With five docs having just opened this past Friday, Summer 2010 is in full effect. Among the recently opened, AJ Schnack's Convention, which takes a behind-the-scenes look at 2008 Democratic National Convention, showcases the cinematography of some of the brightest stars in the docmaking galaxy--Laura Poitras, Julia Reichert and Steve Bognar, Daniel Junge and Paul Taylor among them. Another June 4th opener, Tom Shepard and Tina DeFelicination's Whiz Kids follows four high school students in their quest to win the coveted Intel Science Talent Search prize; Shepard himself was a finalist in the Talent Search before embarking on his filmmaking career, so Whiz Kids brings him back to his original career path.
June also brings to the big screen a handful of Sundance hits, including Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg's Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work and Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger's Restropo--both of which will be featured in the June Documentary online--and Reed Cowan's 8: The Mormon Proposition, about the campaign by the Mormon Church for Proposition 8, the controversial 2008 ballot imitative in California that bans same-sex marriage.
Rounding out the month is Vikram Jayanti's long-awaited The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector, which Jayanti made during the famed music producer's first murder trial.
Opening: June 4
Venue: Cinema Village/New York City
Film: Burzynski
Dir.: Eric Merola
Distributor: Self-Distributed
http://www.burzynskimovie.com/
Burzynski is the story of a medical doctor and Ph.D biochemist named Dr. Stanislaw
Burzynski who won the largest, and possibly the most convoluted and intriguing legal battle against the Food & Drug Administration in American history.
His victorious battles with the United States government were centered around Dr. Burzynski's belief in and commitment to his gene-targeted cancer medicines he discovered in the 1970s called Antineoplastons, which have currently completed Phase II FDA-supervised clinical trials in 2009 and will
begin the final phase of testing in 2010.
When Antineoplastons are approved, it will mark the first time in history a single scientist, not a pharmaceutical company, will hold the exclusive patent and distribution rights on a paradigm-shifting medical breakthrough.
Antineoplastons are responsible for curing some of the most incurable forms of terminal cancer. Various cancer survivors are presented in the film who chose his treatment instead of surgery, chemotherapy or radiation--with full disclosure of medical records to support their diagnosis and recovery.
Burzynski takes the audience through the treacherous, yet victorious, 14-year journey both Dr. Burzynski and his patients have had to endure in order to obtain FDA-approved clinical trials of Antineoplastons.
Opening: June 4
Venue: IFC Center/New York City
Film: Convention
Dir.: AJ Schnack
Distributor: Sundance Selects/IFC
http://conventionfilm.com/
Filmed during the historic 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, Convention focuses on the efforts of local Denver citizens as they host, report on and protest the massive event. In this breathtaking documentary, a team of uniquely talented cinematographers, producers and directors, led by accomplished documentary filmmaker AJ Schnack, assemble together in an unprecedented effort to cover the behind the scenes perspectives of this landmark moment in our country's history. Through the intertwining stories of several protesters, reporters from the Denver Post, the Mayor of Denver and his staff, the convention planners, protest groups and many more, Convention delivers a complex, beautiful and completely unique portrayal of this historic event.
Convention was produced by Jennifer Chikes, Britta Erickson, Shirley Moyers, AJ Schnack and Nathan Truesdell. It was filmed by Steven Bognar, Daniel Junge, Laura Poitras, Julia Reichert, Wayne Robbins, AJ Schnack, Paul Taylor, Nathan Truesdell and David Wilson.
Opening: June 4
Venue: IFC Center/New York City
Film: Cropsey
Dirs.: Joshua Zeman, Barbara Brancaccio
Distributor: Antidote Films
http://cropseylegend.com/
Growing up on Staten Island, filmmakers Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio had often heard the legend of "Cropsey." For the kids in their neighborhood, Cropsey was the escaped mental patient who lived in the old abandoned Willowbrook Mental Institution, who would come out late at night and snatch children off the streets. Sometimes Cropsey had a hook for a hand, other times he wielded a bloody axe, but it didn't matter, Cropsey was always out there, lurking in the shadows, waiting to get them.
Later as teenagers, the filmmakers assumed Cropsey was just an urban legend: a cautionary tale used to keep them out of those abandoned buildings and stop them from doing all those things that teenagers like to do. That all changed in the summer of 1987, when a 12-year-old girl with Down syndrome named Jennifer Schweiger disappeared from their community. That was the summer all the kids from Staten Island discovered that their urban legend was real.
Now as adults, Zeman and Brancaccio have returned to Staten Island to create Cropsey, a feature documentary that delves into the mystery behind Jennifer and four additional missing children. The film also investigates Andre Rand, the real-life boogeyman linked to their disappearances.
Embarking on a mysterious journey into the underbelly of their forgotten borough, these filmmakers uncover a reality that is more terrifying than any urban legend.
Opening: June 4
Film: Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders
Dir.: Mark N. Hopkins
Distributor: Truly Indie
http://www.livinginemergency.com/
For the first time in its history, a film crew has been allowed access to the field operations of the world largest medical NGO--Doctors Without Borders. Filmed in the war zones of Liberia and Congo, Living in Emergency follows four volunteer doctors as they struggle to provide emergency care in extreme conditions. Amidst the chaos, each volunteer must confront the severe challenges of the work, the tough choices and the limits of their own idealism.
Opening: June 4
Film: Whiz Kids
Dirs.: Tom Shepard, Tina DeFeliciantonio
Distributor: Shadow Distribution
http://www.whizkidsmovie.com/
At a time when American teens lag behind other countries in math and science, Whiz Kids is a coming-of-age documentary that tells the story of three remarkably different yet equally passionate 17-year-old scientists who vie to compete in the nation's oldest, most prestigious science competition-the Intel Science Talent Search, in which over 2,000 students compete for prizes totaling more than $1.5 million. In the end, 40 finalists travel to Washington, DC to present their research to top scientists and vie for a $100,000 grand prize. Win or lose, these "whiz kids" raise questions about class, courage, personal sacrifice, success and failure, and in the process, learn as much about themselves as they do about science.
Over the past eight years, countries like China and India vastly increased support for research and development, while US funding remained largely stagnant. Not surprisingly, US teens now rank 24th in the world in math and science.
As global economies become increasingly competitive, America's future rests on the shoulders of our next generation. The main characters in Whiz Kids demonstrate that American students can meet that challenge.
Opening: June 10
Film: Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage
Dirs.: Sam Dunn, Scott McFadyen
Distributor: Alliance Films
http://www.rushbeyondthelightedstage.com/
Rush is one of rock's most influential bands, ranking third in most consecutive gold or platinum albums after the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. But despite having legions of devoted fans and being revered by generations of musicians, they have been ignored by critics and continually overlooked by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Featuring never-before-seen- archival footage and interviews with some of today's most respected rock artists, Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage explores the 40-year career and phenomenon behind what could be the world's biggest cult band.
Opening: June 10
Film: Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
Dirs.: Ricki Stern, Annie Sundberg
Distributor: IFC Films
http://joanriversapieceofwork.com/
Joan Rivers:A Piece Of Work exposes the private dramas of irreverent, legendary comedian and pop icon Joan Rivers as she fights tooth and nail to remain the queen of comedy. Filmed as a cinema vérité documentary, the film reveals a rare glimpse of the comedic process and the toxic mixture of self-doubt and anger that often fuels it.
Joan's story is both an outrageously funny journey and a brutally honest look at the ruthless entertainment industry, the trappings of success and the ultimate vulnerability of the life of a performer.
With unguarded access, the film cuts intimate scenes with Joan's personal archive creating a lush visual landscape and cinematic backdrop for the narrative as it unfolds.
Over the course of the year, Joan fights to reinvent herself and put herself back on top. She reveals in private that the years of exposure have taken a toll on her, leaving her raw and alone. Her longest lasting relationship is with her manager, whom she ends up firing during the course of filming, severing her last tie to her past. In a dressing room before a show, she exposes a much-guarded vulnerability revealing all she has left is her performing.
An inspiration to some, a plastic surgery whore to others, Joan Rivers' controversial personas are what continue to fascinate the public and draw audiences to her. The film provides a rare look at an iconic performer, stripped of her comedy masks and laying bare the truth of her life and inspiration.
