Monday Memo: ACTRESS, NATIONAL GALLERY Reach Theaters This Week


The film ACTRESS from filmmaker Robert Greene started its theatrical run this week.

This week the film ACTRESS from director Robert Greene started a theatrical run at the Film Society at Lincoln Center. At Filmmaker Magazine, Vadim Rizov interviewed Greene, as did Steven Erickson at the Press Play blog at Indiewire. Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of the A.V. Club reviewed the film, as did Bilge Ebiri of New York Magazine’s Vulture blog. And Noel Murray penned a review for The Dissolve.

Frederick Wiseman’s latest film, NATIONAL GALLERY, also reached theaters in New York this week. Calum Marsh interviewed the filmmaker at the website of Penguin Random House’s Hazlitt imprint. Also, Manohla Dargis reviewed the film for the New York Times.

At the New York Times, Jeannette Catsoulis reviewed the film VIRUNGA from director Orlando von Einsiedel. Zach Sharf of Indiewire interviewed von Einsiedel on the making of his film, as did Tom Roston at the POV blog.

This week Stranger Than Fiction closes out its fall season with a screening of ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE, a film from directors Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker capturing the performances of some R&B greats. The film screens Tuesday, November 11 at 8:00 pm at the IFC Center in Manhattan. Following the screening, Hegedus and Pennebaker will be in attendance for a Q&A. For more information or to purchase tickets please go here.

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Monday Memo: News and Documentary Emmy Winners Announced


The documentary THE INVISIBLE WAR won this year's Emmy for best documentary.

This week the news and documentary Emmy awards were announced. Craig Phillips of the Independent Lens blog noted that its show took home three Emmys, while POV garnered one, according to its website. Writing for Realscreen, Kevin Ritchie also covered the awards, as did Esther Zuckerman of Entertainment Weekly.

The Camden International Film Festival named the winners of its awards, with the Harrell Award for Best Documentary Feature going to VIRUNGA from director Orlando von Einsiedel. Zach Sharf of Indiewire also had coverage of the awards. Also for Indiewire, Eric Hynes covered a panel discussion among film programmers held at CIFF, while Sam Adams wrote up a CIFF master class from director Marshall Curry.

Over at The Atlantic, Andrew F. March wrote a piece on whether the recent Vice doc on ISIS violated U.S. laws forbidding the support of terrorist organizations.

This week Stranger Than Fiction is hosting a screening of 65 REVISITED, a film by Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker and David Dawkins that pulls together unused footage from the Bob Dylan doc DON’T LOOK BACK. The film is screening with the short SHAKE – OTIS AT MONTEREY on Tuesday, October 7 at 8 p.m. at the IFC Center in Manhattan and will feature a Q&A with special guests following the film. For more information or to purchase tickets please go here.

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Monday Memo: Robert Drew, Credited as Progenitor of American Cinema Verite, Passes Away


This week the documentary community lost Robert Drew, one of the forces behind the American cinema verite movement.

This week saw the loss of Robert Drew, widely credited as one of the major creative forces behind the creation of the American Cinema Verite movement. At the New York Times, Bruce Weber penned an obituary of Drew; the Times also published an obit from the Associated Press. A statement from Drew’s family was released on the the International Documentary Association (IDA) website. Drew was also remembered by Richard Brody of the New Yorker, while Adam Benzine of Realscreen penned his own obit. At Fandor, a 2003 interview of Drew conducted by John Marlow was republished, while Filmmaker Magazine’s Vadim Rizov wrote about him. Film First shared some advice from Drew that was included in the book “Tell Me Something.” A 2001 piece from Drew about storytelling published by Nieman Reports also made the social media rounds.

Filmmaker Harun Farocki also passed away this week, with Alexander Forbes of Artnet marking the news. David Hudson of Fandor also remembered Farocki, while Margalit Fox wrote an obit at the New York Times.

The Toronto International Film Festival announced its doc lineup this week. At Indiewire, Anne Thompson provided a quick overview of the festival. Sarah Salovaraa of Indiewire fame was also able to provide a roundup of new additions to the festival.

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