DOCS ROCK, a bold new program developed for high school students by the IDA, is anchored on the premise that documentary films are a cultural art form that stimulates the development of basic principles of critical analysis. This program cultivates the ability to make judgments about media from a perspective of what is fiction and what is nonfiction, and expands this skill as it may be applied to all aspects of development, learning and human experience. The DOCS ROCK outreach program has steadily thrived and continues to grow. In December 2003, the curriculum received full accreditation for
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'The Summit' opens in theaters October 4 through IFC Films.
In what is sure to be remembered as this decade's An Inconvenient Truth, Jacob Kornbluth's documentary feature debut Inequality for All tackles the increasingly unbalanced distribution of wealth among America's workers. Developed from the concepts of leading political economist and former Clinton labor secretary Robert Reich, the film uses Reich's wealth and poverty course at UC Berkeley as the through line by which the history of income inequality is simplified, explained, and exposed. Inequality for All screened on Thursday, September 26 in Los Angeles to kick off the IDA Documentary
In its sophomore year, Silverdocs—based at the American Film Institute Theater in Silver Spring, Maryland, and co-sponsored by AFI and Discovery Networks—became a hub for documentary makers. It was possible not only to see several of 75 documentaries, but also to attend a conference for working filmmakers and programmers and, of course, to network. Some ten feature films competed for the festival's top prize of $10,000 in cash and services, and two ended up splitting it: Carey Schonegevel's compelling and poetic pastiche film Original Child Bomb, which combines familiar and unfamiliar images
A temple entrance in Vientaine, Laos. Photo: Rachel Gardin Mark Earlier this year, I was invited to be a film envoy for the American Film Showcase (AFS), a cultural diplomacy program sponsored by the US Department of State and managed by the USC School of Cinematic Arts, with IDA and Film Independent as partners. I would be going to Laos for two weeks as the part of the first delegation of Year 2 of the AFS. Even before I boarded a plane in Boston on a Friday this past May, I had wondered what being a film envoy really meant. I arrived in Narita Airport, Tokyo, 16 hours later, and awaited a
'Let the Film Burn' opens October 2 in New York City.
'American Promise' opens in theaters October 18 through Impact Partners.
This year's WESTDOC conference—which took place in mid-September at The Landmark Theaters in West Los Angeles—saw the best of both worlds for documentary filmmakers. Hosting conversations with prolific filmmakers such as Ondi Timoner and Rory Kennedy on one hand, while presenting panels with funding and digital distribution experts on the other, WESTDOC struck a perfect balance between the creative and business sides of documentary filmmaking. The conference covered all the steps between these two sides—starting with fundraising, an essential component of the filmmaking process. The first
'Valentine Road' premieres October 7 on HBO.