Still in Motion

Sheffield Awards

This morning at 10:30, fueled by sweet rolls and pastries, an audience gathered in one of the Showroom cinemas here in Sheffield to attend the awards ceremony that officially closes this edition of the Sheffield Doc/Fest. 

Once again, it was said, as it has been many times, that since taking over the running of this market, festival director Heather Croall has done an incredible job of putting Sheffield on the map as a highly important destination for media makers and media professionals.  Croall, in turn, celebrated the programming work of Hussain Currimbhoy, by saying that she heard from many jury members how appreciative they were to be able to judge such across-the-board inspiring and important work. 

Roger Graef hosted the ceremonies, assisted by the lovely AJ Schnack, where members of the juries presented the nominated films and the award-winners.  Halfway through, at 11:00 a.m., there was a two-minute silence to honor soldiers everywhere in observance of Remembrance Day.

The Sheffield Green Award honors the documentary from the program that best addresses major environmental challenges on our planet.  Nominees were The Blood of the Rose, The Cove, Earth Days, Haynesville, Petropolis, Shelter in Place, and A Time Comes.  The Blood of the Rose received the award.

The Wallflower Press Student Doc Award was given to the best student documentary made as part of course work from UK and other international universities.  I took the time to see most of these films (I make it a point to check out student work at any festival or film event) and everything I saw was exciting, exceedingly well-crafted, original storytelling.  Arsy-Versy, a 24 minute film from Slovakia directed by Miro Remo won the prize.  I absolutely adore this film.  It is imaginative, funny, and artfully told.  I was astounded at the proficiency and sophistication of the shooting.  The rest of the selections, particularly, Presidio Modelo, Time Within Time and Tsirk, were impressive.

The Sheffield Innovation Award, given to a film that exhibits originality in approach to form and radical manifestations in story delivery presented pieces ranging from art installations to solely web-residential work, running the gamut from video mapping in Palestine to the stunning and singular cinematic passion plays of Finnish filmmaker Jukka Kärkkäinen's The Living Room of the Nation.  An honorable mention was given to The Big Issue from France, and the award was given to LoopLoop from Canada.

The Sheffield Youth Jury Award is given to a film that engages a young audience judged by a jury consisting of young adults from 16 - 21.  In extremely eloquent fashion, they gave the award to Andrew Lang's gorgeous Sons of Cuba.  I did do a really wonderful interview with Andrew several months ago for the Shooting People site and it's gone missing, somehow, which we're both a bit puzzled by.  I hope it gets published somewhere soon.  Lang just won another well-deserved prize at the Rome International Fest in October, as well.  A theatrical distributor should grab this straight away.

The Special Jury Award, Sheffield's very first, honors a film that displays excellence in style, substance and approach.  The jury consisted of US filmmaker,  AJ Schnack, ITVS's Claire Aguilar (US), UK filmmaker, Kim Longinotto, UK filmmaker, Nick Broomfield, and US filmmaker, RJ Cutler.  The nominees were Horses, I'm Dangerous With Love, Junior, Men of the City, October Country, Petition, Until the Next Resurrection, and the prize-winner, Erik Gandini's Videocracy.

The Sheffield Doc/Fest Inspiration Award, again an inaugural honor here, celebrated the work of journalist, Adam Curtis, a man who has championed documentary (although he never really considered himself a documentary filmmaker until recently) and his decades-long contribution to groundbreaking television work.  A filmmaker who is embracing the digital future utilizing a multi-platform approach to projects, his latest is a collaboration with Punchdrunk called "It Felt Like A Kiss."  He gave a very short, but eloquent, speech on the muddy terrain between journalism and documentary filmmaking, and how the ascendancy of nonfiction storytellers is usurping a once robust, but now dangerously ineffectual, news media.

The Audience Award will be announced tomorrow, Monday the 9th.  I will, unfortunately, be in that disorienting twilight zone of all-day travel getting myself back to the States for an onslaught of work.  I'm looking forward to posting more about Sheffield--look for more impressions, film reviews and articles over the coming months. 

Finally, I'd like to express personal (big!) thanks to Charlie Phillips and Rachel Smith.

Missive from UK

Hello from Sheffield, where I'm knee-deep in the hoopla of a very bustling festival and market.  Last night at the big party at the local roller skating rink (fast becoming a Sheffield tradition), the 2010 Cinema Eye Honors announced their nominees for the ceremony that will take place at the Times Center in NYC in January.  Visit the site to read about all the nominees, and the latest and greatest on the best of nonfiction. 

