The 21st-century marriage of the digital revolution with China's drive toward First World status, and the resulting collateral damage, have been auspicious for nonfiction filmgoers outside China. Cheap, portable digital technology has seeded a flowering of uncensored documentaries about this country that sadly will remain unseen by ordinary Chinese, given scant venues and their outspoken criticism of authorities' mistreatment of minorities, victims of tragedy and artists. Shot with low budgets and under the radar of government surveillance--but not without a fair share of confrontations with authorities caught on film--these works earned San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts' recent series title "Fearless: Independent Chinese Documentaries."
This series, and many others in the US, have been happening thanks to dGenerate Films, the New York-based distributor of contemporary independent Mainland Chinese works. Outstanding documentaries make up the bulk of the company's ever-growing catalog.
Many of the six works featured in "Fearless" are long. To quote a programmer's characterization of a recent overall trend in film-festival films, they "find their own length." The subjects of these works have convoluted histories that need to be told. Conventional running times don't do them sufficient justice, and the patient viewer at any rate soon finds herself deeply and rewardingly immersed.
The series kicked off with its most grueling and finest film, Karamay (2009), with a wholly justified six-hour-plus running time. Everybody in China knows about the "12/8/94 Incident" in which 323 people died, 288 of them schoolchildren, in a fire that broke out in the cheaply constructed and illegally modified Friendship Theatre in the oil company town of Karamay in far northwestern Xinjiang province. Because the children died obeying instructions to remain seated so that inebriated Communist Party cadres could escape first, the government hastily assured the bereaved that the victims would receive "national martyr" status--one of many promises that it didn't keep. The children didn't even receive death certificates, which left them disgracefully nameless. Moreover, the middle-class parents of the dead children were subjected to firings, surveillance, ostracism, arrest and even beatings when they conducted their own investigation and petitioned for reparations. Director Xu Xin visits the victims' families on the 13th anniversary of the tragedy and records their still explosive rage and recriminations.
The fourth hour of the film is devoted to the extraordinary soliloquy of one father, who comes closest to positing an overarching conspiracy theory for the tragedy. In indirect language whose import gains devastating power, he methodically indicts all the responsible parties in the incident, evoking a China that has broken down at every possible level. This is politically engaged cinema at its most appalling best--a must-see. YBCA Curator Joel Shepard reports, "Amazingly, we had zero walk-outs for Karamay."
Xu was hoping to world-premiere his new film Pathway this May at the 8th (independent) Documentary Film Festival China in Beijing, but organizers cancelled the entire festival, citing "a lot of pressure," without elaborating.
Ghost Town (2008) is also about people living on the geographical and ethnic margins of Chinese society--this time in Yunnan province near the border with Burma, a town gradually being abandoned by its inhabitants for the city because they can no longer scrape together a living there. The film follows citizens still making an effort: father-son Christian preachers; a young trucker in love with a girl about to be sold to another man; a pair of alcoholic brothers wearing out the patience of their womenfolk; and a 12-year-old boy abandoned by his parents who traps birds, cooks fry bread and hauls rocks for a living, but still finds time to play like a child or sit quietly in a church pew. The town's dwindling population shows plenty of life, nonetheless, notably in an enthralling shot of a church congregation wearing colorful knit caps singing a hymn, which rivals the pan shot of boat passengers in the opening sequence of Jia Zhang-ke's Still Life.
The title 1428 (Du Haibin, 2009) refers to the hour at which the 2008 Sichuan earthquake struck; this film refutes the implicit conclusion of the recent Aftershock, a melodrama bookended by the 1976 Tangshan and 2008 Sichuan temblors and China's top-grossing locally made film. In that fiction film's feel-good ending, the heroine, whose family was torn apart in the earlier quake, joins government rescue operations in Sichuan with full confidence that this time they have gotten it right. 1428 puts the lie to that complacent and dangerous attitude, as it details governmental neglect and abuse of the victims and survivors of Sichuan-first, 10 days after the quake and again, seven months later.
Disorder (Huang Weikai, 2009) is the most hyperbolic of these documentaries--aptly called by journalist Chris Chang "a city symphony from hell," and a near sellout at YBCA. In grainy black-and-white footage taken from dozens of videographers, the film cross-cuts various chaotic happenings in Guangzhou seemingly at the same time: the confiscation of contraband bear and anteater parts from a supermarket; a motorist pleading with a semiconscious man on the road to accept a monetary settlement before the cops tow his car; a diner demanding satisfaction for a roach found in his noodles; a man threatening to jump from a bridge and another dancing in traffic; pigs running loose on the highway; a baby found abandoned in a trash-filled lot. The overwhelming impression conveyed by this film is, again, a China in utter chaos, broken down at every level.
