> FILMSTOCK now open for submission. We are looking for short films, documentaries and feature films for the 2008 programme. All the info is here, but if nothing is crystal clear, get in touch. The Filmstock programme has a very special energy because each year it consists of films submitted by filmmakers. It is organic and diverse and every year is diff...
Saturday, June 21------As SILVERDOCS enters its final weekend, one is both encouraged and discouraged by the assessments of many professionals who have appeared on panels as part of the parallel International Documentary Conference.While the sheer number of films here (over 120 screened, over 1500 submitted)) is evidence of a spike in documentary production around the world, the performance of recent films at the box office has made for quite a sober event here. "We are experiencing th...
Saturday, June 21-----In celebrations being held around the world, the events and repercussions of that pivotal year in world history, 1968, are being discussed, remembered and even eulogized. The events of that turbulent year in political and social history are best experienced and explained through the music of the times and the films of the era.At SILVERDOCS, the Festival is presenting a sidebar program entitled 1968 AND BEYOND that offers several seminal films from 1968 that give as accura...
Friday, June 20----The SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival has, in just six short years, become the premium festival for non-fiction film in the United States. With documentary films on the rise all over the globe, tackling every subject under the sun and even revealing some considerable box office muscle, this event has become ground zero for appreciating documentary works from the U.S. and overseas and track the trends for non-fiction media of the future.With the explosion...
Friday, June 20--------SILVERDOCS is, by and large, a non-glam event, with most attendees simply hard-working documentarians, most working without massive media spotlight. However, each year, the event brings some Hollywood-style stardust to the proceedings. In the past two years, the Festival has honored Jonathan Demme and Martin Scorsese, specifically for their documentary work. Last night, it was Spike Lee's turn, as the iconoclastic director was honored with the Guggenheim Symposium for h...
SILVERDOCS is, by and large, a non-glam event, with most attendees simply hard-working documentarians, most working without massive media spotlight. However, each year, the event brings some Hollywood-style stardust to the proceedings. In the past two years, the Festival has honored Jonathan Demme and Martin Scorsese, specifically for their documentary work. Last night, it was Spike Lee's turn, as the iconoclastic director was honored with the Guggenheim Symposium for his non-fiction output. The...
The SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival has, in just six short years, become the premium festival for non-fiction film in the United States. With documentary films on the rise all over the globe, tackling every subject under the sun and even revealing some considerable box office muscle, this event has become ground zero for appreciating documentary works from the U.S. and overseas and track the trends for non-fiction media of the future.With the explosion of documentary work ...
Following last evening’s gala Opening Night Film, ALL TOGETHER NOW, SILVERDOCS 2008 kicks into high gear with its first full day of screenings, seminars and special events. In all, this year’s Festival will present 108 films from 63 countries, including six World, eight North American, six US, and seven East Coast Premieres, as well as two retrospective programs. Film screenings take place at the AFI Silver Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, the Festival epicenter and a year-round arthouse ...
Sheffield International Documentary Festival, the UK’s premier event for international documentary professionals, has today started its search for films to showcase at this year’s festival.Sheffield Doc/Fest is considering documentaries of any style or subject from established or debut filmmakers, television or film school productions for this year’s official programme. Last year Doc/Fest showcased 100 of the finest examples of documentary film from across the globe, attracting over 1,200 ...
MAESTRO is a historical documentary film based on the underground dance music scene in New York City during the late 1960's through the 1980's. It was a precursor to the disco phenomenon which resulted into movie blockbusters such as "Saturday Night Fever" in 1977, and "54" in 1998. The documentary begins with the history of same sex dancing after the Stonewall riots in 1969. Same sex dancing gave a whole new meaning to freedom of expression through the art of dancing. A freedom that was unaffec...
As in earlier editions of the Tribeca Film Festival, the documentary sections presented outstanding productions, though, included some films that seemed to have been selected from a political perspective rather than from a strictly artistic one, meaning outstanding productions characterized by exquisite formal execution and original thematic concepts. Some of the films included in this year’s selections show that original thematic concepts are more difficult to develop than executing a them...
Landmark Theatre Hosts Third Annual Black Docs Film Series, America's Top Screening Program 2008 Theme is "Through The Eyes Of" / Program examines Bob Marley, Mexico, American Indian/AfroMexican Heritage, Cuban Music, Jack & Jill of America, Urban and Demographic Change, and the Migration of Free Slaves / Chuck D, Darlise Blount, Danny Glover, Gwen Ifill, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Lauryn Hill, Los Zafiros, Marley Family, Mascogos, Michaela Angela Davis, Pamela Edwards, and Regina King highlighted Wash...
"Doc Alliance" brings five important European festivals together that will jointly support the feature-length, innovative documentary film with a new form of co-operation. DOK Leipzig, Visions du Réel (Nyon), Planete Doc Review (Warsaw), International Documentary Film Festival of Jihlava (Czech Republic) and CPH: DOX (Copenhagen) are going to select an outstanding film once a year which distinguishes itself by a unique and individual style as well as by a novel perspective on reality. The five ...
