Continuing the theme of #DecolonizeDocs that was first initiated at Getting Real ‘18, the 2020 edition’s first focused session on the South Asian region made for a highly dynamic and valuable breakout. Accommodating those joining in from the “motherland” time zone (of which there were plenty, including myself), the session hit the ground running at 7 AM Pacific Time with Anam Abbas, co-founder of Documentary Association of Pakistan, moderating and skillfully navigating the two-hour conversation. The all-too-familiar limitations to the digital realm aside, the excitement for the session was
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Getting Real ‘20, our biennial conference on documentary media, happened from September 9 through Oct 3. On the opening day, we joined “ Expanding Expression: Audio Descriptions and Captioning in Film.” The makers and artistic collaborators of Vision Portraits and Crip Camp discussed the creative process behind their use of accessibility features such as audio description (AD) and closed captioning (CC). Moderated by Brenda Coughlin (Director of Producing and Impact Strategy, Sundance Institute), panelists included Crip Camp co-directors Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht; Vision Portraits
I opened an email message from Jim LeBrecht, sound designer and mixer, disability rights advocate, and co-director with Nicole Newnham of the film Crip Camp. “It was great to see you on the Zoom call today,” he said. “I thought I heard mention about you making a film. I wanted to know more about that if you’re willing to share.” This email led to Jim sharing information about FWD-Doc, adding me to a Facebook group for filmmakers with disabilities, and posting about my work in the group. I did some Googling, read bios of the founders of FWD-Doc, and became very excited that there was a whole
What was the first documentary film you saw that shifted something within you? That helped you see an issue differently? Changed your behavior? Spurred you to take political action? While it may not have been the first documentary to change me, I have never forgotten how Justin Schein and Laura Gabbert’s No Impact Man, a year-long profile of Colin Beavan trying to eliminate his family’s carbon footprint, permanently transformed my consumption habits. For author/educator/filmmaker Caty Borum Chattoo, it was Kartemquin’s Hoop Dreams and Stanley Nelson’s The Black Press that opened her eyes 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! Following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week, Deadline published a joint statement by Betsy West and Julie Cohen, directors of the Academy Award-nominated RBG. “Like so many Americans, we are crushed by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” West and Cohen said in a joint statement. “Even had
This month, we’re featuring one of our newest Organizational Members, Black Documentary Collective (BDC). BDC was founded by the late, great documentarian—and former IDA Board Member St. Clair Bourne, to support the artistic development and professional advancement of documentary media makers of African descent. We spoke with its Co-Chair, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, on how the organization got started and the goals the collective has set over the next year. The mission of BDC is “to support the artistic development and professional advancement of documentary media makers of African descent”. Can
When planning began for Getting Real '20, IDA’s biennial conference on documentary media, Maggie Bowman, the newly hired director of programming, anticipated a three-day, in-person event in Los Angeles. “I got to LA on February 26,” Bowman recalls. “We had a meeting with LA filmmakers the next day. During the course of my two-week stay, we went from being 100% certain it would be in person to starting to consider the possibility that COVID might make it impossible to do in person.” Such circumstances required a quick strategic shift, demanding unprecedented logistical and programmatic agility
On September 7, 2020, Michael Rose, a dear friend of IDA, died of complications from a bone marrow transplant for leukemia. His wife and creative partner, Carol King, was by his side until the end. Michael served on IDA’s Board of Directors for four years, but he didn’t just serve—he worked. Michael really enjoyed IDA. We were his people. He made friends easily with other Board members and loved working with creators, editors, writers and emerging filmmakers. He knew how to tell stories, both the glossy variety and the hard-hitting issue-oriented docs. His love for nonfiction filmmaking came
The International Documentary Association (IDA) announced their annual curated screening series lineup, which begins Thursday, October 8 with a screening of Amazon Studios’ Time, directed by Garrett Bradley.
Dujuan Hoosan is a precocious 10-year-old from Mparntwe (Alice Springs), Australia, considered a healer by his Arrernte tribe and a delinquent by his colonialist-minded school. For more than two years, Australian documentarian Maya Newell followed Dujuan, capturing both quotidian moments and broader patterns of racism, with special focus on the educational and juvenile detention systems.