Two profiles of individuals rounded out this remarkable series. Fortune Teller (Xu Tong, 2010) follows an old soothsayer as he hobbles from town to town with his physically and mentally disabled wife (and their cat in a plastic bag), visiting members of their family who abused them in the past. Meanwhile, he hones his fortune-telling craft by learning from other roving diviners and testing his skills at rural festivals. He advises prostitutes, predicting their lonely and unlucky fates. It's wrong to pity this couple despite their poverty and disabilities, since he has canny street instincts and a wicked twinkle in his eye and she has been rescued from the horrific barnyard existence her family inflicted on her. Tape (Li Ning, 2010), five years in the making, uses a mixture of re-enactment, musical performance, special effects and experimental street theater to document Li's life as performance artist and leader of an unruly avant-garde troupe. Torn between his artistic imperatives and pressure to conform to the conventional roles of husband and father, Li depicts a wildly entertaining and poignant portrait of the artist. (Sadly, his "Honey" is forced into the stereotype of nagging wife.)
Even at their bleakest, these documentaries are a caustic tribute to the spirit of the Chinese people, for whom absurdity and disaster have become a way of life. If only they could see their lives, and their overlords, reflected in these fearless films.
Frako Loden is a Berkeley-based writer who teaches ethnic studies and film history.
Los Angeles: August 19 - September 8 at Sunset 5
New York: August 12 - September 1 at IFC Center
| Late (FINAL) Deadline: | May 10, 2011 | $250.00 |
Among other requirements, to be eligible for consideration for the 84th Academy Awards®, a feature documentary film must complete a seven-day commercial theatrical run (screening twice daily) in the County of Los Angeles and in the Borough of Manhattan between September 1, 2010, and December 31, 2011. Short documentaries must complete a seven-day commercial theatrical run (screening once per day) in the County of Los Angeles or in the Borough of Manhattan.
DocuWeeks provides one-week theatrical runs in Los Angeles and New York City, as well as the required advertising and publicity support. If selected to participate in DocuWeeks a participation fee of $4,500 for short films and $14,000 to $20,000 for feature films will be required. See Co-op fees for more inforation. After reaching a minimum in gross ticket sales, films will participate in a ticket sales share program.
Please see the 84th Annual Academy Awards Rules for complete eligibility and Academy Award® application requirements. Each filmmaker is responsible for submitting their Academy Awards® application. IDA will provide the filmmaker with proof of advertisement and theatrical runs for submission to the Academy prior to the Academy deadline.
Requirements for application to DocuWeeks™These requirements conform to the 84th Annual Academy Awards® Rules. The Academy rules take precedence if there is any discrepancy. We will make best efforts to update DocuWeeks™ requirements in the case of any changes to the Academy rules. Filmmakers are responsible for confirming their projects are in alignment with the Academy’s rules.
- The film must meet all requirements for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) 84th Annual Academy Awards® Special Rules for the Documentary Awards.
- Only individual documentary works are eligible.
- The significant dialogue or narration must be in English, or the entry must have English language subtitles.
- Films that, in any version, receive their first public exhibition or distribution in any manner other than as a theatrical motion picture release will not be eligible for Academy Awards. (This includes broadcast and cable television as well as home video marketing and Internet transmission, with the exception of password-protected Internet screenings for press review or film festival submission.) Screenings at film festivals are permitted. Ten minutes or ten percent of the running time of a film, whichever is shorter, is allowed to be shown in a non-theatrical medium prior to the film’s theatrical release.
- Documentary motion pictures are divided into two categories:
- Documentary Feature - motion pictures with a running time of more than 40 minutes, and
- Documentary Short Subject - motion pictures with a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits.
Submitting your program to DocuWeeks™ in the wrong category will delay its viewing by the selection committee. - Films participating in DocuWeeks™ are responsible for paying a Co-op fee to cover the showcase costs. Fees are $4500 for shorts and range from $14,000 to $20,000 + for features. See Co-op Fees below for details.
Submission process:
All submissions are accepted through the online platform Withoutabox.com. By submitting to DocuWeeks™, you are confirming you have read the AMPAS 84th Annual Academy Awards® Rules.
To apply for IDA's DocuWeeks™ please use the online submission process at Withoutabox.com.
Final (late) deadline for completing your entry in Withoutabox is 11:59pm PT MAY 10, 2011 and all submission materials requirements must be received at IDA no later than MAY 17, 2011 by end of business day (PT). You may make your submission in Withoutabox.com and send your required submission materials anytime beginning March 18, 2011.
