STF Spring Season at IFC Center Announced

by Raphaela Neihausen |


Stranger Than Fiction, our weekly documentary film series hosted by Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen and presented by IFC Center, announces its spring season for its 11th year. Each screening features a conversation with the filmmaker or other special guests, followed by a gathering at a nearby bar. The spring slate opens with DOCUMENTARY NOW! DECONSTRUCTED (pictured above), a one of a kind night with directors Rhys Thomas and Alex Buono presenting episodes of their hit IFC TV series starring Fred Armisen and Bill Hader, that parodies and pays homage to well-known documentaries. Other highlights include sneak previews of PRESENTING PRINCESS SHAW, about a singer discovered on YouTube, with the film subject Princess Shaw in person; and THE WITNESS about the Kitty Genovese case with director James Solomon.  

“In honor of our 11th year, we’ve packed the spring season with extra films to take the line-up to 11 – just like the Spinal Tap amplifier,” said Artistic Director Thom Powers. The memorable characters include a Haitian community leader full of surprises in MONSIEUR LE PRESIDENT; US Senators navigating a Supreme Court confirmation in ADVISE & DISSENT; gay Orthodox Jews struggling for acceptance in TREMBLING BEFORE G-D (15th anniversary); train passengers in Albert Maysles’ final collaboration IN TRANSIT; kidnapped film stars in THE LOVERS AND THE DESPOT; grandmothers living off radioactive land in THE BABUSHKAS OF CHERNOBYL; and a legendary restaurateur in FLORENT: QUEEN OF THE MEAT MARKET. Additionally, the creators of the acclaimed FIELD OF VISION film group will present a night of new shorts.

Our spring season is sponsored by the New York Film Academy and will take place at the IFC Center every Tuesday night at 7:30 for eight weeks (plus a pre-season special on April 5 and a pair of Thursday specials on May 19 & 26). The spring season closes on May 31. The full season schedule appears below. 

 

Spring 2016 Season – 7:30pm on Tuesdays at IFC Center, Apr 5 – May 31

Each show features a Q&A with the director or other special guests

Apr 5: Pre-Season Special – MONSIEUR LE PRESIDENT (2014,Q&A w/ dir Victoria Campbell & author Amy Wilentz) 

Apr 12: Opening Night of Spring Season – DOCUMENTARY NOW! DECONSTRUCTED (2015, Q&A w/ dirs Rhys Thomas & Alex Buono)

Apr 19: ADVISE & DISSENT (2012, Q&A w/ dir David Van Taylor)

Apr 26: TREMBLING BEFORE G-D (2001, Q&A w/ dir Sandi Simcha Dubowski)

May 3: IN TRANSIT (2015, Q&A w/ dir Lynn True, prod Erika Dilday)

May 10: THE LOVERS AND THE DESPOT (2016, Q&A w/ TBA)

May 17:  THE BABUSHKAS OF CHERNOBYL (2015, Q&A w/ dir Holly Morris)

May 19: FLORENT: QUEEN OF THE MEAT MARKET (2010, Q&A w/ dir David Sigal & Florent)

May 24: FIELD OF VISION (2016, Q&A w/ TBA)

May 26: Thursday Special – PRESENTING PRINCESS SHAW (2015, Q&A w/ film subject Princess Shaw)

May 31: Closing Night – THE WITNESS (2015, Q&A w/ dir James Solomon)

 

Tickets for Stranger Than Fiction screenings are $16 for the general public and $13 for IFC Center members. A Spring Season Pass, good for admission to all 11 events from April 5-May 31, is available for $99 ($80 for IFC members). The Opening Night presentation of “Documentary Now! Deconstructed” on April 12 is available only to season pass holders; no individual tickets will be sold to that event. To purchase tickets, please visit STFdocs.com/buy-tickets.

A DANGEROUS GAME: “Trump by nature” luxury golf courses

by Raphaela Neihausen |


The picturesque sand dunes of Aberdeenshire, the ancient walls of Dubrovnik and the suburban sprawl of Bedminster, New Jersey may not have all too much in common at first glance. Yet for some they share an unexpected foe. Golf.

Stranger Than Fiction welcomed director Anthony Baxter and a host of guests at the screening of A DANGEROUS GAME, Baxter’s second film documenting the construction of luxury golf courses and their high environmental and personal cost to local residents.

The film is a follow-up to Baxter’s first documentary, YOU’VE BEEN TRUMPED. Released in 2011, the film documented the construction of Donald Trump’s, ‘Trump International Golf Links’ course, in an environmentally protected rural area on the coast of Scotland. Following characters such as local farmer and fisherman Michael Forbes, the film exposed their struggle against the billionaire mogul. A DANGEROUS GAME continued following the same characters, with highlights including Forbes’ receipt of the ‘Top Scot Award’ in the wake of the film, whilst also expanding to other examples of the problem in parts of the world such as Dubrovnik, Dubai and Las Vegas.

