Directors, producers the subjects of nominated films such at Man on Wire, The Garden, The Final Inch, The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306 and The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) mixed and mingled before and after the night's main program at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
(L-R): Thavisouk Phrasavath (co-director, The Betrayal
(Nerakhoon)), Ellen Kuras
(director, The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)), James Marsh (director, Man on Wire), Simon Chinn (producer, Man on Wire), Scott Hamilton Kennedy (director/producer, The Garden), Tia Lessin (director/producer, Trouble the Water), Carl Deal (director/producer, Trouble the Water). Copyright AP Images for IDA 2009.
(L-R): Irene Taylor Brodsky (director, The Final Inch), Singeli Agnew (associate producer, The Conscience of Nhen En), Adam
Pertofsky (director, The Witness),
Margaret Hyde (producer, The Witness).
Copyright AP Images for IDA 2009.
"I love focusing it in on just the documentaries. Sometimes it's difficult for us to get the love," said The Garden director Scott Hamilton Kennedy. "Thanks for the IDA to continuing to support short form, long form, American, international documentaries and giving us all a chance to come up here and maybe give a taste of our speech that only a couple of us will get to give on Sunday."
Most filmmakers talked about the exciting times since getting the nomination last month.
"This event is a great way to kick off the weekend. Ever since the nominations were announced, it's been a great blur," said Carl Deal, director/producer of Trouble the Water.
"Sure, it's exhausting, but if you hear me complaining about that feel free to give me a slap in the face," added Kennedy, whose film focuses on a group of South Central Los Angeles farmers who struggle to save their community garden.
(L-R): Philippe Petit (star, Man on Wire), Lily Tomlin (host). Copyright AP Images for IDA 2009.
Inside the event, each film was spotlighted with a clip viewing and speech from the movie's filmmakers. Host Lily Tomlin started the night off by calling documentaries her "favorite form of truth." Between the jokes she even teared up after watching a funny, yet sad clip from Werner Herzog's Encounters at the End of the World.
If there were an award for best speech of the night, it would have gone to Philippe Petit, the subject and star of Man on Wire about his unauthorized high-wire walk across the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center in 1974.
(L-R): Simon Chinn (producer, Man on Wire), Philippe Petit (star, Man on Wire), James Marsh (director, Man on Wire). Copyright AP Images for IDA 2009.
"All that I had to say, I said on the wire," he said. "I come from a distant planet and I will soon go back. But I was thinking about walking and when you came on stage," he added in reference to Tomlin's entrance. "I thought, 'How humble, because you took the three-feet walk, you could have taken the 80-feet walk.' So all evening I'm thinking about balance, so I would like to try." He then adjusted a slightly askew IDA sign hanging form the podium before complimenting his collaborators. "Also, the power of cinema, because I was in the front row and my palms were wet. So good work, the two of you."
See all of the nominated films at DocuDay New York and DocuDay Los Angeles (followed by filmmaker Q&As when available) this weekend. Get more info about both days here.
Read about all of the nominated docs, see trailers and more on our 27th Annual Nominees Reception page.
See our video interviews with the filmmakers and attendees:
Philippe Petit
Lily Tomlin
Plus, what would nominees do with an Oscar?
Read other coverage of the night's event on these great sites: indieWIRE, Matt Dentler's Blog, Spout, AJ Schnack.
All photos Copyright AP Images for IDA 2009.
Geoff Gilmore, the longtime impresario of the Sundance Film Festival, will exit his directorship post of 19 years to assume the position of Chief Creative Officer at Tribeca Enterprises, it was announced today. He will be responsible for Tribeca's global content strategy and lead creative development initiatives and expansion of the brand. Gilmore will also join the Board of Directors of Tribeca Enterprises. Tribeca Enterprises is the New York-based media company founded by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff that owns and operates the Tribeca Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival International, Tribeca Cinemas and other branded-entertainment businesses and initiatives.
"As one of the most accomplished creative forces in our industry, Geoff is the ideal person to guide content development for Tribeca Enterprises," said Rosenthal in a statement. "His talent and experience will benefit Tribeca immeasurably, particularly in creating new strategic alliances and opportunities such as our recently announced Tribeca Film Festival Doha. We are delighted that Geoff is moving to New York to join Tribeca at a time of unprecedented change in the world of film and media."
"I believe that Tribeca Enterprises is well positioned to develop a film organization that can create a new paradigm for the future," Gilmore commented in the statement. "The vision of its leadership, its structure and resources, and the track record of its brief history give me great excitement at the opportunity to join their enterprise. I've had a wonderful 19 years at Sundance and will always be grateful to Bob Redford. For me this is a big decision, a huge change and an enormous opportunity."
