In a Dream is one of few films I’ve returned to watch again and again. The story centers around Philadelphia-based artist Isaiah Zagar and his relationship with his family over the years. When Isaiah’s son Jeremiah comes home to document his father at the request of Jeremiah’s mother, Julia, we are introduced to Isaiah through his stunning and reflective sketches, paintings and mosaics, which are plastered on the sides of Philly buildings, spanning whole blocks. Even more elaborate and breathtaking is the artwork inside their household; it covers every inch of wall and ceiling. We soon realize
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On a crisp Saturday morning last winter, IDA held a Master Class with George Lavender, vice president of content at Wondery, the podcast company based in West Hollywood. “How are you going to tell this story?” Lavender asked a roomful of docmakers. “Are there spaces you can create in audio that are impossible to create in other mediums?” It is a good question and one that is worthy of attention, as podcasts and audio storytelling have taken the mainstream by storm—so much so that in 2018 IDA introduced the award for best audio documentary in recognition of the “continued expansion” of the
Documentary film historically has provided a more welcoming and accessible environment for women filmmakers compared to theatrical feature filmmaking. Today, when asked to name great female documentarians, most of us think immediately of Barbara Kopple, Laura Poitras, Dawn Porter and Kim Longinotto, among many others. While women working in documentary are becoming more visible worldwide, they continue to be underrepresented (30 percent of documentary directors are female, based on the last Annenberg study) and their early contributions to the genre struggle to assume their rightful place in
Dear Readers, This issue was to have been a Tech Issue, anchored by our Tech Survey, which we sent out to the documentary community late last spring. And while the survey yielded valuable qualitative information, we felt we needed to take a deeper dive into the brands and models that you all use in the field, as well as the range of shooting scenarios that you deploy. And so, as we were going to press with this issue, we launched Part II of our survey, with the goal in mind to create a comprehensive portrait of gear that you use and to help you choose the best possible equipment for your
Why is the insurance concept of “voluntary parting” a problem for equipment owners in peer-to-peer rentals? “Voluntary parting” refers to an exclusion from insurance coverage that can deprive camera and equipment owners of recovery if items are stolen by a larcenous renter. Independent documentary filmmakers routinely turn to camera rental houses to access state-of-the-art film gear and technical information at affordable prices. Over the years, these vendors have played a critical role in the business of independent film production. Because high-end cameras are costly and expensive to replace
Dear IDA Community, Over the past 20 plus years working in this field, I have been very fortunate to travel around the world to various film festivals. Sometimes exhausting, but most often invigorating, being able to go to far-flung places of the world has given me the opportunity to meet filmmakers and see work that too often doesn’t make it to the United States. I have always been interested in seeing those films, experiencing cultures and stories with which I am less familiar, and watching work that doesn’t adhere to Western storytelling modes. But most of all, the chance to meet filmmakers
When one thinks of a festival’s screening venues, a prison is not an immediate choice. But since 2013, the International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film ( DOK Leipzig) has run an initiative, dubbed DOK im Knast (DOK in Prison), which annually turns the Regis-Breitingen juvenile detention center into one of its screening venues. And the center, which sits on the Pleisse river some 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) south of Leipzig, is not just the festival's most unusual venue. DOK im Knast is one of the festival’s many projects that aims at engaging youth through documentary film
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. One of the first documentaries to stream on Apple TV, The Elephant Queen premieres November 1. The film, directed by Mark Deeble and Victoria Stone, follows an elephant herd, led by their matriarch, Athena, as they cross an unforgiving African landscape in an epic journey of family, courage and coming home. "There are three sides to every story: your side, my side, and the truth. And no one is lying. So said Robert Evans, the legendary Hollywood mogul who passed away this
Essential Doc Reads is a weekly feature in which the IDA staff recommends recent pieces about the documentary form and its processes. Here we feature think pieces and important news items from around the internet, and articles from the Documentary magazine archive. We hope you enjoy! Amy Kaufman of the Los Angeles Times talks to filmmaker Ed Perkins and Marcus and Alex Lewis, protagonists in Perkins' Tell Me Who I Am, about coming to terms on camera with the brothers' dark, hidden history as victims of childhood sex abuse. "In everything they do, they steadfastly refuse to be victims," Perkins
"Loves being pregnant" is not usually a statement found on one’s bio, but it’s certainly relevant information when it comes to Nicole Williamson. The president and CEO of A Host of Possibilities, Idaho's largest surrogacy agency (located in Boise, the "unofficial surrogacy capital" of the US), Williamson is also one of the breakout stars of award-winning filmmaker Beth Aala's surprisingly uplifting Made in Boise. Aala's doc follows four gestational surrogates, including this indefatigable businesswoman, who smoothly runs her agency alongside her husband while also raising their two young kids