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June 25, 2018

IDA Announces Keynote Speakers for Biennial Getting Real Conference

April 11, 2018 (Los Angeles, CA) - Today, the International Documentary Association announced the Los Angeles, CA (June 25, 2018) - Getting Real ‘18, a three-day conference presented by the International Documentary Association (IDA) in partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is the largest gathering of its kind in North America. The 2018 edition will take place September 25-27, 2018, in Los Angeles, California.

IDA announced the keynote presentations for the forthcoming Getting Real ‘18, a biennial conference on documentary media. Getting Real ‘18 starts off with a special pre-conference screening of Robert Kenner’s Food, Inc., presented by the Academy, Participant Media and River Road Entertainment. The screening celebrates the 10-year anniversary of the film that prompted a new conversation around food consumption, corporate farming, and the health of a nation.

Launched in 2014, Getting Real is designed as a filmmaker-to-filmmaker conference where peers throughout the documentary field can share skills, information, and build networks to help accelerate careers and amplify stories. This year, conference panels and keynote presentations will focus on three themes: Sustainability, Transparency, and Creativity. This year’s Keynote presentations will be from a diverse group of documentary leaders from across the globe:

  • Acclaimed curator and film scholar Chi-hui Yang. Chi-hui was a on the selection committee for MoMa’s Documentary Fortnight. He currently is Program Officer for JustFilms, Creativity and Free Expression at the Ford Foundation.

  • Award-winning filmmaker and human rights attorney Michèle Stephenson.  Michèle is a co-founding member of the Rada Film Group. She produced and directed the award-winning feature American Promise. She is one of the founders of and has co-produced several short documentaries examining race in The Conversation, a series of Op Ed documentaries for The New York Times.

  • Executive Producer Molly Thompson. She is the founder and head of A&E IndieFilms. Since its launch in 2005, Molly has overseen the feature documentary production for A+E Networks. Its roster celebrates critically acclaimed titles, including City of Ghosts, Murderball, and Life, Animated.

 

The conference also will feature a Masterclass with acclaimed filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, whose prolific career includes High School (1968) and Ex Libris – The New York Public Library (2017).  In continuing to strengthen the documentary ecosystem for filmmakers, Getting Real ‘18 will host the first-ever convening of filmmakers with disabilities and a panel discussion with Jennifer Brea (Director, Unrest), Lawrence Carter-Long (Communications Director, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund), Day Al-Mohamed (Supervisory Analyst, U.S. Department of Labor), and James Lebrecht (Sound Designer, Minding The Gap; In Football We Trust).

“At the third edition of Getting Real we will witness the vibrant growth and diversity of the documentary community,” says Claire Aguilar, IDA Director of Programming & Policy. “The theme of Sustainability looks at the day-to-day economic realities of the documentary filmmaker and at the global impact of non-fiction media. Transparency reveals true and factual information behind all aspects of documentary. And Creativity shows the vast storytelling and technical innovation that we witness today. Getting Real will showcase voices and perspectives from all sectors of documentary.”

The conference takes place in Los Angeles, with venues in Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Three-day passes are now on sale. For more information, please visit http://www.gettingreal18.com.

Getting Real '18 is supported by: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, A&E Indie Films, National Endowment For The Arts, Participant Media, National Geographic, Independent Television Service (ITVS), Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), Just Films - Ford Foundation, Catapult Film Fund, Department of Cultural Affairs City of Los Angeles, LEF Foundation, Center for Asian American Media, Oovra Music, POV, Mount Saint Mary’s University, Scrap Labs and Arena Cinelounge. Community sponsors include: Ambulante, Austin Film Society, Bay Area Video Coalition, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Brown Girls Doc Mafia, D-Word, Docs In Progress, Double Exposure Film Festival, European Documentary Network, Firelight Media, Greenhouse, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Kindling Group, Logan Nonfiction Program, MIT Open Documentary Lab, National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP), Next Doc/Youth FX, OutFest, Southern Documentary Fund, Visual Communications, and Women Make Movies.