It was a bit of a slow week for doc news—although less so for those filmmakers nominated for by the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) on Oct. 18 for its annual Gotham Independent Film Awards. This year the docs earning nominations from the nonprofit were DETROPIA by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady; HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE by David France; MARINA ABRAMOVIC: THE ARTIST IS PRESENT by Matthew Akers; ROOM 237 by Rodney Ascher; and THE WAITING ROOM by Peter Nicks. At the Documentary Channel blog, Christopher Campbell gave the nominees some consideration.
Stanley Kubrick, or at least films dissecting his work, seem to have seized some slice of the collective consciousness. This week author Chuck Klosterman wrote a piece on Ascher’s ROOM 237, which analyzes the film THE SHINING, for Grantland, describing the film’s effect on him as “obliterating my cranium.” And Christopher Campbell this week reported that professor David Spodak was currently working on a documentary tiitled ANATOMY OF A FILM about another Kubrick film, PATHS OF GLORY.
The POV blog kept up a decent output this week, with Adam Schartoff interviewing Flaherty NYC programmer Jon Dieringer. Schartoff also had time to lob a few questions at director Jonathan Goodman Levitt over his new film FOLLOW THE LEADER and the interactive screening of the film that took place at this year’s PaleyDocFest. Also, Tom Roston interviewed STF Artistic Director Thom Powers concerning his role as programmer of the SundanceNOW Doc Club.
The DOC NYC Festival this week announced its full lineup.
The DOC NYC Festival, which runs Nov. 8-15 in New York City, announced its lineup, which features a nice mix of films, premieres and panels, with a number of filmmakers and other special guests in attendance. The festival kicks off Thursday, Nov. 8 with two gala events, a screening of the film ARTIFACT with subject and actor/musician Jared Leto in attendance, as well as a screening of the film VENUS AND SERENA, which follows the famous tennis-playing Williams sisters. Head to www.docnyc.net to check out the festival’s full lineup and purchase tickets, and follow the fest’s Twitter account at @DOCNYCfest.
It doesn’t look like the debate over the new Oscar doc rules is ending anytime soon, although it’s starting to take on the tenor of a tempest in a teapot (alliteration!). Interestingly, the debate seems to reflect the fact that a film made to screen solely in a theater increasingly seems like an anachronism (or at the very least, a poor business decision). The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) seemed to take note of the problems facing its documentary branch members this year, sending out a note indicating that it had extended its voting period from to Nov. 26, from Nov. 14. At Variety, John Weisman wondered if the rule changes were an improvement or a stumbling block. Writing for Indiewire, Anthony Kaufman took aim at filmmaker Michael Moore, one of the forces behind the rules changes, for hampering indie doc makers. Deadline’s Pete Hammond had a lengthy take on the issue, talking with Moore about further changes to the process that could occur. Steve Pond at TheWrap.com reported yesterday that Moore had proposed to eliminate the documentary rules completely.
The POV film LAST TRAIN HOME won two awards at the News and Documentary Emmy Awards.
In the same week that a presidential nominee threatened its funding, PBS took home the most hardware of any network from the Oct. 1 33rd Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards, with nine total wins. (I’m not sure if that’s ironic or fitting.) POV was responsible for five of those wins, while Frontline took home two statues, and Independent Lens and Nature won one apiece. ABC and NBC each snagged seven awards, with NBC taking three. Realscreen’s Kevin Ritchie has a brief breakdown of the awards. For those interested in checking out some of the award-winners, POV has put their four programs online for free viewing for a limited time.
Unlike President Obama, documentary filmmakers Laura Poitras and Natalia Almada had a pretty good week, as both were named MacArthur Fellows, an award more commonly referred to as the “genius grant.” The award will give the two recipients no-strings-attached annual payments of $100,000 over the next five years. Melissa Block of NPR got a chance to talk to Poitras, who had been in press earlier this year after it was reported that she was routinely held and harassed by customs officials when returning to the U.S. after shooting in Middle Eastern countries. The POV blog also paid homage to the two geniuses, both of whom are alums of the PBS show. You can find some clips of Poitras and Almada talking about their work in this post on The Wrap by Tim Molloy.
