I.O.U.S.A., the prescient, timely and perhaps timeless doc from Patrick Creadon about the national debt crisis that has, in part, led to the economic turmoil we find ourselves in, is making its television debut Saturday, January 10 and Sunday, January 11, on CNN.

The film, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, also screened at both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions last summer, and has earned considerable acclaim from critics and audiences alike.

The broadcast will be hosted by Ali Velshi and Christine Romans, co-anchors of CNN's Your $$$$$, the network's weekend business roundtable program. Throughout the broadcast, Velshi and Romans will engage a distinguished group of panelists including Pete Peterson, chairman of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and former US Commerce Secretary; Dave Walker, president and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and former US Comptroller General; Alice Rivlin, noted economist and former director of the Office of Management and Budget; and Bill Bradley, a managing director of Allen & Company and former U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate in discussions about issues raised in the film and their ties to current economic events.

I.O.U.S.A. uses candid interviews, archival footage and economic data to tell the story of America's mounting debts. Interview subjects include noted investor Warren Buffett, former Federal Reserve Chairmen Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker, former US Treasury Secretaries Paul O'Neill and Robert Rubin Rivlin, Walker, and Concord Coalition Executive Director Bob Bixby. The conclusion of the film offers suggestions for how best to recreate a fiscally sound nation for future generations. I.O.U.S.A. was directed by Patrick Creadon ("Wordplay") and distributed in the United States by Roadside Attractions ("Super Size Me"). Michael Kane is the executive producer of the program for CNN.

This exclusive televised event will air on CNN/U.S. on Saturday, January 10 at 2:00 p.m. EST and on Sunday, January 11 at 3:00 p.m. EST.

The Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking announced that 15 feature films have been named to the 2009 Cinema Eye Shortlist.

They are:

American Teen
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters At The End Of The World
The English Surgeon
Forbidden Lies
In A Dream
Man On Wire
My Winnipeg
The Order Of Myths
Roman Polanski: Wanted And Desired
Standard Operating Procedure
Stranded, I've Come From A Plane That Crashed On The Mountains
Trouble The Water
Up The Yangtze
Waltz With Bashir

Now in its second year, the Cinema Eye Honors honors nonfiction films and filmmakers, recognizing the breadth of the genre and including the crafts of cinematography, editing, producing, directing, etc. Final nominations will be announced January 19, 2009 in Park City, Utah. The Honors will be presented March 29, 2009 in New York City.

“These fifteen films represent every facet of nonfiction filmmaking, from classic cinema verite to films that employ animation, actors and narrative storytelling in often groundbreaking ways,” said Cinema Eye Honors co-chair AJ Schnack. “This shortlist is a terrific kickoff for this year's awards.”

Keep up to date with the awards on AJ Schnack's blog.

What's the difference between hockey mom and a pit bull? A hockey mom bites back at the media and SNL comediennes.

As part of conservative filmmaker John Ziegler's documentary-in-progress Media Malpractice...How Obama Got Elected he sat down with former Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin in her Wasilla home for a little chat about such hot topics as her much talked-about interview with Katie Couric, that silly Tina Fey and how the chatter about her family made "the mama grizzly rises up in me."

Check it out, straight from the grizzly's mouth:

Find out more at www.howobamagotelected.com.

What do you think of Palin's comments? Comment away.

 

New Board Officers, Board Members Also Announced

LOS ANGELES, January 5, 2009 - Independent film veteran Michael Lumpkin has been chosen by the Board of Directors of the International Documentary Association to lead the organization as its new Executive Director. Lumpkin begins work in IDA's Los Angeles headquarters today.

Lumpkin is an experienced executive leader with over 20 years at the helm of Frameline, an international media arts organization that presents the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, operates Frameline Distribution, and runs other important programs providing funding and training to filmmakers. He brings to IDA an outstanding track record of innovative programming, successful fundraising, effective financial and operational management and strong community support, and maintains valuable alliances with members of the film, philanthropic and business communities. Michael was also co-producer of the landmark documentary THE CELLULOID CLOSET, and has served on international festival juries including the Berlin International Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival.