Though “they may not be Trump by name,” Baxter said in his introduction to the film, they are “Trump by nature.”

Combining compelling personal narratives and interviews with experts and celebrities such as Robert Kennedy Jr. and Alec Baldwin, A DANGEROUS GAME wove together touching tales of personal struggle enthused with geopolitical and environmental themes. Throughout, Baxter’s simple yet direct line of questioning to political leaders, and even Trump himself, evoked a strong response from the audience.

In the Q&A after the film, Baxter was joined by producer, Richard Phinney; executive director of the Raritan Headwaters Association, Cindy Ehrenclou and activist Justin Wedes, one of the organizers of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

A consistent theme in the Q&A and in the film was the golf courses as a manifestation of wealth inequality across the world. “I think it is revealing, especially in the second film, just how pervasive the notion of the 99% and the 1% has become in the mindsets of people in this country, but also around the world,” said Wedes. “It is this universal symbol now.”

Baxter also echoed this sentiment, referring to the disconnect between people living in a “Trump Tower” environment in comparison to ordinary people. He spoke with affection and reverence for the local people he had met along the way during his two films, referring particularly to the Scots in Aberdeenshire. “They did not ask for this fight,” he said. “They have shown huge courage and determination to stand up for their environment. And Donald Trump just does not seem to recognize that.”

Writer and producer on both of the films, Richard Phinney, also pointed out that there is a need to not only hold the financial figures pushing for these golf courses accountable, but also the political leaders responsible for approving them. “As societies, we really have to respond,” he said.

Stranger Than Fiction begins again on Tuesday April 14 for its 27th season! STF Spring 2015 opens with KING GEORGES, followed by a Q&A with director Erika Frankel and film subject Georges Perrier. The line-up includes sneak previews of highly anticipated docs such as SUNSHINE SUPERMAN and THE WOLFPACK along with revivals of classic docs such as Alan and Susan Raymond’s THE POLICE TAPES (1977) and Nick Broomfield’s AILEEN: LIFE AND DEATH OF A SERIAL KILLER (2003). The series takes place each Tuesday night at the IFC Center.

Writing by Chloe Mamelok, a multimedia journalist currently studying at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Originally from the UK, Chloe graduated from Queen Mary’s University in London in 2013 before spending time in South America. Chloe is currently producing a short-form documentary and hopes to combine documentary production and investigative journalism in the future. Follow her on Instagram @chloemamelok and Twitter @chloemamelok.

Videography and photography by Steff Sanchez, a filmmaker and designer based in New York City. Twitter @steffsanchez.

Documentary Preservation Summit: March 31 & April 1

by Raphaela Neihausen |


DOC NYC and the International Documentary Association (IDA) will co-present the first “Documentary Preservation Summit” on March 31 and April 1 at IFC Center in New York. The event will gather filmmakers, preservation experts and others to address the risks of important documentary films being lost and strategies for ensuring their future. The speakers include Academy Award winning directors D.A. Pennebaker (Monterey Pop; The War Room) and Barbara Kopple (Harlan County USA; American Dream); Michael Donaldson, fair use attorney; Margaret Bodde, the executive director of The Film Foundation; and Sandra Schulberg, the head of the IndieCollect film documentation and preservation campaign. The event hashtag is #savedocs.

“We want to sound an alarm,” said summit organizer and DOC NYC artistic director Thom Powers. “Today all filmmakers have to serve as their own archivists, whether it’s for work on older formats or fresh footage on a hard drive. This summit will give filmmakers vital knowledge about how to save their work and make it available to the public.”

“Preserving access to great documentary films and ensuring they remain available to future generations is a sleeping-giant issue facing documentary filmmakers and aficionados alike,” said Marjan Safinia, IDA Board President. “Bringing the work of IDA’s GETTING REAL documentary conference to New York, this summit shines a light on critical issues related to preservation of our documentary history and the sustainability of documentary careers.”

Marcel Ophuls’ The Memory of Justice (1976), recently restored by the Academy Film Archive in association with Paramount Pictures and The Film Foundation. Restoration funding provided by The Material Wold Charitable Foundation, Righteous Persons Foundation and The Film Foundation.
The summit will kick off on Tuesday March 31 at 7:30 pm with the “Keynote Panel: A Call to Action for Documentary Preservation,” featuring Hudlin, Kopple, Pennebaker, Powers and Schulberg, that will highlight the risks facing precious films. The audience will get a sneak peak at the new IndieCollect Index, an attempt to catalogue the entire field of American independent cinema, supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation.