Opening: June 14
Venue: Museum of Modern Art/New York City
Film: Reel Injun
Dir.: Neil Diamond
Distributor: Lorber Films
http://www.reelinjunthemovie.com/site/
Hollywood has made over 4,000 films about Native people; over 100 years of movies defining how Indians are seen by the world.
Reel Injun takes an entertaining and insightful look at the Hollywood Indian, exploring the portrayal of North American Natives through the history of cinema.
Traveling through the heartland of America, Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond looks at how the myth of "the Injun" has influenced the world's understanding--and misunderstanding--of Natives.
With candid interviews with directors, writers, actors and activists, including Clint Eastwood, Jim Jarmusch, Robbie Robertson, Sacheen Littlefeather, John Trudell and Russell Means, clips from hundreds of classic and recent films, including Stagecoach, Little Big Man, The Outlaw Josey Wales, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Atanarjuat the Fast Runner, Reel Injun traces the evolution of cinema's depiction of Native people from the silent film era to today.
Opening: June 16
Venue: Film Forum/New York City
Film: Stonewall Uprising
Dirs./Prods.: Kate Davis, David Heilbroner
Distributor: First Run Releasing
http://firstrunfeatures.com/stonewalluprising.html
"It was the Rosa Parks moment," says one man. June 28, 1969: New York City police raid a Greenwich Village Mafia-run gay bar, The Stonewall Inn. For the first time, patrons refuse to be led into paddy wagons, setting off a three-day riot that launches the Gay Rights Movement.
Told by Stonewall patrons, reporters and the cop who led the raid, Stonewall Uprising recalls the bad old days when psychoanalysts equated homosexuality with mental illness and advised aversion therapy and even lobotomies; public service announcements warned youngsters against predatory homosexuals; and police entrapment was rampant. At the height of this oppression, the cops raid Stonewall, triggering nights of pandemonium with tear gas, billy clubs and a small army of tactical police. The rest is history.
Opening: June 18
Venue: Film Forum/New York City
Film: 8: The Mormon Proposition
Dir.: Reed Cowan
Distributor: Red Flag Releasing
http://www.mormonproposition.com/
Director Reed Cowan initially planned on making a documentary about gay teen homelessness and suicide in Utah, but soon realized that the homophobia that prompts otherwise loving parents to kick teenagers out of their homes is deep-seated in current Mormon ideology. Cowan, who, with his fellow filmmakers, had experienced first-hand what it was like to grow up gay in Utah in the Mormon faith, turned his attention to the historic campaign by the Mormon Church to pass Proposition 8 in California believing that it was the cornerstone of an ideology that has worked for decades "to damage gay people and their causes." The film is their emotional outcry to what they found.
Opening: June 18
Venue: The Quad Cinemas/New York City
Film: The Nature of Existence
Dir.: Roger Nygard
Distributor: Self-Distributed
http://thenatureofexistence.com/
What is the most important question there is? After exploring the phenomenon of Star Trek fans in the acclaimed documentary Trekkies, filmmaker Roger Nygard is taking on The Nature of Existence, traveling the globe to the source of the world's philosophies, religions and belief systems, interviewing spiritual leaders, scholars, scientists, artists and others who have influenced, inspired or freaked out humanity.
"I made a list of the eighty-five toughest questions I could think of," says Nygard, "Starting with biggest one: ‘Why do we exist?' And then I began interrogating the widest cross-section of humanity possible."
After a four-year, world-wide odyssey beginning in 2005, the filmmakers had over 450 hours of footage to boil down to an hour and a half, bring audiences the best and the most transcendental moments, and present a fascinating look at humanity and our Universe, as seen through the eyes of some of the most interesting people on our planet, and perhaps, some of the most interesting beings in our Universe.
Opening: June 25
Film: Restrepo
Dirs./Prods: Tim Hetherington, Sebastian Junger
Distributor: National Geographic Entertainment
http://restrepothemovie.com/
Restrepo is a feature-length documentary that chronicles the deployment of a platoon of US soldiers in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. The movie focuses on a remote 15-man outpost, "Restrepo," named after a platoon medic who was killed in action. It was considered one of the most dangerous postings in the US military. This is an entirely experiential film: the cameras never leave the valley; there are no interviews with generals or diplomats. The only goal is to make viewers feel as if they have just been
through a 94-minute deployment. This is war, full stop. The conclusions are up to you.
Opening: June 25
Film: South of the Border
Dir.: Oliver Stone
Distributor: Cinema Libre
http://southoftheborderdoc.com/
There's a revolution underway in South America, but most of the world doesn't know it. Oliver Stone sets out on a road trip across five countries to explore the social and political movements as well as the mainstream media's misperception of South America while interviewing seven of its elected presidents. In casual conversations with Presidents Hugo Chávez (Venezuela), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Cristina Kirchner (Argentina), as well as her husband and ex-President Nėstor Kirchner, Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Rafael Correa (Ecuador) and Raúl Castro (Cuba), Stone gains unprecedented access and sheds new light upon the exciting transformations in the region.
Opening: June 30
Venue: Film Fourm/New York City
Film: The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector
Dir.: Vikram Jayanti
Distributor: BBC Arenea/VIXPIX Films
http://filmforum.org/films/spector.html
Legendary pop music genius/record producer Phil Spector created the "wall of sound" behind some of the greatest hits of the '60s: "Be My Baby," "He's a Rebel," "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," to name just a few. Today he is imprisoned serving 19 years-to-life for the murder of B-movie actress Lana Clarkson. During his first trial (a hung jury), Spector gives a rare freewheeling interview to filmmaker Vikram Jayanti, filmed at his castle, seated before the white piano that he bought with John Lennon, for his Imagine album. He lucidly holds forth on his life and work: his father's suicide when he was a child, the process through which he achieved his distinctive sound, his friendship with Lennon, and his case that (despite Paul McCartney's position), he salvaged the Beatles' album, Let It Be. Then there is Spector's curious enmity toward Tony Bennett and Buddy Holly ("He got a postage stamp even though he was only in rock 'n' roll three years."), and a grandiosity that has him likening himself to Bach, da Vinci, Michelangelo and Galileo. And, yes, there is an endless parade of hairstyles and flamboyant outfits.
With her eight-month-old baby in tow, the well-traveled, New York-based Fernanda Rossi led a day-long seminar on documentary trailers as the May edition of IDA's Doc U seminar series, held this time around at the Eastman Kodak screening room in Hollywood. Rossi has been taking her Trailer Mechanics seminar around the world for years, and motherhood has not slowed her down; by the May Doc U, her son had traveled 12 times since entering the world.
Rossi started out the day by breaking down the numerous terms for what filmmakers produce for promotional, marketing or fundraising purposes: "work in progress"..."teaser"..."featurette"..."special feature"..."DVD extra"..."work sample"..."show reel"..."demo"..."taster"..."pitch video"..."sizzler"..."fundraising trailer"..."clip"..."rough cut"..."promo"..."preview"..."assemble"...and, of course, "trailer." It does come down to semantics and semiotics, and it depends on whom you ask or to whom you pitch when parsing the distinctions among these terms, but all are in the service of showing potential funders and supporters what your work is about, your style, the story you're trying to tell, etc.
The length of your trailer can range from one minute to 20 minutes. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, for example, prefers the term "work-in-progress," and advises that submissions be 10 to 30 minutes-which is the benchmark range for most grantmakers. For pitch forums like Sheffield Doc/Fest's Meet Market, IDFA's Forum and Hot Docs' Toronto Documentary Forum, the trailer ranges from one to 5 minutes. For fundraising events, your trailer can be as long as seven minutes. And a general fundraising trailer might be as long as 20 minutes.
In general, do your homework about your potential funders; you may need to create a range of trailers--or whatever the preferred term is--that conveys the story you're trying to tell. Start with a 10-minute "generic," from which you'll cut other versions. And don't wait until the film is finished to cut your trailer; that, like your website, will evolve and grow with your film. Along those lines, over the course of the process, if you re-apply to a prospective funder, don't send the same trailer as before; most grantmakers won't allow you to do so. You want to show that you've made progress on your project. And always ask prospective funders for specifications and guidelines regarding trailers.
Honing in on the fundraising trailer, Rossi advised to think of your fundraising process as a pyramid, the top of which is the trailer, with the verbal pitch and the written proposal anchoring the base. While all three elements ideally work together as one, the most important element is the trailer, and you need to produce one that encompasses the essential ingredients of a compelling narrative: story, characters, theme, style, genre and, above all, structure.
