“It comes from outrage that I pursue the projects I do,” says Arthur Dong, whose films L icensed to Kill (1997) and the recent Family Fundamentals (2002) have explored issues of grave concern to the gay and lesbian community—hate crimes and religious intolerance. But these latter films aren’t polemics or screeds—they provoke, but they also give a fair hearing to the sources of outrage—whether murderers of gay men, in the case of Licensed to Kill, or, in Family Fundamentals, conservative parents whose rigid, faith-based positions on homosexuality have created seemingly unbridgeable schisms with
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By Laura Almo Last June ShowBiz Expo held its annual gathering at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Amid the myriad of vendors were two panel discussions, both sponsored by the IDA: “Getting Your Documentary Made and Distributed” and “The Influence of Documentary on Narrative Filmmaking.” “Getting Your Documentary Made and Distributed,” the first panel, was moderated by IDA Treasurer Richard Propper, founder of Solid Entertainment, a world-wide distributor of documentaries. Propper began by clarifying the three categories of projects: a commissioned project, a co-production and an acquisition
By Michelle Mason & Jeff Schutts Promising “innovation, excellence and opportunity,” the Banff Television Festival is one of the most important annual gatherings for international documentary filmmakers. Setting another attendance record at its 23rd annual meeting, over 1,800 delegates from 42 countries found their way to the Canadian Rockies last June. Such accelerating growth has become a hallmark of the Banff Festival’s success. However, some fear that the festival is on the verge of outgrowing the third part of its mandate, particularly when it comes to emerging talent. These concerns have
What gives a documentary film its power? Is it the inherent fascination of a particular subject (such as a group of Palestinians touring Israel), or the urgency of an issue (like the India-Pakistan nuclear faceoff), or the filmmakers’ degree of access (to a presidential candidate, to Texas Pentecostals, to the elusive French philosopher Jacques Derrida)? All these qualities could be found among the 29 feature documentaries presented at last spring’s 45th San Francisco International Film Festival. But one film went further. In presenting the festival’s Golden Gate Award for Best Documentary to
In the summer of 2001, I sat in on an acting class guided by director and teacher Milton Katselas. A group of experienced actors performed a short scene, then participated in a revealing give-and-take critique of their work. The analysis was very personal, but always related to the art and craft of acting. I attended as a director of dramatic films, but I couldn’t help seeing a documentary there—one camera on Milton and the class during the critique, another on the actors, the same two cameras on the performance. This documentary could be a look at process--the actor’s process. What do they do
At this year's IDA Academy Awards reception, several producers introduced their editors and thanked them for their work. No longer considered just "cutters," documentary editors are starting to be recognized for their creative contributions. Kate Amend has been editing documentaries for 15 years, working with such directors such as Joan Churchill, Johanna Demetrakas and Mark Jonathan Harris. Her body of work includes the Academy Award-winning documentaries The Long Way Home and Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport. She is currently editing Rory Kennedy's new film Pandemic
Since filmmakers' responses to last September 11 were as immediate and urgent as the event itself, broadcast television had an abundance of timely programming from which to choose. Several relevant documentaries were in production before that fateful date. Already in the works was National Geographic's Frontline Diaries: Into the Forbidden Zone (Charle Poe, Michael Davie, producers)—most notable for journalist Sebastian lunger's exclusive, in-depth interview with Ahmad Shah Massoud, the leader of the anti-Taliban rebel force assassinated before the show's broadcast. For two years prior to
Documentaries can be as visually inventive as an Errol Morris film or as evocative as the slow zooms and pans across Ken Burn’s daguerreotype tin plates and pin-hole battle photographs. Nevertheless, the sound of the documentary—particularly the spoken word—is essential to convey and communicate the story. Location sound recording for documentaries can present quite a few challenges. As a production sound mixer I troubleshoot sound problems everyday. Typically, documentary audio problems are the result of insufficient planning and selection of audio equipment. Just as you schedule your shoot
Dear IDA Members: Thanks very much to all the members who have heaped such praise for the work done by the Documentary Credits Coalition. The details of the entire story are set forth elsewhere in this issue. Let me use this space to put the accomplishments in their proper perspective. The Discovery Networks and IDA have enjoyed a long and close relationship. Discovery is, after all, one of the largest buyers of documentary programming in the world. Given its 11 different channels—plus a radio channel—Discovery is unsurpassed in variety and quality of documentaries. One part of IDA’s mission
Dear Readers: Looking back connotes reflection, contemplation, remembrance. In this issue, we don’t so much look back on September 11—it’s all around us, every day—as look forward, while looking back, on that indelible tragedy. Over the past year, the documentary community has responded as it always responds: with the right mix of moxie, ingenuity, circumspection, and responsibility. We’ve delved beneath the collective shroud of uber-patriotism and uncovered hundreds of stories from hundreds of communities. We’ve learned a lot—about faith and religion, about power, about terror, about war