The following day, Wednesday, April 1, will feature four panels: “Earning New Revenue Off Old Films”; “Confronting Clearance and Legal Issues”; “How Does Your Film Become Preserved and Discoverable?”; and “Best Practices: Don’t Lose Your Footage in the Digital Age.” See below for further details.

Summit passes, good for all events on both days, are $25 (or $20, in advance, for IDA and IFC Center members). To purchase a pass in advance, click here.

Passes and tickets to individual sessions ($14) will be available in-person at the IFC Center box office, 323 Avenue of the Americas (at W. 3rd Street), starting March 31.

For full details, see below.

Continue reading…

Monday Memo: A Documentary Titan Falls – Albert Maysles Dies at 88

by Raphaela Neihausen |


Albert Maysles at DOC NYC 2014 where he received the Visionaries Tribute Lifetime Achievement Award

Last week I said I’d be skipping the Monday Memo until next week due to the fact that I’d be at True/False Fest all weekend, but despite being thoroughly drained from the incredible films I took in and festivities I took part in, there is yet news that must be addressed, albeit briefly. As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Albert Maysles, a documentary pioneer whose work includes such classics as GREY GARDENS, SALESMAN and GIMME SHELTER, passed away late last Thursday night, just after it was announced that IN TRANSIT, what will now be his final film, will have its world premiere next month at the Tribeca Film Festival. Word spread like wild fire both on Twitter and through the various Qs throughout True/False Friday morning. During the festival’s celebratory March March through downtown Columbia, MO, filmmakers took to the streets with portraits of Maysles and film stills from his monumental oeuvre pinned to their jackets in tribute to their fallen hero.

Mourning the loss, articles revealing the news of his death and detailing the filmmaker’s life and career showed up at The New Yorker in a loving piece by Richard Brody, in an article by Matt Schudel in the Washington Post, the New York Times thanks to Anita Gates, as well as at The Dissolve in an obituary by Keith Phipps. For Slate, Charles Loxton wrote a piece on the filmmaker’s passing, while Matt Zoller Seitz wrote up a list of 8 things about Al over at RogerEbert.com. For this week’s Indiewire Podcast, Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson discuss why Maysles mattered. Christopher Campbell also paid tribute and passed along the statement released from the Maysles Documentary Center over at Nonfics.

Maysles died just prior to the theatrical rerelease of GREY GARDENS, which Alex Simon of The Huffington Post had recently interviewed him about. Andrew O’Hehir had also reported on the film’s restoration for Salon, while Katey Rich of Vanity Fair released a 2001 Phone Call Between Little Edie of GREY GARDENS and Maysles earlier in the week. Just prior to boarding a plane to True/False and hearing the news of Maysles passing, Farihah Zaman had submit an article on GREY GARDENS to The Talk House.

Over the years, Al Maysles was a guest of and mentor to Stranger Than Fiction and it is with great sadness that we must say our goodbyes. Our conversations with Al about SALESMAN and GREY GARDENS can be viewed at the links.

This week is rare in that we hosting a double header with SEYMOUR: AN INTRODUCTION playing tonight at 8 pm, while A DANGEROUS GAME will screen Thursday at 8 pm, both at the IFC Center with post-screening Q&As, as usual.

Continue reading…

Docs Not to Miss at Sundance 2015

by Thom Powers |


BEST OF ENEMIES directed by Morgan Neville

The Sundance Film Festival serves up a rich array of non-fiction films. But how do you prioritize from over 40 docs? I’ve gained an early look at roughly half and picked some of my favorites.

Further down, I highlight several films featured in the Doc Club panels that I’ll be moderating.

Here’s my tip-sheet:

US DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

CITY OF GOLD tracks food critic Jonathan Gold and his passion for exploring the ethnic cuisines of Los Angeles. This charming portrait will strongly appeal to the legions of Eater and Chowhound readers. With cameos by fellow food scribes such as Calvin Trillin and Robert Sietsema, the film makes the case that the best food writing goes beyond what’s on the plate. Filmmaker Laura Gabbert previously directed No Impact Man and Sunset Story.

520x317Hot Girls

HOT GIRLS WANTED (pictured) gives an intimate view of young women as they experience the highs and lows of amateur porn. For many teenage girls today, porn carries fewer taboos than it did for their parents’ generation. Filmmakers Jill Bauer and Ronna Gradus (Sexy Baby) explore the complicated reality behind this fantasy world. Also on board are Rashida Jones (producer) and Abigail Disney (executive producer).

(T)ERROR gains unprecedented access to an FBI informant tasked to spy on American muslims. The film is a fascinating character study and look into an area of surveillance that’s metastasized since 9/11/01. I’ve tracked the project closely since directors Lyric Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe participated in the 2013 Garrett Scott Development Grant. The project has attracted many esteemed supporters including executive producer Eugene Jarecki and consultant Laura Poitras. Continue reading…