"I am honored to be joining the world's leading organization dedicated to non-fiction film," said Lumpkin, "and look forward to working closely with IDA's Board, staff, members and trustees to expand the organization's support of documentary filmmakers around the world. With the growing significance of social issue media and the rapidly changing landscape of the independent film world, IDA will continue to play a key role in increasing the appreciation and relevance of documentary film in all its forms."

According to IDA's outgoing Interim Executive Director, filmmaker Eddie Schmidt, "Michael is the stellar result of an extensive search, and we are thrilled that he will take us into the future."

Schmidt, who ran the organization for the past six months, will continue a leadership role at IDA, working with Lumpkin as the newly elected President of the Board of Directors. Schmidt follows outgoing President diane estelle Vicari, who served the organization for the past three years. Other new IDA officers include Thomas Rigler as Vice-President, Sara Hutchison as Treasurer, Elise Pearlstein as Secretary, and Nancy Willen and Bob Niemack as Members-At-Large.

IDA also announced the election of six new board members, among them Gilda Brasch, Adam Chapnick, Senain Kheshgi, Laurie Ann Schag, Marjan Safinia, and Pi Ware. They round out the group which includes Beth Bird, Brian Gerber, Lynne Littman, Thomas G. Miller, Steven Reich, David Tenzer, diane estelle Vicari, Moises Velez, and Susan West.

The International Documentary Association is a nonprofit, public interest organization dedicated to supporting and promoting the art of documentary film, founded in 1982. The organization publishes a quarterly magazine, Documentary, and its programs include the DocuWeek Theatrical Showcase, the annual IDA Documentary Awards, and its upcoming Documentary Nominees Reception for the Academy Awards.

For more information about IDA, visit www.documentary.org or call 213-534-3600.

Media Contact: Amy Grey/Ashley Mariner
Dish Communications
(818) 508-1000
amyg@dishcommunications.com / ashleym@dishcommunications.com

In the continuing afterglow of the 2008 IDA Awards, we discovered that history was made that night: By winning the Best Short Documentary Award for her and Isabel Vega's La Corona, Amanda Micheli became the first IDA/David L. Wolper Student Documentary Achievement Award recipient in the history of the IDA Awards to "graduate" by winning a higher-level award. The Harvard alum earned the Wolper Award in 1996 for her film Just for the Ride.

"I was up at this podium back in 1996 with my student film, Just for the Ride," Micheli said in her acceptance speech. "And there are countless people in this room, both then and now, that have inspired and enabled my work over the last 12 years, and I'm truly grateful for this community and its support."

 

 

I followed up a week later about what the Wolper Award meant to her. "Back then, I didn't even know what the IDA was," she admits. "But as soon as I arrived and saw the company I was in, I was blown away, and quite honestly, I was somewhat intimidated by the pressure of expectation. As I gulped champagne, people asked with urgency, "What are you working on next??" --a question that still challenges me to this day at these kind of events.

"I'm a serial monogamist with my films," she continues. "And like many filmmakers, I am wary of talking about new projects before they are ‘in the can.' But the mere idea that people wanted to see what I was up to next was exciting, and I'd like to think that I rose to the challenge, and will continue to do so on my own timeline. Because my student film was a first-person, vérité project made with short ends and a volunteer crew over a span of many years, it was daunting to try to transform that model into a viable career. But over the years I've come to accept the insanity of it all, and have been lucky enough to have had gainful employment as a DP and producer on other filmmakers' projects while I explore my own work, which has been a real pleasure, even if it is a balancing act."

And as for the Short Documentary Award? "As I said that night, it's an honor to be recognized by such an incredible group of filmmakers, and I feel as privileged as ever to call the IDA membership my peers."

 

GOOD Magazine
and
The International Documentary Association

Invite you to two special screenings

The Youngest Candidate on Dec. 16
&
Beautiful Losers on Dec. 17

The Youngest Candidate Film Screening
Tue 16 Dec 2008 at 07:00PM + Director Q&A with Jason Pollock

The Youngest Candidate is a feature length documentary film directed by Jason Pollock. It is produced by David Letterman's company, Worldwide Pants, in partnership with Oscar winner Lawrence Bender (producer of 'Pulp Fiction' and 'An Inconvenient Truth', etc..) and Balance Vector Productions.