Applicants will be notified in mid-June if selected to participate. Entry fee is NON-REFUNDABLE. If paying by check or money order, please send entry payment in US dollars.
Material requirements for SUBMISSION:
- Enter your project into DocuWeeks™ using online platform Withoutabox™
- Five (5) screeners on separate DVDs of the full motion picture including final credits
- DVDs must play in NTSC Region 1 players
- DVDs must be clearly labeled with title, producer, director, contact information, and running time inclusive of credits
DVDs must be sent to the IDA office (see shipping address); they cannot be uploaded. You must include a copy of your Withoutabox (WAB) confirmation page showing the WAB serial number of your entry.
Material requirements upon ACCEPTANCE
- Digital press kit, uploaded to your Withoutabox.com entry (preferred) or delivered to IDA office on flash drive, CD or EPK, to include the following:
- Short biographies of director and producer
- Director and producer headshots
- Film stills (no logos)
- Brief Synopsis (125 words)
- Medium Synopsis (250 words)
- One sheet sized 21” x 40” and the texted and textless versions of the key art
- 35mm print or Digital Cinema Package (see below)
Shipping address:
IDA / DocuWeeks™ 2011
Attn: Amy Jelenko / Programs and Events
1201 W. 5th St. Suite M270
Los Angeles, CA 90017
213 534 3600 tel
Anything sent to the IDA office in connection with your DocuWeeks™ entry must include a copy of your Withoutabox (WAB) confirmation page showing the WAB serial number of your entry.
Share of Ticket Sales
IDA is pleased to offer DocuWeeks™ participants a Box Office Revenue
Share Program. Feature films grossing more than $5,000 as a combined
total of gross box office receipts from their DocuWeeks™ runs in Los
Angeles and New York will receive 50% of combined gross ticket sales
above $5,000. Shorts will receive a percentage of gross of gross ticket
sales above $5,000 based on the number of shorts screening in their
shorts program.
Co-Op Fees
Participation in DocuWeeks™ requires payment of a Co-op fee structured as follows:
Features:
35mm (flat rate) $14,000
Digital Cinema Package (Based on running time)
41 to 89 minutes $17,000
90 to 102 minutes $20,000
Over 102 minutes TBD
Shorts:
35mm OR Digital Cinema Package $4,500
Co-op fees cover part of the costs of the theatrical run for your film in New York City and in Los Angeles including theater/projection equipment rental, paid advertising, and general publicity and promotion. If you are invited to and accept participation in DocuWeeks™ , the Co-op fee is due within two business days of receipt of the invitation. Co-op fees are NON-REFUNDABLE.
Screening Options:
If
selected to participate in DocuWeeks™, you may choose to screen on 35mm
print or Digital Cinema Package (DCP). Please choose this option
carefully when you apply, as we have limited slots for each type of
format. IDA does not cover the costs of producing either the 35mm print
or the DCP. Final screening elements are due to theaters 7 days prior to
opening screening date (TBA).
Digital Cinema Package (DCP) Information
Filmmakers choosing to screen via DCP must provide an Academy/DCI
compliant DCP which will be loaded to Academy compliant cinema players
and projected with D-Cinema projectors. Click here for the Academy’s technical requirements and information.
Hermosa Beach Filmworks LLC will be overseeing all DCP files for DocuWeeks™ and providing special rates to create Academy compliant DCP files for DocuWeeks™ participants. Please contact Jonathan Liebert directly with any technical questions regarding DCPs or for a quote.
Jonathan Liebert
Hermosa Beach Filmworks LLC
703-B Pier Ave #250
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
310 897 6277
jliebert@hbfilmworks.com
http://www.hbfilmworks.com/
Applicants will be notified in early to mid-June if selected to participate in DocuWeeks™. Please contact Amy Jelenko, Program and Events Manager, with any questions.
Read what other filmmakers have to say about DocuWeeks™Click here to read filmmaker comments.
Past documentaries selected for IDA's DocuWeeks™ include:
HBO has teamed with NALIP to find the next great Latino documentary film. They will award $10,000 to the winner of their 2011 Documentary grant. Applications are now being accepted. Deadline is June 10 to submit
Social change has been the consistent undercurrent for HBO's critically acclaimed and award-winning documentary programs, with myriad issues presented in uncompromising quality and honesty. HBO created this $10,000 cash award for Latino filmmakers, and announced the third annual contest at The New Now conference in April.
Applications are now available to submit your documentary project. One Latino Filmmaker will win $10,000.