The trailer should reveal a clear voice and vision that shows to the viewer not only the story you're going to tell but how you're going to tell it. Is your story character-driven? Conflict-driven? Goals- or obstacles-driven? Rossi discussed the virtues of a "cliffhanger" ending, which, if well executed, leaves the door open for viewers, rather than giving a sense of closure. In terms of material, live action is better than interviews, and interviews are better than stock footage. But if you're going to use stock footage in your trailer, make sure it's as close to live action as possible. Also, given that this is a short-form work, anchor your ideas with one line-"Don't make a Law and Order beginning," she advised, in which you explain the story too much. Use a strong emotional hook, such as shock or humor, or offer an unresolved statement that both conveys information and asks questions. Maintain the momentum with scenes that will give you the sense that you're watching a film, and with the end of the trailer, "Do whatever it takes to tell people there's more to it."
Rossi treated the audience to a series of examples of different versions of trailers created by some of her clients. The first version of one example, about hip-hop in Cuba, started out slow, given the subject, and weighed heavily on the performances. The improved second version minimized the performance footage and instead emphasized a scene in a kitchen depicting a spirited discussion about the significance of hip-hop in Cuba vs. in the US. In another example, about Mexican children trying to cross the US border to reunite with their mother, the main story got lost in a crowd of too many characters from either side of the border; moreover, the voiceover narration was a bit of a distraction. The improved version accentuated the story, bringing out the tension and conflicts, and replaced the narration with title cards.
After fielding and reviewing trailers brought by audience members, Rossi concluded the afternoon with a wealth of helpful tips and words of wisdom on basic elements: Avoid a flashy, MTV-style montage...Grab your viewer from the opening scene, since viewers might not watch the entire trailer.... Don't make your menu complicated; a simple "play" button will suffice...Check your DVD format and make sure it can play everywhere before you send it out...Don't submit your work on BluRay...Label your DVD with the title of your work, your name and contact information, total running time and the date you created it....Use only bubble-wrap envelopes to send your work... ...
And with that, the day-long seminar concluded. But Rossi responded to many online questions in the week following Doc U; click here and scroll down for her responses.
Editor's note: This obituary for Irwin Rosten comes to us courtesy of Mr. Rosten's son, Peter. We added additional information, as reported in the Los Angeles Times
Irwin Rosten, writer, producer, director, world-traveler and consummate gentleman, passed away Sunday May 23, 2010, in Hollywood, after a brief illness. He was 85.
Rosten grew up in Brooklyn, and worked for television in its infancy at the DuMont Network in New York where he wrote news. He moved to Los Angeles in 1954 where he worked for KNXT and KTLA, writing news and producing half-hour specials.
Rosten's credo was simple: "I hire the best people I can--I get out of the way--and somehow I get a lot of credit for it." He fiercely resisted self-promotion. When he was nominated for an Emmy for the National Geographic documentary Grizzly, Irwin's friends and business associates bought a full-page ad in Variety, and at the bottom of the page wrote: "This space paid for by the admirers of Irwin Rosten, a modest man who cannot be trusted to blow his own horn."
In the late 1960s Rosten and his business partner, 2009 IDA Pioneer Award honoree Nicolas Noxon, created the first stand-alone documentary unit at a major studio. During their partnership with MGM, Rosten wrote and produced Hollywood: The Dream Factory, the first of numerous award-winning programs made for the studio and National Geographic. Over a long and extraordinary career he created hundreds of hours of first-quality television, taking home a Peabody, four Emmys, several WGA awards and two Oscar nominations.
According to an obituary in the Los Angeles Times, among other documentaries that Rosten produced for National Geographic and PBS include The Incredible Machine, from 1975, which took viewers inside the human body via the medical imaging technology that was available at the time. "It was very, very popular and sort of opened people's eyes to what could be done with a documentary," Noxon told the Los Angeles Times. "It was groundbreaking for its time." The film earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature; Rosten had received an earlier Oscar nomination in 1969 for The Wolf Men, about the hunting of timber wolves in North America. He would later win an Emmy Award for Mysteries of the Mind, which aired on PBS.
True, Rosten was an extraordinary writer and producer--but something should also be said about Irwin Rosten, the man. He was gentle and kind, strong as steel, quiet and unassuming and entirely non-judgmental. He was a great cook, a generous friend, a loving father and husband and a mentor to many. His was the quintessential American success story: a first-generation American born to immigrant parents, a child of the Depression who made an unparalleled success of his life. He traveled broadly and lived well, and will be sorely missed by his wife Marilyn, son Peter, family and friends.
The AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival unveiled its slate of films for this year's edition, taking place June 21 to 27 in the Washington, DC area. Films will screen in five sections: Sterling US Feature Competition, Sterling World Feature Competition, Sterling Short Film Competition, and the to-be-announced Silver Spectrum and Spotlight Programs.
The eight-year-old festival received a record 2,163 submissions. "This year we received more high-quality submissions than ever before, making it harder than ever to select the films for the 2010 program," said artistic director Sky Sitney, in a statement. "This festival slate represents the very best the documentary form has to offer, covering a wide range of issues and voices, and focusing on cinematic excellence."
Here are the films:
Sterling US Feature Competition
Beyond This Place (Dir.: Kaleo La Belle)--Cloud Rock La Belle is the quintessential hippie, still living a perpetually stoned and carefree lifestyle 40 years after the '60s ended. His son attempts to
re-connect with his absentee father by taking a 500-mile bike trip together around the Pacific Northwest. US Premiere.
Camera, Camera (Dir.: Malcolm Murray)--In Laos, the digital camera is the universal sign of the tourist, but when westerners take photos in seemingly exotic locals, what are they really capturing? A snapshot of reality, or a highly-distorted caricature that reveals more about the photographer than the landscape? This poetic film invites you to reconsider what it means to be a stranger in a strange land. East Coast Premiere.
Circo (Dir.: Aaron Schock)--Circo is an intimate look at a family's struggle to preserve the institution of their small traveling circus in rural Mexico. At once producers, performers and roadies, the Ponce family--the driven owner-father, his questioning wife, and their dedicated children--forms the heart of Circo, which explores the inner workings of the circus business as well as family sacrifice, loss of childhood and the preservation of a fading art form. East Coast Premiere.
The Disappearance of Mckinley Nolan (Dir.: Henry Corra)--Forty years after Pvt. McKinley Nolan vanished in Vietnam, his family learns there is hope the beloved brother, husband and father is alive and the decades-long mystery of his disappearance may be solved. World Premiere.
Holywars (Dir.: Stephen Marshall)--The film follows two deeply committed men of faith--a Muslim and a Christian--as they travel the world spreading messages they both feel represent "the truth." What happens when the men are put in the same room? This thought-provoking film is sure to push buttons and instigate discussions about the nature of religion, extremism and tolerance. World Premiere.
The Kids Grow Up (Dir.: Doug Block)--In his previous film, 51 Birch Street, director Doug Block examined the marriage between his parents and, in particular, his relationship with his father. In this film, Block turns the camera on his daughter Lucy, meticulously documenting her life from birth, with the hopes that this will be a gift she one day enjoys, and that it might somehow help stave off the looming separation he hopes to avoid as she grows older and more independent.
Monica and David (Dir.: Alexandra Codina)--Like many couples blissfully in love, Monica and David are getting married. Yet unlike most married couples, Monica and David have Down syndrome. The film offers an intimate glimpse into the first year of marriage for this charismatic young couple and reveals the joys and struggles that are much the same as that of any newlyweds.
My Perestroika (Dir.: Robin Hessman)--The film's intimate and heartfelt portrait of the last generation of Soviet children brought up behind the Iron Curtain presents a complex picture of the challenges, dreams and disillusionments of this cross-over generation.
On Coal River (Dirs.: Francine Cavanaugh, Adams Wood)--When residents of the Coal River Valley begin noticing that a host of medical problems are linked to a Massey-owned coal-waste dumping ground that sits above the local elementary school, they demand action. World Premiere.
Sons of Perdition (Dirs.: Tyler Measom, Jennilyn Merten)--The film offers an eye-opening look into the world of The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a branch of Mormonism that has continued the practice of polygamy since its emergence in the early 20th century. Far too often, they exile young men, who are forced to find their way in a world previously unknown.
