Participant Media is teaming up with Entertainment Weekly to host an exclusive event on January 24 where the four filmmakers will chat about their upcoming releases and take questions from the attendees--and questions sent in via Twitter (possibly from you).
They are collecting questions on Twitter from now until January 24 at 6 pm, and a handful of your 140 character Qs will be asked that night. They will be live tweeting the entire discussion so you can follow the conversation and see if your question gets answered!
Here's how to TakePart:
1. Log on to Twitter
2. Tweet your question and include #participant. (We can't see your question if it doesn't have #participant!) If you are addressing a specific director, include their initials (ex: A question for Davis Guggenheim would start: "DG: Why did you decide to make a film about education? #participant"
3. Follow the discussion by searching for #participant (You can go to http://search.twitter.com and enter "#participant" in the search bar)
And if you are not on Twitter, don't fret! You can leave your question as a comment in this article about the event.
The Cove continues its phenomenal run of awards, adding four Cinema Eye Honros to its burgeoning collection. Burma VJ, another lkauded doc this past year, took two Honors, as did October Country. Here's the complete list:
2010 Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking:
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking: The Cove (Dir.: Louie Psihoyos; Prods.: Paula DuPre Pesmen, Fisher Stevens)
Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film: October Country (Dirs.: Michael Palmieri, Donal Mosher)
Outstanding Achievement in Direction: Agnès Varda (The Beaches of Agnès)
Outstanding Achievement in Production: Paula DuPre Pressman, Fisher Stevens (The Cove)
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Brook Aitken (The Cove)
Outstanding Achievement in Editing: Janus Billeskov-Jansen, Thomas Papapetros (Burma VJ)
Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design and Animation: Tie: Big Star (Food, Inc.) and RIP - Remix Manifesto
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score: October Country ( Danny Grody, Donal Mosher, Michael Palmieri, Kenric Taylor)
Outstanding Achievement in an International Feature: Burma VJ (Dir.: Anders Ostergaard; Prod.: Lise-Lense Moeller)
Audience Choice Prize: The September Issue (Dir.: R.J. Cutler)
Spotlight Award: Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo (Dir.: Jessica Oreck)
Cinema Eye Legacy Award: Sherman's March (Dir.: Ross McElwee)
HBO recently announced that it will produce and air a follow-up to When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, Spike Lee's epic 2006 portrait of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastation. The production, which shooting January 15 in New Orleans, is slated to air this August to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the tragedy.
Lee is on board to produce and direct the film on behalf of his company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, and Sam Pollard will produce and edit; Terence Blanchard returns to compose the score. When the Levees Broke aired on HBO a year after Katrina, and went on to receive three Emmys and the IDA Pare Lorentz Award.
"When the Levees Broke was a landmark in documentary filmmaking," noted HBO executive producer Sheila Nevins, in a statement. "It's an exciting notion to anticipate Spike going back for this reprise."
"Sam Pollard and I are elated to return to New Orleans and the other Gulf States to pick up where we left with When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts," said Lee. "This coming August 29, 2010, will be five years since one of the greatest American tragedies. If God is willing and the creek don't rise, we will reach the same level of heartfelt stories--human stories told by the great people of The Gulf States."
The new film, as yet untitled, will revisit some of the people who appeared in When the Levees Broke to find out what has happened to their lives since then. The documentary will look at the progress and failures in education, housing and population relocation, and spotlight New Orleans' indomitable spirit. Going beyond the boundaries of the city, the film will also visit the devastated Gulf Coast area.
DOC SHOT: OFF AND RUNNING's Nicole Opper
Editor's Note: Off and Running comes out on DVD August 17 through First Run Features, then will air September 7 on PBS' POV.'This interview ran in January, in conjunciton with the film's theatrical release.
The DOC SHOT Q&A is an exclusive online feature by Documentary magazine associate editor Tamara Krinsky. Through this mix of questions (some serious, some sassy) each DOC SHOT provides a glimpse into the work and lives of those creating and supporting nonfiction film.
Nicole Opper
Director,
OFF AND RUNNING: An American Coming of Age Story
YOUR FILM
Brief description of your film:
Avery is a teenage track star and the African American daughter of white Jewish lesbians. After she mails a letter to her birth mother, Avery begins a journey to uncover her roots.
Your role/credit on the film.
Director/Producer/Sound Recordist
How did you find your subject or become involved in the
film?
I was 21 when I met Avery. She was 12. I was an NYU student making a film about a poet named Hannah Senesh and Avery’s Brooklyn school was named after this poet so I interviewed the kids there. When I graduated, I wound up teaching my first film class there and Avery was one of my students. She was a difficult student. I was a terrible teacher. But we grew to like each other a lot as people and kept in touch until she was 16, at which point I said, “Your life could be a movie. Shall we make it?”
Avery Klein-Could, subject of Off and Running.
Photo by Robert Chang.
Was there a moment in this film that went a different way
than you expected?
There was a moment that changed everything: a two month stretch in which my teenage subject broke all contact with me, as well as with most of her family. It made me sick with worry, both for the film and for her. But I wouldn’t give it back for anything. That time apart was what Avery needed to come back with renewed strength and commit fully to telling her story in her own voice. I invited her to work with us as a filmmaker in her own right, and she began critiquing footage and writing her own narration. It earned her a writing award from the WGA and made me discover who I am as a filmmaker, and who I want to strive to be.
If
you had had an extra $10,000 to spend on your film, what would you have used it for?
$3,333.33 Hannukah bonuses for my outrageously talented DP/creative collaborator Jacob Okada, my brilliant editor Cheree Dillon and my visionary producer Sharese Bullock (What? I used a calculator). I worked with a crew that astounded and inspired me at every turn. Everyone pushed themselves beyond their comfort zone for this film and it would have been nothing without them. It’s a shanda how hard it is to pay people what they’re worth in this field. I’m not sure why I sound like a Jewish grandmother in this interview.