It follows the story of 4 teens that ran for public office in America. Funny, inspiring, poignant, and ultimately uplifting, 'The Youngest Candidate' is not just a film about running for office. It is the coming of age story of four idealistic young adults who dared to confront the corrupt political systems in America. Through their journey these young candidates learn about fair play, leadership development, racism in politics, the importance of family, and many other lessons that they will carry with them throughout their lives. In the face of great adversity, these four young adults braved all the odds to make it to Election Day to show that regardless of the outcome, it didn't matter... It's all about how you play the game. RSVP NOW!

Beautiful Losers Film Screening
Wed 17 Dec 2008 at 07:00PM + Director Q&A with Aaron Rose

Beautiful Losers celebrates the spirit behind one of the most influential cultural moments of a generation.

In the early 1990's a loose-knit group of likeminded outsiders found common ground at a little NYC storefront gallery. Rooted in the DIY (do-it-yourself) subcultures of skateboarding, surf, punk, hip hop & graffiti, they made art that reflected the lifestyles they led. Developing their craft with almost no influence from the "establishment" art world, this group, and the subcultures they sprang from, have now become a movement that has been transforming pop culture.

Starring a selection of artists who are considered leaders within this culture, Beautiful Losers focuses on the telling of personal stories. It speaks to themes of what happens when the outside becomes "in" as it explores the creative ethos connecting these artists and today's youth. RSVP NOW!

THE GOOD SPACE
@GOOD Magazine
6824 Melrose Ave. (Btwn La Brea & Highland)
Both events are free and open to the public.

Most call for entries is pretty much the same: fill out your form, pay your fee and hope some judge somewhere actually looks at your submission.

Ok, you still have to do all of that if you want to enter the 13th Annual Webby Awards. But the folks who honor the best of the best in websites, interactive advertising, online film & video, and mobile web (that's the International Academy of the Digital Arts and Sciences, FYI) are actually calling on some of the Internet's most creative folks to promote the call for entries. Smart, huh?

Included in the fun already are comedic pals Jake and Amir, Jerry and Orrin Zucker of the oddly wonderful It's Jerry Time site and Tony and Paul from stop-motion loving creative team Free Poster Films.

Check out some promos below and peek at http://webbys.tumblr.com for more. Oh, and you only have until Dec. 19 to get your own entry in for a Webby. Get on it here. 

The Sundance Film Festival announced its selections among the short documentaries, both US and international, including a few docs nestled among the animated shorts and New Frontier shorts.

US Documentary Shorts

575 Castro St. (Director: Jenni Olson)-Set to the original audio-cassette recorded by Harvey Milk in November 1977 to be played, "in the event of my death by assassination."

The Archive (Director: Sean Dunne)-An eight-minute documentary about the world's largest vinyl record collection, examining the man who owns them and the current state of the American record industry.

Chop Off (Director: M.M. Serra)-An exposition of the dark, fearful recesses of the human psyche by filming the body modification of performance artist R.K. who literally risks 'life and limb.' R.K.'s body is his medium and amputation is his art.

Good: Atomic Alert (Director: Max Joseph)-An examination of nuclear arms that asks, Who has them, what are their intentions, and what would happen if a nuclear weapon hit New York City?

Good: Internet Censorship (Directors: Morgan Currie, Lindsay Utz, James Jones; Screenwriter: Mattathias Schwartz)-Internet censorship can take many forms, from restricting private Internet access to blocking searches for politically volatile keywords. This film explores how different countries apply their bodies of censorship to cyberspace.

I Knew It Was You (Director: Richard Shepard)-John Cazale appeared in just five films -The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather: Part Two, Dog Day Afternoon and The Deer Hunter-and all were nominated for Best Picture. This documentary is a fresh portrait of the acting craft and a tour through the movies that defined a generation.

The Kinda Sutra (Director: Jessica Yu)-A combination of interview and animation, that explores the youthful misconceptions of a spectrum of people over the universal question: How are babies made?

