A review of the book 'Challenge for Change: Activist Documentary at the National Film Board of Canada'
Latest Posts
How would you like to make a critically acclaimed documentary and reap the ample rewards? Well, maybe not ample...but respectable? Sounds pretty good, huh? But what about all those years finding compelling subjects, following them around with a camera and then putting together a story that says something about the state of our world? Gosh, that sounds like real work or something! Well, with my handy flow chart (see handy flow chart below), you can create hit documentaries in minutes--using the Mix 'n' Match Instant Documentary Film Maker! Carefully stir together tried and true elements from
By Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady "I love to fly," says a gravelly teenage voice in the opening sequence of Streetwise. "The only bad thing about flying is having to come back down to the fucking world," he continues. The camera is focused on the jean-clad body of a skinny teenage boy, standing on the railing of a wharf at dawn, poised to swan dive into the Seattle harbor. We soon learn that the boy is Rat, a 17-year-old homeless kid who makes his living by picking pockets and "rolling queers." He lives in an abandoned hotel, eats out of a dumpster and clings naively to aspirations for a normal
Speaking at the Commonwealth Club of California earlier this year, Albert Maysles made a comment that many in the audience may not have heard. He said, "You make a film of social significance, and the repercussions go on and on." Many probably missed that moment because it was one of those half-muttered gems that can get lost inside of a live conversation, but becomes profound when watching it again on video. At the time, Maysles was speaking about the controversy that was to become Gimme Shelter, his and brother David's elegy to the 1960s. Much like the decade that birthed it, the film
Distribution U, the brainchild of DIY distribution consultant Peter Broderick and new media expert Scott Kirsner, debuted in November 2009 to great acclaim as a comprehensive primer to getting your doc out there, using the social media tools wisely and creatively to do so. (For Tamara Krinsky's report on the 2009 Distribution U, click here.) Distribution U returned this year, with a New York edition added to complement its Los Angeles edition. The daylong seminar at UCLA (of which this writer could only attend half of the offerings) attracted a bevy of indie docmakers, as well as a legion of
Fall is always a busy festival time for those of us in the business of buying, selling, making and funding documentary films. Choosing where to go can present a dilemma for a first-time filmmaker who has a project to pitch or for a buyer/acquisitions person on a limited budget. Combining some sort of industry conference and pitching session within the context of a film festival is a great two-for-one that provides distributors like me the best opportunity to both see great finished films that are looking for distribution as well as talking to filmmakers who are looking to raise funds for works
The Calling, which airs December 20 and 21 on PBS' Independent Lens, is a two-part, four-hour series that follows seven Muslims, Catholics, Evangelical Christians and Jews as they undertake their respective journeys on the road to professional clergy. The series is, in large part, a snapshot on faith in America and the ongoing challenges of reconciling the exigencies of modernity with the teachings and principles of faiths that date back thousands of years. Chicago-based filmmaker Danny Alpert, the series director and executive producer, enlisted the services of four seasoned vérité filmmakers
Plus Camerimage, which ran from November 27 through December 4, is a unique film festival celebrating the art of cinematography; eight days are devoted each year honoring the importance of these artists/technicians whose visual imagery contribute so much to cinematic storytelling. Overlooked, downplayed or not fully understood, it is the intelligence, originality and beauty of the photography and camerawork that can intensify the emotional impact of a scene, convince the audience to suspend reality, or energize enough brain cells to process large quantities of information--something today's
The Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival--CPH:DOX-- has quietly been building a buzz for a few years. I was happy to get the opportunity to attend this year to experience what the fuss was all about first-hand. Sandwiched in the calendar between Sheffield and IDFA, this is one festival that doesn't have to worry about getting lost in the mix. CPH:DOX has an identity all its own, an "out of the box" vision so singular you wouldn't even think to compare it to anyone else. It's emerged, now in its sixth year, as a stop on the festival circuit very worthy of international attention