Deadline is June 10, 2011. For more information, please visit the NALIP website by clicking here.
The dates and venues have been set for the 15th Annual DocuWeeks™ Theatrical Documentary Showcase:
New York: August 12 -
September 1 at IFC Center
Los Angeles: August 19 - September 8 at Laemmle Sunset 5
Each year, DocuWeeksTM presents short and feature length documentaries to appreciative audiences in theatrical runs designed to qualify the films for consideration for the Academy Awards®. As IDA's most popular event, DocuWeeksTM attracts documentary filmmakers and a growing number of nonfiction film enthusiasts in New York City and Los Angeles.
Since its debut in 1997, twenty worthy documentaries have gone to be nominated for the Oscar®.
For more information on DocuWeeks' Call for Entries and general event info, please visit the event page by clicking here.| SPONSORED BY: |
Monday, May 16,
2011
Doors Open: 7:00pm
Discussion & Audience Q&A: 7:30pm - 9:00pm
Wine Reception to
Follow
The Cinefamily
611 N. Fairfax Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Our last Doc U event sold out, so please register in advance to be guaranteed a seat.
Many of us have incredible stories to tell from our personal and
family lives. But few of us have the guts to lay ourselves and our loved
ones bare in front of the camera's lens. Doug Block, acclaimed director
of 51 Birch Street and The Kids Grow Up, has made a career out of doing
just that.
A self-shooter, who also appears in his own films, Doug does not shy away from exploring his family's stories, even when it becomes uncomfortable. His lyrical, beautiful cinematic films invite us all into his family's inner dialogue, and allow us to reflect to how closely they mirror our own.
How did his filmmaker journey lead him to making personal documentaries? What are the hardest moments he's had to face while making work about his family? How has he developed the ability to still make strong directorial choice when the subject of his films is, quite literally, so close to home? How does he navigate production as a self-shooter who is in the film?
Join the IDA community and Marj Safinia on May 16th for an intimate conversation with Doug Block, and learn more about the risks and rich rewards of making a personal documentary film, and the wisdom he's gained from a lifelong career as a documentary filmmaker.
The evening's on-stage conversation with Doug Block and Marj Safinia will be followed by an audience Q&A, and a reception on the Cinefamily's backyard Spanish patio! For more event details and speaker bios, click here.
IDA members: $15 • Non-members: $20
Seating is limited so buy your tickets now to be guaranteed admission.
Join IDA now! For discounted admission prices and more!
(Purchase admissions above.)
Doc U is the International Documentary Association's series of educational seminars and workshops for aspiring and experienced documentary filmmakers. Taught by artists and industry experts, participants receive vital training and insight on various topics including: fundraising, distribution, licensing, marketing, and business tactics.
Special support provided by:
Doc U: Straight Shooting
A Conversation with World-Class Documentary DPs
April 25 in Los Angeles at The Cinefamily
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT. THERE WILL BE A WAIT LIST AT THE DOOR.
The documentary filmmaker/cinematographer faces many complex challenges, from keeping abreast of the latest camera technologies and post-production workflows to following the subtle clues of a developing story as it is happening, clues often hidden in a look or a gesture and invisible to everyone else but the person looking through the camera lens. What are some of the ethical (and technical) problems unique to this kind of documentary storytelling? As filmmakers, how do we nurture the confidence of our subjects in such a way that they will feel comfortable opening up to our cameras without ultimately betraying their trust when we leave? What are some of the techniques that documentary DP's use in the field to handle second-by-second decisions and never-to-be-repeated moments? How has the very process of filmmaking changed for the doc "shooter" with the arrival of lightweight digital video cameras? How does each one of these filmmakers work to push the boundaries of their craft every time they start a new film or go out on a new shoot?
Join Joan Churchill, James Longley, Haskell Wexler and moderator Richard Pearce in a rich conversation about the unique POV of the documentary shooter.
Panelists:
Joan Churchill, ASC, James Longley, Haskell Wexler, ASC
Moderator:
Richard Pearce
When:
Monday, April 25, 2011
Doors Open: 7:00pm
Discussion & Audience Q&A: 7:30pm - 9:00pm
Wine Reception to Follow
Where:
The Cinefamily
611 N. Fairfax Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Parking:
Metered parking available for free after 6pm, and non-permitted parking
in neighborhoods behind The Cinefamily
Doc U is the International Documentary Association's series of educational seminars and workshops for aspiring and experienced documentary filmmakers. Taught by artists and industry experts, participants receive vital training and insight on various topics including: fundraising, distribution, licensing, marketing, and business tactics.