Wo Ai Ni Mommy (I Love You Mommy) (Dir.: Stephanie Wang-Breal)--Eight-year-old Chinese Fang Sui Yong is adopted by a Jewish couple from Long Island who name her "Faith." The film follows Faith and her parents' twist-and-turn journey over a year and a half. East Coast Premiere.
Sterling World Feature Competition
The Arrivals (Dirs.: Claudine Bories, Patrice Chagnard; France)--Arriving on the shores of France is merely the beginning of a labyrinthian journey for more than 50,000 refugees seeking asylum through the municipal reception center in Paris each year. North American Premiere.
As Lilith (Dir.: Eytan Harris; Israel)--After a 14-year-old Israeli girl commits suicide, her mother, Lilith, wants the body cremated. Before she can proceed, she must fight ZAKA, one of Israel's most powerful religious organizations, which is fundamentally against cremation. East Coast Premiere.
Budrus (Dir.: Julia Bacha; Israel/Palestinian Territories)--This rousing film about one Palestinian village and its unlikely hero--humble family man turned activist Ayed Morrar--reveals the power of ordinary people to peaceably fight for extraordinary change.
Familia (Dirs.: Mikael Wiström, Alberto Herskovits; Sweden/Peru/Spain)--Swedish filmmaker Mikael Wiström captures the emotional ups and downs of an impoverished Peruvian family struggling to create a better life and stay together in the midst of great difficulty. US Premiere.
A Film Unfinished (Dir.: Yael Hersonski; Germany/Israel)--In never-before-seen footage from a lost reel of an incomplete Nazi-produced propaganda film about Warsaw's Jewish ghetto in 1942, the film captures images of manipulated and staged ghetto life mixed with stunning photographic evidence and testimony-all making for a riveting experience.
Into Eternity (Dir.: Michael Madsen; Finland)--This film ponders how to caution explorers from future civilizations who may be driven by curiosity, or a desire to understand their distant past, to stay clear of buried nuclear waste.
Presumed Guilty (Dirs.: Roberto Hernández, Geoffrey Smith; Mexico)--In its stunning indictment of Mexican jurisprudence, the film invites unsettling suspicion that legions of hapless prisoners face groundless decades behind bars. East Coast Premiere.
Regretters (Dir.: Marcus Lindeen; Sweden)--Mikael and Orlando are two aging Swedes with something unusual in common: They are both biological males who have undergone sex reassignment surgery but now wish to "change back." The pair's startling testimony forms a complex philosophical interrogation of gender performance and selfhood.
Space Tourists (Dir.: Christian Frei; Switzerland)--Amid the crumbling infrastructure of the former Soviet military space program, Russians allow civilians to travel into space for the low, low price of $20 million. Meanwhile, poor herders in Central Asia wait expectantly for the discarded remains of the rocket to sell on the black market. East Coast Premiere.
Steam of Life (Dirs.: Joonas Berghāll, Mika Hotakainen; Finland)--It's neither a therapist's office nor a lover's bed where Finnish men's deepest feelings about life, love and family are brought to the surface: It's the sauna. The film allows the viewer to become a fly on the wall as it listens in on men--naked men--talking to other men (or occasionally a grizzly bear) in the sanctuary of the country's ubiquitous saunas. US Premiere.
The Woman with The Five Elephants (Dir.: Vadim Jeydrenko; Germany/Switzerland /Ukraine)--Witness to unspeakable horrors, 85-year-old Svetlana Geier has dedicated her life to language. Considered the greatest translator of Russian literature into German, Svetlana has just concluded her magnum opus, completing new translations of Dostoyevsky's five great novels--known as "The Five elephants." US Premiere.
Sterling Short Competition
Albert's Winter (Dir.: Andreas Koefad; Denmark)--A young boy in Germany struggles to deal with his mother's devastating terminal cancer. As the illness lingers unspoken in the background, Albert goes through the motions of his day-to-day life but knows that something is terribly wrong.
Arirang-- Letter to Barack (Dir.: Gerd Konrad; Germany/North Korea)--The world appears very different from inside the hermit kingdom of North Korea. Huge mosaics created by 100,000 schoolchildren holding aloft colored cards in unison are a source of national pride, but so is the nation's stockpile of nuclear weapons. Pageantry and atomic blasts are juxtaposed in this chilling thought piece.
Arsy-Versy (Dirs.: Miro Remo; Slovakia)-Lubos is a happy-go-lucky 50-something who lives with his aging mother in what some would call a codependent relationship. The film takes a unique look at a mother-son relationship and the way in which Lubos lives his free-spirited life, like the title says, upside down.
Between Dreams (Dir.: Iris Olsson; Finland/France/Russian Federation)--A hundred souls lost in dreams in the dead of night cross a Siberian moonscape aboard a battered Russian train. A fortunate few dream happily and carefree, but most toss uneasily, gripped by fears for the future or guilt about the past.
Big Birding Day (Dir.: David Wilson; USA)--Competitive bird watching comes alive in this delightful short. As three friends attempt to catch a glimpse of as many species as possible within the course of 24 hours, the special camaraderie that emerges between friends who enjoy the rituals of a unique hobby together is highlighted.
Born Sweet (Director: Cynthia Wade; USA/Cambodia)--Vinh, a rural Cambodian teen, dreams of falling in love, moving to the city and becoming a karaoke star. Alas, for Vinh and the millions of other children worldwide suffering from chronic arsenic poisoning, even reaching adulthood is a dream in doubt.
Bye Bye Now (Director: Aideen O'Sullivan; Ireland)--The film offers a charming look at the gradual disappearance of phone booths in Ireland. With the advent of modern technology, the phone booth has all but vanished all over the world. In a loving tribute to this soon-to-be relic of the past, the film is a nostalgic reminder of yesteryear.
Corner Plot (Dir.: Ian Cook; USA)--In this heart-warming short, 89-year-old Charlie Koiner cares for a one-acre piece of farmland that rests just inside urban Washington, DC. With help from his daughter, Charlie works the land and shares his crops at the local farmer's market. In a rapidly changing modern world, this unique farmer remains dedicated to the life he has always known.
The Darkness of Day (Dir.: Jay Rosenblatt; USA)--This moving and thought-provoking meditation on depression and suicide stretches the boundaries of "documentary." Built from found footage, and using both biographical details from Rosenblatt's life and readings from a journal of someone who committed suicide, the film gently spurs you to ask exactly what it aims to document.
The Faux Real (Dir.: Suzanne Hillinger; USA)--This engaging short documentary introduces three biologically born females who identify as drag queens. Challenging traditional ideas of gender and drag, these unconventional women don wigs, false eyelashes, heavy makeup and chokers to perform burlesque as women trying to pass as men in drag.
Flawed (Dir.: Andrea Dorfman; Canada)--Unfolding like a graphic novel, director and artist Andrea Dorfman illustrates her way through her unlikely pairing with a cosmetic surgeon. This animated short is a lovely meditation on falling in love, when the most trying battle is the one fought between the heart's desires and the mind's insecurities.
Found (Dir.: Paramita Nath; Canada)--For Laotian-Canadian poet Souvankham Thammavongsa, a discarded scrapbook sheds light on a harsh infancy in Southeast Asia emphasizing how family memory is often an aggregation of disparate pieces.
The Herd (Dir.: Ken Wardrop; Ireland)--One of these things is not like the other. But don't tell that to the newest addition to the cow herd on the filmmaker's family farm. When a little fawn finds herself out of place amid the sole company of cows, she attempts to fit in unnoticed. Can she succeed?
Holding Still (Dir.: Florian Riegel; Germany/USA)--Imagine if the last 20 years of your life were lived entirely in one room, yet you have the ability to see and photograph the world outside. This is the story of Janis, a woman whose artistic voice is remarkably unconstrained by physical obstacles or tragedies in her past.
The Housekeeper (Dir.: Tali Yankelevich; Scotland)--The care bestowed on a venerable priest by his elderly Greek housekeeper may at first blush appear to be all in a day's work, but beneath the surface flow strong currents of platonic love and mutual need.
If These Walls Could Talk (Dir.: Anna Rodgers; Ireland)--This haunting and visually stunning short film explores several desolate and abandoned psychiatric hospitals throughout Ireland. The voices of former long-term patients permeate the corridors, still struggling to understand the circumstances that brought them there.
