It can be difficult for a documentary to successfully highlight both a personal profile and an activism narrative in a mere hour and forty minutes. But Barbara Kopple's latest feature, Running From Crazy, somehow successfully weaves a message of activism into the story of the life of Mariel Hemingway, the youngest granddaughter of one of America's most celebrated authors. As a woman who now accepts the long line of Hemingway suicides (seven since her great-grandfather, to be precise), Mariel has dedicated her later years to becoming a very public presence in the realm of suicide prevention. The film came about as a sort of matchmaking exercise, with the Oprah Winfrey Network approaching Mariel and Barbara separately to gauge their interest in participating in the project. After a long and impassioned meeting between the two women, Mariel agreed that this film could be the place where she would totally open up for the first time. Running From Crazy became not just a film about Mariel and the tragic history of her family; it became a celebration of the Hemingway's complete and total embrace of joy.

Running from Crazy screened Wednesday, November 6 at the Landmark in Los Angeles as a part of the IDA Documentary Screening Series. Director Barbara Kopple spoke to Indiewire's Dana Harris about wanting to get underneath the Hemingway myth and understand this family on a very intimate level.

Watch below:

You can watch more moments from this Q&A at our IDA Screening Series playlist on our YouTube channel.

Learn more about the other docs set to play in the IDA Documentary Screening Series

The upcoming Winter issue of Documentary magazine will take a comprehensive look at the all-important elements to any documentary:

Sound and Music!

Production sound, sound design, editing and mixing, composing, music licensing and music supervision, and music documentaries: It's all here, for your reading—and maybe even listening—pleasure! Experts from across the documentary spectrum share their insights about their secrets to sonic synchronicity.

But wait. There's more!

Thanks to the popularity of the education-themed Fall 2013 issue, we are launching a new column that will spotlight a documentary program in a school, university or college. We kick off the column with a profile of George Washington University's Documentary Center.

Elsewhere in the Winter issue, Frederick Wiseman talks to us about his latest opus, At Berekley, which premieres on PBS' Independent Lens in January; filmmaker Katie Dellamaggiore shares her experiences taking her acclaimed film Brooklyn Castle to Israel and Palestine as part of the American Film Showcase; and we review the book Killer Images, a collection of essays about documentary, memory and the "performance of violence,' edited by IDA Documentary Awards nominated filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing).

So, treat yourself to a little holiday joy: join IDA today and get Documentary magazine year-round—Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall!

Tim Jenison is a man who likes to figure out how things work. As the founder of the San Antonio-based hardware and software company NewTek, Inc., Tim is excited by the idea of digging deep to discover the parts that make up the whole. After receiving a copy of David Hockney's Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters from his daughter, Tim became obsessed with determining how Johannes Vermeer's paintings could possibly be so photorealist. His theory, somewhat of an offshoot of Hockneys, contends that Vermeer used optics to guide his brush. After several experiments, the invention of a mirrored device, and the creation of a life-size replica of the scene depicted in Vermeer's "The Music Lesson," Tim Jenison set about recreating his very own Vermeer.

Between the interviews with key people in Tim's life, his visit to Holland for research, and the hundreds of days put into building the studio and working on the painting, the filmmakers and Tim collected over 2400 hours of footage. This was eventually whittled down into the 80 minute documentary Tim's Vermeer, directed by the oft-silent half of Penn & Teller. Famously known for their magic act as well as their skepticism, Tim's story was a natural fit for this pair, who uses the film and Tim's project to ask if there really is a concrete distinction between an inventor and a painter.

Tim's Vermeer screened Tuesday, November 5 at the Landmark in Los Angeles as a part of the IDA Documentary Screening Series. Producer Farley Ziegler told Criticwire's Steve Greene that it was more important to carve out a story than to strive for a particular runtime.

Watch below:

You can watch more moments from this Q&A at our IDA Screening Series playlist on our YouTube channel.

Learn more about the other docs set to play in the IDA Documentary Screening Series

Peter Wintonick, whose exemplary work in documentary was surpassed only by his passionate championing of the documentary form, died yesterday  in Montreal. He was 60 and had been diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer.

Wintonick's best known work included Manufacturing Dissent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992), directed with Mark Achbar, and Cinema Verite: Defining the Moment (1999). According to a press release from the National Film Board of Canada, with whom Wintonick worked closely for decades, Manufacturing Consent was one of the most successful documentaries in Canadian history, earning over 20 awards. Cinema Verite: Defining the Movement deftly captured one of most vital periods in documentary history and reflected Wintonick's deep, abiding zeal for cinematic history.