What
excites or intrigues you about opening your film at the IFC Center in January 2010?
I’ve been working with some phenomenal people (Pamela Cohn and Sara Kiener) on a community engagement campaign for this film. We are working with a dozen non-profits planning events before and after screenings for the adoption community, LGBTQ families, Jews of color, and beyond. If your experience is reflected in this film, we are hosting something for you. I do believe at its best a film can create community and launch important conversations that may otherwise get swept under the rug, so I am excited and intrigued by the potential for us to do that at IFC. Of course I’m also terrified of an empty room. But that’s what the flask in my back pocket is for. Kidding.
YOUR WORK
What's
the first film you remember seeing as a child?
Oh my god, really? Mmmmmm…. The Sound of Music. I’m sure it wasn’t my first
film but I do have this vague memory of singing the "16 Going on 17" song as a 5 year old… on a loop. I was Rolf. I would chide whoever my unwitting Liesl was for being so precocious all the time. “You are 16 going on 17, Baby its time to think. Better beware. Be canny and careful. Baby you're on the brink.” Ah, memories.
Tell
us about a film that affected your profoundly or changed/inspired the way you do your own work.
I’ve been really hung up on To Be and To Have ever since it came out. I don’t know if you have to be French to make a film like that but I would like to think that if I watch it enough times, I can learn to just trust myself and the process. That filmmaker so clearly had trust (or faith?) in his footage, his characters, his own abilities. He let it breathe and meander at what could be considered a deadly pace and yet somehow he seemed to know that if he just trusted the elements, we would all slow down, too, and join him on the walk through his fantasy. There are so many films that have affected me profoundly but that one sprang to mind first.
What
would surprise people the most about your job or the way you execute it?
I have no idea. Maybe how open I am to other people’s ideas? I regularly asked my production assistants what they thought of the shoot day, what they might have done differently, asked differently. They always looked shocked that I was asking these questions of them but I was a PA not all that long ago and hated being treated like all I could do was fetch the bagels.
When
you are feeling creatively stumped or burnt out, what do you do to get the creativity flowing again?
I either go on a run or call a friend whose creativity is flowing and ask for a pep talk. When I’m feeling really ambitious I do both. I would like to tell you I take a stroll through the Guggenheim or something, but that would be an embellishment of the truth to say the least.
YOUR LIFE
Daily
essential read (online or off)?
New York Times. The Onion is a close second.
What's on your TIVO or iPod right now?
My TV broke 5 years ago and my iPhone was stolen. I watch content on the internet and listen to Pandora. Does that get me out of the question?
What
do you want more of in your life?
These are great questions, I’m starting to have fun. I want more chance encounters. I want to smell more freshly baked bread and cilantro. More impromptu dinner parties and more people crying openly in front of each other. Why did people stop chanting “Yes we can”? I miss that. I would like more unified chanting of all sorts.
What do you want less of in
your life?
Jealousy and greed. It eats people alive.
If you could add an extra hour to every day,
how would you spend it?
Reading, I hope. God, I really hope that’s what I would do.
What do you want for your birthday?
It just passed and it was filled with love. So much I almost burst with joy. So I’m good. I don’t need a thing. But thanks for asking.
Off and Running opens January 29th, 2010 at the IFC Center in NYC, and continues to screen at festivals around the country.
Once again, the Documentary magazine editors Tom White and Tamara Krinsky and will dive into the snow, the screenings and the celebrities at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival to bring fresh reports from the filmmaking frontlines.
Get all of the offical news, press releases and all that jazz right here on the Sundance site. Start by checking out our interview with Sundance's new director of programming Trevor Groth and read about the changes his has in store for the fest. Then, make sure to come back here starting Jan. 21 for daily updates, videos and more from the IDA team.
IDA Sundance Updates
White at Sundance: Awards Night
Krinsky Video Diary: DOC SHOT with 12th & Delaware directors Rachel Grady & Heidi Ewing
White at Sundance: 1/28 and 29--I'm A Celebrity; Shoot Me!
White at Sundance: 1/26/10--The Demon Lobbyist of K Street
Krinsky at Sundance: 1/27/10 - Cane Toads: The Conquest
Krinsky at Sundance: 1/24/10 - HBO and Participant Media Doc Shin-Digs
Krinsky at Sundance: 1/24/10 - The Tillman Story and Women In Film
Krinsky at Sundance: 1/23/10 - Panels and Party Pics
Krinsky at Sundance: 1/23/10 - Adrian Grenier's Teenage Paparazzo
Krinsky Video Diary: DOC SHOT with Casino Jack and the United States of Money Director Alex Gibney
Krinsky at Sundance: 1/23/10 - Waiting for Superman
Krinsky Video Diary: DOC SHOT with A Small Act Director Jennifer Arnold
Krinsky at Sundance: 1/22/10 - Secrets of the Tribe and Gen Art's "7 Fresh Faces of Film" soiree
Krinsky at Sundance: 1/22/10 - YouTube/Sundance Deal
Krinsky Sundance Video Diary - Snow Day
Krinsky at Sundance: 1/22/10 - Catfish
Krinsky at Sundance: 1/21/10 - Airplanes & Afghanistan
Sundance News
Saturday, Jan. 30
The Sundance 2010 Awards were announced today. Congrats to the following:
Grand Jury Prize: Documentary: Restrepo
U.S. Directing Award: Documentary: Leon Gast for Smash His Camera
Excellence in Cinematography Award: U.S. Documentary: Kirsten Johnson and Laura Poitras for The Oath
Audience Award: U.S. Documentary: Waiting for Superman
World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary: Waste Land
World Cinema Jury Prize: Documentary: The Red Chapel
World Cinema Directing Award: Documentary: Space Tourists
World Cinema Documentary Editing Award: A Film Unfinished
See a complete list of winners with quotes by many at the Sundance 2010 site.
