Day 4--Still Lost in Amsterdam Following a seven-film jury session, we repaired to the Escape club, the hub of social activities at IDFA, including the Guests Meet Guests happy hours, the TalkShow and the Dance Club. While I haven't been able to partake in any extra-Jury screening, panel or The Forum, the Escape lends a high school reunion feel; I ran into journalist/educator/2006 IDA Preservation and Scholarship honoree Pat Aufderheide, filmmaker/educator/2008 IDA Preservation and Scholarship honoree Marina Goldovskaya, filmmaker Peter Wintonick and journalist Marc Glassman, and met a host of
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International Documentary FilmFestival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the sine qua non of documentary festivals, having debuted in 1988, when few documentary-specific showcases existed. Twenty years later, IDFA reigns supreme, having arguably inspired a plethora of fests such as Hot Docs, Full Frame, SilverDocs, Cine du Reel, Sheffield Doc/Fest, True/False, et al. Although Documentary magazine has regularly published dispatches from IDFA, I have never attended, due to the overlap with Thanksgiving and the proximity to the IDA Awards. But I was honored to be invited to serve on the jury for two
Mix of first-timers and established filmmakers receive support.
The minute I opened my hotel room door, I went right to work-on Documentary magazine-related matters back home. Working through a jet-lagged and sleep-deprived fog, I managed to get things done-and being nine hours ahead of my colleagues helped! I went out into a raw and rainy Amsterdam to catch opening night-and I got lost. Many times. After asking three people for directions, I stumbled upon the theater. But the screening had started 15 minutes earlier, and I was in a somnambulant state of mind, so I made my way
Ira Glass' THIS AMERICAN LIFE and YOUNG@HEART receive honors.
I spent Friday, November 7th at AFI Fest 2008 kicking around in future space, attending the second day of AFI Digifest. Digifest is part of the AFI Digital Content Lab (DCL), a research and development incubator for new forms of digital entertainment. Throughout the year, the Lab generates digital media prototypes conceived and built by collaborative teams of professional volunteer mentors. The first day of DigiFest, which I sadly was not able to attend, is dedicated to showing off the prototypes, which this year included project with HBOlab, the online Newshour team, ABC.com, and Earth Echo
Criterion offers 40 percent off in online store.
Get the roundup of the eigth Doc Buenos Aires festival.