In this panel, moderated by filmmaker Charlie Shackleton, representatives from an array of archives will discuss these challenging issues, while also highlighting the ways in which archives can serve the independent filmmaking community.
Here's What Really Happened
No tweeting. No press. No industry. Filmmakers-only conversations revealing personal insights into the art and business of documentary filmmaking.
“Here’s What Really Happened” are signature sessions from IDA's biennial Getting Real Conference that began as a filmmaker-led solution to combat the lack of transparency that continues to plague the community. These intimate conversations allow filmmakers to speak openly about what actually happened in the production, sales and distribution life of a film. The rules are, everything said in the room, stays in the room. Our goal is to create a safe space for discussion that allows filmmakers to have frank, meaningful discussions without the influence of industry in the room. We believe that one of the greatest resources for a filmmaker is another filmmaker.
In building a more knowledgeable and transparent community together, IDA tours “Here’s What Really Happened” sessions to various festivals and conferences around the world. These private conversations have focused on security/surveillance, sales agents, festival strategies, fact-finding, ethics, work/family life balance, truth-seeking in production, and other themes.
Learn what really happened behind-the-scenes in an upcoming session. It’s personal, it’s intimate, let’s get into it.
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Join us for a candid conversation with Anaïs Taracena, director and producer of El Silencio del Topo ( The Silence of the Mole, 2021), the award-winning documentary about a journalist who infiltrated the brutal and repressive government of Guatemala in the 1970s. Taracena, a self-trained filmmaker
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A very small number of film festivals seem to hold an enormous amount of sway over a film’s sales and distribution prospects, as well as the filmmakers’ chances at creating a sustainable living through filmmaking. This perception drives many filmmakers to pin their hopes on just a handful of market-driven festivals that are most important in their region, whether it’s North America (where Sundance looms large), Europe (Cannes, which accepts very few documentaries), Asia (A-list festivals like Busan or Singapore) or elsewhere. In reality, there is a vast ecosystem of film festivals that can all contribute to the healthy life of a documentary film project, and distribution that doesn’t rely on the catalyst of perceived film festival success.
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Join Emmy®-winning filmmaker Lindsey Dryden and filmmaker & writer Kyla Harris in a workshop on Disability Justice, disabled-led creativity, and accessibility in the film and TV industry.
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Can film advance and energize Black Women’s Wellness? If so, how?
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From July 7-10, 2023, IDA will bring together a diverse group of researchers, artists, curators, creative technologists, poets, and collectives for an in-person convening in Los Angeles, CA.
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In this two-hour workshop, entertainment attorney Chris Perez will clarify and simplify questions about fair use. Chris, who is a partner at Donaldson Callif Perez, current co-president of the IDA Board, and co-writer of Clearance and Copyright, 5th Edition and The American Bar Association’s Legal Guide to Independent Filmmaking, will use his extensive experience helping documentary filmmakers navigate clearance issues to break down the do’s and don’ts of fair use. He will also walk filmmakers through new updates in the law regarding the use of photographs, as well as international issues that need to be considered.
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Join Ranell Shubert, IDA Nonfiction Access Initiative (NAI) Funds Program Manager, and Keisha Knight, Director of Funds and Advocacy, to discuss the NAI program and launch of the NAI Nonfiction Media Makers with Disabilities Survey. Ranell and Keisha will present information about the survey, discuss how it was developed, and answer any questions.
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In this IDA members’ only workshop, veteran marketing expert and researcher Fred Greene will give a brief presentation on different moments filmmakers can position and present themselves in their projects. Greene will follow this talk with a series of short strategy sessions with pre-selected projects workshopping their written materials and conclude with an audience Q&A.
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This 90-minute event is developed through IDA’s Getting Real Fellowship and will bring together filmmakers from Bangladesh and Taiwan who have experience negotiating the international film circuit. Facilitated by programmer Pei-hua Chung (Taiwan International Documentary Festival), filmmakers Huang Yin-yu (Green Jail) and Farid Ahmad (Waiting for Winter) will share a film with event registrants ahead of their conversation around shared concerns. They will discuss this complicated landscape, touching on topics from international co-productions, the assumptions behind ideas of universality in narrative structures, and the unsaid challenges of being platformed. This event is presented in partnership with Dhaka DocLab, TFAI and Taiwan Docs.