Doc fans in New York City should keep an eye out tomorrow for the lineup announcement for this year’s DOC NYC film festival, which is set to take place in Manhattan Nov. 8-15. With an expanded list of films, panels and other events, there should be a little something in there for everyone. You can keep up to date on all the festival’s latest information by going to www.docnyc.net, and by following the festival’s Twitter account, @DOCNYCfest.
This week, Stranger Than Fiction is hosting the classic HERB & DOROTHY, the extraordinary story of Herbert Vogel, a postal clerk, and Dorothy Vogel, a librarian, who managed to build one of the most important contemporary art collections in history with very modest means. Director Megumi Sasaki and film subject Dorothy Vogel will also be in attendance for a Q&A following the screening. You can find out more information and buy tickets here.
BETTING THE FARM by directors Cecily Pingree and Jason Mann opened this year’s CIFF.
This weekend, the Camden International Film Festival was held Sept. 27-30 in the town of Camden, Maine. One of a handful of smaller, regional festivals devoted to non-fiction work, CIFF also plays host the Points North Documentary Forum, a series of panels and workshops dedicated to professional improvement and creative inspiration. At the POV blog, Morlene Chin spoke with CIFF founder Ben Fowlie and Points North Forum director Sean Flynn. Realscreen’s Adam Benzine examined the efforts put into developing programs for the Points North forum, while Basil Tsiokos of the What Not to Doc blog gave us an overview of the festival’s film program.
David France’s HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE about the AIDS activist movement hit cinemas this week.
David France’s film HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE, about the efforts of AIDS activist groups AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and the Treatment Action Group (TAG), hit theaters this week after garnering good buzz on the festival circuit. Christopher Campbell at the Documentary Channel Blog spoke with France, along with the film’s producer, Howard Getler. The filmmakers shared with Campbell their approach to hunting down archival footage, much of which had been shot by activists, some of whom had passed away years before. Tom Roston at the POV blog also spoke with France about his film, touching on parallels between the AIDS activist movement and Occupy Wall Street. And Anthony Kaufman, in his Docutopia blog, examined the film’s strategy of investigating the past, and compared it to a number of other docs that do the same. You can also catch a video interview with France at the Sundance Institute’s website.
Although the Toronto International Film Festival concluded on Sunday, Sept. 16, a few pieces on the festival came trickling in this week as critics and festival-goers had a chance to process all of the work they had seen. At Realscreen, Adam Benzine had a comprehensive take on all of the doc news that went down in Toronto, noting that Sarah Polley’s STORIES WE TELL left the festival as the most buzzed about doc. Benzine also had a moment to interview Spike Lee about his Michael Jackson BAD 25, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of Jackson’s album Bad and had its premiere at TIFF.
The good word on Polley’s film was also helped along after it was named TIFF’s best doc by Indiewire’s Criticwire members. Basil Tsiokos of the What Not to Doc blog also published the second part of his two-part roundup of TIFF docs. Christopher Campbell, writing for Movies.com, wondered if the year’s best docs had their premiere at TIFF, and provided a roundup of reviews. And Julie Miller of Vanity Fair had an interview with rapper/actor/fimmaker Ice-T and Jorge Hinojosa, the executive producer and director, respectively, of ICEBERG SLIM: PORTRAIT OF A PIMP.
This week marks the launch of the Stranger Than Fiction fall season, which is kicking off with a special Thursday, Sept. 27, 8 p.m. screening of Katie Dellamaggiore’s festival darling BROOKLYN CASTLE, about the chess team at Brooklyn’s Intermediate School 318. Dellamaggiore will be in attendance for a Q&A following the film. You can find more information about the film or purchase tickets here. Also keep in mind that season passes for the fall season are available for $99, which gets you a ticket to all of the fall season’s films, along with a free popcorn.
It was a bit of a slow week for doc news—although less so for those filmmakers nominated for by the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) on Oct. 18 for its annual Gotham Independent Film Awards. This year the docs earning nominations from the nonprofit were DETROPIA by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady; HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE by David France; MARINA ABRAMOVIC: THE ARTIST IS PRESENT by Matthew Akers; ROOM 237 by Rodney Ascher; and THE WAITING ROOM by Peter Nicks. At the Documentary Channel blog, Christopher Campbell gave the nominees some consideration.
