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.
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.
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.
Opening: August 12
Venue: Film Forum/New York City
Film: Yasukuni
Dir.: Li Ying
Distributor: The Film Library (Hong Kong
http://www.filmforum.org/films/yasukuni.html
When Japan's Prime Minister Koizumi insisted that his visits to the Yasukuni shrine were a purely personal matter, he unleashed an international furor. Established in 1869, the shrine houses 2.5 million Japanese war dead including World War II "class A war criminals," among them General Tojo and others sentenced to death at the Tokyo Trial (Japan's Nuremberg). Visitors to Yasukuni include still-militant Japanese nationalists as well as outraged protesters from China, Taiwan, Korea and Okinawa. Chinese filmmaker Li Ying doesn't pull his punches. He includes archival images of a "100-man beheading contest" between Japanese officers as well as a fascinating contemporary interview with a 90-year-old craftsman who continues to forge Yasukuni swords, used in these and other atrocities.
Opening: August 14
Venue: The Quad Cinema/New York City
Film: Earth Days
Dir./Prod.: Robert Stone
Distributor: Zeigeist Films
http://www.earthdaysmovie.com/
It is now all the rage in the Age of Al Gore and Obama, but can you remember when everyone in America was not "Going Green"? Visually stunning, vastly entertaining and awe-inspiring, Earth Days looks back to the dawn and development of the modern environmental movement--from its post-war rustlings in the 1950s and the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson's incendiary bestseller Silent Spring, to the first wildly successful 1970 Earth Day celebration and the subsequent firestorm of political action.
Earth Days' secret weapon is a one-two punch of personal testimony and rare archival media. The extraordinary stories of the era's pioneers--among them former Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall; biologist/Population Bomb author Paul Ehrlich; Whole Earth Catalog founder Stewart Brand; Apollo Nine astronaut Rusty Schweickart; and renewable energy pioneer Hunter Lovins--are beautifully illustrated with an incredible array of footage from candy-colored
Eisenhower-era tableaux to classic tear-jerking 1970s anti-litterbug PSAs. Directed by acclaimed documentarian Robert Stone (Oswald's Ghost, Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst), Earth Days is both a poetic meditation on humanity's complex relationship with nature and an engaging history of the revolutionary achievements--and missed opportunities--of groundbreaking eco-activism.
Opening: August 14
Film: It Might Get Loud
Dir.: Davis Guggenheim
Prod.: Thomas Tull
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
http://www.sonyclassics.com/itmightgetloud/
Rarely can a film penetrate the glamorous surface of rock legends. It Might Get Loud tells the personal stories, in their own words, of three generations of electric guitar virtuosos - The Edge (U2), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), and Jack White (The White Stripes). It reveals how each developed his unique sound and style of playing favorite instruments, guitars both found and invented. Concentrating on the artist's musical rebellion, traveling with him to influential locations, provoking rare discussion as to how and why he writes and plays, this film lets you witness intimate moments and hear new music from each artist. The movie revolves around a day when Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge first met and sat down together to share their stories, teach and play.
Opening: August 14
Film: Art & Copy
Dir.: Doug Pray
Prods.: Jimmy Greenway, Michael Nadeau
http://www.artandcopyfilm.com/
Art & Copy is a powerful new film about advertising and inspiration. Directed by Doug Pray (Surfwise, Scratch, Hype!), it reveals the work and wisdom of some of the most influential advertising creatives of our time--people who've profoundly impacted our culture, yet are virtually unknown outside their industry. Exploding forth from advertising's "creative revolution" of the 1960s, these artists and writers all brought a surprisingly rebellious spirit to their work in a business more often associated with mediocrity or manipulation: George Lois, Mary Wells, Dan Wieden, Lee Clow, Hal Riney and others featured in Art & Copy were responsible for "Just Do It," "I Love NY," "Where's the Beef?," "Got Milk," "Think Different," and brilliant campaigns for everything from cars to presidents. They managed to grab the attention of millions and truly move them. Visually interwoven with their stories, TV satellites are launched, billboards are erected, and the social and cultural impact of their ads are brought to light in this dynamic exploration of art, commerce, and human emotion.
Opening: August 28
Venue: Cinema Village/New York City
Film: At the Edge of the World
Dir.: Dan Stone
Distributor: WealthEffectMedia
What are you willing to risk your life for?
For 46 volunteers on two ships determined to shut down an illegal whaling fleet in Antarctic waters, the consequences are very real.