Documentarian Fatima Geza Abdollahyan took questions from the audience after the premiere of her candid and spirited documentary, Kick In Iran.
Here's an update on the YouTube Sundance rental partnership. Seems to be going OK.
ABC News digs into Sins of My Father, which is about the son of Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and offspring of Colombian politicians who are burdened with their fathers' legacies.
The Catfish filmmakers get Grilled by TheWrap. Yum, grilled catfish! And over at indieWire, Bryce Renninger takes a look at the varying opinions surrounding the "truth" of the documentary.
NPR reports on the nice crop of docs at Sundance, including Secrets of the Tribe and Cane Toads: The Conquest.
As reported in IndieWire, The Film Collaborative, a new nonprofit organization devoted to providing distribution, marketing and services to independent filmmakers, announced that it had signed on nine films, including Josh Fox's Sundance Competition doc GasLand and Jonathan Leyser's William S. Burroughs: A Man Within, which recently played at Slamdance. The Film Collaborative, slated to launch in March, will provide filmmakers with access to such companies as iTunes, Babelgum, The Cinema Guild and others.
Friday, Jan. 29
Slamdance announced its Grand Jury Awards; here are the winners in the documentary categories:
Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Documentary Film: American Jihadist (Dir.: Mark Claywell)
Special Jury Mention for a Short Documentary Film: Bout that Bout (Dir.: Nico Sabenorio)
Audience Sparky Award for Best Documentary Film: Mind of the Demon: The Larry Linkogle Story (Dir.: Adam Barker)
According to The Hollywood Reporter, OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, acquired the rights to Chico Colvard's Family Affair, which has been screening as part of Sundance's US Documentary Competition. The acquisition is the first for OWN's forthcoming Documentary Film Club, a joint venture with Ro*Co Films International that will launch sometime after the OWN launch in January 2011.The film examines Colvard's own troubled family history of abuse, violence and general dysfunction.
The Salt Lake Tribune chats up Joan Rivers.
The LA Times examines the success of Catfish.
Warning: toxic cane toads have taken the Sundance Film Festival by storm in an irreverent new 3D documentary exploring the warty amphibians' invasion of Australia. Cool.
The Documentary Blog reviews The Oath.
AJ Schanck rounds up the chatter about Gasland, a doc which investigates the issue of natural gas drilling in a first-person style.
Thursday, Jan. 28
While promoting the documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, the comedienne took some time out to bemoan the lack of Sundance freebies.
The Salt Lake Tribute chats up Adrian Grenier about his doc, Teenage Paparazzo.
AJ Schnack rounds up the reviews of Jeffrey Blitz's Lucky.
Wednesday, Jan. 27
Sundance announced the Jury Prizes in Short Filmmaking, which includes docs Drunk History: Douglass & Lincoln, Born Sweet and Dock Ellis & the LSD No-No.
The LA Times compares and contrasts two Sundance docs, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work and Smash His Camera.
Remember when we told you about those doc filmmakers taking questions for a dicussion about documetary filmmaking? Well, here's how the conversation went down (with video).
What does Catfish say about the video age? Find out.
Oh, and here are a bunch of pics of Sundance docs and the people who make them, courtesy of EW.com.
Tuesday, Jan. 26
Directors talk about the state of documentary filmmaking at Sundance (with video) at EW.com.
Wanna see Bill Gates bust a move? Look right here!
While promoting her doc Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work at Sundance, the comedienne mouthed off on everything from the late-night TV wars to this year's crop of Oscar contenders. She may have accidentally talked about her movie, also.
T&C Pictures International has acquired international rights to Adrian Grenier's documentary Teenage Paparazzo, TheWrap reports.
Monday, Jan. 25
The Salt Lake Tribune reviews the Argentinean documentary Sins of My Father.
A Small Act, a doc about how sponsoring a Kenyan student changed his live, inspires others to give more.
Vanity Fair gets all up in the documentary world and takes a look at the Sundance success of Waiting for Superman, Catfish and others.
Sunday, Jan. 24
From The New York Times, Sundance Juror and two-time Grand Jury Prize winner Ondi Timoner is making a documentary about global warming, but one that challenges some of the claims proffered by Al Gore in Davis Guggenheim's 2006 doc An Inconvenient Truth. Produced by Terry Botwick and Ralph Winter, Cool It draws largely on the work of environmental writer Bjorn Lomborg, who is somewhat skeptical of what he felt was an alarmist message that Inconvenient Truth conveyed.
The Times also reports on Jennifer Arnold's A Small Act, which will be airing on HBO acquisition, and which is piquing audience interest as the devastation in Haiti continues to make front page news. A Small Act profiles Chris Mburu, a Kenya-born, Harvard-educated human-rights lawyer for the UN, whose primary andhigh school education was underwritten in part by a Swedish woman, who happened to be a Holocaust survivor.
Exit Through the Gift Shop, which Sundance announced on the eve of opening night as a "Spotlight Surprise," makes its world premiere tonight. The world-renowned graffiti artist Banksy made the film-Sundance bills it a feature film, other outlets deem it a pseudo documentary, others still call it a documentary, and Banksy calls it "the world's first street art disaster movie"-about efforts by a French shopkeeper and amateur filmmakers to make a film about him. Banksy turns the tables, preserving his fiercely kept anonymity, and makes the film about them.