Other work included The QuébeCanada Complex (1998), which earned  the Canadian Association of Journalists Award for Best Documentary for its bold and humorous look at the Quebec/Canada national question; Seeing Is Believing: Handicams, Human Rights and the News, a 2002 collaboration with transmedia pioneer Katerina Cizek, in which the two filmmakers embark on a global journey to explore the impact of the then emerging digital revolution on documentary media; and, in a seemingly unintended valediction and passing of the torch, PilgrIMAGE, which he made in 2009 with his daughter, filmmaker Mira Burt-Wintonick, a trans-generational trip through the history of cinema and the future of new media.

Wintonick was also a producer and distributor. His Montreal-based company, Necessary Illusions Productions, which he headed with  Francis Miquet, not only handled an impressive roster of social issue documentaries, but also mentored scores of filmmakers. Wintonick also served as an executive producer at EyeSteelFilm, working on such films as China Heavyweight.

Wintonick was a congenial presence at documentary festivals around the world, including Hot Docs, IDFA, Thessaloniki and a host of others. Honored in Canada in 2006 with a Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts, he was one of the founders of DocAgora, an international think tank and open website devoted to digital documentary media, and was invited by the premier of South Australia to be a "Thinker in Residence," examining the future of documentaries and the digital revolution. He was also international editor at POV, the publication of the Documentary Organization of Canada (for a sample of his scintillating work, click here.).

"Peter was the best friend a documentary film festival could have—he poured his heart into supporting filmmakers and building camaraderie through the international doc community," said Hot Docs executive director Brett Hendrie, in a statement. "The entire Hot Docs family is deeply and personally saddened by this major loss, yet we know his great work and the many friendships and partnerships he helped to foster will endure."

NFB Chairperson Tom Perlmutter added, "Peter is [so hard to say ‘was'] one of the greats of the documentary world. He knew everyone, and everyone knew him for his passion, his commitment, his generosity. He created a significant body of work, but his contribution was far greater than the sum of his films. It encompassed a larger view of the documentary as quintessential to the moral well-being of the universe. He expressed this in conversation, in his writings, in his globe-trotting mentoring and programming activities, and always with a sharp wit that could take your breath away with the subtlety of the thought and the sheer joy in his manner of expression."

Though it doesn't feel like winter at the IDA headquarters here in sunny Los Angeles, the season is definitely upon us, which means it's time for more grant opportunities! Okay, that might not be what the season is all about. But for documentary filmmakers, the fundraising brain never rests. We've put together a list of grants and other opportunities with upcoming deadlines that we think might be of interest to you.

As you sort through the list and go about conducting your grant research and learning the requirements of each organization—they're all different—you'll find that many require you to have a fiscal sponsor. Fiscal sponsorship is a formal arrangement in which a 501(c)(3) public charity, such as the IDA, agrees to sponsor a project that furthers our mission, for the purpose of fundraising through grants and donations. This alternative to starting your own nonprofit allows you to seek grants and solicit tax-deductible donations for your documentary, with the oversight, support and endorsement of IDA.

So don't panic when you read those words in the grant requirements. There is hope. And we're here to help.

Vist our website or contact Lisa Hasko to learn more about IDA's Fiscal Sponsorship Program.

GRANT & EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

PACIFIC PIONEER FUND
The grant supports emerging documentary filmmakers who live and work in California, Oregon and Washington.The term "emerging" is intended to denote a person committed to the craft of making documentaries, who has demonstrated that commitment by several years -- but no more than ten -- of practical film or video experience.
Deadline: December 1, 2013


FILM INDEPENDENT LABS

• 2014 Documentary Lab: Designed to help filmmakers who are currently in post-production on their feature-length documentary films, the Documentary Lab is an intensive seven-week program that runs in Los Angeles in March and April.
  Deadline: December 2, 3013 
• 2014 Fast Track: Fast Track is a film financing market that takes place during the Los Angeles Film Festival designed to help narrative and documentary filmmakers move their current projects forward.
  Deadline: February 24, 2014
  
  

GUCCI TRIBECA DOCUMENTARY FUND
Provides finishing funds to feature-length documentaries which highlight and humanize issues of social importance from around the world. For films, based anywhere, that are in production or post-production with the intended premiere exhibition. Grants range from $10,000 to $25,000.
Opens December 5, 2013. Deadline: February 5, 2014

NEH: AMERICA'S MEDIA MAKERS GRANTS

America’s Media Makers (AMM) grants support the following formats: interactive digital media, film and television projects, and radio projects. Grants are available for both projects at both the development and production stages.

• Development grants enable media producers to collaborate with scholars to develop humanities content and to prepare programs for production.
• Production grants support the production and distribution of digital projects, films, television programs, radio programs, and related programs that promise to engage the public.