Artistic Director Hannah McGill announced today that the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) will showcase twenty-two documentary features including Chris Waitt’s A COMPLETE HISTORY OF MY SEXUAL FAILURES; Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award Winner MAN ON WIRE directed by BAFTA nominee James Marsh, and Errol Morris’ Berlin International Film Festival Jury Grand Prix winner, STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE. Chris Waitt’s film is a comical documentation of the fil...
The Hugo Television Awards is proud to announce Smuggler as this year’s honoree for Commitment to Excellence in Television Commercials and Kartemquin Films as this year’s for Commitment to Excellence in Television Productions.Smuggler was founded by partners Brian Carmody and Patrick Milling Smith in 2002. Since its inception, Smuggler has garnered a reputation for producing groundbreaking and diverse commercial spots, campaigns, and music videos. Smuggler’s work, which includes production...
The EDN Award 2008 is presented to Institute of Documentary Film - IDF, located in Prague. They receive the award for their enthusiastic and energetic work with establishing a central organisation and professional platform for the development and promotion of Central and Eastern European documentary. The award will be presented on Friday March 14 at 19:30 (Greek Time) at an award reception at the international documentary pitching session Docs in Thessaloniki. Institute of Documentary Film is ...
The EDN Award 2008 is presented to Institute of Documentary Film - IDF, located in Prague. They receive the award for their enthusiastic and energetic work with establishing a central organisation and professional platform for the development and promotion of Central and Eastern European documentary. The award will be presented on Friday March 14 at 19:30 (Greek Time) at an award reception at the international documentary pitching session Docs in Thessaloniki. Institute of Documentary Film is a...
The 10th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival honored Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofski, outstanding figures in the contemporary American independent documentary field, at a special event which took place on the evening of Wednesday, March 12 at the Olympion's Pavlos Zannas theater. The two directors were particularly happy to receive the award from the Artistic Director of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival Dimitri Eipides, and they warmly thanked him for the honor. "Bruce Sinofsky and I ha...
On Wednesday, March 12, at the Olympion's Green Room, a press conference was by Arto Halonen, the Finnish director and Guest of Honor of the 10th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival - Images of the 21st Century. The artist was welcomed by the Artistic Director of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Dimitri Eipides, who referred to him as one of the most important European documentary makers working today. Arto Halonen, mainly distinguished as a documentary maker, has also written and directed f...
The screening of the documentary Reverse Angle: Rebellion of the Filmmakers is a great occasion to show a series of films originating from the Filmverlag der Autoren at this year’s Berlinale. Alfred Holighaus, section director of Perspektive Deutsches Kino, curated the series. How does the documentary Reverse Angle: Rebellion of the Filmmakers manage to arouse interest in a not-so-old chapter of German film history? It’s just like with the Rolling Stones. There’s a generation of arti...
The screening of the documentary Reverse Angle: Rebellion of the Filmmakers is a great occasion to show a series of films originating from the Filmverlag der Autoren at this year's Berlinale. Alfred Holighaus, section director of Perspektive Deutsches Kino, curated the series.How does the documentary Reverse Angle: Rebellion of the Filmmakers manage to arouse interest in a not-so-old chapter of German film history?It's just like with the Rolling Stones. There's a generation of artists - funnily ...
After a storming session to discuss on exhibition and distribution scenario of Documentary and short films, it is resolved to join hands of all concerns and take initiatives to thrash all the disputed issues and re-instinct the exhibition of documentary films in theater as of yesteryears. It was a outcome of the day long seminar on “State of Exhibition and Distribution of Documentaries in India” organized by Films Division as a part of ongoing 10th Mumbai International Film Festival of Docum...
"A word that has been bandied about a lot is 'change' and I think our country is desperately in need of change. Artists are agents of change. They're our first responders and they document the world around us." - Robert Redford, Sundance Film Festival- 2008 At a time when economic crises, natural disasters, terrorist attacks and market shocks are daily headlines, documentarians have become increasingly responsive. The 2008 Sundance Film Festival showcased a considerable amount of documentaries, ...
Independent Film Competition: Documentary From explorations of cultural trends and political movements to examinations of deeply personal issues that define individual lives, documentary films offer unique opportunities to understand our world in new ways. These films represent the spectacular variety -- both thematically and stylistically -- of the best new work in American nonfiction filmmaking. Independent Film Competition: Dramatic American independent cinema yields some of the most exciting...
Making documentary films is a challenging and rewarding career path. Too many documentary filmmakers fall into the trap of creating the ‘talking heads’ documentary where they simply interview people against interesting or artistic backdrops. However, this form of documentary filmmaking leaves a lot to be desired. The bottom line is that ‘talking heads’ are boring to watch. If people are just going to speak about their experiences, then an account of the situation in written format woul...
