Student interest in college courses focusing on documentary media has never been higher. Why? Certainly, "documenting" their lives via Instagram and Snapchat is a popular social ritual. And streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon, and SnagFilms have made it easier than ever to watch a wide variety of nonfiction. However, my experience tells me that students' enthusiasm for documentary stems more from a desire to engage with the sociopolitical reality that surrounds them—one filled with great hope and anxiety. A graduate school seminar on Errol Morris first sparked my interest in documentary
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Dear IDA Community, In 2015, American University’s Center for Media & Social Impact published, under the leadership of Pat Aufderheide, the landmark report Dangerous Docs: Reducing Risk When Telling Truth to Power. The report was the first comprehensive analysis of the challenges and risks faced by documentary filmmakers when reporting on entrenched powers who might respond by attacking the filmmakers, undermining their credibility, mounting sophisticated disinformation campaigns and threatening lawsuits. It remains a great primer for anyone undertaking a story that might seek to hold the
By Steven Beer, Jake Levy and Neil Rosini To generate income and engage new audiences, documentary producers are increasingly turning to educational institutions to distribute their content. This marketplace is immense and potentially lucrative. It is also diffuse and especially challenging for filmmakers and producers to navigate. Recognizing this, many producers (and some all-rights distribution companies) rely on specialized educational sales agents and distributors to sell, rent or license their films into this distinct arena. Although educational distribution agreements have much in
Documentary Media: History, Theory, Practice by Broderick Fox. Routledge 2018" src="https://www.documentary.org/sites/default/files/images/magazine/Spring18_DocumentaryMedia.jpg" style="width: 250px; float: right; margin: 5px;">An impressive 151 film and media project titles are used by Broderick Fox as source material referenced throughout this textbook for modern documentary media-makers. Since the book targets the educational market, this extensive listing also supplies the distribution sources for each title, a crucial piece of information necessary for educators that many media textbook
In the middle of shooting my first feature documentary, I stole away to Sundance, hoping for a little inspiration. I happened to catch Josh Aronson's Sound and Fury, about an extended family, the Artinians, confronting the decision of whether or not to "cure" their children's hearing impairments with cochlear implants, and the ensuing fury among family members over their respective viewpoints. Sound and Fury will always stick with me because of how it confronted the prevailing wisdom—as well as my own personal preconceptions—about a subject. It had never occurred to me that there would be any
"The dramatist, valuing the integrity and organic nature of struggle, treats the audience with respect and genuinely explores something. You can tell because genuine drama moves toward an uncertain destination." —Michael Rabiger, Professor Emeritus, Columbia College Chicago In his book-length essay, "Three Uses of the Knife," David Mamet states, "It's not the dramatist's job to bring about social change." He goes on to write, "The purpose of art is not to change but delight. I don't think its purpose is to enlighten us. I don't think it's to change us. I don't think it's to teach us." Right or
April 11, 2018 (Los Angeles, CA) - Today, the International Documentary Association announced the appointment of Leslie-Anne Faireshire, Chris Perez, and Brenda Robinson as new members of the Board of Directors. In addition, IDA Director of Filmmaker Services Amy Halpin has been appointed the Deputy Director of the organization. “We are thrilled to welcome Brenda, Leslie-Anne and Chris on to the IDA's Board of Directors,” said Simon Kilmurry, IDA’s Executive Director. “Each of them brings a wealth of experience and talent to IDA. They will be key allies and counselors to ensure that IDA's work
"I am a box on a shelf," says Ericka. And technically, she was right. Her name was written on a box containing the evidence from a violent sexual assault she reported well over a decade ago. Erika's box, along with thousands of other boxes containing untested rape kits, had been sequestered on a warehouse shelf undisturbed and left to wither and even expire without testing or prosecution—until Wayne County (Michigan) prosecutor Kym Worthy vowed to right this injustice. Now, after three years of filmmaking, this and other stories of sexual-assault survivors in other cities like Cleveland and
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. This week, we celebrate Kanopy's release of the Frederick Wiseman documentary collection: Central Park (1989) is a film about the famous New York City landmark and the variety of ways in which people make use of it: running, boating, walking, skating, music, theatre, sports, picnics, parades and concerts. The film also illustrates the complex problems the New York City Parks Department deals with in order to maintain and preserve the park and keep it open and accessible to
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! At The Atlantic, Franklin Foer argues that the digital manipulation of video may make the current era of "fake news" seem quaint. The internet has always contained the seeds of postmodern hell. Mass manipulation, from clickbait to Russian bots to the addictive trickery that governs Facebook's News Feed, is the