IFP's Independent Film Week, which ran September 17 through 20 in New York City, had a strong focus on narrative filmmaking, but the programmers saved the best for last, devoting the final day to a wide range of discussions about documentary. The party kicked off with a conversation with Orlando Bagwell, director of the JustFilms initiative at the Ford Foundation; Jess Search, chief executive of the London-based BRITDOC Foundation, moderated the conversation. Bagwell began by walking us through his journey from teacher to filmmaker to film-funder. Orlando Bagwell, speaking at IFP's Independent
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Documentaries about 20th century artists are rarely produced these days, and for a very good reason: The filmmakers can't afford to pay for rights. It isn't just painters' estates that obstruct these projects. Sometimes it's a still photographer who shot an artist for a magazine article. A case in point is Un Modle pour Matisse/A Model for Matisse, the feature-length documentary by Barbara Freed about the creation of Vence Chapel by French modernist painter Henri Matisse and his inspiration, his former nurse and model Monique Bourgeois, now Sister Jacques-Marie. Freed captures the Marcel
Lawyers for the city seek to view all footage in hopes of aiding their defense in the lawsuit against them.
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A screening of Tiffany Shlain's Connected at Encounter Documentary Film Festival of South Africa From the moment I found out I was being "deployed" to Cape Town, South Africa to screen my film Connected for the US State Department's American Film Showcase, to the moment I left, it was like watching a scratchy piece of film footage transforming into reality. I have always been fascinated by South Africa, from reading about the struggle against apartheid and Nelson Mandela's courage, to learning, while in production on Connected, about the resonant African philosophy called Ubuntu, which means
Two documentary filmmakers awarded Genius Grants of $500,000, no strings attached.
On Sunday, June 17, I arrived in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, in the middle of the night after a 25-hour flight. The airport was small and rather empty, but then again, it was after midnight in a remote part of the world. I did not know what to expect, but was excited about the challenges and possibilities of coming to Burundi, a country that few people know about. I was here as a film expert under the auspices of the US State Department-sponsored American Film Showcase and its grantees, the University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinematic Arts and partners IDA and Film
Producer of quality non-fiction programming will support special events related to the Awards ceremony.
Editor’s Note: On September 28 at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Los Angeles, IDA will present Alex Gibney in conversation with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz. Catch this blazing documentary star while you can, when he slows down just long enough for a special evening of electrifying clips and engrossing conversation. Learn more and purchase tickets. Like most people, I was a distant observer of the Enron scandal. I had heard about "Kenny Boy" Lay, special purpose entities, stock option—seven mark-to-market accounting. But I never imagined that the story would make a good film. Then I