TIFF announces doc slate

• by Raphaela Neihausen, July 23, 2009

While Stranger Than Fiction hibernates for the summer, our programmer Thom Powers is hard at work curating the documentary section of the Toronto International Film Festival.  The documentary slate was announced earlier this week and according to Thom, “this year’s documentaries have a sense of immediacy like never before. Current events are getting a fresh perspective in films about the post-crash economy, Iran, Berlusconi, surrogate mothers, U.S. Army veterans and more. These films are sure to generate a lot of debate.”  For an in-depth interview about this year’s line-up, visit AJ Schnack’s blog “All These Wonderful Things”.

(Above film still from the documentary INFERNO – in which French film restoration specialist Serge Bromberg brings to light astonishing footage from an unfinished film by Henri-Georges Clouzot, the director of DIABOLIQUE and WAGES OF FEAR.)

THE WAY WE GET BY opens at IFC Center this Friday

• by Raphaela Neihausen, July 14, 2009

For those of you that missed our sold-out April screening of THE WAY WE GET BY, you now have another chance to see this magical film.  It opens this Friday for a one-week run at the IFC Center.  Filmmakers Aron Gauden and Gita Pullapilly will attend this weekend’s screenings, as will two of the film’s subjects.  More info and ticket information can be found here: http://www.ifccenter.com/films/the-way-we-get-by-2/. 

STF spring season closing night: TIBET IN SONG

• by Raphaela Neihausen, June 05, 2009

STF’s spring season ended with Ngawang Choephel’s incredible film TIBET IN SONG.  For the second time in STF history, the film inspired a thundering standing-ovation (the first time being at the Spring 08 screening of THE AGRONOMIST when Jean Dominique’s widow Michele Montas came to the stage).  To learn more about the film and future screenings, you can visit: http://www.tibetinsong.com.

Thanks everyone for another great season of STF! A special thanks to the 50 STF passholders who broke our previous record for number of season passholders.  And thank you to 99 Below for all your yummy STF drink specials.  See you in the fall!

Some fun photos from that evening’s reception at 99 Below:

Kelly Hefner from WEtv was a college classmate of Ngawang’s and helped work on his release. 

Ngawang in conversation with filmmaker Hemal Trivedi and musical composer James Preston Jr.

FIlmmakers Ruth Somalo and Rob Hatch-Miller.

Filmmakers Amelia Hanibelsz and Melissa Hibbard.

Photographer Chris Hondros and editor Carla Ruff.

Two happy STF revelers with impressive facial stylings.

Filmmakers Hemal Trivedi and Paul Devlin.

A very dapper Simon Leuthi sampling our chocolate from STF sponsor sweetriot.

Related Film/Screening:
TIBET IN SONG by Ngawang Choephel

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THE GLASS HOUSE at STF

• by Raphaela Neihausen, May 31, 2009

Director Hamid Rahmanian and producer Melissa Hibbard presented their film THE GLASS HOUSE to a sold-out crowd at STF last Tuesday.  The film had its North American debut at Sundance earlier this year and explores the lives of marginalized young women in modern Tehran who cohabitate in a day center.  Battling numerous obstacles including abuse, drug addiction, and general oppression, these women face the challenges with dignity and grace.  One of my favorite quotes of the night was during the Q&A when Hamid was asked how the women felt upon seeing the finished film.  Hamid said they didn’t think it was “dramatic enough”.  Life in Tehran!

Some pictures from the night:

Jennifer Fox (director of FLYING: CONFESSIONS OF A FREE WOMAN) and Jennifer Dworkin (director of LOVE & DIANE).

Visiting Spanish filmmaker Diego Mas Trelles.

Writer Ann Marlowe and Iranian artist Raha Raissnia.

Director of TILL YOU’RE TOLD TO STOP Ruth Somalo and yours truly Raphaela Neihausen.

Related Film/Screening:
THE GLASS HOUSE by Hamid Rahmanian

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Cannes: “Documentary: The New Journalism” Panel

• by Raphaela Neihausen, May 26, 2009

A week ago in Cannes, the American Pavilion hosted a panel called “Documentary: The New Journalism”.  In a world where print journalism is collapsing and long-lead stories are becoming a luxury of the past, what role can documentaries play in providing an alternative to traditional journalism? The panel was moderated by Thom Powers and included distributor Richard Lorber (Alive Mind), filmmaker Anne Aghion (MY NEIGHBOR, MY KILLER – playing at Cannes) and David Fenkel (Oscilloscope Laboratories). 

The panel started off on a lighter note with Thom Powers reassuring the audience that there would be “no genital mutilation on our panel this morning” (a reference to Lars Von Trier’s ANTI-CHRIST that premiered the prior night) “and if it were to happen – true to documentary, it would be real”.  On a more serious note, Powers then went on to trace recent developments in journalism.  He observed that as one media form truncates, we see a different form of media move-in and expand: namely that of documentary filmmakers.  He posited that documentarians can follow a story longer than deadline-driven journalists to get at a more nuanced truth.

Aghion confirmed that hypothesis.  Prior to spending nearly 10 years filming in Rwanda, she worked at mainstream news organizations.  She left those traditional posts frustrated by the pressure of working under daily deadlines.  “I wanted to slow down and look at the world differently and make less mistakes in how I was portraying the world.”  Before she began filming in Rwanda, she visited the country four times and spent several months getting to know her characters.  In her films she tries to convey “what it feels like to be there” and does not feel pressure to fill her films with hard facts.  “Too much information detracts from connecting on an emotional basis.” 

Alive Mind and Oscilloscope Laboratories are both actively distributing a wide range of documentaries.  At Alive Mind, Lorber specifically selects “transformative films” where poetics and content are equally on par.  His acquired films include THEATER OF WAR, INTANGIBLE ASSET #82, and many others.  At Oscilloscope Laboratories (a company owned by Beastie Boy Adam Yauch), Fenkel similarly selects docs that have a “positive message for the world” - be it environmental or political.  In both companies, new distribution models combining theatrical, DVD and digital help these films reach new audiences. 

David Fenkel of Oscilloscope Laboratories

Richard Lorber of Alive Mind

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