One of the film industry's most widely-trusted and influential figures, Gilmore was responsible at Sundance for film selection, artistic direction and general festival management. He was a programming consultant for Robert Redford and the Sundance Channel since its inception in 1996, consulted for and helped build the Sundance Group and the Sundance Film Series. Additionally, he created and directed the annual Sundance Independent Producers Conference and other major events and initiatives related to independent filmmaking and distribution.
Gilmore has been a universally recognized and acknowledged leader of the development of independent film in the U.S. and abroad. He shaped the landscape for Sundance that emerged as a platform for independent filmmakers and buyers since the early 1980s. He is credited with attracting break-out film sensations to Sundance such as Reservoir Dogs, Hoop Dreams, Little Miss Sunshine and An Inconvenient Truth -and discovering and launching the careers of emerging filmmakers.
In addition to his accomplishment at Sudnance, Gilmore has served on numerous international film juries, teaches a master class for the Ludwigsburg Film Academy and is a featured guest lecturer at many film schools and cultural institutions. He has also written extensively on the American independent film scene.
Prior to Sundance, Gilmore served as head of the UCLA Film and Television Archive's Programming Department for 15 years.
The song says it's not easy bein' green, but a new code released on February 3rd, 2009, aims to make it a little more straightforward. Filmmakers for Conservation (FFC), American University's Center for Social Media and the Center for Environmental Filmmaking have teamed up to create the Code of Best Practices in Sustainable Filmmaking, a new guide to help filmmakers assess their carbon footprint and make their shoots more eco-friendly. IDA's Board endorsed the Code last month.
AU School of Communication professor and documentary filmmaker Larry Engel, coauthor of the code, said in a statement, "Filmmakers want to be sustainable, but few tools exist to help them do this. This code is the first clear, comprehensive guide in sustainability supported by scientific review and specifically designed to account for the challenges filmmakers face on a daily basis."
The code is based on the results of a global survey of best practices
in sustainable filmmaking, conducted by American University, involving
more than 175 filmmakers and companies. It includes trackers and checklists to aide filmmakers in figuring out the carbon emissions and waste produced by their projects after all possible steps toward reduction have been made. Ideally, these would then be offset at the conclusion of production.
The Code focuses on four key areas:
1. Calculation: Know how much energy we are actually using.
2. Consumption: Lower overall carbon debt and environmental impact by using less.
3. Travel: Reduce the carbon debt created through travel.
4. Compensation: Since we cannot completely eliminate our footprint, we should compensate for it through organizations that offer a carbon reduction equal to our carbon production.
Chris Palmer, director of AU's Center for Environmental Filmaking commented that environmental and wildlife filmmakers have a special responsibility to reflect best practices in sustainable filmmaking, as they are the ones often in the most fragile places on earth.
The code is meant to be an evolving document and AU and FFC want feedback from filmmakers, producers and broadcasters to help improve it. You can find the code at www.sustainablefilmmaking.org.
But that was the gauntlet thrown down by Santa Barbara International Film Festival honcho Roger Durling for his documentary jury, of which I dutifully comprised 50%. (Producer Lauren Moews comprised the other half, and thankfully we were in "taste sync" the whole way--so no arm wrestling nor rock/paper/scissors was needed for decision-making).
Durling is the charismatic film buff who's transformed the SBFF into a vibrant cultural destination in just five years. At a private (and tasty) dinner for jurors, he regaled us with the story of his evolution from UN interpreter to playwright to coffeehouse maven to film festival head in less than a decade. Pretty amazing, actually. And currently, the festival not only has the support of the town but also real cache from a range of well-made films and a stream of Hollywood heavyweights. In the days I was there, Kate Winslet and Penelope Cruz both showed up for well-done tributes, and Anne Thompson led a great screenwriting panel with Andrew Stanton (WALL-E), Tom McCarthy (The Visitor), Dustin Lance Black (Milk) and Robert Knott (Apaloosa).
(In between spoonfuls of asparagus soup, here's a moody cell phone pic I snapped of myself with fellow juror Efren Ramirez, he of the classic Napoleon Dynamite. All the jurors, I have to say, were way cool and easy to chill with. No prima donnas!)
Now, is it good luck when a bird shits on you? Debatable, right--though that is the legend. Regardless, it did happen to me on Day 3, in between screenings. Were I not on such a tight schedule I'd have hoofed it back to the hotel to change my shirt, but I was so dedicated...and the splatter was, thankfully, so minimal...that I could wash it off in a bakery bathroom. The bakers eyed me for not buying an Italian pastry, but the situation was dire and after it had happened I can't say I was terribly hungry. I had to run - I had films to judge!
