Well I just returned from the Full Frame Film Festival and I must say I was quite impressed with the entire event. Great films, great crowds and great organizers. For all you American documentary fans, I highly suggest making the pilgrimage to Durham, North Carolina next year.
My praises for the festival aside, there were some excellent films screened over the course of four days but only a few could receive the festival awards. Announced on Sunday, the Full Frame Awards are:
Anne Dellinger Grand Jury Award – Enemies of the People directed by Rob Lemkin, Thet Sambath
Special Jury Prize– The Oath directed by Laura Poitras
Special Jury Prize– Restrepo directed by Tim Hetherington, Sebastian Junger
- Full Frame Jury Award for Best Short – The Poot directed by Elham Asadi
- Full Frame Audience Award – Waste Land directed by Lucy Walker
- Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award – My Perestroika directed by Robin Hessman
(This award honors a documentary artist whose work is a potential catalyst for education and change)
- The Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award – Enemies of the People directed by Rob Lemkin, Thet Sambath
Honorable Mention – Restrepo directed by Tim Hetherington, Sebastian Junger
(This prize honors a first-time documentary feature director)
- Full Frame Inspiration Award – Surviving Hitler: A Love Story directed by John-Keith Wasson
Honorable Mention – Summer Pasture directed by Lynn True, Nelson Walker
(the film that best exemplifies the value and relevance of world religions and spirituality)
- The Kathleen Bryan Edwards Award for Human Rights – 12th & Delaware directed by Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
Honorable Mention – Dirty Business: ‘Clean Coal’ and the Battle for Our Energy Future directed by Peter Bull
(the film that addresses a significant human rights issue in the United States.)
- Full Frame President’s Award – Book of Miri directed by Katrine Philp
(Aimed at recognizing up-and-coming filmmakers, this prize is awarded to the best student film)
Monday, April 12, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Theatrical Releases
Every Friday we update you all with the week's theatrical documentary releases. Now, this is not a perfect process as our beloved genre prefers the rolling/limited release schedule instead of a big nationwide or international-wide release. So apologies if a film isn't out in your area or if you are a filmmaker and we missed the boat on announcing your documentary's big day (if that is the case, please let us know and we'll correct the mistake).
Now, with that introduction out of the way, here's this weekend's releases with their current rating on the amazing website Rottentomatoes.com:
It Came From Kuchar – (80% rating) Long before YouTube, there were the outrageous, no-budget movies of underground, filmmaking twins George and Mike Kuchar. George and Mike grew up in the Bronx in the 1950’s. At the age of twelve, they became obsessed with Hollywood melodramas and began making their own homespun melodramas with their aunt’s 8mm camera. In the early 1960’s, alongside Andy Warhol, the Kuchar brothers shaped the New York underground film scene. Known as the “8mm Mozarts”, their films were noticeably different than other underground films of the time. They were wildly funny, but also human and vulnerable. It Came From Kuchar interweaves the brothers’ lives, their admirers, a history of underground film and a “greatest hits” of Kuchar clips into a mesmerizing stream of consciousness tale.(Rottentomatoes.com)
When You’re Strange – (57 % rating) When You’re Strange uncovers historic and previously unseen footage of the illustrious rock quartet and provides new insight into the revolutionary impact of its music and legacy. Directed by award-winning writer/director Tom DiCillo and narrated by Johnny Depp, the film is a riveting account of the band’s history. The film reveals an intimate perspective on the creative chemistry between drummer John Densmore, guitarist Robby Krieger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and singer Jim Morrison — four brilliant artists who made The Doors one of America’s most iconic and influential rock bands. Using footage shot between the band’s 1965 formation and Morrison’s 1971 death, When You’re Strange follows the band from the corridors of UCLA’s film school, where Manzarek and Morrison met, to the stages of sold-out arenas.(Rottentomatoes.com)
Fresh - (no rating provided) is more than a film, it is a reflection of a rising movement of people and communities across America who are re-inventing our food system. Fresh celebrates the food architects who offer a practical vision of a new food paradigm and consumer access to it. Encouraging individuals to take matters into their own hands, Fresh is a guide that empowers people to take an array of actions as energetic as planting urban gardens and creating warm composts from food waste, and as simple as buying locally-grown products and preserving or freezing seasonal produce to eat later in the year. (Rottentomatoes.com)
Thursday, April 8, 2010
NYC's new documentary festival
Your cries of pain and suffering have been heard New York City! Your pleas have been answered! Finally, a new documentary film festival is coming to the Big Apple! Huzzah!
