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William Cheng

Headshot of adult of East Asian descent with medium-light skin; short hair; dark blue polo shirt; in front of grassy field

William Cheng is a writer, pianist, and gamer. He is a professor of music at Dartmouth College and a founding co-editor of the Music & Social Justice Series with the University of Michigan Press.

Articles

Selfie of a man and woman standing in front of a sign reading “Welcome to Cine Gear Expo.”
Five Tips for Navigating Your First LA Cine Gear Expo
Blog
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Notes From the Reel World, Summer/Fall 2024
Column
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Letter From the Editor, Summer/Fall 2024
Column
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From below, a man digs a grave.
“This Is a Community Living on the Edge of Death”: Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie Build Trust in ‘Sugarcane’
Online Feature
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A middle–aged, white couple look at each other, laughing. The woman on the left is wearing an orange shirt and the man on the right is wearing sunglasses on his head and a white tank. He has a tattoo on his shoulder.
The Feedback: Amy Nicholson on Embedding in the Community of ‘Happy Campers’
Column
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A black and white image of a cup holding a dark liquid.
“Everything Becomes Fair Game”: James Kienitz Wilkins Discusses What Is Documentary
Online Feature
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HBO Original Quad Gods Graphic with three people wearing white graphic t-shirts sitting in wheelchairs
Documentaries to Watch During Disability Pride Month 2024
Blog
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Four people stand in front of a BAVC Media step-and-repeat.
“We Want to Support and Hold Artists”: BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship Organizers Discuss Building a Community of Care
Online Feature
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Two women sit on director's chairs.
“We Committed Heart and Soul and Funding”: Zeyba Rahman Discusses DDF’s Building Bridges Program
Online Feature
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Sarah Maldoror. Courtesy of Cineteca di Bologna
Il Cinema Ritrovato 2024: Cinemalibero Strand Spotlights Maldoror and Landrián
Online Feature
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A graphic with a neon sign reading "Block Party Bodega", and several characters standing in front of it with surreal, funky costumes.
“We’re Not Making Twins”: iNK Stories Founders Develop Documentary AI-Powered NPC Avatars
Online Feature
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Two officials shake hands as a camera crew films them in the background.
“More Than a Tourist Attraction”: Song Won-geun’s ‘Panmunjom’ Avoids Rote Ideological Narratives
Online Feature
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Photograph of five young men holding bowling balls.
Exclusive: Clip from Rebecca and Pete Davis’s ‘Join or Die’
Exclusive News
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A graphic with a black background, tan text that says “BlackStar Film Festival. August 1st–4th”, and chartreuse and lilac bubble text that says “BSFF2024”. There is a seafoam green “B” stamp logo in the top right corner and small line of text on the top and bottom of the graphic, imitating the edges of a film reel, that repeats “BlackStar Film Festival 2024. August 1st–4th.”
Films from IDA Members at 2024 BlackStar Film Festival
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An illustrated film projector with a frowning face throwing the words "The Price of Passion"
“We Can Always Do Better For Each Other”: DocuMentality’s ‘The Price of Passion’ Reports Doc Filmmakers’ Mental Health
Online Feature
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An over-the-shoulder of a pair of hands holding a small, white disc, the sacramental bread of the Eucharist.
“How Reality Is Structured”: ‘Jesus Thirsts’ and Director Tim Moriarity Turn Theology Into Box Office Gold
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A large, dark theater screening “This Is Not a Film by Deng Nan-guang” with an experimental performance using drums and other instruments on the stage below the screen.
Taiwan Int’l Doc Festival 2024: Reuse, Reorient, and Remember
Online Feature
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A woman in a red blouse sits leaning against a bar countertop, speaking to an interviewer behind the camera.
“Potentially Setting Them Up for Backlash Again”: Caroline Suh and Cara Mones Reflect on Their Louis C.K.-Adjacent ‘Sorry/Not Sorry’
Online Feature
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A grainy image displaying a neon sign reading “The Afterlight”.
Lost and Found: Charlie Shackleton’s Found Footage 35mm Film ‘The Afterlight’ Disappeared for Weeks
Online Feature
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A man stands strumming a banjo in the middle of a stage, singing into a microphone. Other musicians and players surround him while “The Edge of Nature” plays on the screen behind them all.
“Nature Is a Concept That Exists to Divide Us From the Land”: Josh Fox on His Documentary Theater ‘The Edge of Nature’
Online Feature
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Blue graphic with black text that reads "Bay Area Film Production Memo."
BAVC Media Publishes Bay Area Film Production Memo and Research Study
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Two women stand onstage, one at the podium giving a keynote address.
A Film Worker’s Search for Integrity
Online Feature
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Doors open into a crowded ballroom with round tables, a sign for the Sheffield DocFest “MeetMarket” marks the event on the door.
Navigating Sheffield DocFest 2024: Rain or Shine
Online Feature
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A woman helps a child put on paper wings. They are standing in a grassy field.
