The appearance over the next two months of two new programs by the independent Broadcast News Networks (BNN) on Cable News Network's (CNN) new Perspectives series suggests that opportunities for the documentary on television may indeed be changing. It was not that long ago when documentarians had few places to show their work: there was PBS, also the non-theatrical educational market and the film festivals. The networks weren't interested: they rolled their own. It was not the most encouraging scene. And then, not much more than a decade or so ago, things exploded: cable companies seemed to
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With just six months until International Documentary Congress 3—when the "best of the best" in the documentary world will convene in Los Angeles, October 28-30—I want to welcome the individuals who have joined with the IDA and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences as members of the Congress Honorary Committee: Erik Barnouw, Les Blank, Robert Dowling, Robert Drew, Andy Garcia, Henry Hampton, Norman Lear, Pare Lorentz Jr., Albert Maysles, Leonard Nimoy, Edward James Olmos, Howard Rosenberg, Jay Ruby, Andrew Sarris, Richard Schickel, Gene Siskel, Steven Spielberg, George Stevens Jr
In the seventh consecutive collaboration between The Jewish Museum and The Film Society of Lincoln Center, a total of 16 fiction features and 9 documentaries on Jewish themes were screened in New York City (January 11-22), with works from Austria, Belarussia, Bosnia, Canada, France, Israel, Norway, Russia and the the U.S. Featured were three classic works from the silent film era ( The Golem, Germany, 1927; Simon Judit [Judith Simon], Hungary, 1916; and Ukriovana [The Cross], Czechoslovakia, 1921). The Jewish Festival coincided with the 50th anniversaries for the founding of the State of
The second Houston Pan-Cultural Film Festival was held February 8-15. It's a young festival, with kinks here and there, but the programming makes up for the lack of experience. The purpose of Houston's Pan Cultural is to provide exhibition venues for underrepresented people and their films, to offer them a voice in a multicultural context. This year's festival was devoted primarily to films from Latin America, with opportunities to meet eight directors from Mexico, Venezuela, Guatemala, Chile, the United States and Pakistan. As an audience member, I look to films to transport me to another
It's nice to see a film festival get back to its origins. In recent years, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival has grown from a local event showcasing regional/national films to a quasi gala affair, with over 60% of the feature length films coming from abroad. In 1998, the 16th SFIAAFF (March 5-12) returned to a program in which the majority of feature-length films had been made Stateside, evidence that independent film deserves a showcase without being overshadowed by American premieres of foreign productions. This year's festival, however, was not without its
Out of 170 features and shorts at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, 44 were documentaries, including 1 in Premiere, 2 in Spectrum, 4 in World Cinema (with Nick Broomfield's Kurt and Courtney, canceled due to legal problems but still viewed in a private showing); there were 26 total in the Documentary Competition; and the balance in the Shorts Program and Native Vision in Cinema. This year's Documentary Competition showcased a good mix of sixteen features by fledgling, emerging and veteran filmmakers alike. Following are their reviews: BABY, IT'S YOU — Dramatic Doc :56 Filmmaker Anne Makepeace
The conference (13-14 December 1997) was part of the second Visions Project, the ongoing documentary work shop organized under a wing of Centre International de Liaison des Écoles de Cinéma et de Télévision (CILECT, the world confederation of film schools) for European film school students. Thirty-four teachers were present, from Brazil, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Indonesia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Russia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the U.K. and the U.S. Visions 2 is being led by Madeleine Bergh (Dramatic Institute, Stockholm) and Chap
Congratulations to the Academy Award® Nominees for Best Achievement in Documentary! This year IDA takes special pride in the documentary nominees as three of the ten films nominated were participants in DOCtober"', IDA's screening series inaugurated last fall in Pasadena. Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life, Colors Straight Up, and Still Kicking: The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies each qualified for Academy consideration through week-long theatrical runs as part of DOCtober. We also take special pride in congratulating our IDA member filmmakers whose work is being recognized by the Academy this year
The International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam is now firmly established in Documentary Europe as the Big Event of the year. The 10th IDFA was held last December, and I've been going to it ever since it began in 1988. It was small then, relaxed and informal. Now it is huge. But, miraculously, it's still relaxed and informal. And that, with a thousand or so international guests, is no mean accomplishment. One of the many established features of the festival is a daily gathering at 6 p.m., charmingly called "Guests Meet Guests." One afternoon I found myself having an animated discussion
Its name conjures up images of Roman gladiators being eaten alive while spectators observe with bemused delight. Amsterdam's FORUM may or may not deserve such a connotation. For three solid days, toward the close of the International Documentary Film festival Amsterdam, this separate but linked gathering occurs. The FORUM is dedicated not to screening and discussing completed works but to selling and buying proposals. And the prizes at the FORUM are not statues, certificates or audience approval; the prize is a co-production deal or acquisition money. The setting for this enterprise is the