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The National Science Foundation (NSF), an independent government agency that was created in 1950 by an act of the US Congress, funds research and education in science and engineering. It is also a longtime supporter of documentary filmmakers' innovative approaches to science programming. "The charge is to make projects that inform the public about science, engineering technology and mathematics," says Hyman Field, NSF's senior advisor for public understanding of research. "We're looking for creative ways to get audiences engaged in science. And we're not just looking for the surface substance

Fangs, claws, dripping blood and sex scenes...No, it's not a drive-in monster movie from the '50s; it's probably a PBS wildlife special, the kind of sweeping look into the animal kingdom that established America's public broadcaster as this country's premiere outlet for natural history films. These programs have always been staples on the PBS menu, but it wasn't until 1982 that an ongoing regular wildife series became a part of the network schedule. It took the prodding of George Page, then head of the science and features unit at Thirteen/WNET in New York to make it happen. Impressed by the

This spring, two new documentaries bring to large format screens some of the most remarkable underwater images ever captured. On February 14, IMAX releases Coral Reef Adventure, the most expensive production to date from the man who took us to Everest, director Greg MacGillivray. On April 11, Disney releases Ghosts of the Abyss, a tour to the wreck of the Titanic from director James Cameron. Although Cameron is a nascent documentary director, he shares with veteran MacGillivray the passion to bring audiences up close to things few human beings ever see. And both men relied heavily on world

"It is important to make the primary distinction between a method which describes only the surface values of a subject, and the method which more explosively reveals the reality of it," wrote John Grierson. With this observation in his essay, "First Principles of Documentary," Grierson could well have been writing about Large Format (LF) film. With a film frame ten times larger than 35mm, the 15/70 IMAX format has a unique ability to transport audiences into the environments it depicts. Projected on a giant screen 100 feet wide and eight stories high, served up in six-channel sound, the LF

The International Documentary FilmFestival Amsterdam, (IDFA,) at 15 years old, has become the major annual event for European documentary filmmakers, and is no longer a secret among North American doc producers and programmers. "It's an extraordinary festival," said Steve James, whose much-acclaimed Stevie went on to win the Joris Ivens Award for best long-form documentary. This was James' fourth time attending IDFA, which was held in late November. "It's so much more than a chance to see docs from all over the world. In fact, it was at an earlier IDFA that I got the idea for this film. I was

At this year's DOCtober, 19 of the 21 films screened were shot on Digital Video (DV) and blown up to film. At the recent AFI Fest, 11 of the 12 docs in competition were shot digitally and transferred to film. The digital future is here—still imperfect, but readily available and getting more affordable. In my ongoing effort to conquer a case of technophobia, I decided to investigate why some prints that originate from DV look so much better than others. An illuminating case study is that of Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe's Lost in La Mancha, the unsettling and compelling story of the "unmaking" of

Groundbreaking documentaries and animation shorts... over 4,000 awards in countless festivals, including ten Oscars and five Palmes d'or at Cannes... That's the visible part of the iceberg north of the 45th parallel, the tip of institution that has become a cinema icon. The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is unique—a first-class producer of documentaries and auteur animation, funded largely by the Government of Canada, whose role is to produce and distribute films in the national interest. The NFB is the steward of a catalogue of over 10,000 titles—ranging from documentaries, animation

I was an undergraduate when I saw Mike Rubbo's Sad Song of Yellow Skin and decided to become a documentary filmmaker. I felt as if a truck had blindsided me. After class, I could hardly catch my breath. Twenty years later, I watched Sad Song of Yellow Skin for the second time. I didn't know if I was going to be disappointed because I didn't specifically recall what had moved me about the film. And that is exactly what captivates me now as a filmmaker: How can we take viewers on a nuanced journey of discovery and move audiences through texture and subtlety? While I remembered Rubbo's film as a

In an effort to encourage documentary makers to screen their works in theaters, the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced in December a tougher policy on theatrical exhibition requirements for both documentary features and short subjects for the 76th awards, which will honor achievements for the year 2003. In addition to the seven-day theatrical run in either Los Angeles County or Manhattan in New York City, a documentary must have a theatrical run of at least two days in each of at least four additional cities. And while the seven-day qualifying run

Dear IDA Members: It is always tempting to take a look back at the year just completed and bask in the glow of whatever successes can be conjured up. For IDA, there have been many successes over the past year, but many opportunities remain ahead in the coming year. And they are huge. We will be calling on your active participation in a variety of areas this coming year. The Documentary Credit Coalition's Scrap with Scripps The Scripps Networks owns and operates The Food Network, Homes & Garden Television, Fine Living and DIY Network. They do not give credits on the shows they commission. The