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Panels & Workshops

Our year-round series of topical seminars led by experts in the documentary field.


Fri. July 31, 2015 @ 4:00pm
Free for IDA members and one guest on a first come, first served basis. Have your pressing questions answered and get the information you need at this timely session as Simon Kilmurry, IDA’s Executive Director, formerly of POV, holds a wide-ranging conversation and Q&A with Marie Nelson, PBS Vice President, News, Public Affairs & Independent Film and Lois Vossen, Founding and Deputy Executive Producer of Independent Lens.

Sat. July 11, 2015 @ 10:00am
Free for IDA members on a first come, first served basis. Are you interested in learning more about the Oscar ®-qualifying process for the Documentary Feature and Short Subject categories? Join us for this free information session. Tom Oyer, Awards Manager at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and

Wed. June 24, 2015 @ 7:00pm
Interviewed by Josh Welsh Join us for a special evening with Ondi Timoner, the most dynamic force in documentary today. Recently bestowed with the honor of opening the 2015 SXSW Film Festival with her latest doc, BRAND: A Second Coming, Ondi has put herself in the upper echelon of doc makers through

Wed. May 27, 2015 @ 7:00pm
Join us for 2 for 2, the riveting new Doc U series, in which we go behind the scenes to explore the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of two documentary filmmakers who have managed to overcome the odds and ultimately prevail with their films. In our premiere event, moderated by Sacha Gervasi (

Tue. April 28, 2015 @ 7:00pm
Interviewed by Trevor Groth Join us for an evening with one of documentary’s great artists, as we explore the uniquely imaginative world of filmmaker Brett Morgen, the man the New York Times coined the ‘mad scientist’ of documentary film. With a body of work as varied as it is original, Brett is a

Wed. April 22, 2015 @ 7:30pm
Having a killer trailer or work sample may not guarantee your film’s success in the funding lottery or land you that coveted distribution deal, but it does ensure that your film will cause funders, distributors and other decision makers to stand up and take notice. Putting out a less than stellar

Wed. April 1, 2015 @ 10:00am
Presented by the IDA and DOC NYC Tues, 03/31/15 7:30pm-8:45pm and Wed, 04/01/15 10:30am-5:00pm IFC Center - 323 Sixth Avenue at West 3rd Street, New York, NY 10014 Can't make it to New York? Follow #savedocs and watch the discussion as it unfolds. Tuesday, March 31 at IFC Center 7:30pm-9:00pm

Wed. March 18, 2015 @ 7:30pm
Get any group of documentary filmmakers together and, no doubt, a big topic of conversation will be money: how to get it, how to make it, and how to keep getting and making it. Why? Because making docs is hard enough, but figuring out how to make a living making docs can be downright maddening

Wed. March 4, 2015 @ 7:00pm
Interviewed by Marjan Safinia Join us for the first in a new series of “Conversations With…” as maverick documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield looks back on his incomparable body of work that spans more than 40 years. IDA Board President Marjan Safinia is our guide for this on-stage interview and

Tue. February 17, 2015 @ 7:30pm
From Citizenfour to Virunga, documentary filmmakers are increasingly breaking important investigative stories, while at the same time employing gripping story-telling techniques and delivering powerful cinematic experiences. What are the artistic and personal challenges of working in both the