I'm Just Anneke (Dir.: Jonathan Skurnik; USA)--Anneke is a 12-year-old girl who has begun taking a hormone blocker so that she can delay puberty to ultimately decide for herself whether or not she wants to grow up as a woman or a man. This thought-provoking film brings to light the choices of a new generation facing gender identity issues with remarkable sensitivity and respect.
Keep Dancing (Dir.: Greg Vander Veer; USA)--Well into their ninth decade of life, dance icon Marge Champion and Tony-winning choreographer Donald Saddler became fast friends while performing in the 2001 Broadway revival of Follies. Now 90, the two continue to rehearse and choreograph original work, revealing a passion for dance undimmed by the passage of time.
Last Address (Director: Ira Sachs; USA)-A series of exterior shots of buildings that all have one thing in common: they were the last residential addresses of some of New York's most prominent artists who lost their lives to AIDS-related illnesses. This simple yet poignant short film is an elegant tribute to those remarkable people whose voices were silenced much too soon.
Lies (Dir.: Jonas Odell; Sweden)--With playful animation and lively narration, three people share their individual stories of lying, and the surprising consequences of their deception.
Listening to the Silences (Dir.: Pedro Flores; UK)--What does it feel like to hear voices inside your head? Roy Vincent attempts to explain. Living alone in the isolated countryside, Vincent's battle with mental illness is a daily struggle. This quiet, penetrating film presents a sympathetic portrait of a man accepting his inner demons.
Maria's Way (Dir.: Anne Milne; Scotland/Spain)--A feisty elderly woman's sole purpose in life appears to be setting up an isolated roadside stand along the historic Camino de Santiago pilgrim route. A seemingly mundane daily task soon evolves into a humorous and charming observation on the importance of purpose, commitment and tradition.
Missed Connections (Dir.: Mary Robertson; USA)--This delightful film is an amuse-bouche for anyone who has ever perused the "Missed Connections" section of the classifieds in the hope they will recognize themselves as the "missed connection" in question.
A Moth in Spring (Dir.: Yu Gu; USA/Canada)--While attempting to produce a film in China inspired by her parents' involvement with the Student Democracy Movement of the 1980s, a young filmmaker's life and work quickly begin to parallel her parents' trials and alienation when the film is shut down and she is ordered to leave the country.
Mrs. Birk's Sunday Roast (Director: Kyoko Miyake; UK)--This beautifully shot slice-of-life short introduces Mrs. Fukio Birks, a Japanese woman living in England with her British husband. Embracing the new life she has created, Mrs. Birks dedicates herself to embracing English culture-beginning with its cuisine. As she prepares a delectable English Sunday dinner, Mrs. Birks shares her thoughts on cooking, home, culture and family.
Notes on the Other (Director: Sergio Oksman; Spain)--Ostensibly about Ernest Hemingway, this intriguing short is more a meditation on reality and simulation-like a Baudrillard lecture, except more fun. Contrasting Hemingway with his impersonators in Key West, the film questions the writer's account of the running of the bulls, moving quickly to challenging the concept of the Real.
On the Run with Abdul (Dirs.: James Newton, Kristian Hove Sorensen,David Lalé; UK/France)--When 16-year-old Abdul's life is suddenly in jeopardy because of his involvement with a film on refugees, the filmmakers take it upon themselves to protect the boy. Exploring the delicate balance of how involved documentarians should become with their subjects, the film is a remarkable reassessment on the craft of nonfiction filmmaking.
Overnight Stay (Dir.: Daniela Sherer; USA)--Using hand-drawn animation, the film illustrates an 83-year-old woman's vivid memory of an event during World War II that likely saved her life when she was a young girl. On a cold night in Nazi-occupied Poland in 1941, she was taken in by strangers and given a place to sleep.
Para Fuera: Portrait of Dr. Richard J. Bing (Dir.: Nicholas Jasenovec; USA)--How could a centenarian who is an accomplished doctor and musician sum up the totality of experiences in his life in one word? Dr. Richard Bing is able to do so-and along the way you will learn what motivated and assisted him in living his challenging yet charmed life.
Plastic and Glass (Dir.: Tessa Joosse; France)--In a recycling factory in the north of France, workers settle into the daily grind of reprocessing plastic and glass. In an effort to transcend the routine, the workers playfully adapt the steady rhythm of the machines into a melody for a song and dance.
The Poodle Trainer (Dir.: Vance Malone; Russia)--Irina Markova is a Russian poodle trainer who has dedicated her life to training her 20 colorfully costumed poodles to perform clever acrobatic tricks. Fueled by a childhood tragedy that sparked a fierce desire to avoid people, Markova welcomes the solace of her animals and the isolation she finds behind the red velvet curtain of the circus.
Prayers for Peace (Dir.: Dustin Grella; USA)--Through the use of stop-motion animation, a man reflects on the memory of his younger brother, recently killed in Iraq. This deeply personal film offers an elegant introspection about a brother and soldier whose loss is deeply felt by those who loved him.
Quadrangle (Dir.: Amy Grappell; USA)--In the '70s, two "conventional" couples embark on a most unconventional arrangement when they attempt to ward off marital ennui by swapping partners. Moving into the same home, merging families, sharing in a group marriage, can this four-way affair ever work?
Seltzer Works (Dir.: Jessica Edwards; USA)--New York's last seltzer bottler makes for a refreshing subject in this effervescent look at a tradesman who refuses to compromise on taste while facing the inevitable decline of a dying commercial tradition.
The Space You Leave (Dir.: James Newton; UK)--Thoughts of their long-vanished children are never far off for several British parents whose lives seem all but consumed by overarching loss. The daunting impact of an estimated 200,000 annual disappearances in the UK is brought to scale in three gripping portraits of lives now defined by the presence of absence.
They Are Giants (Dir.: Koert Davidse; Netherlands)--The Bibliotheca Thurkowiana Minor is a breathtakingly beautiful old world library filled with hand-crafted leather tomes nestled in exquisite mahogany bookcases. No human has ever walked its halls, climbed its stairs, or sat at its tables because this library is no more than eight feet long and four feet high; its books no taller than your little finger.
This Chair Is Not Me (Dir.: Andy Taylor Smith; UK)--While cerebral palsy confines Alan Martin to a wheelchair and inhibits his speech, he refuses to limit himself. When he gains access to technology that enables him to find a voice, his life is transformed. Utilizing stunning visual vocabulary and subtle re-enactment, the film presents a cinematic experience as unique as the subject himself.
Trash-Out (Dir.: Maria Fortiz-Morse; USA)--This deeply affecting and simple short shows workers cleaning out a house that has been foreclosed. What do the things left behind say about a family? What does an empty house that was once a home say? In a mere six minutes, Trash-Out makes a poignant statement on a timely subject.
Unearthing the Pen (Dir.: Carol Salter; UK/Uganda)-- Beautifully photographed, this film poignantly tells the story of a young Ugandan boy's desperate desire for an education in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds: most daunting is the possibility that the symbolic burying of a pen decades earlier by tribal elders has resulted in a curse on formal education.
The Veil (Dir.: Mattia Colombo; Italy)--A young postulant prepares to enter the convent. Older nuns go about their quotidian routines. This intimate portrait of Franciscan sisters in a small Venetian convent reveals the vibrant lives played out beneath the subdued cloth of their vocation.
World Champion (Dir.: Moonika Siimets; Estonia)--Eighty-two-year-old Herbert Sepp is a man's man. He works out, he speaks his mind, and he knows what he wants in life: a world masters title in pole vaulting. For him, it's all about the run, the plant... and the very, very short amount of time in the air.
Today, a federal appeals judge in Manhattan ordered a June 8 hearing to consider a subpoena issued on May 6 by a federal district judge that ordered Crude filmmaker Joe Berlinger to turn over hundreds of hours of unused footage from his film.
Crude focuses on a lawsuit by Ecuadoreans against Chevron over pollution in the Amazon. Chevron is seeking 600 hours of footage from the film in an effort to shore up their case in the long-running lawsuit. Lawyers for Berlinger are arguing on First Amendment grounds that his material is protected by journalistic privilege.
After the subpoena was issued earlier this month, the documentary community spoke out in favor of Berlinger by writing an open letter spearheaded by Patrick Creadon and Doug Blush, supported by the IDA and signed by over 20 Academy Award winners and nominees and many others (see full letter here).