All kidding aside, I’m actually quite excited for this new festival. Opening November 3rd and running till November 7th, the appropriately titled Doc NYC is already gearing up to make a big splash in the festival world. It probably won’t rival the U.S.’ big three (True/False, Full Frame and SilverDocs), but this could be exactly what filmmakers and fans want- a major documentary film festival at the end of the year.
The whole event will be hosted at the IFC Center in Manhattan and features the team behind the weekly Stranger than Fiction series hosted at the same venue. Interestingly enough, the inaugural year won’t feature an open submission process, so I’m curious to see what ends up screening at the festival.
If you’re curious, head on over to Doc NYC’s website for more information including information about the advisory board and when festival passes go on sale (hint: August).
All kidding aside, I’m actually quite excited for this new festival. Opening November 3rd and running till November 7th, the appropriately titled Doc NYC is already gearing up to make a big splash in the festival world. It probably won’t rival the U.S.’ big three (True/False, Full Frame and SilverDocs), but this could be exactly what filmmakers and fans want- a major documentary film festival at the end of the year.
The whole event will be hosted at the IFC Center in Manhattan and features the team behind the weekly Stranger than Fiction series hosted at the same venue. Interestingly enough, the inaugural year won’t feature an open submission process, so I’m curious to see what ends up screening at the festival.
If you’re curious, head on over to Doc NYC’s website for more information including information about the advisory board and when festival passes go on sale (hint: August).
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Trailer: Phyllis and Harold
I'm just going to quote the official website for an explanation of the upcoming documentary Phyllis and Harold:
"Phyllis and Harold is an astoundingly frank journey through a disastrous 59-year marriage. Drawing on a lifetime of her family's home movies and interviews made over 12 years, filmmaker Cindy Kleine mixes reportage, cinema verité and animation to uncover family secrets and tell a story that could not be shown publicly as long as her father was still alive. Phyllis and Harold delves into the mystery of time passing, the nature of living a life, and the challenges of losing those we love. But it is also a loving, funny exposé on the sins of suburbia. Imagine Bergman’s Scenes From a Marriage seen through the prism of I Love Lucy."
The film has been making the rounds at smaller festivals but might gain a nice little theatrical run if big name directors like Ken Burns continue to praise it. Head on over the website to watch the trailer and learn more about the film.
"Phyllis and Harold is an astoundingly frank journey through a disastrous 59-year marriage. Drawing on a lifetime of her family's home movies and interviews made over 12 years, filmmaker Cindy Kleine mixes reportage, cinema verité and animation to uncover family secrets and tell a story that could not be shown publicly as long as her father was still alive. Phyllis and Harold delves into the mystery of time passing, the nature of living a life, and the challenges of losing those we love. But it is also a loving, funny exposé on the sins of suburbia. Imagine Bergman’s Scenes From a Marriage seen through the prism of I Love Lucy."
The film has been making the rounds at smaller festivals but might gain a nice little theatrical run if big name directors like Ken Burns continue to praise it. Head on over the website to watch the trailer and learn more about the film.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Freakonomics the movie!
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s (seriously, they couldn’t agree on the spelling of their first name? It’s beyond confusing to make sure you have the right spelling with the right person. Geez!) book Freakonomics has been out for nearly five years now and more or less continues to cause worldwide debate and intrigue with their ideas. I would dare say it’s the most influential book of the new millennium if it wasn’t for, you know, the Harry Potter and Twilight
But what does their book have to do with documentaries? Well it seems some wise producer decided to take the book’s idea, hire a bunch of highly regarded directors and make a documentary about Levitt and Dubner's opinions. Freakonomics (the movie!) will premier at the Tribecca Film Festival at the end of this month followed by a theatrical release later in the year.
For those of you curious enough, the film hired Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room; Taxi to the Dark Side), Morgan Spurlock(Super Size Me), Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight) and Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady(Jesus Camp) to direct portions of the film with Seth Gordon (The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters) piecing together the entire documentary.Raise your hand if you’re excited!
Editor’s note: no longer able to write due to overwhelming excitement (i.e. both hands currently raised).