"Exit Through the Gift Shop is one of those films that comes along once in a great while, a warped hybrid of reality and self -induced fiction while at the same time a totally entertaining experience," said Sundance Festival Director John Cooper, in a statement. "The story is so bizarre I began to question if it could even be real... but in the end I didn't care. I feel bad I won't be able to shake the filmmaker's hand and tell him how much I love this film. I think I will shake everyone's hand that day and hope I hit on Banksy somewhere. I love his work in all forms."
Here's the trailer:
Saturday, Jan. 23:
The NYT talks to Diane Weyermann, "Sundance's Queen of Documentaries" and the the executive vice president of documentary production for Participant Media about the purchase of Waiting for Superman, and the company's other docs in the fest.
Then Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates showed up to discuss his involvement in Waiting for Superman.
The LA Times had this to say about Catfish, the doc about friendship and courtship in the Facebook age.
Even the usually tough Nikki Finke gives two thumbs up for docs Casino Jack and the United States of Money and Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks.
The Documentary Blog offers its take on Restrepo, which follows the United States Second Platoon who are stationed in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan
Friday, Jan. 22:
Redford opens Sundance with some memories.
...and gives major props to docs...
And the challenging Howl opens the fest.Look at that, Paramount Vantage has already acquired something: Davis Guggenheim's Waiting for Superman, an examination of the American educational system.
Thursday, Jan. 21:
Reuters lists the "Five pictures that could surprise Sundance buyers"--and two of them are docs! One is Lucky, Jeffrey Blitz's look at when ordinary people win the lottery and, Christian Frei's Space Tourists, focusing on Anousheh Ansari, the first female space tourist, who dropped $20 million for the ride.
Film School Rejects ups that ante with the 15 must-see movies of Sundance 2010--one which is Alex Gibney's doc Casino Jack and the United States of Money, a look at Washington power lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Variety takes a look at the documentary diversity at Sundance.
Oh, and if you can't make it to Park City, you can always rent five Sundance films through YouTube's new experiment.
As reported in indieWire, Slamdance will also be screening a selection of its films online, via an arrangement with Microsoft's Zune and Xbox platforms. Among the four films to be streamed through January 28 include two documentaries: Mark Claywell's American Jihadist, about an African-American Muslim who aligned with Islamist extremists and fought in Lebanon and Bosnia in the 1980s and ‘90s; and Adam Barker's Mind of the Demon: The Larry Linkogle Story, which profiles the self-destructive, freewheeling freestyle motocross champion.
Pre-Sundance News, Info and Links
Wednesday, Jan. 20:
Have a burning question for Sundance documentary filmmakers Alex Gibney (Casino Jack and the United States of Money), Davis Guggenheim (Waiting for Superman), Mark Lewis (Cane Toads: The Conquest 3D) and Lucy Walker (Countdown to Zero)? Well, now is the perfect time to ask them--via Twitter. Find out how.
Tuesday, Jan. 19:
The 2010 Sundance Film Festival has announced the lineup ofpanels and special events, offering festivalgoers in-depth conversation, livelydebate and critical insight into a broad range of cultural and social issues. Filmmakersand subjects alike will be on-hand for scintillating conversations andstimulating discussions. Here are some of the documentary-oriented panels androundtables; for more information on the Sundance website, click here.:
TICKETED PANELS
Can't Be Done!: Conventional wisdom says some problems just can't be fixed. Tell that to microfinance pioneer and Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus (Grameen Bank, featured in To Catch a Dollar), education reformer Geoffrey Canada (Harlem Children's Zone, featured in Waiting for Superman), environmental visionary Lester Brown (Earth Policy Institute, featured in Climate Refugees), and moderator Sally Osberg (President and CEO, Skoll Foundation).
The Doctors are in the House: On the heels of an independent film community battered by the economy, rotating groups of industry experts, filmmakers, and strategists will explore concrete visions and case studies of radical approaches to distribution.
Art in America: The impact of art reaches beyond communicating human experiences and exploring ideas; It can bridge understanding, provide a vision for social change, and drive the economy. Join us for a discussion with Moisés Kaufman, Rachel Goslins (President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities), Bob Lynch (Americans for the Arts), and Anne Radice (Institute of Museum and Library Services) about rethinking the relevance of film and art.
AT THE LODGE
At the Lodge is a series of daily panels hosted at the Filmmaker Lodge, including:
The New War Stories: Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington (Restrepo), Amit Bar-Lev (The Tillman Story), Andrei Nekrasov (Russian Lessons) and Mohamed Al-Daradji (Son of Babylon) will explore the new kind of war reporting that is emerging in film, mixing journalism and storytelling to produce extraordinary viewing experiences.
Speaking Truth to Power: A mini-keynote address from Gara LaMarche (president and CEO of the Atlantic Philanthropies), followed by a human rights round-table with Lamarche, Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath (Enemies of the People), Stanley Nelson (Freedom Riders), and moderator Karen Greenberg (executive director of NYU's Center on Law and Security).
FILM MUSIC ROUNDTABLES
Explore the huge role music plays in film during these lively conversations at Sundance House Presented by HP. Events include:
Music and Film, the Creative Process (Produced by BMI): What goes into creating a successful film score? What makes for an effective director/composer relationship? Find out in this inspiredroundtable discussion with panelists including Skateland composer Michael Penn and director Anthony Burns; Teenage Paparazzo composer David Torn and director Adrian Grenier; Smash His Camera composer Craig Hazen and director Leon Gast; Family Affair composer Miriam Cutler and director Chico Colvard; Climate Refugees composer Michael Mollura and director Michael Nash; Holy Rollers composer MJ Mynarski and director Kevin Asch; The Kids Are All Rightcomposer Craig Wedren; Countdown to Zero composer and director of the Sundance Composers Lab Peter Golub; Austin Powers composer and Sundance Lab advisor George S. Clinton; and March of the Penguins composer and Sundance Lab advisor Alex Wurman.
