Editor's note: Mark Hopkins' Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders opens in theaters June 4 through Truly Indie. What follows is an interview we conducted with Hopkins last summer when the film was featured as part of IDA's DocuWeeks Theatrical Documentary Showcase.

Over the past few weeks, we at IDA have been introducing our community to the filmmakers whose work is represented in the DocuWeeks^TM Theatrical Documentary Showcase, currently running through August 20 in New York City and Los Angeles. We asked the filmmakers to share the stories behind their films--the inspirations, the challenges and obstacles, the goals and objectives, the reactions to their films so far.

So, to continue this series of conversations, here is Mark N. Hopkins, director/producer of Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders..

Synopsis: 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.

 

 

IDA: How did you get started in documentary filmmaking?

Mark N. Hopkins: I first made the connection in Hanoi, where I was studying in 1994. The place was transforming in front of us, a friend had a camera, and it just seemed like the natural thing to do, to get out there and start shooting.

IDA: What inspired you to make Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders?

MNH: I'd been thinking about third-world myths, and how they are propagated. And one of the more persistent myths is the idea of the humanitarian hero who solves all. I think this makes us feel better about our world, the idea that someone is out there making it all OK, or at least makes us feel less guilty about our own good fortune. But this false hope is, I think, quite damaging; it hides the reality under simple ideas of "We Shall Overcome." Doctors Without Borders presented a great vehicle through which to unravel this particular myth, while delving into an intense and fascinating world--inadvertently contrasting the "do-gooder" assumption through an immersion into the lives of the real people actually on the humanitarian frontlines, aware of their limits, the limits of their work, and the overwhelming challenges they face.

IDA: What were some of the challenges and obstacles in making this film, and how did you overcome them?

MNH: I think the overriding challenge was living up to the responsibility: Something like 25 companies had tried to gain access to make an independent film on the organization. Given the seriousness of their mandate--apolitical medical care to the world's most adversely affected populations--being the first filmmakers with unfettered access was a huge responsibility. We had to live up to what we said we'd do: distill and capture the essence of the Doctors Without Borders experience, warts and all. How do you capture an experience that is consistently described as one you must live to understand? It was an all-consuming challenge that we spent next two-and-a-half years attempting to meet.

IDA: How did your vision for the film change over the course of the pre-production, production and post-production processes?

MNH: We had drawn up a fairly detailed structure going in: a narrative framework based not on individual character arcs, but constructed from multiple characters embodying different stages of the overriding story arc of a field mission. The idea was to experience the changing perception of life in the field that's undergone by a first mission: They start out with a surface understanding and gradually absorb the greater complexities of field existence as time goes on. It's the audience's symbolic first mission, as it were. Within this structure, the veteran characters serve as a contrast, providing an experienced voice that helps move the understanding of the first-timer forward. We had expected these voices to still have at least a veneer of the "do-gooder hero" myth, but there was none. Without exception, anyone with a decent amount of field experience had a completely unvarnished understanding of their work and its overall significance. In hindsight, it seems fairly obvious--the people picking up the bodies in the face of overwhelming need will be the least delusioned about their role--but at the time it came as a surprise. It meant this veteran voice provided even greater contrast and complexity to the first-mission experience.

IDA: As you've screened Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders-whether on the festival circuit, or in screening rooms, or in living rooms-how have audiences reacted to the film?  What has been most surprising or unexpected about their reactions?

MNH: It's been a humbling experience, from our opening in Venice to the most recent festival in Munich. As described above, the structure of the film is built around the conceptual journey of a mission, and is designed to immerse an audience in the field. It would be disingenuous to this field reality if this experience were not something of a challenge, and it's extremely rewarding to see the audience rise to the occasion--moved, engaged, compelled, thinking through the ideas.

I would never underestimate an audience, but it's also been very reaffirming to see the quality and variety of substantial thoughts generated--much like those generated by people going through actual first missions, with strong interactions at all sorts of differing conceptual levels. Most surprising has been the number of people that go to the toughest idea, that while you might be asked to readjust your expectations for hope, in itself, the film is symbolically hopeful. Individual actions have positive outcomes: Doctors in the worst circumstances feel passionate and rewarded in their work, and their patients fully appreciate the care. We are not winning the war on global health, so what is truly hopeful is that the people who realize this the most--the doctors on the frontlines of global health--continue to work, individual by individual, in the face of insurmountable need.

IDA: What docs or docmakers have served as inspirations for you?

MNH: Mark Harris, an insightful and tremendous mentor to this film; Deborah Dickson, always illuminating; Werner Herzog, with his innate curiosity; Errol Morris...the list goes on. And films: One Day in September; Capturing The Friedmans; General Idi Amin Dada; The Fog of War; Hearts of Darkness...again, too many to list.

Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders will be screening at the ArcLight Hollywood Cinema in Los Angeles and the IFC Center in New York City.

To download the DocuWeeks^TM program in Los Angeles, click here.

To purchase tickets for DocuWeeks^TM in Los Angeles, click here.

To download the DocuWeeks^TM program in New York, click here.

To purchase tickets for DocuWeeks^TM in New York, click here.

 

In the continually spinning turnstile that is the festival circuit, Rachel Rosen is leaving Los Angeles Film Festival and its parent company, Film Independent, after eight years as its head of programming to assume the title of Director of Programming at the San Francisco Film Society, which oversees the San Francisco International Film Festival. Rosen had served as associate director of the society from 1994 to 2001 before moving to Los Angeles.

"We're thrilled to welcome Rachel back to a leadership role in the organization after her extraordinarily successful tenure in Los Angeles," said Graham Leggat, the society's executive director, in a prepared statement. "Her intelligence, flair for innovation and keen eye for exciting new work are just what we need as we enter our next phase."

Rosen made a considerable impact during her tenure, with festival attendance more than doubling, from 35,000 to over 80,000. She also dramatically increased the number and scope of international films presented at LAFF and instituted a special international sidebar that examined independent films from Argentina and China, as well as rare and lesser-known international animation, the work of Nigerian filmmaker Tunde Kelani and documentaries from Mexico's Ambulante Film Festival, among other highlights. "Rachel's discerning eye, dazzling knowledge of film and support of independent filmmakers have been essential to the festival's success during her years at Film Independent," said Film Independent's Executive Director Dawn Hudson in a statement. "I so appreciate Rachel's extraordinary talents and her unstinting commitment to the organization, and we wish her the best as she enters this new phase in her career."

Rosen steps in to fill the post recently vacated by Linda Blackaby, who also served eight years. "One of the most respected film programmers on the international scene, Linda has played a primary role in the expansion and success of the Film Society in recent years," said Leggat. "She leaves behind many friends and admirers. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors."

"I think what Graham and the Film Society team have accomplished in the past few years with both the San Francisco International Film Festival and year-round programming is incredibly exciting," said Rosen in a statement. "I'm grateful to have a chance to be a part of it. I'm thrilled to be returning to an organization and a city that love great cinema."

Prior to her first stint in San Francisco, Rosen began her career in New York where she worked as a publicist in the film industry for five years. In 1988, she enrolled in Stanford University's prestigious documentary film program in the department of communication. While completing her thesis film, Rosen worked for the New York Film Festival as directors liaison and for SFFS in addition to working in various capacities on student and professional film productions.

In 1993, Rosen moved back to New York for a year to accept a position as programming and publicity associate at Film Forum. Her short documentary on tornado chasers, Serious Weather, was shown at the San Francisco and Vancouver International Film Festivals and the British Short Film Festival. Rosen was born and raised in Washington, D.C. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in comparative literature from Brown University.

During her eight-year tenure, Blackaby oversaw Film Society festivals and other public exhibitions, maintaining a high level of curatorial quality as SFFS dramatically expanded its calendar to include year-round offerings. The 2009 San Francisco International Film Festival, her most recent program, received critical and audience acclaim and enjoyed record attendance. Previously, Blackaby programmed the Hamptons International Film Festival on Long Island and was founding director of the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema. She came to the Bay Area in 1997 to advise the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. She is currently chair of the Princess Grace Foundation film panel in New York City.

"Getting to know and working with the San Francisco film community has been very meaningful to me," said Blackaby. "There is so much talent and expertise here, and such passion for good cinema, that it has been particularly gratifying to have contributed to the growth of the Festival and SFFS."

DocuWeeks 2009 Week 2 kicked off with tons of great docs, multiple filmmaker Q&As and discussions and one rocking VIP reception over the weekend. There's still time to be involved. Don't miss out, get the lowdown on the Week 2 docs and particpating filmmakers right here. Check out these shots, and see many more pictures from DocuWeeks 2009 at the IDA's Flickr Photostream.

Rock Prophecies acoustic performance by blues guitarist Tyler Dow Bryant at IDA DocuWeeks 2009. Photo by René Lego.

Benjamin Charbit (executive producer) and Kristian Fraga (director/producer/editor) discuss their film Severe Clear at IDA DocuWeeks 2009. Photo by René Lego.

Filmmakers Robert and and N.C. Heikin prior to screening their film Kimjongilia at IDA DocuWeeks 2009. Photo by René Lego.

Q&A with Tapped production team at IDA DocuWeeks 2009. Photo by René Lego.

See many more pictures from DocuWeeks 2009 at the IDA's Flickr Photostream.