Since its release, hundreds more from the filmmaking community have added their support to the letter via websites such as documentary.org and AJ Schnack's blog (see comments sections for both articles to read additional signees).
Get the latest on Crude at the film's website, where you can find information about how to financially back the extraordinarily costly legal battle Berlinger is facing.
If your television viewing habits run the spectrum from grizzly bears that eat marshmallows and lowland gorillas struggling for survival, to relocated elephants and having a zoo in your own backyard, Nat Geo Wild may be just for you. Launched in the US on March 29, the channel becomes the second in the National Geographic domestic portfolio, and takes over the space occupied by the Fox Reality Channel. At last count, that now-defunct network reached about 50 million homes.
The new channel will be simulcast in both standard and high definition, and its core focus will be natural history on a global, yet intimate scale. The stories of explorers, scientists and filmmakers--with a good use of new technology--will be the core of the channel.
Since there are so few wildlife slots on the National Geographic Channel (NGC), says Bridget Whalen, vice president of development, "Wild is an opportunity to focus on a core genre." A spin-off of the National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild also taps into one of the missions of the National Geographic Society--to inspire people to care about the planet--against a growing tide of worldwide challenges facing wildlife. Adds senior vice president Geoff Daniels, "It is unique and an extension of the Society. There are a million stories in the wild world, and we want to tell them."
Nat Geo Wild has been one of the fastest growing channels internationally for National Geographic. It has existed in 50 countries since 2006, when it premiered in Hong Kong. "We're going to take something proven and popular and give the viewers more of what they want," explains Daniels. "The programs know no borders. They have universal appeal."
Daniels, who has been with Nat Geo for more than a decade, is in charge of programming and anticipates that Nat Geo Wild will be one of the "largest launches in US cable history." He adds, much like in the natural world, "When the opportunity comes along, we have to grab it. The time is right. With all the challenges in the natural world--issues of sustainability, preserving wild places--there is a global zeitgeist; people want to make an impact."
The consistent success and growth of National Geographic Channel in the US has pushed the arrival of Nat Geo Wild, says Whalen. "Its ratings have grown for seven straight years--something no other channel can claim since its launch." The channel has also earned 24 Emmy nominations over the past two years. Wild, like the Channel, "is important to co-owners News Corporation and National Geographic Ventures," adds Whalen. It is hoped that revenue from the new channel can help fund some of the Society's science programs as well.
The Wild line-up during the first few months includes both series and one-offs. Shows can be hosted, or not. "We want real ambassadors to the brand," Daniels explains. "They would be doing this activity without the cameras around. They also should have an understanding of animals that no one else has."
Naturalist Casey Anderson is "a great example of the kind of person we're looking for," says Daniels. He and Whalen are both thrilled with the series Expedition Wild with Casey Anderson (Prod.: Grizzly Creek Films; Exec. Prods.: Leslie M. Gaines, Mailande Becker Holland, Thomas Winston), about Casey's life with Brutus, an 800-pound grizzly bear he's raised since Brutus was a cub. "Casey's amazing and has a unique connection to the wild," adds Daniels.
The idea for the pilot show, Expedition Wild, came to Whalen through a speed pitch at the Jackson Hole International Wildlife Film Festival by Grizzly Creek Films. "We are definitely open for business to producers, and want to let them express their vision," says Daniels. "We're producer-friendly and committed to original programming." Wild, like most channels, is open to commissions, co-productions and acquisitions. It also will air some shows previously seen on National Geographic Channel.
Another key series for Wild is My Life Is a Zoo (Prod.: JWM Productions; Dir.: Aziz Isham). "It's rare when someone pops off the screen," says Whalen. The show follows Bud DeYoung and Carrie Cramer, who oversee more than 400 animals-in their 80-acre Michigan backyard. Among the residents in the little zoo are endangered tigers, bears, wolves, pigs and reptiles. "The couple is accessible and entertaining, and provides us with access to issues related to the wild world," Whalen notes.
One-off Shark Island features National Geographic emerging explorer Enric Sala. The hour features his high-tech exploration of the massive shark populations found around tiny Cocos Island, located 300 miles off of Costa Rica. The film aired as part of an Earth Day Oceans Event on Wild. The film also features National Geographic explorer-in-residence Sylvia Earle. "This program really fulfills the mission of the Society, and it's great TV," Daniels maintains. "It also can do some good." In fact, after a screening of the film in Costa Rica, the government there is looking to protect more of its waters.
Mystery Gorillas (Dir./Prod.: James Manfull) features another National Geographic Society emerging explorer, anthropologist Mireya Mayor, as she studies a previously unknown population of lowland gorillas deep in the forests of the Congo. Africa's Lost Eden looks at the mission to restock the wildlife after years of civil war in Mozambique, in an area known as the place "where Noah left his ark."
"Our shows must be commercially relevant but have a mission," Daniels explains. "We are absolutely committed to that 120-year-old unique brand and legacy that is National Geographic." Daniels thinks that legacy gives Wild an advantage over any competition. Rebel Monkeys (Dir.: Allison Bean; Prod.: Colin Collis) also fits right in with the brand, he says. The half-hour series about the rhesus macaques of Jaipur, India has no host, yet "captures something appealing and worked well previously internationally," according to Daniels. The series follows a rambunctious band of 60 primates as they struggle for survival in an urban setting.
Story pitches for Wild are handled by Whalen's team, the same people who develop content for National Geographic Channel. "That is a real strength and gives us a clear purpose," she maintains. That might help Wild not fall into the muddle that often occurs between the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, with separate development teams both pursuing animal programming.
The primetime demographic for Wild is the usual: 25-to-54-year-olds, skewing more towards males. But that's not the only audience Wild is interested in; "Being family-friendly is key," adds Daniels.
The television landscape is a crowded marketplace right now, but that doesn't bother Daniels. Within the first year of the new channel's launch, "We want to firmly establish Wild with National Geographic Channel as a great one-two punch, and a competitive force." In five years? "We want to be globally dominant and commercially successful while staying true to the brand, and continuing to inspire folks to conserve."
When not out making docs, Lauren Cardillo is involved in the work required to raise a wildlife group comprised of two daughters and a pet rabbit. For more information, please visit, www.themotherroad.tv.
Documentary production and distribution have enjoyed huge resurgences over the past decade, giving rise to a plethora of specialized festivals and markets, as well as to experiments in modes of distribution. Documentaries can now garner coveted attention and audiences at festivals, on TV and in theaters. The documentary pioneers--Joris Ivens, John Grierson, Pare Lorentz, Dziga Vertov, et al--would marvel at the global impact of the form they helped create. This resurgence, coupled with the cost efficiencies of the tools of production, has attracted both an audience and a filmmaking community that is younger and more diverse. The rapidity of these changes, thanks to the digital revolution, is continuing to subvert conventional processes of production, distribution and funding.
For independent documentary makers, one of the most effective developments has been the rise of documentary co-production markets-often called pitching forums-around the globe. Certainly the grand dame of these is the IDFA (International Documentary Festival Amsterdam) Forum, which was launched in 1993 (IDFA itself premiered in 1988). Hot Docs, the largest documentary festival and market in North America, modeled its Toronto Documentary Forum after IDFA's. And one of the latest entries is The Good Pitch, a partnership between the UK-based Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and the Sundance Institute Documentary Program. Each of these forums has specific structures and guidelines for submitting projects on their websites, as well as news about successful projects and new initiatives. We spoke to the respective managers of all three forums about their goals, and how they see the current international landscape for documentaries.
Attending IDFA as a delegate will put you in a room with hundreds of colleagues participating in a dizzying three-day ritual of seven-minute pitches, roundtables, one-on-one meetings, lunches for networking and, as a finale, awards for Best Pitch and Favorite Commissioning Editor, known as "The Cuban Hat."
The 2009 the IDFA Forum attracted 400 visitors and delegates, as 43 filmmaking teams pitched their respective projects. In addition, an international audience of 160 observers and other film professionals--commissioning editors, producers, distributors, sales agents and independent producers--saw 27 Central and 16 Round Table projects pitched before 120 commissioners and other financiers. Those include "seedling projects," in their early stages, and "rough cut projects," looking only for finishing funds. New media funders and non-government organizations (NGOs) are welcome, since the Forum sees them as crucial for the market in the coming years. One of the key elements at IDFA is the two-hour sit-down lunch for all participants. As a guest of Rotterdam's Cinemart for many years I always found the similar lunch there to be one of the best opportunities for informal networking.