Jan. 11: The members of the five juries awarding prizes have been announced. The awardswill be presented on Jan. 30 by David Hyde Pierce.
Jan. 7: Can't make it to the festival? That's ok, you'll be able to check out some films, like Linas Philips's Bass Ackwards digitally the day after the festival. Plus, three films (Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross's Shock Doctrine, Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie's Daddy Longlegs (formerly known as Go Get Some Rosemary), and Daniel Grau's Les 7 Jours du Talion (7 Days) will have immediate Video-On-Demand debuts after this year's event.
Jan. 4: If you're the type that buries your nose in your iPhoneas much as you do a good movie, then maybe the $4.99 Sundance iPhoneapp is for you. Check out this review of it on Filmmaker Magazine.
Jan. 2: Enhance your Sundance experience--or at least keep track of all those dang screenings--with the help of B-Side's special online film guide.
Dec. 29: After holding its Queer Lounge for filmmakers at theSundance Film Festival the past six years, GLAAD will become an officialinstitute associate for the first time at the 2010 fest.
Dec. 6: Sundance announces Doc Shorts.
Jan. 2: Sundance Announces Out-of-Competition Slate.
Jan. 1: Sundance Announces US and World Cinema Doc Competitions.
The Sundance Film Festival named its jurors for the 2010 edition. The documentary jurors are as follows:
US Documentary Competition:
Greg Barker is an award-winning filmmaker who has worked in more than 50 countries across six continents. His most recent film, Sergio, won the Documentary Editing Award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, is short-listed for the 2010 Academy Awards and screens on HBO this spring.
Dayna Goldfine--For more than 20 years, Emmy Award-winning director/producer Dayna Goldfine has, together with her partner, Dan Geller, created critically acclaimed multi-character documentary narratives that weave individual personal stories into a larger portrait of the human experience. The National Society of Film Critics and the National Board of Review recognized their film Ballets Russes, which screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, as one of the top five documentaries that year.
Nancy Miller joined Wired as a senior editor in 2006 and currently oversees much of the magazine's entertainment coverage. Prior to Wired, she was a staff writer at Entertainment Weekly and a freelance producer and on-air correspondent for KCRW in Los Angeles.
Morgan Spurlock's first film, Super Size Me, premiered at the 2004 Festival, won the Directing Award and went on to receive the Writers Guild of America Documentary Screenplay Award and earn an Academy Award nomination. Spurlock has directed, produced and distributed multiple film and TV projects, including the critically acclaimed FX television series 30 Days and the films Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden? (Sundance Film Festival 2008), Confessions of a Superhero, Czech Dream, Chalk, The Future of Food, What Would Jesus Bu?, and the soon-to-be-released Freakonomics.
Ondi Timoner is the only filmmaker to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival twice, first for DIG! in 2004 and again last year for We Live in Public. Both films are now part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Timoner has also directed the award-winning sociopolitical feature films The Nature of the Beast (1994) and Join Us (2007) and a short film, Recycle, which premiered at Sundance in 2005, continuing on to the Cannes Film Festival and schools worldwide.
World Cinema Documentary Competition:
Jennifer Baichwal has been directing and producing documentaries for 15 years. Her last feature, Manufactured Landscapes, about the work of artist Edward Burtynsky, was released in 12 countries and screened at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Act of God, a feature documentary about the metaphysical effects of being struck by lightning, opened Hot Docs in May 2009 and is currently in release through Mongrel Media in Canada and Zeitgeist Films in the United States.
Jeffrey Brown is a senior correspondent for PBS's NewsHour, responsible for conducting studio discussions and reporting from the field with an emphasis on culture, arts and the media. As a correspondent for the NewsHour since 1998, he has profiled and interviewed dozens of leading American and international writers, musicians and other artistic figures. As senior producer for national affairs for more than a decade, he has helped shaped coverage of the economy, social policy, culture, and the arts.
Asako Fujioka is the director of the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival and works out of its Tokyo office. She has been associated with the Festival since 1993 after earlier work in film distribution. From 1995 to 2003, she coordinated the New Asian Currents program, a collection of films and videos by emerging documentarians from all over the Orient. She has also been a member of the selection committee for the Pusan International Film Festival's Asian Network of Documentary fund (AND) since 2006.
Shorts Competition:
Sterlin Harjo, a native of Holdenville, Oklahoma, belongs to the Seminole and Creek nations. His first film, Four Sheets to the Wind, was developed at the Sundance Filmmakers Lab and screened at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, where Tamara Podemski won a Special Jury Prize for her outstanding performance. His second film, Barking Water, screened at Sundance last year and was the only American film to play in the Venice Days section of the 2009 Venice Film Festival.
Brent Hoff is the editor and cofounder of Wholphin DVD, where he films drunk bees, crying competitions and illegal transborder volleyball matches. Before that he authored Mapping Epidemics, a book on pandemic disease transmission; created television programs at The Daily Show, VH1, and Nickelodeon; and wrote articles about squid. His first feature script on the last days of Ol' Dirty Bastard (Russell Tyrone Jones) is currently in production...he hopes.
Christine Vachon is an American movie producer who, along with partner Pamela Koffler, runs New York City-based indie film icon Killer Films. Vachon produced Todd Haynes's controversial first feature, Poison, which won the Grand Jury prize at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival and is screening this year as part of the Sundance Collection. Since then, she has produced some of the most acclaimed American independent films, including I'm Not There, Far from Heaven, Velvet Goldmine, and Safe, also for Haynes; and Boys Don't Cry, One Hour Photo, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Happiness, I Shot Andy Warhol, Go Fish, and Swoon, many of which have screened and won awards at Sundance.
