The International Documentary Association turned 40 this year which is a huge milestone for our organization. As you can imagine, over the last four decades, we have seen many organizations come and go. We have also been confused for other organizations, many times, as we worked to build our reputation as one of the leading documentary organizations in the world. In honor of April 1, the silliest of holidays, we wanted to make a list of our favorite other IDAs that have been stealing the spotlight from us over the years. International Door Association (IDA) When you think of IDA, you obviously
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Debuting March 30 on HBO is veteran writer-director (30-plus films over the last four decades) Jay Rosenblatt’s 2021 Sundance-premiering, Oscar-nominated When We Were Bullies. Inspired by a stranger-than-fiction coincidence from 25 years ago, it’s an astonishingly personal journey (a "spiritual quest") back in time to a schoolyard bullying incident that the filmmaker participated in, a half-century past. It’s also one wildly creative documentary short, packing contemporary phone interviews with classmates (and a now-nonagenarian teacher); archival material, found footage, and even whimsical
Missoula, Montana is a lively university town, beautifully situated at the confluence of several mountain valleys. But let’s be honest, visiting windswept Big Sky country (as the state likes to call itself) in the dead of winter isn’t on too many top-ten travel lists. Except perhaps documentary film aficionados, who are drawn like frozen-toed snowshoers to the toasty cinematic campfire of the town’s annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and DocShop Filmmaker’s Forum. Held every February, Big Sky is a standout example of a regional film festival, showcasing adventurous programming grounded
By GRACE LEE, Chris Pérez, Amir Shahkhalili AND Marcia Smith Dear IDA Community, We are taking this opportunity to introduce ourselves to you as the new Executive Committee of the IDA Board of Directors. In the spirit of greater transparency, we want to use this space to keep in regular contact about IDA and its future. IDA is grappling with an existential crisis. Over the last year, we have experienced internal conflicts and multiple transitions at the staff, executive and board level, including sadly, a number of resignations. These internal changes came fast and furious, with little
IDA announces two new senior staff members, Abby Sun and Keisha Knight, who will serve as Director of Artist Programs and Director of IDA Funds and Enterprise Program as well as Louise Rosen, a senior consultant to the organization.
We at IDA feel the full, devastating weight of the tragic death of Brent Renaud. On March 13, he was killed by Russian troops while making a documentary in Ukraine; his was the first reported death of a foreign journalist covering the 2022 war. In expressing his condolences, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky noted, "We are thankful to Brent for his professionalism and commitment to the values of compassion, ethics and justice." Renaud was a fighter for truth and humanity, and he went to the most foreboding places to seek out stories, ask the hard questions and show the rest of the world
Michelle Materre was a filmmaker, programmer, distributor and professor. But most of all, she was a trailblazer, someone who had dedicated her life to breaking down hurdles to make roads for those who came after her. Artists of color found in her a tireless advocate and a forever inspiration. As each of these tributes reveal, Materre’s kindness brought people together in ways that inspired them to create more art. Her passionate championing of films made by filmmakers who identify as women, especially Black women, will always remain a road map. Her formidable yet comforting presence was and
Tsanavi Spoonhunter was born and raised in Payahuunadü—the homelands of her Paiute people in central California—and is a proud citizen of the Northern Arapaho Tribe. Her ancestry and upbringing in Indian Country have strongly informed her storytelling and artistic vision. Spoonhunter’s short films have screened on Alaska Airlines, at the National Museum of the American Indian, The Redford Center, art museums and PBS affiliates. She serves as director and producer on her first feature-length film titled Holder of the Sky (2023). The film has received support from SFFilm, IDA’s Enterprise
Essential Doc Reads is our curated selection of recent features and important news items about the documentary form and its processes, from around the internet, as well as from the Documentary magazine archive. We hope you enjoy! Hyperallergic’s Dan Schindel attended The Museum of the Moving Image’s annual First Look Festival, and spoke with filmmaker Charlie Shackleton, whose virtual reality performance piece As Mine Exactly premiered at the festival. The material evolved in response to showing it to people. I had endless material, thousands of childhood photographs and videos and things I’d
It's that time of year again when brackets are set and bets are made. March Madness is the peak of the college basketball season here in the US and is one the highest profile college sports leagues in the country. To celebrate this season, here are eight documentaries streaming online that celebrate all things basketball, in the US and beyond! Benji (Coodie and Chilke, 2012) There are so many ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries on basketball and choosing only a few is difficult, but this documentary stands out as a must-watch. Benji tells the story of 17-year-old Ben Wilson, who showed promise in the