Monday, April 5, 2010
Trailer: Casino Jack and the United States of Money
Alex Gibney is back to doing what he does best: covering major political and financial scandals (yes, I know he won an Oscar for Taxi to the Dark Side, but I enjoyed Enron so much more, deal with it). I'm sure most of you already know about his upcoming film Casino Jack and the United States of Money, but in case you need more proof to see this film there's now a trailer posted over at Apple.com/trailers.
The trailer looks spectacular and I personally couldn't be more excited for its May 7th release date.
If you're not aware, Casino Jack covers former Washington super lobbyist Jack Abramoff from the beginning of his career to his ultimate imprisonment. It might sound boring, but Gibney is known for turning thousands of pages of documents into the most fascinating and enthralling stories imaginable. Don't miss this one!
The trailer looks spectacular and I personally couldn't be more excited for its May 7th release date.
If you're not aware, Casino Jack covers former Washington super lobbyist Jack Abramoff from the beginning of his career to his ultimate imprisonment. It might sound boring, but Gibney is known for turning thousands of pages of documents into the most fascinating and enthralling stories imaginable. Don't miss this one!
Friday, April 2, 2010
Theatrical Releases
Every Friday we update you all with the week's theatrical documentary releases. Now, this is not a perfect process as our beloved genre prefers the rolling/limited release schedule instead of a big nationwide or international-wide release. So apologies if a film isn't out in your area or if you are a filmmaker and we missed the boat on announcing your documentary's big day (if that is the case, please let us know and we'll correct the mistake).
Now, with that introduction out of the way, here's this weekend's releases with their current rating on the amazing website Rottentomatoes.com:
The Sun Behind the Clouds – (88% rating) updates the struggle for Tibetan independence, focusing upon the March 2008 demonstration against Chinese rule, the largest ever since the 1959 take-over of that nation. The Dalai Lama, living in exile in Northern India, is interviewed extensively and given the opportunity to explicate his “middle way,” a compromise position he has to date been unsuccessful in getting the Chinese to accept. Supporters of Tibetan independence who are devoted to the Dalai Lama, but who nonetheless feel “the middle way” is an ineffective solution, appear in the film, detailing their more militant position.(Rottentomatoes.com)
Breath Made Visible: Anna Halprin – (no rating provided) the first feature length film about the life and career of Anna Halprin, the American dance pioneer who has helped redefine our notion of modern art with her belief in dance's power to teach, heal, and transform at all ages of life. This cinematic portrait blends recent interviews with counterparts such as the late Merce Cunningham, archival footage, including her establishment of the first multiracial dance company in the U.S., and excerpts of current performances such as “Parades and Changes” at the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, to weave a stunning, inspiring account of one of the most important cultural icons in modern dance. (Rottentomatoes.com)
Now, with that introduction out of the way, here's this weekend's releases with their current rating on the amazing website Rottentomatoes.com:
The Sun Behind the Clouds – (88% rating) updates the struggle for Tibetan independence, focusing upon the March 2008 demonstration against Chinese rule, the largest ever since the 1959 take-over of that nation. The Dalai Lama, living in exile in Northern India, is interviewed extensively and given the opportunity to explicate his “middle way,” a compromise position he has to date been unsuccessful in getting the Chinese to accept. Supporters of Tibetan independence who are devoted to the Dalai Lama, but who nonetheless feel “the middle way” is an ineffective solution, appear in the film, detailing their more militant position.(Rottentomatoes.com)
Breath Made Visible: Anna Halprin – (no rating provided) the first feature length film about the life and career of Anna Halprin, the American dance pioneer who has helped redefine our notion of modern art with her belief in dance's power to teach, heal, and transform at all ages of life. This cinematic portrait blends recent interviews with counterparts such as the late Merce Cunningham, archival footage, including her establishment of the first multiracial dance company in the U.S., and excerpts of current performances such as “Parades and Changes” at the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, to weave a stunning, inspiring account of one of the most important cultural icons in modern dance. (Rottentomatoes.com)
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Doc News Bits of the Day
There are a few short but sweet documentary news nuggets out there today so lets dive into them:
Part of the team behind Oscar winning sensation The Cove isn't wasting time getting back into the documentary genre in one of the broadest reaching projects I can recall. Fisher Stevens and Mark Monroe are partnering with former NBC Universal co-chairman Ben Silverman to develop a documentary on decision making. Sounds a bit to 'metaphysical' right? Well the idea actually might work as the group will send 20 cameras to follow 20 people across the globe (from a man on death row to a wealthy home buying couple) who are all making life altering decisions in a single day. Sure it's a crazy idea, but crazy sometimes turns out awesome!