Special support provided by:
NBCUniversal Archives Sponsors the
15th Annual DocuWeeks
NBCUniversal Archives continues to support the documentary film community by becoming sponsors of the 15th Annual DocuWeeks. DocuWeeks helps to qualify outstanding new feature and short documentaries for Academy Award® consideration, by providing its participants a commercial theatrical exhibition in Los Angeles and New York.
NBCUniversal Archives, long time major donors of the IDA, are committed to to supporting IDA's essential programs and services for documentary filmmakers. They are both event sponsors of DocuWeeks and major donors at the Trusee level.
NBC News Archives recently launched www.NBCUniversalArchives.com,
an ecommerce platform that presents, for the first time, the archives of
several NBCUniversal brands. Collections available for licensing include NBC
News (with MSNBC and NBC local stations), NBC Sports, NBC Artworks (graphics),
Universal Studios stock footage, Telemundo (Spanish language TV network), The
Weather Channel, and NBC Radio. NBCUniversalArchives.com offers instant access
to history, current events, weather, movies, animation, entertainment and
sports.
NBC News has earned its reputation as America's news leader with national and
international coverage that goes back to its first network nightly news program
in1948. NBC News Archives has one of the world's largest broadcast libraries
with award winning programs including two of the world's longest running
news programs: "Meet The Press" (since 1947) the longest
running show on network TV and "Today" (since 1952) the
pioneering TV morning news program, as well as America’s No.1 evening
newscast, “Nightly News with Brian Williams”, capturing the people,
places and events that explore and define our times.
With news of the day, from local to global, wars won and lost, statesmen
and rock stars, landmark political events and cultural milestones, exclusive interviews with news-breakers, investigative reports and
social commentary, NBC News Archives is a
window to history as it unfolds.
Stay Connected with NBCUniversal Archives:
EMAIL:
footage@nbc.com
TEL: 1-855-NBC-VIDEO
To become a sponsor of DocuWeeks, please contact IDA's Development Department at cindy@documentary.org or (213) 534-3600 x7400.
Tim Hetherington, Co-Director/Co-Producer of Oscar-nominated 'Restrepo,' Killed in Libya Attack
By Tom White
Tim Hetherington, who collaborated with journalist Sebastian Junger to make the acclaimed, award-winning documentary Restrepo, about a US military outpost in Afghanistan, was killed today in an attack in Misrata, Libya, according to reports on ABCNews.com and Huffington Post. He was covering the ongoing war there. Fellow photojournalist Chris Hondros was also killed in the mortar attack.
According to his website, Hetherington was born in Liverpool, England in 1970. He studied literature and photojournalism at Oxford University, and later covered many wars and conflicts around the world for Vanity Fair and ABC News, among other outlets. He published three books that featured his photography: Healing Sport, part of group project Tales of a Globalizing World (Thames & Hudson 2003). Long Story Bit By Bit:Liberia Retold (Umbrage Editions 2009), based on his experience living in Liberia and West Africa; and Infidel (Chris Boot Ltd 2010), about a group of US soldiers in Afghanistan, continues the examination of young men and conflict.
Restrepo earned numerous honors, beginning with the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and culminating with a Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature. Prior to making Restrepo, Hetherington worked as a cinematographer on Jonathan Stack and James Brabazon's 2004 film Liberia: An Uncivil War and on Annie Sundberg and Ricki Sterns' The Devil Came on Horseback. He also recently made a short doc, Diary, about his ten years as war photojournalist.
For an article from the June 2010 IDA e-newsletter about Restrepo, click here.
Here are, respectively, an interview with Hetherington and Junger about Restrepo, prior to the film's world premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival; and Hetherington's last film, Diary:
Diary (2010) from Tim Hetherington on Vimeo
The Consulate General of Canada, an ongoing supporter of the documentary film community, joins as a sponsor of the 15th Annual DocuWeeks. DocuWeeks presents short and feature length documentaries to appreciative audiences in theatrical runs, designed to qualify the films for Academy Award consideration.
Thank you Consulate General of Canada for being so
awesome and
for all that you do for documentary filmmakers!
To become a DocuWeeks sponsor, please contact IDA's Development Department at cindy@documentary.org or (213) 534-3600 x7400.
Women Make Movies Spring Workshop Series in New York City begins April 20th and continues through June with sessions on funding, transmedia, film festivals and broadcast sales. IDA Members receive discounts on registration, and some workshops are free. For the complete schedule and more information visit Women Make Movies.
Women Make Movies is a multicultural, multiracial, non-profit media arts organization, which facilitates the production, promotion, distribution and exhibition of independent films and videotapes by and about women.