Hot Docs To Honor Longinotto, Rofekamp
Hot Docs, the Toronto-based doc fest, announced two of its honorees for this year's edition, taking place April 29 to May 9. The Outstanding Achievement Award will go to Kim Longinotto (Rough Aunties; Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go; Sisters in Law; The Day I will Never Forget), while Jan Rofekamp of Films Transit International will receive the Doc Mogul Industry Award. And to commemorate the turning of the decade, Hot Docs looks back on the past ten years of documentary filmmaking with a retrospective, Ripping Reality, aimed at mapping the explosive growth and popularity of nonfiction film during this time.
"We think the past decade has seen a new wave emerge within documentary culture," saiud Hot Docs director of programming Sean Farnel in a statement. "Yet unlike other new wave movements in the history of cinema this one remains largely undefined, unheralded. What are its attributes aesthetically, politically and socially? What are its key films and filmmakers? What are the factors behind the explosive growth of documentary filmmaking, festivals and their audiences? These are just a few of the questions with which we begin. But Ripping Reality is not just about looking back, it is about informing and furthering the vitality of documentary through the next decade."
In addition, Hot Docs will once again explore the contemporary documentary work of specific nations and regions with its Made In program this year, which will focus on films from South America. Showcasing the finest in non-fiction cinema from this vibrant and artistically-rich region, Made In South America will feature a selection of films that champion the strength and vivacity of South America's documentary film community.
Kuo, Wildman and Rogers Exit AFI Fest
As reported in IndieWire, AFI Fest announced that Artistic Director Rose Kuo, Festival Producer David Rogers and Head of Press and Public Relations John Wildman would all be leaving, following a well-received, but probably difficult-to-repeat experiment in making the festival free to the public last November. Kuo helmed the festival for two years, following Christian Gaines, who left after the 2007 festival to become director of festivals at Withoutabox. She told IndieWire, "I was honored to be a part of the organization and make a contribution. As you know, all festivals are in a state of change. I think we've made some meaningful improvements to AFI Fest. I think the free festival was one of the most successful aspects of the [event] that I've had the privilege to be a part of." As far as what's next for her ..."The next thing I'd like to do is start something from scratch or retool something existing. I'd like to see what we did this past year and see how it could translate to something broader."
Although the late Eric Rohmer was best known for his literary and philosophical inquiries into our mores and preoccupations through such cinematic cycles as Moral Tales, Comedies and Proverbs and Tales of the Four Seasons, he, like many of his cohorts in the Nouvelle Vague movement, plied his craft in documentary. According to IMDB, Rohmer made docs for television in the 1960s, profiling such figures as Victor Hugo, Pascal and Mallarmé.
Here's an excerpt from a short doc on the Lumiere Brothers, with Cinematheque founder Henri Langlois and filmmaker Jean Renoir weighing in.
And here’s a short about women students in the French universities system. Nestor Alemendros is the cinematographer.
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Redemption Stone - The Life And Times Of Tom Lewis will screen at the Slamdance Film Festival, one of just twelve documentary shorts to screen at the festival in the Documentary Short Film Competition. The film chronicles the life of Tom Lewis, a storyteller of quiet power, who creates an after-school safe haven for children called The Fishing School. Redemption Stone was nominated as one of the Best Short Films at the IDA Awards in 2008. Congratulations to the filmmakers. Get more info at http://www.redemptionstone.net.
What are the best festivals for docs? Check out AJ Schnack's list and see which ones top his rather popular rundown. (via All These Wonderful Things)
There are re-orgs going on at the Discovery Channel. Oh, and over at National Geographic Films as well. Also, there's a new Film Editor at the LA Weekly.
Flixster is acquiring Rotten Tomatoes from IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corp, which will receive a minority stake in an all-stock deal.
Why are indie directors releasing films online? Time Magazine says it knows why. Oh, and The Independent claims to know the Five Tips for a Better Documentary.
How do you feel about corporate-sponsored docs? Some nearly tossed their cookies when weight-loss drug company Glaxo, the pharmaceutical giant behind Alli, made a movie about eating. (via The New York Times)
Opening: January 6
Venue: IFC Center/New York City
Film: Garbage Dreams
Dir./Prod: Mai Iskander
Distributor: Wynne Films
http://www.garbagedreams.com/
Garbage Dreams follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world's largest garbage village, on the outskirts of Cairo. It is the home to 60,000 Zaballeen-Arabic for "garbage people." Far ahead of any modern "Green" initiatives, the Zaballeen survive by recycling 80 percent of the garbage they collect. When their community is suddenly faced with the globalization of its trade, each of the teenage boys is forced to make choices that will impact his future and the survival of his community.
Opening: January 6
Venue: Film Forum/New York City
Film: Sweetgrass
Recordist: Lucien Castaing-Taylor
Producer: Ilisa Barbash
Distributor: The Cinema Guild
http://sweetgrassthemovie.com/
An unsentimental elegy to the American West, Sweetgrass follows the last modern-day cowboys to lead their flocks of sheep up into Montana's breathtaking and often dangerous Absaroka-Beartooth mountains for summer pasture. This astonishingly beautiful yet unsparing film reveals a world in which nature and culture, animals and humans, vulnerability and violence are all intimately meshed.
Opening: January 8
Venue: IFC Center/New York City
Film: In Search of a Memory
Director: Petra Seeger
Distributor: Icarus Films
http://icarusfilms.com/new2009/mem.html
Memory is everything. Without it we are nothing," says neuroscientist Eric Kandel, winner of the Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking research on the physiology of the brain's storage of memories. As he explains, memory is the glue that binds our mental life together and provides a sense of continuity in our lives.