Umbilically connected to New York wherever I happen to go, I wanted to say "hey," and mention a few things coming up: 

I've been part of the "getting butts in seats" brigade, aka Outreach Producer, for Four Seasons Lodge, a beautiful documentary film opening at the IFC Center this coming Wednesday, November 11.  The director, New York Times' journalist, Andrew Jacobs, some of the subjects of the film, and other crew and special guests, will be there for Q&As throughout the week, and some of our best indie film orgs will be on hand to co-host and join in the festivities for after-screening drinks shindigs.  Shooting People will host Friday night, Arts Engine / DocuClub will be with us on Sunday night, and UnionDocs will host on Monday evening.  Visit the website to get all the info you need, watch the trailer, and meet the extraordinary subjects, the last living generation of Holocaust survivors (two of them, pictured above).  Don't let the "H" word keep you away--it's an exceedingly heart-warming, uplifting and life-affirming film.  You can also visit the First Run Features site to keep abreast of where else the film will be opening across the nation.  Next up on December 11, Four Seasons Lodge will run in Los Angeles and Boston.  If you live in those cities, contact me to learn how you can help us get the word out and plan some special events around the screenings there.  The IFC Center puts up showtimes very close to the opening, so keep checking there and buy your tickets in advance.  There are discounts for groups of 10 or more.

Also on the 11th, which is Veteran's Day, The Way We Get By will have its national broadcast début on P.O.V.  The film is now also available for purchase on DVD--probably will become one of the top 10 stocking stuffers of all time, I would wager.

Rooftop Films sends news that their 2010 submissions have opened and they are welcoming entries for their summer series next year.  You can find downloadable information here or submit through Without A Box.  The superb series runs from May to September and will feature more than 200 films in various outdoor screenings throughout New York City.  All genres, formats and lengths are welcome.

On Monday, November 9, The Flaherty has a hot animation program on tap at Anthology Film Archives in the East Village.  "Experiments With Animation" will feature short works by such talents as Phil Solomon, Martha Colburn, Signe Baumane and Jeff Scher.  Go here for more info.

Okay, gotta pull myself back into the fray here.  I will be having lunch shortly with filmmaker Geoffrey Smith, director of the glorious The English Surgeon and co-director of Presumed Guilty which débuted at Toronto in September and is playing the fest here before moving on to CPH:DOX in Copenhagen next week.  It's a tremendous film and it will be fascinating to see the furor it will cause in Mexico where the story is told.  I'll have a full review soon, but watch for this one.  It will be one of the most important films of 2010.

I will have much more from Sheffield in the next couple of weeks, but back to just taking it all in--seeing great nonfiction films and getting to visit and converse with new filmmakers bringing groundbreaking talent and expertise to the field.  It's so awesome to be in the company of thousands of others who are as equally rabid about nonfiction cinema as I am.  Right now, off to Digital Bootcamp with Ingrid Kopp--woo hoo!

The 33rd Annual Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival

I'm off to the Sheffield Doc/Fest tomorrow for the rest of the week, but wanted to mention that on the other side of that, here in New York at the American Museum of Natural History, the Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival will host its 33rd iteration.  This is the longest-running documentary festival in the US, and their line-up is particularly stellar this year.  The fest starts on the 12th of November and goes through the 15th and the box office is now open! 

The festival presents a selection of documentaries and other non-narrative work, as well as animation, experimental films, and indigenous media.  This year, the festival will highlight a series of films in conjunction with the AMNH's exhibition, Traveling the Silk Road, opening November 14.  Look for a presentation of an exploration of the science and history behind Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica, a new multimedia performance by Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky, which incorporates the sounds of melting ice recorded by him in Antarctica.  Coooool. 

The Museum is located at Central Park West at 79th Street and tickets can be purchased by phone at 212 769 5200, online here, or at any of the Museum's admission desks.  The film schedule can be downloaded here.

LOOT Has a Sneak-Peek at IFC Tomorrow

Darius Marder's award-winning début nonfiction feature has a one week run planned at the IFC Center starting November 20, but if you're fast on your feet, you can grab a ticket for tomorrow's sneak peek at 8:00 p.m. courtesy of Stranger Than Fiction.  Marder will be in the house for a Q&A and post-screening fest at MacDougall Street's own 99 Below, home to many a drunken doc lover.