Deadline for both: January 8, 2014 **Note: all projects fiscally sponsored by the IDA must have a consultation with Lisa Hasko before applying to NEH grants**


CATAPULT FILM FUND
Catapult Film Fund provides development funding to documentary filmmakers
who have a compelling story to tell, have secured access to their story and are ready to shoot and edit a piece for production fundraising purposes.
Opens December 16, 2013. Deadline: January 31, 2014


NALAC FUND FOR THE ARTS (NFA)
The NFA is a national grant program open to US-based Latino working artists, ensembles and Latino arts organizations that demonstrate artistic excellence in pursuit of social justice through the arts. Grants range from $5,000 to $15,000.
Deadline: February 6, 2014


GRANTS WITH ROLLING DEADLINES

BRITDOC
BRITDOC funds international and region specific documentary films through various awards and grant opportunties. Be sure to review each one to see if you are eligible:

• PUMA Catalyst Awards
• Channel 4 BRITDOC Fund
• Bertha BRITDOC Fund for Journalism and the Bertha BRITDOC Connect Fund

NPBC - AFROPOP: The Ultimate Culture Exchange Submissions (U.S. Public Media)
Afro:PoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange is a US based public television show featuring independent documentaries and short films about life, art, and culture from the contemporary African Diaspora. NBPC is looking to support and broadcast strong stories that will capture the breadth and scope of the diversity of experiences of contemporary African peoples.

It is not a widely held dogma that nuclear power is the answer to the worldwide energy crisis. But this is precisely the argument that drives Pandora’s Promise, a new film by environmentalist and former anti-nuclear champion Robert Stone. His latest project stands in stark contrast to his first film, the 1988 Oscar-nominated Radio Bikini, which puts a negative spin on the aftermath of nuclear weapons tests in the mid-1940s. But Stone is very upfront about the existential shift he experienced over the last 25 years, a shift supported throughout the film by several leaders in the nascent pro-nuclear movement in the US. The film takes us to a post-tsunami Fukushima and other nuclear disaster sites with a dosimeter, comparing their levels of radiation to naturally occurring levels of radiation in bustling cities worldwide. Making the case that improved infrastructure will lead to a stable future in nuclear power, Stone’s film takes an unpopular opinion and makes it more digestible.

Pandora's Promise screened Wednesday, October 30 at the Landmark in Los Angeles as a part of the IDA Documentary Screening Series. Director Robert Stone spoke with KCRW’s Matt Holzman -- who admits he is staunchly in the anti-nuclear camp -- about the wide range of support he's received from those who have seen his latest film. 

Watch below:

You can watch more moments from this Q&A at our IDA Screening Series playlist on our YouTube channel.

Learn more about the other docs set to play in the IDA Documentary Screening Series

In this modern era of socially-driven news media, the world might believe they have a full picture of the Egyptian revolution. But the new documentary from Egyptian filmmaker Jehane Noujaim The Square does more than just retrace those protests and uprisings to their roots in Tahrir Square. Noujaim’s film allows everyday Egyptians to take the reins, write their own history, and document their own experiences firsthand. All the major events of the revolution—Mubarak’s ouster, the Square's takeover by the Muslim Brotherhood, the peaceful sit-ins that escalated into bloody battles—are meticulously documented herein, making for both an accurate portrayal and a stunningly cinematic documentation of a revolution still in progress.

The Square, which has been nominated in the Best Feature category in the IDA Documentary Awards, screened Monday, October 28 at the Landmark in Los Angeles as a part of the IDA Documentary Screening Series. Producer Karim Amer, actor and activist Khalid Abdalla and editor Pedro Kos sat down with Anne Thompson to discuss how the people of Egypt became empowered to capture their own footage of the events that were slowly changing their nation.

Watch below:

You can watch more moments from this Q&A at our IDA Screening Series playlist on our YouTube channel.

Learn more about the other docs set to play in the IDA Documentary Screening Series

We're happy to welcome Paul Provenza as host of the 29th Annual IDA Documentary Awards. Provenza is a stand-up comedian, award-winning actor on stage and screen, producer, author, and director of The Aristocrats, a 2005 official Sundance entry. He is the host and creator of Showtime's The Green Room with Paul Provenza, where he invites the biggest names in stand-up comedy to discuss serious current issues. He is a frequent panelist on NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, and has been caricatured by Al Hirschfeld. He continues to perform and host stand up around the world.

The 29th Annual IDA Documentary Awards will take place on Friday, December 6th at the DGA Theater, 7920 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, starting at 8pm. The Awards presentation will be followed by the IDA Documentary Awards After-Party, the year’s most exciting documentary celebration, in the DGA Grand Lobby.

Winners in the Best Feature and Best Short categories are selected by IDA's membership. Screening committees of industry professionals based in New York City, Washington, DC, the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles determine other award categories.

Winners will be announced live at the awards ceremony. Tickets available now!