Since its founding in 2003, the Copenhagen International Documentary Festival, better known as CPH:DOX, has avidly embraced expanding definitions of the nonfiction form—and in the process has redefined the doc film festival itself. So it makes strange cosmic sense that, faced with global pandemic shutdowns as opening night on March 18 approached, the groundbreaking CPH:DOX chose not to cancel or postpone, but to instead lead the way to a brand new future festival world, one in which calls to social-distance and self-isolate are re-envisioned as opportunities to reach out and touch an even
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Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. We lost Bill Withers last week. But fortunately, Damani Baker and Alex Vlack had the good sense to document the wit and wisdom of the legendary soul artist behind such gems as "Lean on Me," "Use Me," "Ain't No Sunshine" and many more. Still Bill streams on Amazon Prime. Mailchimp and SXSW have teamed up to stream 75 shorts that would have premiered at the 2020 edition. Among the offerings: All of the docs, including Carol Nguyen's No Crying at the Dinner Table, which won the
As Tiger King reigns as the predominant safer-at-home entertainment, The New York Times' Dave Itzkoff talks to co-director Eric Goode about how he evolved from New York City nightclub owner to conservationist to documentary filmmaker. I originally set out to do a project that was a combination of Best in Show, Grizzly Man and Blackfish. The core reason for doing this was, how do you create awareness about the suffering and exploitation of exotic animals but in a way where you can engage an audience? It was equally important for me to dig into the pathology of these characters as it was to
Many of you in our community are parents of young and teenage children, and you’re negotiating the tricky balance between keeping the cash flowing and keeping the kids at bay. We came up with a list of docs that just might help achieve that balance! Watch these documentaries that are sure to entertain, inform and spark curiosity in viewers both young and old. They're not just kids, though; adults can always stand to learn or revisit something about themselves with these films. Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018) Morgan Neville's 2018 box office hit profiles the Presbyterian minister-turned-PBS
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. Streaming on Amazon, iTunes and Sundance Now is David France's Oscar-nominated How To Survive a Plague, which documents through archival footage the evolution of a movement during the worst days of the AIDS epidemic, when a group of men and women, faced with indifference and hostility, teamed up with the science community to fight for effective treatments that helped to tame the disease. In an interview in Variety, France noted the parallels and differences between the AIDS
In the grip of the coronavirus pandemic, we at IDA continue to monitor new resources and initiatives, as well as discussions on moving the community forward and reflections on the larger implications of this crisis. Although not technically a doc-specific read, this essay by Amy Semple Ward, CEO of NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network) speaks to the value of community and team-building as essential precursors to technological needs. Only then, after you've focused on your people and your processes, should you add in new technologies. If you do this first, you won’t have the
Get to know some of IDA's Fiscally-sponsored projects that are available to stream from the comfort of your home, on widely available platforms! We hope you'll continue to support bold, brave and informative storytelling by exploring these titles on HBO. You can also donate to our current roster of fundraising projects at documentary.org/sponsored-projects. Foster (Deborah Oppenheimer and Lisa Remington) With one in eight American children suffering a confirmed case of neglect or abuse by age 18, there are currently more than 400,000 children in foster care in the U.S., a number that continues
Since IDA's DocuClub was relaunched in 2016 as a forum for sharing and soliciting feedback about works-in-progress, many DocuClub alums have since premiered their works on the festival circuit and beyond. In an effort to both monitor and celebrate the evolution of these films to premiere-ready status, we reach out to the filmmakers as they are either winding their way through the festival circuit, or gearing up for it. In this edition of "The Feedback," we spotlight Brent Wilson's Streetlight Harmonies, which had its festival premiere last fall at DOC NYC and makes its VOD premiere on March 31
The documentary community is no stranger to the devastating impacts of COVID-19 in the arts and media world. With festivals, screenings and any kind of production completely on hold for the time being, filmmakers and film lovers must turn to digital avenues as a means to support and circulate meaningful work. Luckily, there's a tried and tested method in place already: streaming! We'll be doing a blog series introducing IDA's Fiscally-sponsored projects that are available to stream from the comfort of your home, on widely available platforms. We hope you'll continue to support bold, brave and
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. Yesterday, March 22, 2020, marked the 125th anniversary of the very first documentary ever produced: The Lumière Brothers' Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory. It's only two minutes long and the title is pretty much what the film is about, but it laid down the foundation for an amazing century-and-a-quarter of mind-blowing reality! And, as if to mark the occasion, what won the Academy Award for Best Documentary this year? American Factory! A century before COVID-19, there was