And judge we did. Now, I can finally reveal our winner, since it was just announced today: Australian filmmaker Megan Doneman's fascinating and impressive Yes Sir, Madam, chronicling the feisty, uncompromising human rights efforts of Kiran Bedi, India's first policewoman and (later) prison warden, who battles bureaucracy and sexism throughout her career. In particular, Bedi works to try to give prisoners a better and more humane way of life. And the scenes of hundreds of incarcerated criminals meditating en masse were truly incredible. During the Q&A, Doneman said she slept on Bedi's couch on and off for six years to get the film done--and deserves the credit and the prize (which included an IDA membership and a post package worth $100K. Her film also won the separate Social Justice Award, for $2500.
Other interesting, and well-made, docs that I felt merit special attention: Art and Copy (direct from Sundance); Inventing LA: The Chandlers In Their Time (soon to PBS); Johnny Cash at Fulsom Prison; and another Aussie import, The Oasis. I have to say, all 12 films in the lineup had interesting and unique flavors and thoughts to offer audiences. But Yes Sir, Madam was the frontrunner, a compelling and eye-opening film you will probably be hearing more about in 2009. Doneman should be very proud.
Check out all of the festival's offerings at www.sbfilmfestival.org.
Arthouse, which picked up the North American theatrical and DVD rights, will release Kuntsler in mid-2009, and the film will air on PBS' P.O.V. in 2010.
Art & Copy, of which Arthouse acquired both North American and worldwide rights, is also slated for a 2009 release in both theaters and on DVD. For Tamara Krinsky's review of Art & Copy, click here.
Elsewhere in the acquisitions area, Visit Films, the New York-based sales and production company, picked up worldwide rights to NC Heikin's Kimjongilia, which tells the stories of survivors of North Korean leader Kim Jong II's prison camps.
Every three years, the U.S. Copyright Office conducts a rulemaking process to assess whether the DMCA's ban on circumvention interferes with noninfringing uses of copyrighted materials. If the Copyright Office finds a substantial adverse effect on noninfringing uses of certain types of works, it grants a three-year exemption from DMCA liability for that class of works.
The USC Intellectual Property & Technology Law Clinic at USC Law School and Michael Donaldson are working with Kartemquin Films, IDA, Arthur Dong, and Robert Bahar to seek an exemption that would make it clear that documentary filmmakers can access CSS-protected material on DVDs for fair use purposes or if the material is in the public domain. Earlier this month, a request for such an exemption was submitted to the Copyright Office, which can be viewed on the Copyright Office's website at http://www.copyright.gov/1201/2008/comments/kartemquin-ida.pdf.
We would like your support in gathering real-world examples that will help illustrate any adverse effect that the prohibition against copying material from a DVD is having on documentary filmmakers. What we would like in this regard are:
(i) examples of how you’ve been unable to use material from DVDs for fair use purposes (or public domain material) due to CSS, or have had to use severely degraded analog versions of noninfringing material due to CSS, and the effect that had on your documentary; and
(ii) stories about any problems you have had getting your documentary approved for air on PBS or similar broadcasting networks because you used degraded analog versions of material that did not meet the technical standards set forth by the broadcaster; and
(iii) stories about what you would do with noninfringing material in your documentary films if you could obtain protected material from DVDs without fear of breaking the law.
We are looking forward to hearing about your experiences. Please send your stories, as well as any questions or comments, to Ashlee Lin at alin@law.usc.edu or Christopher Perez at cperez@law.usc.edu by Friday, January 30.
Thank you for your help on this important issue!
Entertainment attorney Michael C. Donaldson, Esq. (Donaldson & Hart), is a former IDA Board President and served on the Legal Advisory Board for the Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use.
As anyone who is reading this article knows, the Recording Industry Association of America launched a scorched-earth policy of suing anyone and everyone who downloaded music from the Internet and shared it with friends through one or another file-sharing schemes. To many of us, this seemed like the most absurd strategy that any industry anywhere ever adopted. In fact, in the first edition of Clearance and Copyright, I predicted that the record companies would never be so foolish as to launch such a program.
Well, launch it they did. Beyond anything I ever imagined possible. The program went beyond shooting yourself in the foot, which is usually pictured as an accidental pistol shot. Instead, they took out a howitzer and intentionally demolished both of their own feet and the feet of the latest batch of their potential customers who where entering the marketplace. And it did not do a bit of good, or at least did not do enough good (for the record companies) to make it worthwhile to continue, even from the record companies’ distorted perspective.