In Search of Memory is a compelling blend of autobiography and history that recounts the life of one of the most important neuroscientists of the 20th century and illuminates scientific developments in our understanding of the brain's role in recording and preserving memory. In addition to archival footage and dramatic re-creations of Kandel's childhood experiences in Nazi-occupied Vienna and his formative years as an emigrant in New York, the film features discussions with Kandel, friends and family, as well as his public lectures in Vienna and New York, which explore both his professional and personal life, especially his emotional ties to Judaism.
Both through its personal journey into the memory of this amazingly spry and witty 79-year old, especially his traumatic experiences during the Holocaust, and a visit to his Columbia University laboratory, where Kandel and his colleagues demonstrate their experimental research, In Search of Memory examines how the brain stores memories, the difference between short-term and long-term memory, Alzheimer's and age-related memory loss, and structural modifications to the brain that enhance memory.
In revisiting the people, places and objects of Kandel's lifetime experiences, In Search of Memory reveals how everything we undergo changes the brain, even our genetic make-up, and can determine the focus of a life's work.
Opening: January 8
Venue: Roxie Cinema/San Francisco
Film: MINE
Director: Geralyn Pezanoski
Producer: Erin Essenmacher
Distributors: Film Movement; iTunes
http://www.mine-the-movie.blogspot.com/
Hailed as "absorbing," "a must see," "Oscar material" and "the best movie at SXSW," MINE is a documentary about the essential bond between humans and animals, set against the backdrop of one of the worst natural disasters in modern US history: Hurricane Katrina. This gripping, character-driven story follows New Orleans residents as they attempt the daunting task of trying to reunite with their pets who have been adopted by families all over the country, and chronicles the custody battles that arise when two families love the same pet. Who determines the fate of the animals--and the people--involved? A compelling meditation on race, class and the power of compassion, MINE examines how we treat animals as an extension of how we view and treat each other.
Opening: January 8
Venue: Cinema Village/New York City
Film: Waiting for Armageddon
Directors: Franco Sacchi, Kate Davis, David Heilbroner
Distributor: First Run Features
http://www.waitingforarmageddon.com/
America's 50-million strong Evangelical community is convinced that the world's future is foretold in Biblical prophecy--from the Rapture to the Battle of Armageddon. This astonishing documentary explores their world--in their homes, at conferences and on a wide-ranging tour of Israel. By interweaving Christian, Zionist, Jewish and critical perspectives along with telling archival materials, the filmmakers probe the politically powerful--and potentially explosive--alliance between Evangelical Christians and Israel...an alliance that may set the stage for what one prominent Evangelical leader calls "World War III."
Opening: January 29
Venue: Cinema Village/New York City
Film: The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Directors/Producers: Judith Ehrlich, Rick Goldsmith
Distributor: First Run Features
http://www.mostdangerousman.org/
In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, a leading Vietnam War strategist, concludes the war is based on decades of lies. He leaks 7,000 pages of top-secret documents to The New York Times, a daring act of conscience that leads directly to Watergate, President Nixon's resignation and the end of the Vietnam War.
Opening: January 29
Venue: IFC Center/New York City
Film: Off and Running
Director/Producer: Nicole Opper
Producer: Sharese Bullock
Distributor: First Run Features
http://offandrunningthefilm.com/
With white Jewish lesbians for parents and two adopted brothers--one mixed-race and one Korean--Brooklyn teen Avery grew up in a unique and loving household. But when her curiosity about her African-American roots grows, she decides to contact her birth mother. This choice propels Avery into her own complicated exploration of race, identity and family that threatens to distance her from the parents she's always known. She begins staying away from home, starts skipping school and risks losing her shot at the college track career she had always dreamed of. But when Avery decides to pick up the pieces of her life and make sense of her identity, the results are inspiring. Off and Running follows Avery to the brink of adulthood, exploring the strength of family bonds and the lengths people must go to become themselves.
As we begin to look forward to the new crop of films for 2010, we pause for a moment to review the year that just was. We present to you THE 'T' LISTS...Top 10 lists from editor Tom White and associate editor Tamara Krinsky. Thanks to all the wonderful filmmakers who constantly provide the intriguing, inspiring stories which keep our job exciting.
--Tom & Tamara
Tamara Krinsky's Top 10 Docs of 2009
In alphabetical order...
1. Anvil! The Story of Anvil: The unexpectedly inspirational story about never giving up on your dreams...as told through two rockin', soulful metal-heads.
2. Burma VJ: Reporting From a Closed Country - A doc that taught me about an important situation in the world of which I was ignorant. I saw it at Sundance, and for the rest of the year, it affected the way I thought about courage in reporting and current events.
3. Every Little Step: I've been a musical theater whore since seeing Peter Pan at age 5; hearing the original recordings of Michael Bennett's sessions with the dancers that were used to create A Chorus Line was an incredible thrill.
4. Food, Inc.: I almost left it off the list because it's received so much attention elsewhere; however, a doc shouldn't be punished because it's popular. Plus, it made me think differently about every piece of food I put in my mouth.
5. Good Hair: Funny and informative, Chris Rock's doc answered all the questions I've always wanted to ask about African-American hair.
6. HBO's The Alzheimer's Project: A set of in-depth programs that delved into the emotional and scientific aspects of a disease affecting far too many people. Heart-breaking and hopeful at the same time.
7. The Cove: There were many wonderful films this year that dealt with environmental issues; what separates The Cove is its masterful storytelling - eco-doc meets action thriller.
8. The September Issue: A gorgeously shot doc in which I expected to learn about the mysterious Wintour; instead, I discovered the fascinating Grace Coddington and the heart of an artist.
9. Transcendent Man: Whether you think futurist/inventor Ray Kurzweil is a prophet or a crackpot, this film will give you much to think on about the intertwined future of technology and man.
10. We Live in Public: As a new media junkie, I loved this visit with a fascinating architect of Internet history. Plus, Ondi Timoner gets a special nod for her trail-blazing use of new media to promote the film.