According to Adriek van Nieuwenhuyzen, the Forum's industry office director, the selection process starts with a committee of five people working in international documentary--including producers, commissioning editors, distributors and representatives of institutes. Another review committee includes people with a broad international overview of projects in development and in production, along with market trends. Selection is made in a two-day meeting in Amsterdam, where the committees read proposals, watch trailers and review other submitted material.
The most important criteria are "creative documentaries bringing new stories with international appeal," van Nieuwenhuyzen says. "For international co-financing, it is crucial that the stories and themes have international relevance and appeal. Projects dealing with topics, stories and themes covered previously in documentaries that have been broadcast and screened internationally won't make it into the selection." About 80 percent of the Forum projects selected must be from European Union (EU) member countries. The Forum is very open to projects with multiple platforms, and views itself as evolving with an industry in which "endless technological possibilities are enhancing the ability of documentary filmmakers to convey their message."
Recent successes coming out of IDFA include Lixin Fan's Last Train Home, which was pitched at the 2008 Forum and captured the prize for Best Feature at the 2009 festival. The film will be released theatrically in the US this September through Zeitgeist Films. Another big success is Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith's enthralling The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, which was also pitched at the 2008 Forum; the film earned an Academy Award nomination this year for Best Documentary Feature.
The Toronto Documentary Forum (TDF) at Hot Docs is a similarly intense two-day experience. As we went to press, the 2010 TDF, held May 5 and 6, expected over 500 leading industry professionals to hear 25 pre-selected international project presentations. Guests were to include key international commissioning editors and an observer's gallery composed of fellow producers, distributors, sales agents, funders and other buyers. TDF also offers Observer accreditation for independent producers; representatives of foundations, public agencies and film institutes; sales agents; distributors; etc. As at IDFA, each slot includes a seven-minute presentation from the production team and its trigger decision-maker, and a seven-minute discussion-and-response period. Teams are encouraged to include one- or two-minute video clips.
A particular draw at TDF is The Doc Shop Online, a digital video library offering users on-demand access to over 1,500 documentaries at any of the 40 onsite computer terminals during and after the festival for registered buyers, distributors, sales agents and festival programmers. The Toronto Forum also offers multiple opportunities for informal networking via one-on-one meetings and receptions. New for 2010 is a special workshop focused on interactivity co-sponsored with the Canadian Film Centre (CFC) Media Lab entitled "Leave the Walls at the Door," a facilitated matchmaking and think-tank workshop designed for documentary producers of every ilk. Thirty participants, including myriad storytellers working with a variety of platforms and backgrounds (traditional, interactive, commercial, art house, big budget, do-it-yourselfers) will have three hours to share ideas and experiences.
One of the big success stories that initially surfaced at TDF was the Israeli film Waltz with Bashir (Dir.: Ari Folman). Pitched in 2007, it met with very mixed responses. People were unsure about the animation approach stylistically, as well as the expense involved. Later the filmmakers had follow-up meetings in Toronto and were eventually able to secure Arte as a co-production partner. Waltz with Bashir went on to win numerous awards--not only for best documentary, but also in the animation and foreign film categories.
The Good Pitch is the new kid on the block, founded in 2008 as part of the BRITDOC festival in Oxford, England. The BRITDOC Foundation describes itself as is "a new social entrepreneurship organization bringing new thinking to public service delivery." It gives grants for production, and it brokers partnerships around specific films, reaching out to diverse potential supporters for documentary. According to its website, The Good Pitch invites "NGOs, social entrepreneurs, broadcasters and potential corporate and brand partners to form powerful alliances around groundbreaking films."
Foundation Director Beadie Finzi describes this as an ongoing process of continuous, year-round networking. Her staff works hard to make sure there will be at least one film with which participants will want to be involved so that no one comes away disappointed. Part of its cultivation efforts was a conference in June 2007 for 150 of the UK's top NGOs and foundations to learn about how documentaries can help them in their work. The conference was very useful in convincing the NGOs of the benefits of working with film and filmmakers. A conference of that kind in the US would be an excellent idea, and would have to take place on a regional basis, given that the country is so large and not centralized like the UK.
The Good Pitch provides numerous opportunities for filmmakers to connect with people on their panels--before and after their pitches--and produces a very comprehensive catalogue listing everyone attending the event, including their priorities and contact details. Business partners for specific films have included Saatchi & Saatchi, Nokia, Stella Artois, Waitrose and Greenpeace. In addition, throughout 2009, The Good Pitch was presented at Hot Docs, Silverdocs and Independent Film Week. A similar tour is underway for 2010, starting with the Tribeca Film Festival in April and May.
A further activity of BRITDOC is its online services, including the recently launched Good Screenings, a new film distribution website that allows users to hold their own screenings of the best social justice documentary films and, crucially, keep their profits.
An impressive success coming out of the 2009 SilverDocs Good Pitch was the film Hungry in America by Kristi Jacobson. The feature-length documentary presents an unflinching look at the root causes behind the 17 million hungry children in this country and asks tough questions about why a nation that could feed all of its citizens has failed to do so. She and co-director Lori Silverbush attracted NGO partnerships that progressed "from first-date to marriage" when a summit of 20 anti-hunger organizations convened following The Good Pitch to strategize about how they could use the film to amplify their own work.
According to executive producer Ryan Harrington, the anti-hunger NGOs assembled in Silver Spring raised $250,000 in funds for the film since that event, with more financing pending. Another success story from the 2009 Good Pitch at IFP's Independent Film Week was Glenn Baker's Easy Like Water, which received an investment of $10,000 from the Global Fund for Children. The film documents the innovative work of Mohammed Rezwan, who uses solar-powered floating schools in Bangladesh to turn the frontlines of climate change into a community of learning.
The organizers of these forums all noted the reduced budgets for commissioning editors. Jan Rofekamp of the Montreal-based Films Transit International also cited a decline in the autonomy of buyers in recent years. They now have to speculate on what issues will have audience appeal--which may not always yield the most interesting or innovative projects. Rofekamp advises filmmakers to be aware of the buyers' priorities and spend some time researching some of the major buyers and what they have funded recently. A great resource is the European Documentary Network's annual Financing Guide, which includes detailed information on international broadcast buyers and distributors, funds for production and distribution, including video-on-demand. The guide is available in both printed and online versions. There is also enormous interest from documentary festivals and forums in the possibilities of new media; IDFA presented two panels in 2009 on these topics. If you have a multi-platform project, by all means, talk it up.
So if you are planning to pitch your project in the near future, what is the recipe for success? Rofekamp, who has participated in pitch events for many years, advises targeting the concerns of buyers. They want to know why your topic is important, why you are the best team to make it and why it needs to be produced now. Claire Aguilar of Independent Television Service (ITVS), also a veteran of international pitch forums, recommends working with the moderators to help with the discussion and suggest broadcasters that would be responsive to your pitch. Memorize your presentation and be sure to make eye contact with those in the room, rather than look at notes. Your topic will do best if it has universal relevance (the ability to draw audiences from varied countries), so make sure to explicitly lay out the reasons for that and draw specific parallels for your topic, person or event.
Everyone recommends the strongest possible sample reel, since that is often what really piques participants' attention. Preparing a dazzling sample reel is well worth your time and money. Your major objective is to use the pitch to get to one-on-one meetings later in the event. That is where the real business gets done. As a documentarist, educating yourself about the many new options and ventures out there is the one of the most important things you can do to ensure your voice continues to be heard.
Wanda Bershen is a consultant on fundraising, festivals and distribution. Documentary clients have included Sonia, Power Trip, Afghan Women, Trembling Before G*d and Blacks & Jews. She has organized film programs with the Human Rights Film Festival, Brooklyn Museum, and Film Society of Lincoln Center and currently teaches Arts Management at CUNY Baruch. Visit www.reddiaper.com.
Usually when one hears the phrase "boot camp," images of guns, camouflage fashionand tough sergeants barking out orders come to mind. A boot camp of a different sort took place this past February in Culver City, California, when five veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars spent three days together getting a crash course in documentary filmmaking. The experience was part of Operation In Their Boots, the kickoff to a unique fellowship program during which the vetswill produce and direct their own nonfiction films.
