Deco Dawson’s film KEEP A MODEST HEAD won the award for best Canadian short film at TIFF this year.
The doc news world has been subsumed by posts coming out of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this week, so let’s get right into it. On Saturday, Sept. 16 the festival’s awards hardware was handed out. The short doc on French surrealist Jean Benoit, KEEP A MODEST HEAD by Deco Dawson, won best Canadian short film, and the Blackberry People’s Choice Documentary Award went to ARTIFACT, a film about the perils of the music industry, by Bartholomew Cubbins.
At Reuters, Julie Gordon took note of all of the buzz earned by docs screening at TIFF, highlighting the gala treatment given to Liz Garbus’ LOVE, MARILYN and Shola Lynch’s FREE ANGELA AND ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS. Brian Johnson of Macleans magazine presented his top 10 list of films to see at TIFF, with documentaries THE ACT OF KILLING by Joshua Oppenheimer and STORIES WE TELL by Sarah Polley nabbing the numbers one and two spots, respectively. Eric Kohn at Indiewire was similarly struck by Polley and Oppenheimer’s films. On the POV blog, Tom Roston turned out a list of must-see docs screening at the festival.
Basil Tsiokos of the What Not to Doc blog wrote up a post about the films at TIFF that had caught his attention. Writing for Vogue Magazine, John Powers took note of the hype surrounding fictional narrative CLOUD ATLAS, but also had good things to say about doc VENUS AND SERENA, about the tennis-playing Williams sisters, that earned a bit of notoriety after news broke that the pair had withdrawn their support for the film, reportedly due to unhappiness at the way the film portrayed their father. Jay Cheel at the Documentary Blog took time to write up a group of capsule reviews of the docs he managed to catch in Toronto. B. Ruby Rich, writing for Fandor, had a pretty comprehensive overview of the festival as well.
Sarah Polley’s STORIES WE TELL is among the docs screening at this year’s TIFF.
The Toronto International Film Festival got underway on Sept. 6, drawing attention from various media outlets. At the CBC, Andre Mayer took a look at the rise of the “hybrid doc,” which really seems to be another way of expanding the definition of documentary film. The Toronto Star’s Linda Bernard shined a spotlight on the number of women directors showing work at TIFF this year, among them doc directors Liz Garbus and Amy Berg. Writing for Movieline, Frank DiGiacomo highlighted 10 TIFF docs he was eager to see, with Sarah Polley’s STORIES WE TELL topping the list. And Indiewire’s Alison Wilmore reported that HBO had already picked up the Alex Gibney film MEA MAXIMA CULPA, about the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal, for theatrical release in November. Both Realscreen and Canada’s POV Magazine had interviews with director Peter Mettler regarding his film THE END OF TIME. The radio station 680 news also took a minute (several, actually) to speak with Jamie Kastner, director of THE SECRET DISCO REVOLUTION. And Thom Powers was kind enough to provide a thorough run-down of the documentary buyers at TIFF that regular readers of the STF blog may have already seen.
Roger Ebert on Sept. 7 announced via Twitter that Steve James had been tapped to direct a documentary about his life, with Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Steven Zaillian named as producers on the project. Christopher Campbell at the Documentary Channel noted the natural fit for James on the film, pointing out that Ebert had been a strong supporter of James’ HOOP DREAMS back in the day. Kartemquin Films, the nonprofit production house with which James has had a long professional relationship, also expressed excitement at the news in a post on its site.
Calls for the release of Syrian filmmaker Orwa Nyrabia continued unabated this week, with the International Documentary Association (IDA) posting a list of film organizations agitating for his release. Nyrabia, a co-founder of the DOX BOX film festival, has been missing since August 23, and is widely suspected to be in the custody of the oppressive regime of President Bashar al-Assad due to his pro-democracy beliefs.