Loot won the grand jury prize for best documentary feature at last year's Los Angeles Film Festival, a fine validation for a new artist on the scene--one this writer hopes will make many more films.  Marder's past incarnation as a chef served him well in making his first film, for Loot serves up a really complex and memorable (narrative) dish, resonant with ingredients and flavors that one recognizes, certainly--the eccentric characters, the quixotic quests, haunted pasts, and the serendipitous meeting of souls from different generations that resonate so strongly with one another that viewers intuit that an emotional crescendo of some import is likely.  But what Marder is really adept at capturing (along with his cinematographer, Anson Call) are the nuanced ways in which his subjects deal with shaky memory, denial of epic proportion and unbearable emotional pain, each helpless in the face of their guilt and remorse for what transpired in a time when they were young and brash WWII soldiers trying to do anything they could not to get killed.  And in finding themselves all in one piece at the end of a long and brutal time of it, they rewarded themselves with war booty. 

Darrel stole 20 pounds of jewels, hid them in the attic of an Austrian farmhouse and returned home to Utah. Andy looted Samurai swords and jewels, burying them in the Philippines before returning to Arizona. Sixty years later, infirm and facing the end of their lives, Lance Larson comes into the picture.  Larson is a Utah-based, Mormon used-car salesman, inventor, entrepreneur and second-generation treasure hunter; in two separate storylines, he offers to help them recover their long-ago buried treasures, despite the apparent apathy and ambivalence both men feel about going back to uncover, or re-cover, that part of their lives.  In the interim, the ferociously violent, inhuman memories of war rise to the surface and we slowly realize the toll that all of that inherent, irrevocable and life-altering damage has had on these men and what finding this elusive treasure will bring to the surface--a recapitulation of their lives, a true reckoning with their mortality and, above all, the confrontation of the wounded love they have for their lost sons, both victims of mortal drug addictions. 

It is a compelling, poignant and universally relevant moral fable that will surprise you and move you deeply.

If You've Got the Content, We've Got the Airtime (and the Audience)

As Wild West-ish as the independent film community can be about our methods of production, most New York-based media makers, particularly first-timers, will really only register a small amount of distribution and exhibition advice from the guru-of-the-moment, take it as gospel, and try a recipe that might be mildly successful for some, but is far from a panacea for how to find appropriate outlets for original content.  It's not necessary to fork over hundreds of dollars so "an expert" can tell you how to DIY yourself through a mountain of work with, oftentimes, very little in return.  We need only look a bit further and broaden our horizons just a tad to find viable distribution and marketing partnerships that reside, literally, in our backyard. 

In a quiet, but intellectually vibrant, corner of our public television world, exists a potential repository for fresh independently produced fare, especially for short-form fiction and nonfiction.  Last week, I was asked by the New York Film / Video Council (founded in 1946, so they've been around a while) to moderate a panel discussion for its program entitled "Low Cost / No Cost and The City," where we saw some creative work being made by local artists, and discussed ideas about the ever-shifting landscape of exhibition and distribution for said creative work.

The main focus of the evening, hosted at DCTV (and what a generous crew they have there), was how our public broadcasting channels, a long-standing launching place for independents, can present themselves more effectively to artists looking for a place to showcase bold and original media.  Challenged, as are we all, by miniscule budgets, small staffs and limited resources, Rich Siegmeister, WNET Channel 13's Director of Business Development and Institutional Strategy for WNET.org, and one of the creators of Thirteen's independent film series, Reel 13, and WNET Channel 13 Senior Producer, Bob Morris, spoke about new initiatives being implemented to develop several new projects for both local and national distribution of public media.

Keith Boynton and Mike Lavoie, of 12films12weeks, a multi-talented duo that managed a troupe of young actors and crew, to produce twelve narrative films in twelve weeks this past summer, joined the conversation.  Their content resides solely on the Internet, which turned out to be a good place to find a small, but loyal, audience for their short pieces, but admittedly not knowing anything about the current independent distribution landscape or how to market themselves to a wider audience, it remained a fairly circumscribed phenomenon.  How can they advance their agenda in the future (if they so desire) by expounding upon the grassroots audience building they've accomplished thus far?  Or put another way, where can they go from here?

The third party to join the conversation was UnionDocs, a very small collaborative of documentary artists living and working together in a residency program in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, partially funded by the state of New York.  Its founder and director, Christopher Allen, and head of programming, Steve Holmgren, along with current resident artists, Robbie Wilkins and Josh Solondz, presented a taste of what they do and their general ethos in how interdisciplinary nonfiction media can express new ideas and methods of making work.