So the Wind Won't Blow it All Away (Director: Annie P. Waldman)-Two and a half years after Hurricane Katrina, desiring to graduate high school with their friends, a group of students return to New Orleans despite their parents' relocation and absence.

Sister Wife (Director: Jill Orschel; Screenwriters: Alexandra Fuller, Jill Orschel)-DoriAnn, a Mormon Fundamentalist, shares a husband with her younger biological sister. During a private bathing ritual, DoriAnn explores the surprisingly universal challenges of her marriage.

SUSPENDED (Director: Kimi Takesue)-The film both documents and re-contextualizes the experience and perception of suspended time, capturing a range of evocative moments that reveal states of emotional and physical suspension.

Utopia, Part 3: The World's Largest Shopping Mall (Directors: Sam Green, Carrie Lozano)-A tour of the world's largest shopping mall, located near Guangzhou, China. Built three years ago, the South China Mall was supposed to be a celebration of consumerism and Vegas-like spectacle.

 

International Documentary Shorts

China's Wild West (UK; Director: Urszula Pontikos)-This part observational, part impressionistic study of a day in the life of a Muslim community illustrates their hopeful efforts to discover jade in the harsh conditions of a dried-up riverbed in a remote town on the Silk Road in Western China.

Lessons from the Night (Australia; Director and Screenwriter: Adrian Francis)-As dusk approaches and workers stream out of the city, Maia is about to begin her day. She reflects on life, work and toilet bowls as she goes about her nightly cleaning round through silent, empty spaces.

Ma Bar (UK; Directors: Finlay Pretsell, Adrian McDowall)-Bench-pressing isn't a hobby for 73-year-old Bill McFadyen; it's a way of life, and he is on a quest to be the best in the world.

Magnetic Movie (UK; Directors: Semiconductor: Ruth Jarman + Joe Gerhardt)-Natural magnetic fields are revealed as chaotic ever-changing geometries, as scientists from NASA's space sciences laboratory excitedly describe their discoveries.

My Surfing Lucifer (Switzerland; Director: Kenneth Anger)-Using found footage, Kenneth Anger introduces us to the short life of Bunker Spreckels, Clark Gable's stepson and surfing legend.

The Real Place (Canada; Director: Cam Christiansen; Screenwriter: Blake Brooker)-An animated poetic film celebrating the life and spirit of playwright and librettist John Murrell.

Steel Homes (UK; Director: Eva Weber)-Self-storage units are windows into human histories: the silent cells with their discarded objects and dust-covered furniture are inscribed with past dreams, secret hopes and of lives we cannot let go.

 

US Animated Shorts

From Burger It Came (Director: Dominic Bisignano)-An animated film that recounts early 1980s-era Cold War fears of a young boy in middle America. Using a variety of techniques, the visual narrative is colorfully assembled over semi-documentary audio conversations between a grown adult recounting his fears and his mother's memory of the time and her own concerns.

Joel Stein's Completely Unfabricated Adventures (Director: Walter Robot; Screenwriter: Joel Stein)-Journalist Joel Stein takes us on an animated adventure through the waste treatment plant of Orange County.

 

International Animated Shorts

Cattle Call (Canada; Director and Screenwriter: Matthew Rankin, Mike Maryniuk)-A high-speed animation film documenting the art of livestock auctioneering.

Lies (Sweden; Director: Jonas Odell)-Three perfectly true stories about lying. In three episodes based on documentary interviews we meet the burglar who, when found out, claims to be a moonlighting accountant, the boy who finds himself lying and confessing to a crime he didn't commit and the woman whose whole life has been a chain of lies.

 

New Frontier Shorts

The Beekeepers (USA; Director: Richard Robinson)-An experimental documentary on the environmental crisis surrounding beekeeping and colony collapse disorder. It explores this ancient profession in its current crisis and the implications for our environment when millions of bees just disappear.

 

 

C. Karim Chrobog, director of War Child, winner ABCNews VideoSource Award at Q&A after DocuFest screening at Kodak Screening Room. Photo by Meg Madison.