“I Can Find the Dragons Here”: Suzanne Raes Discusses ‘Where Dragons Live’
Online Feature
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A white man glances away while holding a video camera.
“I Generally Film Solo”: Duncan Cowles’ Multicam First-Person ‘Silent Men: The Awkward Art of Expressing Emotion’
Online Feature
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A man stands in front of paintings with his arms crossed.
Exclusive: Clip from Dan Covert’s ‘Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life’
News, Blog
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Two young people lay on the floor.
“Going Through Every Emotion Is Important”: Zia Anger Morphs Desktop Documentary Performance ‘My First Film’ Into Fiction
Online Feature
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Logos of Doris Duke Foundation and Islamic Scholarship Fund
Exclusive: Islamic Scholarship Fund Expands Film Industry Partnerships with Major Gift from the Doris Duke Foundation
Blog
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A group of middle-aged Chinese women talk to each other.
Folk Memory Project at Open City 2024: “Between Autoethnography and Anti-ethnography”
Online Feature
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Headshot Rodolfo Castillo Morales with arm tattoos and a black t-shirt with a green and white print
IDA Member Spotlight: Rodolfo Castillo-Morales
Blog
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Image for 'Sabbath Queen' featuring people dressed in drag. Courtesy of Sandi DuBowski
“A Shapeshifter in Constant Motion”: Sandi DuBowski Spent 21 Years Filming ‘Sabbath Queen’
Online Feature
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A teenaged boy wearing a green shirt is leaning forward and looking at the camera.
Murder Mystery Meets Climate Change: Nicole Gormley Discusses Her Co-Directed Tribeca Film ‘Searching for Amani’
Online Feature
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A group of middle-aged women dance in a dimly-lit bar.
“Production Was a Kind of Durational Epic”: Nesa Azimi Reflects on ‘Driver’
Online Feature
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Black and white still of a young couple looking at each other, in their kitchen.
“It Becomes Selfish to Talk About Yourself:” Tommaso Santambrogio’s Cuba in ‘Oceans Are the Real Continents’
Online Feature
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Photograph of a wall of index cards.
How Documentary Filmmakers Are Really Making Ends Meet
Blog
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A profile view of a man wearing a crown and sunglasses.
“Harvesting Artifice”: Lance Oppenheim Heightens Reality in HBO Series ‘Ren Faire’
Online Feature
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A white man flips through crates of records while kneeling on the ground.
“More a Labor of Love Than a Paying Gig”: Chris Wilcha Returns to Documentary With ‘Flipside’
Online Feature
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Poster wall, with 10th Kolkata People's Film Festival printed in the top right corner.
Kolkata People’s Film Festival 2024: Precious Spaces
Feature
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A young woman wearing a red headscarf gazes at the camera.
Visions du Réel 2024: ‘Kamay,’ ‘A Move,’ ‘We Are Inside,’ and ‘Diaries From Lebanon’
Online Feature
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Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham in No Other Land (dir. Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor). Courtesy of Berlinale
Berlinale 2024: Memories of War
Feature
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Headshot of Elahe Esmaili
IDA Member Spotlight: Elahe Esmaili
Blog
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Photograph of a figure bundled in winter clothes in front of a giant statue.
“As Foreign Filmmakers, You Need to Be Let In”: Kristoffer Juel Poulsen and Christian Als Discuss ‘Daughter of Genghis’
Online Feature
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Photograph of a group of people standing on stage. One white man is holding a microphone and smiling at the audience.
“Reject the Labels”: Berwick’s Peter Taylor Discusses the Festival’s Recent Evolution
Online Feature
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Three older men read a newspaper.
The Farmers Have Persevered and So Did We: Nishtha Jain Discusses Her Hot Docs-Winning ‘Farming the Revolution’
Online Feature
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In a very bright, sunny driveway, a white man holds a video camera while squinting into the sun.
“A Way to Get Over Social Anxiety”: John Wilson Looks Back on ‘How To with John Wilson’
Online Feature
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A grid of smiling headshots on a red and pink background.
Exclusive: A-Doc Announces 2024 Microdocs Series Selection and Impact Fellows
News, Blog
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Two black girls, one older and one younger, hug in field of grass.
“We Share a Common History”: Patricia Bbaale Bandak on Her Hot Docs-Debuting ‘Death of a Saint’
Online Feature
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Behind the scenes of 'Against All Enemies.' Courtesy of the filmmakers.
“They Think They’re Patriots”: Charlie Sadoff on Streaming Phenom ‘Against All Enemies’
Online Feature
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Image of five people walking together smiling and laughing down a street with a green and yellow banner behind them with text MOUNTAINFILM. Buildings line the side of the road and a big mountain is in the background. Image courtesy of Julian Rubinstein.
How an Anti-SLAPP Statute Protected ‘The Holly’
Feature
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Still from Dau:añcut (Moving Along Image). Courtesy of Adam Piron. People standing in front of a Native American dwelling.
Instruments of Liberation: Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival 2024
Online Feature
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