Why would a filmmaker go to SXSW, the annual mega film/music/tech conference in "keepin' it weird" Austin? a. The documentary films b. Panels on film industry trends c. Filmmaker talks d. Music all night long e. The virtual-reality showcase f. Networking g. Tech trends that affect media h. Celebrity Q&As i. The tacos j. All of the above You know the answer. Yeah. These days the biggest single problem at SXSW is dealing with the FOMO factor (well, that and finding affordable housing). But they've even got an answer for FOMO—orientation sessions that give newbies survival tips. They've also done
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Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. Currently airing and streaming at PBS SoCal is Valerie Red-Horse's Mankiller, the story of Wilma Mankiller, an advocate for women and Native Americans, who defied all odds to become the Cherokee Nation's first female principal chief. Premiering March 24 on NBC and March 25 on MSNBC is Hope and Fury: MLK, The Movement and The Media. This new documentary film, produced and directed by Rachel Dretzin and Phil Bertelsen, examines how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and leaders of the
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 Variety, Ted Johnson reports that arts advocates are optimistic about NEA funding despite Trump's call for cuts. Lynch's cautiousness stems in large part from past funding battles, in which NEA funding got swept up in high-profile controversy over individual artworks as well as the culture wars in general. In
Rebecca Miller was 21 years old when she realized that she wanted to be a filmmaker. Noticing that her father—distinguished Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright Arthur Miller—was a different person in his countless public interviews than the man she grew up with, she picked up a Super 8 camera and began documenting everyday life around the Miller home. Years later, in 1995, when her first feature film, Angela, won a Gotham Award, Miller was awarded a prize of 16mm film. She and cinematographer Ellen Kuras, as well as their close friends, made regular weekend trips to her family home in
Held in Bangkok, Thailand from January 30 to February 2, the 8th edition of the Asian Side of the Doc aimed to build on its mission since the event's debut in 2010 under the vision of founder and CEO Yves Jeanneau—namely, to serve as a bridge between Asia and Europe, but also be an incubator to foster business opportunities amongst the Asian countries themselves. Comprised of moderated panel discussions, a four-day pitch competition, and one-on-one meetings between producers, broadcasters and distributors, ASD18 was held at the Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao Bangkok, in the heart of
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. Premiering tonight on National Geographic is Brett Morgen's Jane, which draws on over 100 hours of never-before-seen footage to tell the story of Jane Goodall's revolutionary research on chimpanzees. The film was awarded Best Documentary of 2017 by the National Board of Review. Tonight on HBO, catch Traffic Stop, Kate Davis and David Heilbronner's Academy Award-nominated short about an Austin-Texas-based African-American schoolteacher who is pulled over for speeding, then
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 Sub-Genre Media, Brian Newman details the ways that Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405 took an unusual path to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Short. Along with so many others in the doc community, I'm super happy for everyone who was nominated – even those I don't personally know – and even happier for the
Back in 2001, audiences were mesmerized by the ephemeral creations made of ice, twigs or leaves, captured poetically in Thomas Riedelsheimer's Rivers & Tides, about land artist Andy Goldsworthy. Nearly two decades later, Riedelsheimer revisits Goldsworthy, following him to various countries, as he makes art with a variety of natural materials, ranging from rocks, stone, clay, to petals and even rain. On the phone from Munich, the director spoke with Documentary about his new film, Leaning into the Wind. You made the highly acclaimed Rivers & Tides in 2001. How did you come about making your
The line that traditionally separated documentary filmmakers from journalists increasingly is becoming blurred, if not erased. As the disciplines converge, the challenge for filmmakers is to learn to navigate the professional, legal and ethical terrain that is second nature for most working journalists. The issues at stake were reinforced for Stacey Woelfel while attending last fall's Double Exposure Film Festival in Washington, DC. "There was a discussion among filmmakers—and these were not young filmmakers—asking the most basic questions that most students coming out of journalism school
It’s no small challenge to go on record to talk about your very important new job when you’ve only been at it a handful of weeks. But like everything else that comes his way, Orwa Nyrabia rose to the challenge when Documentary magazine asked him to weigh in on his new post as artistic director of the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam ( IDFA), Europe’s largest (and arguably, most important) documentary film festival and marketplace. As it frequently does whenever I speak to this highly engaged, passionate, brilliant human being, our conversation veered into broader topics surrounding