Dear Readers, After 22 ½ years as Editor of Documentary magazine, I have decided to step down. On September 10, 2001, I was on a flight from Boston to Los Angeles, having visited my wife that weekend, who was attending the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. She wanted me to stay an extra day, and leave the next morning–September 11. She was disappointed that I didn’t honor her wishes. And then the same plane I had taken the previous day was flown into the World Trade Center. In my long tenure as editor, I often think about 9/11. I think about those who were on the plane I might have
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IDA management voluntarily recognized Documentary Workers United (DWU), the labor organization formed by IDA bargaining unit employees as part of the Communication Workers of America (CWA Local 9003). The Union and IDA management began negotiating a comprehensive Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
At first glance, the story of the landmark 1961 desegregation case Taylor vs. Board of Education, which originated in New Rochelle, New York, might not seem like obvious material for a white, Los Angeles-based theater director-writer-actor to tackle for her feature doc debut. But then, Arden Teresa Lewis happens to be a native of New Rochelle—once dubbed the "Little Rock of the North”—and her childhood was shaped by a diverse community whose grassroots demand for change had led all the way to the US Supreme Court.
Jasmín Mara López is a Mexican-American filmmaker living between Los Angeles and New Orleans. Born in the U.S. with familial roots in México, her childhood was affected by issues experienced on both sides of the U.S.- México border. This instilled in her a strong passion for immigrant rights, youth empowerment, and social change. Jasmín founded Project Luz, workshops which taught Mexican youth to document stories from within their community. Her audio documentary Deadly Divide: Migrant Death on the Border received the Society of Professional Journalists’ Excellence in Journalism Award. Most
BY Kristal Sotomayor & Eddie Hustleby
There’s been much talk in the documentary ecosystem over the past five years about “The Golden Age of Documentaries,” and short docs have enjoyed more visibility than ever. Over the past 20 years, the digital age has revolutionized how documentaries are made and distributed, and a proliferation of platforms launched over the past decade, such as Field of Vision, The Guardian, The New York Times OpDocs and The New Yorker Documentary, have further transformed how short form cinema thrives online. When Ben Proudfoot, who won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short this year for The Queen of
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. Well, the juries and the people have spoken. The 38th edition of the IDA Documentary Awards is now part of IDA lore, but you, as IDA Members, can still check out the Member Voting Portal through December 17 at 11:59 p.m. PT to watch the nominees and winners in the Features and Shorts categories, including multi winners All That Breathes (Best Director—Shaunak Sen; Best Editing—Charlotte Munch Bengtsen, Vedant Joshi; Pare Lorentz Award) and Fire of Love (Best Cinematography
On the morning after Julia Reichert left us—but before I found out that she had—I dreamed that I was on a retreat in King's Canyon in Northern California. We were all eating dinner in the dining hall, and someone stood up and started singing "Hallelujah," and I stood up and joined in on the second verse. Then everyone else joined in. Then I woke up. Then it started to rain. Then I logged into Twitter and found out about Julia. She was a warrior, an artist, an activist, a mentor, a teacher, a friend, a partner, a mother, and a grandmother. For half a century, she was a fierce advocate for the
My main takeaway from last year’s DOC NYC was the festival community’s growing discontent with the status quo of the industry. At 2021 Pro Panels, attendees demanded safer set conditions, fairer distribution deals, stronger filmmaking ethics, and guidelines to facilitate and standardize such improvements. What stood out to me about DOC NYC 2022, which ran in person from Nov 9-17 and virtually until November 27, was collective anxiety about the caliber of the response so far to last year’s concerns. Executives pressured to make structural change spoke in false confidence about their nascent
As we get ready to say goodbye to 2022 and welcome 2023, we thought you could spend the holidays watching and learning about some wonderful films and series that are available to stream from the comforts of your home. Film and television viewing has evolved over the years and documentaries have found a way to adapt. Everyone loves documentaries and streaming seems to be giving a new breath to the nonfiction genre. For over 40 years, the International Documentary Association has been doing its part to support nonfiction filmmaking and filmmakers. We strive to champion the vital work of