In a wall-to-wall day of screenings that began at 9:00 and closed just after midnight, DocuFest, IDA's annual unspooling marathon of the Award-winning films, bowed to an appreciative crowd at the Eastman Kodak Screening Room. Most of the filmmakers were on hand to field questions from the audience, including Remy Burkel from Sin City Law, Karim Chrobog from War Child , David Novack from Burning the Future, Laura Waters Hinson from As We Forgive; Isabel Vega and Luis Colina for La Corona; and Maureen Ryan from Man on Wire.

David Novack, director, of Burning The Future: Coal In America, winner of Pare Lorentz Award at DocuFest Q&A. Photo by Meg Madison.

Burning the Future: Coal in America, the Pare Lorentz Award winner, addresses the environmental impact of one of America's leading sources of energy: coal. Focusing on West Virginia-coincidentally, the birthplace of Pare Lorentz-the film documents the appalling practices of Big Coal, including mountaintop removal, which is exactly what it sounds like: decimating the ecosystem on top for mining purposes; and coal slurry impoundments, a means of cleaning the coal that has resulted in toxicity and contamination in the water supply. The coal industry has created a severe health risk for much of West Virginia and the surrounding coal-dependent states. The film not only lays out the issues, with both coal representatives and environmental activists weighing in, but, but follows the activities of a corps of activists, who venture to the United Nations to have their cases heard. Novack explained in the Q&A that West Virginia Senators Byrd and Rockefeller have been silent on the mountaintop removal, a practice that started in the mid-80s and accelerated in the mid-90s. He also pointed out that the "surface miners" (those who engage in mountaintop removal) are afforded much better workplace conditions than the traditional underground miners. Finally, Novack pointed out that we on the West Coast are susceptible to pollution from coal processing plants all the way in China.

 

As We Forgive, the winner of the IDA/David L. Wolper Student Documentary Achievement Award, examines the process of forgiveness and reconciliation in Rwanda in the decade and a half since the horrific massacres there in 1994. This endeavor has proved a vital foundation on which to heal and rebuild the nation, and Hinson follows two victims and two perpetrators as they go through the painful process of reflecting on their tragic losses and their horrible crimes and then, through mediators, facing each other. IDA Interim Executive Director Eddie Schmidt remarked to Hinson how impressive the film was a student work, noting that as a student, he had made a doc about "busing trays in the school cafeteria." The key to the success of her film, she noted, was, as with countless docs, access-here, to one of the bishops who was a key player in seeing the truth and reconciliation initiative through at the grassroots level, and through her translator and driver, who, as Hinson put it "got the vision of the film." Hinson, who admitted she's "just learning about outreach in documentary filmmaking," has been screening the film at the US Congress, the State Department and the Library of Congress. In addition, she founded the Living Bricks Campaign in support of continuing the reconciliation effort in Rwanda.

Isabel Vega, director/producer with Luis Colina, editor of La Corona, winner Documentary Short at Q&A, Kodak Screening Room at DocuFest 2008. Photo by Meg Madison.

La Corona, from Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega, followed As We Forgive, and although Micheli was not able to be there, it's worth noting that she's the first David L. Wolper Student Documentary Achievement Award winner to "graduate" to a higher honor. She earned the Wolper in 1996 for Just for the Ride, and she noted from the stage on Awards Night that many of those in the room back then who were key in helping launch her career were in the room 12 years later. La Corona covers a beauty pageant inside a Bogota, Colombia women's correctional facility. Vega said that the biggest challenge was getting the daily permission of the warden and the guards. "You're the last on the list, because no one wants to take responsibility for an American crew," she said. "You needed the warden's signature, and you had to have a guard with you at all times." They shot for four hours a day, for two months. "We would have liked to have made a longer film," Vega admitted, "but the structure was going to be the pageant, which had a built-in arc, so we decided to stay with the characters and let the narrative unfold within that structure."

Maureen Ryan, co-producer, of Man On Wire, IDA Awards Feature Documentary Winner (tie) with Eddie Schmidt, Interim Executive Director, at DocuFest Q&A. Photo by Meg Madison.

See more pictures of DocuFest 2008 on the IDA's Flickr Photostream.