In bringing together these disparate parties, NYFVC board member and event producer, Ginger Brown, enabled us to have a really productive and exciting conversation where media makers, often without viable major distribution alternatives representing one side of a coin, and smart and experienced broadcasters wanting great content to fill generous slots of airtime and able to provide an audience in the tens of thousands representing the other, could engage in a useful and pertinent discourse about how these two sides could collectively mint some valuable currency so that artists, programmers, broadcasters and audiences can all benefit and keep the flame of independent film alive and well and, somewhat, profitable.

This idea of creative mentorship resides quite strongly in the structure these artists have created, but the consensus seemed to be that there was a desire to broaden their community base and, again, there's Reel 13, there's WNET.org, and the creative producers and programmers there scouring the planet for interesting work.  There is a very small contingent able to find funds to get to festivals far and wide.  Siegmeister says he, distinctly, does not fall into that category of being one of those able to shuttle himself around to festivals.  But by getting out directly into the community the channel serves and engaging in more discussions like this within that community, all parties can only be better served in reaching a common ultimate goal:  bringing hard-to-find strong film and video work to a large audience hungry for discovery and innovative media.

Rich Siegmeister welcomes inquiries from independent artists about submitting content to the channel.  They are looking for short films, 30-minute programs and independent feature films.  You can reach him at siegmeisterR@wnet.org.

Docs Under Duress Panel

Docs Under Duress

Check out the conversation I had last week with filmmakers Laura Poitras, Ross Kauffman, Andrew Berends and Eric Daniel Metzgar at the Royal Flush Fest.  The sound might be kind of low, so use headphones and turn it up!

MUHAMMAD AND LARRY Premieres on ESPN Tomorrow

Tune in tomorrow night, Tuesday, October 27, to the broadcast premiere of a new film by Albert Maysles and Bradley Kaplan on ESPN as part of the network's 30 for 30 series.  Muhammad and Larry combines never before seen footage from 1980 with newly-produced conversations with those who were at the famous fight between Ali and Holmes, including experts, luminaries, cornermen and trainers.

The documentary captures both champions at sparring matches and intimate moments at home in the days leading up to their match in October of 1980.  Check local listings for times on ESPN and ESPNHD.

New York Film / Video Council at DCTV

This Tuesday, October 27, from 6:15 p.m. - 7:45 p.m., I'll be moderating a panel at DCTV called Low Cost / No Cost and The City: an evening of films, discussion and ideas, sponsored by the New York Film / Video Council, one of the monthly programs organized by their volunteer board of directors.  These events are staged specifically for professionals in the New York media community to share information and support one another's work.  Anyone can join the NYFVC for $40 per year, as an individual, and $85 per year for an organization.  A student membership costs $20.  If you're not yet a member, and Tuesday will be the first time you're attending a program, admission is free.

With a diverse and interesting panel of media makers, we'll be talking about how filmmakers can approach a new world of low cost and no cost film production and still churn out strong and challenging work.  WNET Thirteen and Public Broadcasting representatives will speak to the possibility of how the public channel can offer new opportunities to independent narrative and documentary film and video makers.  Samples of work will be shown.

Participants include Christopher Allen, founder and director of UnionDocs, independent producer and new head of programming at UnionDocs, Steve Holmgren, Rich Siegmeister and Bob Morris of WNET Channel 13, and Keith Boynton and Mike Lavoie of 12films12weeks.  DCTV is at 87 Lafayette Street, two blocks below Canal in Tribeca.  Reception will follow.  You can RSVP at 212-330-0450.  Hope you'll join us.

REPORTER Plays at The Paley Center for Media and the Maysles Cinema

New Yorkers will have two opportunities to see Eric Daniel Metzgar's latest nonfiction film before it has its national broadcast on HBO in early 2010. (The Paley screening is, in fact, in association with HBO Documentary Films.)  This Friday, October 23, at 6:30 p.m. Metzgar will be appearing in person with producer Mikaela Beardsley, and author and film subject, New York Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, Nicholas Kristof, at the Paley Center in midtown as part of its annual DocFest. 

Director Metzgar profiles Kristof as he travels to Congo to turn a spotlight on one of the longest and most brutal of civil wars the continent has ever seen, a conflict that has claimed over 5.4 million lives over the last decade.  In attempting to profile the story in a human-scale way, Metzgar explores how news is disseminated these days and how our consciences can be mobilized (or not) by one person's story.  You can read what I wrote about the film here after seeing it at this year's True / False Fest, and you can read some of Metzgar's thoughts on the Paley website by clicking here.