Adobe's MAX 2009 Conference comes to Los Angeles Oct 4-7. This is the place were the Adobe developer and designer community comes together to learn and share best practices, and see emerging technologies. The conference is packed with sessions on cross-media workflows, prototyping, standards-based web design, user interface design, online advertising, interactive games, accessibility, motion graphics, video encoding, video creation, and much more. Choose from hundreds of sessions found at http://max.adobe.com/sessions/ to create an agenda that meets your needs.

Every year, MAX attendees learn tricks for designing more productively and discover new skills for creating engaging experiences. They get sneak peeks of upcoming software and network with some of the top designers in the world. At the end of the four day conference, they're inspired to create next-generation experiences, with heads chock-full of the know-how to make it happen. Here are just a few reasons why MAX is a "must-attend" conference

• See how to create compelling applications, content, and video and deliver it on screens of every size, across operating systems, accessible from anywhere at any time.
• Learn how to take ideas to market faster through design and development workflows that support iterative development by attending hands-on labs and learning from real-world case studies.
• All MAX sessions and labs are taught by the best of the best—the kind of people you don't just run into every day. They can share their years of experience regarding what works and what doesn't.
• MAX attendees come from organizations all over the world, from small businesses to Fortune 1000 companies and local nonprofits to large government agencies. You can exchange ideas and build one-on-one relationships with people who have dealt with challenges similar to yours.
• Expose yourself to new ways of thinking by seeing some of the coolest, boundary-pushing, experimental work out there. In previous years, 94% of past attendees said they left MAX inspired to innovate.
• The majority of attendees of MAX 2008 said the event exceeded their expectations at providing opportunities for learning tips, tricks, and the latest industry trends.

There are several ways to experience MAX2009. Please write IDA in the "referred by" or "source" field so the IDA is recognized for its importance by the MAX team. Here are the prices:

Full MAX Conference Pass is $1295 if purchased before August 31

Individual Day Pass is regularly $595. IDA gets a $100 discount to $495 by using the promotion code DAY941 and purchasing before September 18. Day Two is a great day with an opening keynote, sessions and labs, sneak peaks, awards, party, and all the Community Pavilion listed above.

Expo only pass is $200 for the entire conference. You get access to the Expo, the Community Pavilion, BOFs at lunch, and "unconferences" which are mini conferences held in the Community Pavilion area http://max.adobe.com/agenda/community/

To register, see all pricing structures, get deadlines and other information go to http://max.adobe.com/registration/

Also, check out tons of filmmaker testimonials about Adobe Creative Suite 4 and tutorials on its various programs under the Tutorials section of our video gallery.

Update August 10, 2009: The Canadian filmmakers' movie is getting some buzz (check out these pieces on CNN and the National Post) and now Variety is reporting that the film picked up distribution with Alliance Films of Montreal with a U.S. deal just around the corner.

John Hughes, the director who perfectly expressed teen angst in the '80s with films such as Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off died on August 6 at the age of 59 of a sudden heart attack during a morning walk in Manhattan.

Later in his life, Hughes left Hollywood, but his impact will never be forgotten.

The documentary Don't You Forget About Me talks to the actors that brought many of Hughes' films to life, including Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson and Andrew McCarthy. However, Toronto director Matt Austin-Sadowski and producers Kari Hollend, Mike Facciolo and Lenny Panzer never interviewed the man himself, so they set out to in 2008 to learn about him by taking a trip to his hometown.

You can find out more at the official website www.dontyouforgetaboutmethemovie.com and get the most recent updates on the movie's blog.

See a trailer for the film, which is now dedicated to John Hughes' memory.

 

The Achievers: The Story of the Lebowski Fans, Eddie Chung's doc that explores "the Dude phenomenon" and the passionate fans who attend Lebowski Fests year after year is coming to DVD on August 18. Check out this tale of the movie from the Los Angeles Times. (via www.theachieversmovie.com)

Could Michael Moore's upcoming Capitalism: A Love Story be his last doc? (via The Deroit News)

Valentino: The Last Emperor, Matt Tyrnauer's doc about the world-renowned fashion designer, has already made plenty of good-looking money at the box office this year. Now, you can bring it home when it's released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 8, 2009. The DVD will feature 46 minutes of bonus material that includes three featurettes. (via www.valentinomovie.com)

Week 2 of IDA's 13th Annual DocuWeeks begins today with six films screening daily at the ArcLight Hollywood and 10 films screening daily at the IFC Center in New York.

The Los Angeles lineup for August 7th through August 13th includes: Soundtrack for a Revolution, Severe Clear, Rock Prophecies, Kimjongilia, Split Estate and Tapped.