The program is part of the larger In Their Boots series, which is produced by Brave New Foundation and funded by a grant from the Iraq Afghanistan Deployment Impact Fund (IADIF) of the California Community Foundation. Brave New Foundation received the three-year grant to raiseawareness through documentary stories of how people here at home are impacted by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The grant is flexible, allowing executive producer Richard Ray Perez to experiment with different ways of fulfilling its mandate.
During the first cycle of the grant in 2008, Perez wanted to experiment in new media because that's one of Brave New Foundation's prime areas of focus. He hired a producer and director and developed 12 stories, eight to 36 minutes in length, all of which were streamed on the website. In 2009, during the second cycle, Perez and his team produced a more traditional documentary series of 10 half-hour episodes, which they are currently considering releasing on individual public television stations. For the 2010 cycle, says Perez, "We came up with the idea to commission veterans themselves to produce and direct their own documentaries. I realized a lot of people who served are National Guardsmen who may have had experience in the film industry working as grips, DPs, electricians or in jobs that may have helped them acquire any number of skills that are transferable to documentaryfilmmaking."
Perez was able to work out a budget in which the foundation would be able to provide $7,500 in stipends to five filmmakers to help support them during a three-month, part-time filmmaking process. "We had to come up with a formula that would make this really possible for emerging filmmakers," says Perez. "Making a living and making a documentary are two differentthings." Each project was allocated a $10,000 production budget, most of which is expected to go towards travel and crew. The short docs are expected to run an average of 15 minutes in length. The budget does not include equipment rental or post-production costs, as Brave New Foundation will provide these items from its stash of in-house resources. In addition to the funding, a key part of the program would be the mentorship and guidance each filmmaker would receive from the team at Brave New Foundation, including Perez and Robert Greenwald.
Once they set the parameters for the program, Brave New Foundation put out calls for entry through a variety of outlets, including IADIF sister organizations, military.com and documentary-related networking groups. The foundation received approximately 100 applications, and selected Tristan Dyer, Kyle Hartnett, Chris Mandia, Victor Manzano and Clint Van Winkle to participate. Perez says that the filmmakers were chosen based on both their story ideas and an assessment of whether the applicant was capable of actually executing his pitch. While documentary filmmaking experience was not a requirement, filmmaking experience in any genre was a plus. Additionally, Perez wanted to make sure that the participants were open to collaboration and learning new storytelling skills, as the Brave New Foundation's staff would be advising them throughout the process. Although they had hoped to have a woman among the bunch, only two applied to the program, and ultimately Brave New Foundation went with those applicants who presented the strongest story ideas that were well suited for the documentary form.
Hartnett was thrilled when he found out he'd been accepted into Operation In Their Boots. Hehad studied film production at San Francisco State, and he had come down to Los Angeles to break into the industry. "This opportunity came across as too good to be true," he says. "I never thought I'd be working on a documentary; I studied narrative fiction in school. This is not what I had in mind, but I'm super stoked to be doing it. I've been out here for less than ayear, and I'm already working in a professional environment. I'm super lucky to be a part of it."
Hartnett is a veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division; he served a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. His film is about his personal quest to gain a better understanding of the challenges Muslim-American service members and veterans face. During Tristan Dyer's five years of active duty service, he spent one year deployed to Camp Taji, Iraq. Upon honorable discharge he enrolled in the Visual Journalism Program at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Ventura, California. His film,which will utilize stop-motion animation, will examine substance abuse among Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans. Chris Mandia served as a US Marine infantryman in Iraq. An award-winning playwright and screenwriter, he currently attends the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. His film is about the transitional journey American service members make when they go from thebattlefield to a college campus. Victor Manzano also served as a Marine infantryman in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan, and is now an entertainment entrepreneur and veterans advocate. His doc will chronicle the turbulent life of fellow veteran Rudy Reyes, who overcame immense hurdles to become a highly skilled combat Marine, a successful actor and an inspiring self-help author. Marine Sergeant Clint Van Winkle served as an AAV section leader during the initial invasion of Iraq. He is the author of Soft Spots: A Marine's Memoir of Combat and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and his film examines survivors' guilt among Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans.
Despite their different service experiences and proposed projects, the filmmakers found a common bond when they participated in the three-day Filmmakers Bootcamp at Brave New Foundation. The purpose of the Bootcamp was to school the participants in everything from story structure to production basics, giving them the essential skills they would need to embark on their projects.
"There was a strong feeling of camaraderie because we all served," explains Dyer."You sort of click with one another immediately. We've been through a lot of the same stuff, even if it wasn't with each other. It's the whole tribal kind of mentality that's part of human nature."
Adds Hartnett, "We're kind of a rarity. Veterans are able to find their own, but there are so few of us out there who want to be filmmakers. It was immediately comfortable--like, 'I knowthese guys. These guys are me.'"
This trust and shared experience came in handy while working on storytelling exercises. Each vet was tasked with honing his story down to the essential conflict of the film or character. As each filmmaker tried to articulate his pitch and refine his story, the rest of the participants chimed in with valuable ideas and opinions. Their ability to do this was in part due to the fact that they all spoke acommon emotional language; their mutual understanding of the wartime experience gave them insights into what fellow group members were trying to express.
The bond among the five filmmakers has lasted beyond the Bootcamp, and they are all helping one another as they move forward with their documentaries. For example, the group is trying to locate Muslim service members for Hartnett to interview, as he's finding that the most challenging part of his film so far. And of course, it wouldn't be a Brave New Foundation program if new media weren't somehow involved. The program requires that all maintain Facebook profiles and Twitter accounts, and blog on a regular basis, so that the participants--as well as the public--can all follow one another online.
Perez anticipates that all five films will be completed by August. Ideally, he'd like to find broadcast distribution for the docs with a cable network or public television. Perez is open to packaging the films into a two-hour block, or playing them individually as shorts. The Foundation has also discussed bundling the films into a feature, but right now there is no money for the additional editing that would require.
Tamara Krinsky is associate editor of Documentary magazine.
The eighth edition of the AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival opens June 21 with the multi-director project Freakonomics, based on Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner's bestselling book, Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Exposes the Hidden Side of Everything. The sextet of directors on the film project includes Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side), Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing (Jesus Camp), Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight) and Seth Gordon (King Of Kong), each of whom created a short piece based on a chapter from the book. The film is slated for a fall 2010 release through Magnolia Pictures.
The book famously applied statistics and incentives to analyze human behaviors, which yielded surprising and controversial conclusions that years of psychology and moral philosophy had yet to reveal. In the film, Gibney looks behind the fragile façade of Sumo wrestling and exposes uncomfortable truths about this ancient and revered sport; Spurlock examines the consequences of a name, and whether being dubbed Sheniqua, Tripp or Moon Unit have any affect on one's future prospects; Grady and Ewing explore whether money can be used to incentivize underachieving kids to improve their grades in school; Jarecki investigates Levitt's provocative theory as to why crime rates dramatically dropped in the early '90s; and Gordon weaves the pieces together with playful animation and commentary from the authors.
"We are thrilled to open the festival with Freakonomics, one of this year's most highly anticipated documentaries," said artistic director Sky Sitney in a statement. "Thanks to a team of celebrated documentarians, one of the best-selling books of the past decade debuts on the big screen for a riveting cinematic experience."
Silverdocs 2010, which runs from June 21 to 27, will showcase over 80 films plus special screenings, music performances and dozens of panel discussions featuring hundreds of filmmakers, diverse topics and media professionals. In addition, the festival will honor Frederick Wiseman, widely recognized as one of America's greatest and most prolific documentary filmmakers, at the Charles Guggenheim Symposium. The Symposium, named after the late, four-time Academy Award winner Charles Guggenheim, honors a filmmaker who has mastered the power of documentary and inspires audiences with powerful explorations of the human experience. Past recipients include Barbara Kopple (2004), Martin Scorsese (2006), Jonathan Demme (2007), Spike Lee (2008) and Albert Maysles (2009).
"For over four decades, Wiseman has used a 16mm camera and portable sound equipment to create an exceptional body of work consisting of over 30 feature-length films devoted primarily to exploring American institutions," said Sitney. "We are thrilled to recognize his vast contribution to cinema and the documentary form."