Five years and some 35,000 lawsuits later, it is over. They think it worked. And on some levels it might have. This crazy litigation put my chosen field of law into the public consciousness like no other. Sales of my book were boosted by the awareness that was piqued by the record companies. The reality is that the sales of records and CDs continued to decline, peer-to-peer file sharing continued to rise, and the entire world was thinking that the record companies were foolish, short-sighted, and backward looking. But sales of digital music tracks soared past the one-billion mark in 2008 and RIAA gives credit for that rise to their lawsuit program. Some of us think that would have happened anyway if the big record labels had woken up a bit sooner to the inevitability of the changes brought to the industry by the Internet.
Record companies need to embrace the future. They thought they were doing just that when they went online to sell their records. But records, even CDs, are soon to be a thing of the past. “Record Companies”? “Labels”? Those words will be as quaint as the phrase “horse and buggy” in the not-too-distant future. When the horseless carriage arrived, folks who made buggies either went out of business or started making horseless carriages. The record companies moved more slowly, which is understandable given their size (four companies sold 95 percent of the records in America.) Large organizations always react more slowly than agile individuals.
So the record companies thought they were modern and sleek and “with it” when they used the Internet for advertising and promotion and even sales of their old-fashioned CDs. They didn’t realize that the Internet completely changed the way the commercial world would operate in the future. A band could develop its own following online. It could create music, distribute it far and wide, and enjoy a growing group of fans without ever leaving their garage. Amazing.
The new music companies will never manufacture a record or a CD. There won’t be anything to put a label on. Control of the music business will move to talented marketing and management companies that know how to bring music to the masses – over the Internet, in person, over the airwaves. They will make money from all the streams of income available. And the splits will be fair to artists because the artists themselves could do all of this if they didn’t spend much time creating their music. And that is the good news. It no longer takes a pile of capital and personal connections with radio stations and venues to create success for a talented group of kids with a great new sound. It takes the Internet and Internet marketing savvy. And that is why performing artists in the future will be in an even more competitive world, but the playing field will be flatter. Artists will participate more fully. And music will be more universally available at prices we can all afford.
Entertainment attorney Michael C. Donaldson, Esq. (Donaldson & Hart), is a former IDA Board President and served on the Legal Advisory Board for the Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use.
"What a week. We began with the celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. King in Atlanta, where we screened the film at the King Center with the film's stars, Kimberly and Scott Roberts. Then, the Obamas moved into the White House. Now this. Wow!
"We were at Sundance, one year after the film premiered here, when we got the news that Trouble the Water was nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category. Kimberly and Scott were in New Orleans and we were all on the phone together when the announcement hit the internet.
"In a year with so many amazing films, from filmmakers we so admire, we are thrilled and honored by this recognition and hope it will translate into desperately needed attention for the gulf coast and communities throughout the country that are fighting for their survival."
Congratulations to all of the nominess. Celebrate all of this year's great films at the IDA's 27th Annual Nominees Reception, Wednesday, February 18, hosted by Lily Tomlin. Get program and ticketing info here!
What irked me most about When You're Strange is its abundance of factual inaccuracies, particularly in DiCillo's ham-fisted attempt (he wrote and delivered the narration) to yoke the artistic and commercial success of The Doors to the cultural zeitgeist of the era. One jaw-dropper: According to DiCillo, the Vietnam War ended in 1972, some three years before it actually did; in addition, the Kent State massacre occurred after Jimi Hendrix died, when it actually happened five months before; the youth, peace and love movement that partly defined the Sixties came to a symbolic end not at Altamont, which is never mentioned in the film, but at the Isle of Wight Festival, where fans tried to crash the concert by tearing down a fence (The Horror!); the demise of The Doors ushered in more insipid music from the likes of the Monkees, who had actually broken up-and gone off the air-- long before The Doors had.
Although DiCillo was given a treasure trove of footage--rehearsals, concerts, home movies--from the surviving members of The Doors, he constantly muddles the chronology of the narrative (although, to his credit, he eschews the shopworn talking heads device). In one scene, it's 1969, and The Doors are struggling to make their album The Soft Parade, amid Morrison's alcoholic binges and increasingly erratic behavior, then it's 1967, when Morrison is arrested in New Haven , Conn., after taunting the police on stage. Later in the film, we see The Doors performing at the aforementioned Isle of Wight concert in 1970, which prompts DiCillo to revisit 1968, since, ooops! he forgot to mention what happened that year!
When you have as unreliable a narrator as DiCillo, the accusations of reenactment are beside the point. But he strode to the stage for the post-screening Q&A, seemingly in a dither about the charges, and showed his annoyance at an audience member who questioned the validity of the Morrison film. Earlier, he asked the audience, "Was there inaccuracy in what you saw?" Well, I kinda like facts, and I consider it my job to check them. Maybe David Byrne was right when he sang, "Facts just twist the truth around," but I like to think that facts lend a bit of truthiness to the process.