Beads of sweat ran down the starving filmmaker's face. He held the crisp Anamorphic sub-master between his teeth as he struggled around the Convergence Jungle, trying not to think about what his wife would say when she learned they had to mortgage the house...again. Suddenly, he saw it. A lamp. A magic lamp. He scrambled to grab it and rubbed it incessantly, conditioned as he was to force people to listen to him. Slowly, the Genie came out. Flipping mindlessly though his appointment book, he asked. "And who are you?" "I'm the filmmaker." "What do you want?" "I want a conference where people
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A review of 'A New History of Documentary Film,' by Jack C. Ellis and Betsy A. McLane.
The breadth and depth of the Internet are unfathomable--in both the information it contains and the services it provides. I can now work, shop for groceries and have a great social life, all without leaving my bedroom. This new, virtual world is laden with egregious irony and a myriad of possibilities. One such possibility has emerged over the past few years that has taken the movie rental industry by storm. In the past, to rent my favorite documentary, Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbot's The Corporation, my experience would be a multi-step process that would involve (1) driving to the nearest
Dear IDA Members: Congratulations to this year's Oscar Nominees in the Documentary Short and Documentary Feature Categories. This year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences revised its nomination process for the Documentary categories and from everything I hear, the changes have been met with popular approval from the field. Chaired by Oscar-winning documentarian and long-time IDA member Arnold Schwartzman, the Academy's Documentary Committee announced the following nominees: Best Documentary Short Eyewitness, directed by Bert Van Bork, reveals the horror of Auschwitz some five decades
Nominees: Best Documentary Feature One Day in September (*Winner) Produced by Arthur Cohn and John Battsck Directed by Kevin MacDonald Executive Producer: Lillian Birnbaum Cinematography by Alwin Kulcher and Neve Cunningham Edited by Justine Wright Narration by Michael Douglas An Arthur Cohn Production, 91 min Few events have brought home to the world the realities of modern terrorism quite so dramatically as the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich by a Palestinian group known as the Black September. The global media, there to cover the great sporting symbol of
Documentary filmmakers, in their attempt to grab and hold viewer attention in a competitive environment, sometimes resort to sensationalizing their topic. The ocean floor! Snowboarding! Heart bypass operations! Errol Morris does it another way. Morris' projects get star billing at film festivals, and he is regularly included in "best filmmaker" categories. In fact, Morris was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by members outraged at the institution's failure to honor his work. Like the sensationalists, Morris reveals to us the weird, the bizarre, the horrifying and
IDA 2000 is off and running with smooth transitions, active programming and worldwide visibility! As the annual election ballots rolled in from you and your colleagues in 50 countries, we say adieu to two dedicated volunteers. Lynne Littman and Joan Sekler have retired from the IDA board after years of active and enthusiastic service. Joan, as many of you know continues to work tirelessly promoting independent documentaries and working actively with new media coalitions. Lynne, who has directed more clip shows for our annual Awards and Oscar receptions than we dare count, will continue her
For as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated by the history of The Friars Club—the legendary showbiz haven where some of the biggest icons of 20th century entertainment have gathered to let it all hang out. In its heyday, it was a home-away-from-home for giants such as Frank Sinatra, Jack Benny, George Burns, Johnny Carson and Dean Martin. The Friars Club is best known for its irreverent celebrity roasts. Milton Berle captured the spirit when he quipped, "Having a roast at The Friars Club is like hemorrhoids: Sooner or later every asshole gets one!" When I moved to Los Angeles in 1994
Voyeurism, communism, anti-Semitism, racism, ethnic conflict, drug addiction-are these tabloid headlines or topics of recent Canadian documentaries? Canada's National Film Board courts controversy with its latest docs. The NFBC is alive and kicking at 60, with much to celebrate, having successfully weathered '90s reorganization and downsizing without compromising its outstanding documentary tradition and its commitment to Canadian artists and issues. Leading the NFB's list of prize contenders in the year 2000 are two documentaries made by first-time directors. Through a Blue Lens is a gripping