October 29, 1997: In the blazing heat that late fall brings to Los Angeles, hundreds of construction workers are working feverishly to complete the $ 1 billion Getty Center for its long-awaited opening on December 16th. And 3,000 miles away, in a cold, dark editing room, three filmmakers fix their eyes on an Avid screen, racing to complete a film documenting the twelve-year creation and building of what is considered the most expensive American cultural project since construction of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in the 1870s. "I live in fear about what we're doing—we'll get our
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The proportion of documentaries to fiction features is always small at the annual New York Film Festival. This year, the 35th event (September 26-October 12, at Lincoln Center) offered only four. But they are excellent choices. The glamor spotlight went to the premieres of fiction features: Ang Lee's The Jee Storm; Pedro Almodovar's Live Flesh; Adam Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter, from Canada. Also prominent were the premiere of MoMA's restoration of Griffith's Orphans of the Storm, performed with the reconstructed score from composers William Frederick Peters and Louis F. Gottschalk; Lars von
"Bring your cowboy boots," the brochure urged, setting the tone for this highly unusual, six-day film festival held in September of this year. Part marketplace, part festival and all fun, the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival is an industry gathering with a distinctive flair and has traditionally been a closely-guarded secret on the festival circuit, known only to savvy delegates, local wildlife enthusiasts and a handful of journalists. The story began in 1991 when Wolfgang Bayer, a renowned local wildlife filmmaker, decided to stage an event that would bring together friends and
IDA Board member Marina Goldovskaya worked for more than twenty years for Central Russian Television. She has made 27 documentaries as director/cinematographer/writer and 50 documentary television programs as director/cinematographer, for Russian, Austrian, French and U.S. broadcast. Among her works are Solovky Power (Special Jury Prize, Amsterdam; 1989), A Taste of Freedom (Turner Broadcasting; 1990), The Shattered Mirror (Golden Gate, San Francisco; Gold Hugo, Chicago; 1993) and House on Arbat Street (Best Film, Prix Europa; 1994). She taught at Moscow's State University and the University
Recognition of outstanding achievement in documentary filmmaking inspired the creation of the IDA Awards in 1985. This year's exceptional field of documentaries from around the world reflects the high quality and vitality of documentary-making today. The 13th Annual IDA Awards are again underwritten by founding sponsor Eastman Kodak. In partnership with Eastman. IDA and documentary makers have developed the IDA Awards to a level where this year's Career Achievement Award Recipient, Henry Hampton, commented, "It's an extraordinary recognition. I feel a little uncomfortable being included among
When Jonas Mekas arrived in New York City, in 1949, he had worked on resistance newspapers during World War II, in his native Lithuania; in displaced person camps following the War, he had begun to study film. His first documentary, Grand Street, was made in 1953, the same year he launched his first screening program at Gallery East. Two years later, he founded the influential Film Culture, a magazine that set the tone for American experimental film and reconsideration of the documentary. He also reviewed films ("Movie Journal") for The Village Voice (1958-77). In 1960, he helped found the New
Feature Documentaries Nominees CUBA'S RAFTERS [BALSEROS] Televisió de Catalunya; Carlos Bosch DONKA, X-RAY OF AN AFRICAN HOSPITAL [RADIOSKOPIE D'UN HÔPITAL AFRICAIN] Les Films de la Passerelle-C.B.A.; Thierry Michel A HEALTHY BABY GIRL Judith Helfand MANDELA Jonathan Demme, Angus Gibson Edward Saxon and Jo Menell PAUL MONETTE: THE BRINK OF SUMMER'S END Lesli Klainberg and Monte Bramer SCARY MAN [VOGELVRIJ] Albert Elings and Eugenie Jansen SICK: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BOB FLANAGAN, SUPERMASOCHIST Kirby Dick SOUL IN THE HOLE Lilibet Foster and Danielle Gardner TAKEN FOR A RIDE Jim Klein and
Known widely as the creator and executive producer of Eyes on the Prize, Henry Hampton's credits also include The Great Depression (PBS, 1993). Malcolm X: Make It Plain (The American Experience, 1994), America's War on Poverty (1995) and the recent Breakthrough: The Changing Face of Science in America (1996). Hampton founded Blackside, Inc. in 1968 and has served as its president, chiefly responsible for film and television concept development, marketing and corporate development. He has produced or been responsible for more than 60 major film and media projects, including several multiple
Steven Spielberg is one of the world's most respected and successful filmmakers. He reached a professional peak in 1993-94 with Schindler's List, which won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. It also won every major Best Picture award and an exceptional number of additional honors. Also in 1993, he directed Jurassic Park which became the highest grossing film in the history of motion pictures. His list of successes as director or producer have encompassed eight of the top twenty grossing films of all time. The Color Purple in 1986 earned him his first Directors Guild
Documentary began, of course, before television. Before radio, even. And its adoption by American commercial broadcast television has always had an uneven life, never quite expiring but frequently slipping into a vegetative state. Most recently, it's undergone a revival of sorts, as programs such as 60 Minutes and 48 Hours on CBS, Dateline NBC and ABC's 20/20 have succeeded with a kind of "documentary-for-people-with-short-attention spans," under the aegis of the respective network news departments. The situation for broadcasters is quite separate from the cable networks, where documentary