At The Edge of the World puts you in the middle of the action as the international crew
unleashes an arsenal of bizarre and brilliant tactics in this uniquely beautiful and deadly corner of the world.
With one ship (The Farley Mowat) too slow to chase down the whaling fleet, with their second ship (The Robert Hunter) unsuited for Antarctic ice conditions and with no country supporting their efforts to enforce international law, the situation becomes increasingly desperate in this real-life David-vs.-Goliath adventure.
Opening: August 28
Film: The September Issue
Dir./Prod.: R.J. Cutler
Prods.: Eliza Hindmarch, Sadia Shepard
Distributor: Roadside Attractions, A&E Indie Films
http://www.arp.tv/production.html?production=septissue
http://www.theseptemberissue.com/#/home
The September 2007 issue of Vogue magazine weighed nearly five pounds, and was the single largest issue of a magazine ever published. With unprecedented access, The September Issue, directed and produced by R.J. Cutler, tells the story of legendary Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour and her larger-than-life team of editors creating the issue and ruling the world of fashion.
Opening: August 28
Film: We Live in Public
Dir./Prod.: Ondi Timoner
Prod.: Keirda Bahruth
http://www.weliveinpublicthemovie.com/
On the 40th anniversary of the Internet, We Live in Public tells the story of the effect the Web is having on our society, as seen through the eyes of "the greatest Internet pioneer you've never heard of," visionary Josh Harris. Award-winning director Ondi Timoner (DIG!), documented his tumultuous life for more than a decade to create a riveting, cautionary tale of what to expect as the virtual world inevitably takes control of our lives.
Josh Harris, often called the "Warhol of the Web," founded Pseudo.com, the first Internet television network during the infamous dot-com boom of the 1990s. He also created his vision of the future: an underground bunker in New York City where 100 people lived together on camera for 30 days over the turn of the millennium. (The project, named QUIET, also became the subject of Ondi Timoner's first cut of her documentary about Harris. Her film shared the project's name.) With QUIET, Harris proved how, in the not-so-distant future of life online, we will willingly trade our privacy for the connection and recognition we all deeply desire. Through his experiments, including another six-month stint living under 24-hour live surveillance online which led him to mental collapse, he demonstrated the price we will all pay for living in public.
It began in 1997 as DOCtober, and over the next dozen years, the theatrical documentary showcase took on various incarnations and locations. And last Thursday, the three-weeks long, bicoastal DocuWeeks 2009 launched at the ArcLight Hollywood, with a screening of Greg Barker’s Sergio, followed by a classy reception. This sequence, a reversal of previous years, worked much better for those of us who, in previous openers, would have to fast-forward our networking and noshing in order to catch the screening.
HBO Documentary Films generously sponsored both the screening and the reception, and the Doyenne of Docs herself, Sheila Nevins, introduced the film, noting, “I know so many people here, it’s like a wake!” Nancy Abraham, HBO Documentary Films’ senior vice president, handled the Q&A afterwards.
And Sergio itself, based on the book Chasing the Flame by Samantha Power, is a hybrid of a profile of Sergio Viera de Mello, the charismatic High Commissioner of the United Nations, and a minute-by-minute re-creation of his final day, August 19, 2003, when a terrorist bomb struck UN headquarters in Baghdad. A rich layering of recollections from Sergio’s fiancée, the military paramedics who valiantly tried to save him and his colleague who lost both his legs in the attack; artfully rendered re-enactments, as performed by the paramedics themselves; and archival footage of Sergio’s remarkable career make for a profoundly moving elegy to a “man of action and of reflection.”
One of the paramedics, Sergeant Bill Von Zehle, joined Barker, Abraham and producer Julie Goldman on stage for a conversation. The Sergeant praised Sergio’s selflessness, how he wanted to make sure everyone else got out before he was saved. He also talked about why the excavation equipment had taken so long to get to the headquarters—the Army was based near the airport, and had to negotiate their way through “Sniper’s Alley”; in addition, the Iraqis had looted their equipment in the early days of the war. Barker revealed that Sergio’s first wife and two sons “decided to keep the memory of Sergio private” and not appear on camera, and that it had taken Sergio’s fiancée, Carolina Larriera, several months to feel comfortable about telling her story on camera. The interview lasted nine hours.
