to hear what Michael Moore had to say about it.
The Academy Award-winning filmmaker and author who directed and produced Roger & Me, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, and Sicko took to his own blog with a piece called "Goodbye, GM":
I write this on the morning of the end of the once-mighty General Motors. By high noon, the President of the United States will have made it official: General Motors, as we know it, has been totaled.
More continued to lay out nine suggestions for the GM reorganization, which included a gas tax, bullet trains and light rail mass transit. Sounds out of this world? Not really. He ended with this comment:
Yesterday, the last surviving person from the Titanic disaster passed away. She escaped certain death that night and went on to live another 97 years.
So can we survive our own Titanic in all the Flint Michigans of this country. 60% of GM is ours. I think we can do a better job.
Read the entire piece--and other updates--at www.michaelmoore.com.
Some absorbing and compelling reads floatin' around the blogosphere this past week. Here are a few pieces to kick-start your Monday.
David Poland has an interesting post last week over at The Hot Blog on what he calls "Doc Layering:"
...the explosion in films being made, thanks to cheaper production opportunities – though a film like The Cove can cost over $2.5 million to produce and bring to market (Roadside/Lionsgate) – is leading to film being more and more like books, in that you read many to gather insight, taking valuable information from each one, synthesizing the ideas into some sort of personal coherence. None is definitive. In fact, in this era, being definitive may be something left only to long view historians like Ken Burns. 100… 200 years later, the history tends to have rolled out and then someone can come along and try to be comprehensive.
In the piece, he talks specifically about the group of environmental documentaries he saw while up at the Seattle International Film Festival. I had a similar "Layering" experience this year at Sundance. Each eco-doc that I saw gave me a different part of the story about our planet's health, whether it was because of the information presented or the manner in which the filmmaker chose to communicate his or her information.
Jason Bellamy and Ed Howard focus on Werner Herzog in this month's "The Conversations", a monthly feature on The House Next Door Blog in which the two go in-depth on a variety of cinematic subjects. In this month's installment, they use the book Herzog on Herzog (Ed. Paul Cronin) as a jumping off point to talk about everthing from the idiosyncratic director's relationships with his subjects to the autobiographical nature of his films.
Ted Hope has posted his provocative May 28th address to the New York Foundation for the Arts over on his blog Truly Free Film. Here's a tidbit from the speech, entitled "Towards the New Model: Filmmaking as an Ongoing Conversation With Your Audience", to whet your appetite:
The discussion/rant was a bit of a mash up of my positive and negative lists, both the hope for the future and the fear of the present as we live it in Indieville It is commonly understand that change only comes when the pain of the present outweighs the fear of the future. I would like to have some change -- so be warned, I may have slanted it a bit in hopes of that change.