A short strand of wooden camel carts moseys through a panorama of cracked, empty desert. The carts bear surprisingly light loads considering that they carry all the worldly possessions of their passengers, some of the last remaining gypsies of India's Thar Desert. As modernization finally proliferates into the outer reaches of the Thar, the gypsies find themselves searching farther and wider for a customer who hasn't already found a cheaper substitute for what they have to offer. These vibrant nomads remain faithful to their caste-based culture, living for the moment in the face of the
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Doc U: A Conversation with Steve JamesProducer-Director of Hoop Dreams Monday, March 21, 2011 7:30 p.m.The Cinefamily, 611 N. Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, CA March's Doc U features an in-depth conversation with Steve James, the producer-director of Hoop Dreams, the landmark documentary hailed by critic Roger Ebert as "the great American documentary." In conversation with IDA's Eddie Schmidt, James will discuss his career, process and work, including his most recent film, The Interrupters, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. $15 IDA MEMBERS/$20 NON MEMBERS. TICKETS ON SALE NOW
I saw Crumb, Terry Zwigoff's portrait of the artist R. Crumb, in 1994 at a packed New York Film Festival press screening where the only seat available was the carpeted stairs. From the first scene I was mesmerized. On the surface, the story is so simple: The artist, in the autumn of his career, is leaving the safety of his secluded Northern California nest to start over in France. Zwigoff uses this as an opportunity to reflect on Crumb's life. As Crumb puts it in the film, "France isn't perfect, or anything, but it's just slightly less evil than the United States." Yet somehow through this
In 1972, Judy Irola was invited to join Cine Manifest, a Marxist film collective in San Francisco. The other members of the group were Gene Corr, Peter Gessner, John Hanson, Stephen Lighthill, Rob Nilsson and Steve Wax. The group was committed to pooling its talents and resources for the purpose of making films that reflected its idealistic social and political philosophies. The collective produced two long-form films before dissolving in 1978. Six of the seven members held a reunion on the 30th anniversary of the founding of Cine Manifest in 2002. There was another reunion in 2003 in North
Online sales have ended, but the event is NOT SOLD OUT. Tickets and Passes will be sold ON SITE at the Writers Guild Theater beginning at 8:30 AM. IDA's all-day, back-to-back screenings of this year's Oscar® nominated documentary films. See the films! Meet the filmmakers! Saturday, February 26, 2011 Writers Guild of America Theater 135 S. Doheny Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90211 For full schedule and more event info, visit the DocuDay LA event page.
Scholars and practitioners poked, prodded, dissected and analyzed issues relating to film and history--from recent boy bands to documentary classics--at the fourth Film & History Biennial Conference in Dallas, Texas, which ran from November 8 to 12. Hosted by Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies and sponsored by The Center for the Study of Film and History, the conference drew an international attendance of scholars, students, editors, filmmakers, writers and historians for five days of academic paper presentations, film screenings and question and answer
'Exit Through the Gift Shop,' nominated for Best Documentary Feature, screens February 26 at DocuDay LA and DocuDay NY.
From Vicky Funari and Sergio De La Torre's Maquilapolis. Courtesy of MadCat Women's International Film Festival Opening night of the MadCat Women's International Film Festival traditionally takes place at El Rio, a funky bohemian bar in San Francisco's Mission district. There's a modest sliding-scale entrance fee, $2.50 margaritas at the bar, and free barbecue in the jam-packed patio area, where a screen is set up to show the films. On this balmy, early fall evening, MadCat is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Founder and curator Ariella Ben-Dov opens the festivities, recalling that she began