Danish director Mads Brugger’s new film THE AMBASSADOR, which reached theaters this week, stole much of the doc world’s spotlight the past few days, with many of the discussions surrounding the ethics of the filmmaker. The film follows Brugger’s efforts to essentially purchase a diplomatic title from an African country. At the Documentary Channel blog, Christopher Campbell interviewed Brugger about the active role he played in the film, as well as his previous documentary THE RED CHAPEL. Indiewire also had an exchange with the director, only to ask him to expound on his favorite scene from THE AMBASSADOR. Anthony Kaufman’s Docutopia blog questioned whether Brugger’s approach constituted an act of exploitation, as he flouts the traditional rules of journalism by employing hidden recording devices, among other techniques. Eric Kohn of Indiewire also wondered whether Brugger had crossed an ethical line in his approach. Reviews by both A.O. Scott in the New York Times and by Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times touched on similar issues.
Efforts to help director John Maringouin raise funds for lung cancer surgery continue unabated. The IFC Center in Manhattan announced that it would host a benefit screening of Maringouin’s BIG RIVER MAN on Tuesday, September 4 to help defray the cost of his medical bills. UnionDocs in Brooklyn is also hosting a benefit screening on Saturday, September 22 of RUNNING STUMBLED.
This week saw the passing of documentary producer Brian Gerber, a board member of the International Documentary Association (IDA). Gerber’s doc production credits included the global warming film THE 11TH HOUR and THE DUNGEON MASTERS, about fans of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. In a statement, the IDA noted Gerber’s role in relaunching the organization’s website and helping with the IDA Documentary Awards. Our condolences go to his friends and family.
At Stranger Than Fiction, we want to join our colleagues around the world to endorse the statements of concern over the arrest of film producer and festival programmer Orwa Nyrabia.
TORONTO — The Toronto International Film Festival® today expressed its deep concern in response to the recent arrest of Orwa Nyrabia, the director of Dox Box, the acclaimed international documentary film festival in Damascus. Nyrabia was arrested on the 23rd of August at the Damascus airport, as he was on his way to Cairo. He was arrested by one of the security services of the Syrian regime and detained in the jail cells of the intelligence services. There has been no news of him since.
The new Stranger Than Fiction season will start with a screening of BROOKLYN CASTLE by Katie Dellamaggiore
Stranger Than Fiction this week announced the lineup for its Fall 2012 season, which kicks off with a special Thursday, Sept. 27 screening of Katie Dellamaggiore’s BROOKLYN CASTLE, which premiered at South by Southwest this year and earned the festival’s doc audience award. Also in the lineup is Matthew Heineman and Susan Fromke’s ESCAPE FIRE: THE FIGHT TO RESCUE AMERICAN HEALTHCARE; Don Argott & Sheena M. Joyce’s THE ATOMIC STATES OF AMERICA; Gary Conklin’s GORE VIDAL: THE MAN WHO SAID NO; and several other films. The season’s closing night, Nov. 20, will feature Jonathan Caouette’s latest feature, WALK AWAY RENEE. Season passes for STF are available for $99—$75 if you’re already an IFC member—which will get you free popcorn at each screening, a DVD from distributor Docurama Films, the ability to share your pass with a friend if you can’t make a show, and a guaranteed-seat at the often sold-out screenings, as long as you show up at least 15 minutes before showtime.
News about programming at the Toronto International Film Festival, which runs Sept. 6-16, is still trickling out. The festival released the full list of its Mavericks program, which features on-stage dialogues with film industry figures. The festival also released additional details on its Docs Conference, specifically that HBO Documentary Films President Sheila Nevins would be delivering the event’s keynote address.
The Los Angeles Times Saturday, Aug. 25 reported that Syrian documentary filmmaker Orwa Nairabiya, 35, had been missing since Thursday, Aug. 23, and that his friends and family feared that he had been detained by security forces with the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Nairabiya is a founder of the annual DOX BOX International Documentary Film Festival, which this past March was canceled by organizers in protest of the government’s violent suppression of political dissidents. Observers said Nairabiya’s disappearance was likely tied to the government’s crackdown on pro-democracy artists.
At Stranger Than Fiction, we want to join our colleagues around the world to endorse the statements of concern over the arrest of film producer and festival programmer Orwa Nyrabia.
