In its twenty-second annual session—middle-aged as festivals go—the Mead festival this past November presented a parade of new films that enlarged public understanding of complex issues in many nations, particularly within the developing world. Mead performs this important service for the intellectual and scholarly community of New York City, but also for general audiences. Mead's outstanding Festival Director is Elaine Charnov. Now that the festival has ended, six programs of two hours-plus each are on national tours, managed by Melanie Kent. Generally, Mead has programmed its films
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Getting Started in a Documentary Career in the U.S. *Supported by the Los Angeles County Art Commission and Thirteen-WNET A dynamic assembly of panelists—filmmakers, distributors, arts administrators, producers—talked about how they got where they are and advised the audience of several hundred students, teachers and emerging filmmakers of what lies ahead for them. Moderated by educator/filmmaker/IDA Board member Thelma Vickroy, this special Congress opening event provided hearty helpings of food-for-thought and encouragement, also a dollop or two of pessimism. The filmmakers on the panel—
When I began work last fall on a year-end LIFE Magazine special for CBS, I had no idea how personal the subject would become by its air date. LIFE REMEMBERS was conceived as a tribute to the lives and legacies of the famous and the unknown who had passed away during 1998. During the final weeks of production, I learned of Henry Hampton's death. My personal relationship with Henry was not nearly long enough. But the time we did share—especially the conversations we had—remain as deep and lasting memories. One of my favorites is recalling our mutual chuckle whenever we finally heard the other's
It's Sunday afternoon at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival, and the week-long events are drawing to a close. Usually, this is the time when sessions begin to thin out dramatically, as festival delegates hasten to beat a path home. But this year, a mid-afternoon session is packed with attendees. Why? Because it's a rare chance to see one of Britain's best known filmmakers, Michael Apted, talking about his seminal, longitudinal documentary series, 42 Up. In 1964, Michael Apted was a twenty-two year old researcher working for Granada Television's World in Action series. The
It is a rare delight to attend a feature film festival, such as Sydney's (15-19 June 1998), that takes documentaries seriously. Nearly every program began with one, and received such unusual consideration that late comers were not allowed into the auditorium until the documentary had ended. This good order was characteristic of an event whose primary purpose is to offer Australians an opportunity to enjoy and catch up with world cinema. It is not trying to be a Cannes or even a Berlin. There are no stars, no distributors and no prizes (except for Australian films). In summary, no "hype." What
Documentary film is not immune from the impact of social change. This is especially evident in a country where politics and social structure have undergone radical change. In the Republic of Korea, documentaries have reflected military dictatorship, independence from Japanese colonial rule, democratization and the more profound political developments of the 1990s throughout the world. Today the challenge for South Korean documentary is paramount to meeting the challenges of the 21st century. Prior to the 1990s, two major trends were apparent in Korean documentaries, as was the case elsewhere
In and Out of Sardinia. From the moment I stepped onto Sardinian soil, to the moment the plane lifted off 8 days later, I was treated to one of the most extraordinary weeks of my life. I had come to the island for an ethnographic film festival, and although I was expecting to make some extra-curricular side-trips and discoveries, I was not prepared for the enduring impression that week would make. I spent the weekend before the festival with new friends I'd met through the Internet while searching for information on the launeddas, a Sardinian musical instrument where a single player uses
Known widely as the creator and executive producer of Eyes on the Prize, Henry Hampton was serving as Director of Broadcasting and Information, for the Unitarian Universalist Association, when in 1965 he participated in a civil rights march in Selma, Alabama. The experience so moved him that three years later he founded Blackside, a Boston-based company, whose productions would become some of the most significant documentary contributions of the last three decades. Serving as Blackside's president, and chiefly responsible for film and TV concept development, marketing and corporate development
When Sheila Nevins accepted the IDA Career Achievement Award at our annual Gala in late October, she referred to herself as "colloquial." By definition, "colloquial" means both "familiar" and "popular." Good choice of words—for Sheila, and for documentaries. This hasn't always been the case for documentaries. As our guest scholar for IDC3, Peter J. Bukalski , stated in his "Milestones in the History of Documentary" for the IDC3 Handbook, "Greater numbers of documentaries are being produced and seen today than at any time in history." He also cautioned us that "the huge contemporary audience
Jon Alpert is a nine-time Emmy® Award-winning independent producer, remembered by many as a contributing correspondent to NBC's Today Show for more than a decade. His skills as a video camera-toting investigative journalist, coupled with his relentless and single-minded determination, have gotten him into perilous world hot spots well ahead of the formidable network news divisions. Between 1974 and 1979, Alpert co-produced five one-hour documentaries for public television. The earliest, Cuba: The People, presented the first American television coverage inside Cuba in ten years. In 1976, he won