Discussion of the film continued at the party, where many of the DocuWeeks filmmakers—Gene Rosow from DIRT! The Movie; Lee Storey from Smile ‘Til It Hurts, Zeus Quijano from point of entry; Frank Stiefell from Ingelore; NC Heikin from Kimjongilia; Bristol Baughan from Racing Dreams—sampled the ample selection of crudités with the likes of dynamo blogger/filmmaker AJ Schnack, Geoffrey Smith, whose The English Surgeon was opening in LA that weekend, and Eva Orner from Taxi to the Dark Side. The IDA Board, led by President Eddie Schmidt, was well represented, as were the IDA staff and the documentary community it so ably serves. The nonfiction faithful hung around well past midnight, holding forth in various booths around the room, deeply engaged in discussion about the weeks of riveting docs to come, unaware of and indifferent to the late hour.
For more pictures from DocuWeeks, check out the IDA's Flickr Photostream.
Meet the Filmmakers: NC Heikin--'Kimjongilia'
By Tom White
Editor's Note: Kimjongilia, which screened as part of the 2009 DocuWeeks Theatrical Documentary Showcase, opens Friday, March 19, in New York City through Lorber Films. Here's an interview with director/producer/writer NC Heikin that we published in conjunction with DocuWeeks.
Over the next month, we at IDA will be introducing our community to the filmmakers whose work will be represented in the DocuWeeksTM Theatrical Documentary Showcase, July 31-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 NC Heikin, director/producer/writer of Kimjongilia..
Synopsis: Kimjongilia follows several North Korean defectors as they tell their astonishing stories of starvation, persecution and escape from the world's worst human rights violator, the so-called Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The kimjongilia is a flower that was bred to celebrate North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's 46th birthday, and is said to represent love, peace, justice and wisdom. Children sent to prison for alleged crimes of their grandfathers; refugees caught in China and deported back to North Korea for imprisonment and torture; relentless famine: These testimonies give lie to the lofty propaganda of Kim Jong Il's regime.
IDA: What inspired you to make Kimjongilia?
NC Heikin: I was completely driven by this story of human rights in North Korea, children in concentration camps, the total repression in which North Koreans live. When I first heard about this issue, I wanted to do an adaptation of a true story about one of my subjects, Kang Chol Hwan. I optioned his memoir and wrote a very moving screenplay based on it, imagining a sort of Empire of the Sun feature. When it became obvious that I was not going to be able to get any partners on the project, I felt so frustrated, and so compelled to get the story out, that I decided to try making it as a documentary. All I knew was that I had to tell this story. The idea of children being taken to labor camps was so repellent to me that I felt a personal responsibility to do something to stop it.
IDA: What were some of the challenges and obstacles in making this film, and how did you overcome them?
NCH: The biggest challenge was the fact that there was no footage of the North Korean camps or the starvation or anything directly related to the testimonies. There is virtually no archival material on it, and no way to go and film something. Another difficulty was how to weave together many different characters, all of whom are important, into a cohesive, expressive whole.
IDA: How did your vision for the film change over the course of the pre-production, production and post-production processes?
NCH: At first, I wanted to tell one character's story exclusively, and pin different bits of information and side stories on one arc. But as I met more and more defectors, I realized I wanted to give as many people as possible a voice. It became very important to me to let everyone speak, as one of the devastations of North Korea is the utter clampdown on speech and thought inside the country.
IDA: As you've screened Kimjongilia--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?
NCH: People are stunned. The most frequent response is, "I had no idea." It is interesting how we think we know about a subject from the bytes we hear on TV when a headline-making event grabs our attention. Kim Jong Il is a master at making headlines. But this film goes behind his oddball hairdo and nuclear swagger to the human beings inside the country, and that's the story we don't really know. I feel privileged to have this opportunity to tell it. I'm always a little surprised when I get political questions from people who want to rehash the Cold War and assign blame. To me, this is just not the point. It's a human rights issue, period.
IDA: What docs or docmakers have served as inspirations for you?
NCH: The biggest influence was definitely Claude Lanzmann and Shoah. I tried to emulate him for the powerful way he used testimony. I also loved The Thin Blue Line for its creativity in visualizing the crime in the absence of footage--not to mention the fact that it exonerates a wrongly accused man. Not a bad use of film! Lately, I loved both Trouble the Water and Man on Wire-- two very different films, but both brilliant.
Kimjongilia will be screening at the ArcLight Hollywood Cinema in Los Angeles and the IFC Center in New York City.
To download the DocuWeeksTM program in Los Angeles, click here.
To purchase tickets for DocuWeeksTM in Los Angeles, click here.
To download the DocuWeeksTM program in New York, click here.
To purchase tickets for DocuWeeksTM in New York, click here.