In the "more likely to be awesome than the previous story" news, the great/bizarre director Michel Gondry has taken time away from his Hollywood path to turn the camera on his own family in his documentary The Thorn in the Heart. If there is one thing the documentary genre needs, it's the inventiveness of Gondry and his imagination is in full effect in this personal narrative. There is a trailer posted on Youtube and I must say it just might be a 'must see' for film fans everywhere.
Part of the team behind Oscar winning sensation The Cove isn't wasting time getting back into the documentary genre in one of the broadest reaching projects I can recall. Fisher Stevens and Mark Monroe are partnering with former NBC Universal co-chairman Ben Silverman to develop a documentary on decision making. Sounds a bit to 'metaphysical' right? Well the idea actually might work as the group will send 20 cameras to follow 20 people across the globe (from a man on death row to a wealthy home buying couple) who are all making life altering decisions in a single day. Sure it's a crazy idea, but crazy sometimes turns out awesome!
In the "more likely to be awesome than the previous story" news, the great/bizarre director Michel Gondry has taken time away from his Hollywood path to turn the camera on his own family in his documentary The Thorn in the Heart. If there is one thing the documentary genre needs, it's the inventiveness of Gondry and his imagination is in full effect in this personal narrative. There is a trailer posted on Youtube and I must say it just might be a 'must see' for film fans everywhere.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Trailer: Babies
Probably the highlight of my day came with watching the trailer for the upcoming documentary Babies. The trailer for this delightful little film will just brighten your day as it is filled with baby images to warm the heart while Sufjan Stevens plays throughout.
If you want specifics, this visually impressive documentary from director Thomas Balmès follows four babies around the world for one year (from Mongolia, Namibia, San Francisco and Tokyo). Babies captures the earliest stages (from birth on!) of life that are both unique and universal to us all.
Seriously, it's about babies. Check it out! Babies hits theaters in early May.
If you want specifics, this visually impressive documentary from director Thomas Balmès follows four babies around the world for one year (from Mongolia, Namibia, San Francisco and Tokyo). Babies captures the earliest stages (from birth on!) of life that are both unique and universal to us all.
Seriously, it's about babies. Check it out! Babies hits theaters in early May.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
8 Billion Lives worth watching
One of the coolest websites I've seen in the past several weeks is called 8 Billion Lives. It has an extremely simple but fascinating idea: "8 Billion Lives is a platform for short documentary films. Each film features a day in the life of a real person."
Better yet, they want everyone to be their filmmakers. How cool is that?!? Seriously, go grab a camera shoot your best friend Dave who you swear everyone should be friends with, slap together some cuts and dissolves and bam! Your work could be on this website. Sweet!
Of course, if you're not into film-making, just film-observing, you can always head to http://www.8billionlives.com and watch the shorts already posted. It's a great way to waste five minutes... an hour... a day... to be honest, the combination of films and director biographies makes this an addicting website for documentary fans everywhere.
So stop reading and head over to http://www.8billionlives.com then tell us what's your favorite film!
An unrelated but equally wonderful site: http://futurestates.tv/episodes/plastic-bag. It's a film about a plastic bag on a quest and it's narrated by Werner Herzog. Do I need to continue?
Better yet, they want everyone to be their filmmakers. How cool is that?!? Seriously, go grab a camera shoot your best friend Dave who you swear everyone should be friends with, slap together some cuts and dissolves and bam! Your work could be on this website. Sweet!
Of course, if you're not into film-making, just film-observing, you can always head to http://www.8billionlives.com and watch the shorts already posted. It's a great way to waste five minutes... an hour... a day... to be honest, the combination of films and director biographies makes this an addicting website for documentary fans everywhere.
So stop reading and head over to http://www.8billionlives.com then tell us what's your favorite film!
An unrelated but equally wonderful site: http://futurestates.tv/episodes/plastic-bag. It's a film about a plastic bag on a quest and it's narrated by Werner Herzog. Do I need to continue?
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