Films screening through August 13th at the IFC Center in New York include DIRT! The Movie, Smile 'Til It Hurts: The Up With People Story, SUNRISE/SUNSET: DALAI LAMA XIV, Soundtrack for a Revolution, Mugabe and The White African and Split Estate. Four shorts films will also screen in New York in week 2. The Shorts Program includes 12 notes down, Aliens Among Us, Crossing Midnight and Rabbit À La Berlin.

Various filmmakers are scheduled to attend the following DocuWeeks week 2 screenings for post-screening Q&As and other events (subject to change without notice):

DocuWeeks Los Angeles Scheduled Post-Screening Q&As

Severe Clear: Aug. 7 at 5:25 PM, Aug. 8 at 7:25 PM, Aug. 8 at 9:45 PM, Aug. 9 at 9:30 PM

Rock Prophecies: Aug. 7 at 7:30 PM

Kimjongilia: Aug. 7 at 7:45 PM, Aug. 10 at 7:45 PM, Aug. 11 at 9:45 PM

Soundtrack for a Revolution: Aug. 11 at 7:25 PM, Aug. 12 at 9:45 PM, Aug. 13 at 9:45 PM

Split Estate: Aug. 12 at 7:40 PM, Aug 13 at 7:40 PM

DocuWeeks New York Scheduled Post-Screening Q&As

Split Estate: Aug. 7 at 8:00 PM, Aug. 8 at 9:50 PM

Smile 'Til It hurts: The Up With People Story: Aug. 7 at 9:50 PM, Aug. 10 at 7:55 PM, Aug. 13 at 2:55 PM

Soundtrack for a Revolution: Aug. 13 at 9:50 PM

DIRT! The Movie: Aug. 8 at 7:40 PM

Shorts Program (12 notes down, Aliens Among Us, Crossing Midnight, Rabbit À La Berlin): Aug. 8 at 5:15 PM, Aug. 9 at 7:10 PM, Aug. 11 at 5:15 PM, Aug. 12 at 7:10 PM

 

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China's Communist Party isn't too happy with the Harrison Ford-narrated documentary Dalai Lama Renaissance. Find out why right here. Oh, and if you want to spend some time with His Holiness you can do just that by catching a screening of SUNRISE/SUNSET: DALAI LAMA XIV at DocuWeeks which spends 24 hours with him at his residence.

Michael Moore and pals are launching comedy fest beginning in 2010. No kidding. The Traverse City Comedy Arts Festival will be a collaboration between Moore and comedian/actor Jeff Garlin, Larry Charles and others. It will most likely take place the first week of March ("the deepest, darkest part of winter" in Michigan, Moore says). (via Spout.com)

Presented by Brave New Films, for the first time ever, the story of MoveOn.org is being told in a feature-length documentary film called MoveOn: The Movie. Order your DVD copy today. Also, share your favorite MoveOn.org moment and enter for a chance to win tickets to the premiere in either New York, Washington D.C. or Los Angeles. Trip includes (2) roundtrip airplane tickets and a (2) night stay.

Ken Burns is even long-winded when he's just talking about docs. While appearing Saturday at Summer TV Press Tour 2009 to discuss his 12-hour docu-series, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, he talked and talked and talked. Washington Post TV columnist Lisa de Moraes let's him ramble in her entertaining account of the event. (via The Washington Post)

SXSW 2010 is now open for business and taking film submissions. Early birds who can get their stuff together by November 5th can file for $25 (shorts) or $40 (features). Plus, check out the fest's fancy new website. (via SXSW.com)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has pardoned two jailed American journalists and ordered their release following an unannounced meeting with former President Bill Clinton, the North's state media said early Wednesday.

In March, Euna Lee and Laura Ling were detained at the North Korean border and later sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in North Korea. Celebrities, citizens and politicians called for the two to be freed since the story broke.

Clinton, who arrived in North Korea Tuesday on a surprise visit, met with the reclusive and ailing Kim — the North Korean leader's first meeting with a prominent Western figure since his reported stroke nearly a year ago, MSNBC reported.

Lee and Ling's families released the following statement after the announcement:

The families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee are overjoyed by the news of their pardon. We are so grateful to our government: President Obama, Secretary Clinton and the U.S. State Department for their dedication to and hard work on behalf of American citizens.

We especially want to thank President Bill Clinton for taking on such an arduous mission and Vice President Al Gore for his tireless efforts to bring Laura and Euna home. We must also thank all the people who have supported our families through this ordeal, it has meant the world to us. We are counting the seconds to hold Laura and Euna in our arms.

For the latest news on the two journalists, go to www.lauraandeuna.com.

Related Content:
Learn more about Kim Jong Il, North Korea and its policies with Kimjongilia, which is currently screening at DocuWeeks. The doc follows several North Korean defectors as they tell their astonishing stories of starvation, persecution and escape from Democratic People's Republic of Korea.