As always, there are always a few docs that slip by me that perhaps would have ended up on my list. Still dying to see: Valentino, Garbage Dreams, Afghan Star, La Danse, Beaches of Agnes, Tyson, October Country and RIP: A Remix Manifesto.
Tom White's Top Ten List of 2009
My top ten list is not necessarily in order of preference, or alphabetical, or in the order in which I saw the films. But it's a little of all of those, with the attempt to make segues from title to title. Think of this list as a non-linear one--more like a cloud, if you will.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil--Heavy metal is probably my least favorite genre of music (after easy listening, quiet storm, smooth jazz and country and western), but that didn't stop me from loving this film (although evidently it was a barrier for most AMPAS voters). This is an homage to the strivers and dreamers who fall short of their goals-but never succumb to that second act in life. Funny, poignant, heart-breaking and inspiring, Anvil the film transcended the potential for Spinal Tapian caricature of Anvil the band--although it didn't change my mind about heavy metal. But then again, imagine if Anvil were an easy listening act, like Air Supply or Bread? Now that would have been a challenge for Sacha Gervasi!
We Live in Public--Another Oscar snub. While the film captures the zeitgeist of the Aughts before it became the zeitgeist, at the heart of We Live in Public is a tragicomic figure in Josh Harris, one whose incorrigible hubris, casual cruelty, self-destructive genius and Jim Jonesian megalomania recalled Caligula, Richard III and Charles Foster Kane.
Winnebago Man--I was tempted to assign this as a two-for-one article with We Live in Public, but the writer convinced me otherwise. But still, Jack Rebney, the Winnebago Man in question, who gained his renown as the tempestuous pitchman from a 1986 video that spread like kudzu around the world-first in the analog days, then in the dial-up days of the Web, and now, in the super-charged, We Live in Public era of today-makes for an intriguing 21st century man. But filmmaker Ben Steinbauer set out to find the man behind the outtakes-and the man behind the worldwide celebrity. It isn't the journey, nor the destination, however, that makes this film. It's the process of making the documentary itself--of that strange, wily covenant between filmmaker and subject, the filmmaker and his film, and the filmmaker and his audience.
Big River Man--This film premieres on Discovery's Planet Green this month, and while the protagonist, Martin Strel, swims the grandest rivers in the world purportedly to raise awareness of environmental crises, Big River Man is not ostensibly an environmental doc. Strel is a Herzogian character-not a screaming banshee like Klaus Kinski, or a deluded grizzly man like Timothy Treadwell, but more of an existential cipher, who, while sharing those characters' obsessive compulsions to go one on one with nature, engages his quest with an odd stoicism. His traveling companions along the Amazon go nearly mad themselves, as the river takes on a mythical, mystical and at times monstrous aura. And yet, I found myself roaring with laughter along with the audience that packed the theater at the LA Film Festival. A hauntingly hilarious film.
The Solitary Life of Cranes--Full disclosure: I was once a construction worker in London, but I never got the chance to experience what life might be like up there alone in the cabin of a crane. Eva Weber gives me that experience--and more. Through the off-camera musings of the crane operators themselves and the fabulous cinematography, we get a sense of solitude, voyeurism, empowerment and mortality. And poetry. Another Oscar snub.
Must Read After My Death--The remarkable chronicle of a Post World War II suburban family--told entirely through audio recordings and home movies--has echoes of Richard Yates' Revolutionary Road and any number of John Cheever's stories in tracking the disillusionment and quiet desperation that inevitably accompanied the American Dream. Filmmaker Morgan Dews discovered this documentation of what happened to be the story of his grandparents, mother, aunts and uncles, and created a unique portrait.
The Cove--In the first quarter or so of the year, The Cove garnered a bevy of audience awards from festivals across the country and around the world, and at year's end, it's garnering the lion's share of kudos and accolades from critics. (And it's even on the Oscars Short List!) So why did it fall short of box office expectations? This is one of those rare films that succeed in conveying a strong message and telling a great story in a riveting, white-knuckle sort of way.
La Danse--As much as I dislike heavy metal, I have even less affection for classical ballet. But that doesn't matter here. Frederick Wiseman can mine the poetry and drama in most anything, including art forms that are innately poetic and dramatic, like...classical ballet. Here he and longtime cinematographer John Davey capture both the intricacies and mysteries of the creative process, in the rehearsal studios and in performance on stage, and the complexities and challenges of running a ballet company. It's observational cinema, yes, but with Wiseman, who manages to remain invisible even in a room full of mirrors, La Danse truly sees into the life of things.
El General--Filmmaker Natalia Almada's great-grandfather, Plutarco Elias Calles, was President of Mexico in the 1920s and ‘30s-and "El General" of the title. But this is not a history documentary, and although the audiotapes of Almada's grandmother telling the story of Calles serves the narrative, this is not a personal documentary either. But in utilizing those genres, along with the essay doc and the social issue doc, as touchstones, Almada creates a singular exploration of the intersections and contradictions between national history and personal memory.
Sweetgrass--Although this film played in a few festivals in 2009, and officially opens today (January 6) through The Cinema Guild, I will count this among the best films I saw in 2009-and it might end up on my 2010 list as well. Filmmakers Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Ilisa Barbash call themselves "recordists," and they take their time capturing what turns out to be one of the last sheep-herding expeditions for a family business in Montana. At once sprawling in its stunning vistas of the Great American West and intimate in capturing the trials and tribulations of sheep-herding, Sweetgrass transports us back to the 19th century, yet creates its own mythology of the American West in its visionary brand of observational cinema.
Honorable mentions:
The September Issue
Carmen Meets Borat
Loot
The Yes Men Fix the World
October Country