Then on Saturday, the 24th, up in Harlem, the film will screen at the Cinema at the Maysles Institute at 7:30 p.m. preceded by WITNESS' A Duty to Protect as the cinema continues their "Congo in Harlem" series.  Metzgar will be joined by Mohamed Keita of the Committee to Protect Journalists, journalist, Makeda Crane, Sasha Lezhnev of the ENOUGH Project (they are co-presenting the screening), and Bukeni Waruzi of WITNESS (the other co-presenter).  There will be a series' closing night reception featuring music by Deja Bella.

I hosted a panel yesterday at the Royal Flush Festival ("Skullie" Awards tonight!) in the East Village with Metzgar, Laura Poitras, Ross Kauffman and Andrew Berends.  It was a really fabulous talk and because my fellow juror, Ingrid Kopp of Shooting People, is such a mega-rock star, she recorded it in its entirety, so we'll be able to share the audio file with you soon, both here on SIM and on her own splendid blog, From the Hip.  Don't miss this chance to see Reporter on the big screen and hear the eloquent Metzgar speak of his experiences making it.

Union Docs Rocks This Weekend: Deborah Stratman, Mamadou Niang, and More

This weekend, UnionDocs in W'burg, Brooklyn, will present two great programs.  On Saturday the 17th, guest curator, Rachael Rakes of Doctruck, will bring three wonderful pieces on contemporary China: the marginalized Turkic-Muslim community of Ughyurs in Deborah Stratman's Kings of the Sky from 2004, Sam Green's haunting short film, Utopia: Part 3, The World's Largest Shopping Mall (2009), and Yin-Ju Chen and James T. Hong's 11-minute, Dogs of Straw (still from film, pictured), a profile of the streets of Taiwan right before the 2008 elections.  Great filmmakers, great films!  Special guests will be on hand; the screening will begin at 7:30 p.m. 

On Sunday the 18th also at 7:30, UnionDocs is partnering with the African Film Festival New York to bring in documentary filmmaker, Mamadou Niang to present a short work-in-progress cut of his new piece on Ousmane Sembene, the father of African cinema.  Following this, the multiple award-winning Pray the Devil Back to Hell will play.  Devil presents the story of the powerful struggle of a group of Liberian women who band together to end a violent and long-standing civil war in their country.  Their methods of peacemaking are a sight to behold.  After the screening, I will moderate a conversation with the film's producer, Johanna Hamilton, and its cinematographer, Kirsten Johnson. 

It's supposed to rain for the next several days, so it's the perfect weekend to get your ass to a movie.  Come join us!

Royal Flush Is Coming!

Just a reminder that Royal Flush opens its festival this week in, and around, the East Village of our fair city.  Great program, some really original stuff that you won't see at too many other fests.  Celebrating the artist and the dreamer in all of us would be the main theme I would take away from the current program.  And which one of us couldn't do with a good dose of that now and then?  Here's the program of the films, art happenings and musical performances going on  October 15 - 19.

Also want to plug the panel I'm hosting again since it's chock-full of some of the best filmmakers around these days.  It helps if you're a doc fan, but anyone who loves great cinema will have a swell time participating in a conversation with Ross Kauffman, Laura Poitras, Ian Olds, Eric Daniel Metzgar and Andrew Berends.  That's some heavy talent, so come out and chat with us on Sunday the 18th at 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center on Suffolk Street.  It's free with your festival pass or just 5 bucks if you don't have a pass.  But you should get a pass.  Hope to see you there.

Call for Submissions: 2010 Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund

You have until January 11, but since holiday season is fast upon us (yikes!), and the deadline is just after the new year, a reminder that the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund is seeking feature-length documentaries that are in production or post-production with the intention of a premiere exhibition in 2010.

Eligible films should concentrate on people and populations who are ignored, ostracized, or otherwise marginalized and people fighting for social or political change.  They are looking for films that also highlight broad social movements.  Film works should focus on stories that challenge the status quo while pushing the form of nonfiction storytelling--in other words, a theatrical-ready movie.  Click here to take a look at the '08 and '09 list of films the GTDF has funded, more info on rules and regs and the application form.  Submissions should be postmarked no later than 01/11/10.

Royal Flush Trumps Evil City: Something for Everyone

A bit over one week away, the East Village of Manhattan will be overtaken by all sorts of artistic shenanigans, musical, cinematic, and otherwise.  The Royal Flush Festival, formerly known as the Evil City Film Fest, has a really innovative lineup of independent films, music videos, live musical performances and underground art openings taking place October 15 - 19 at Anthology Film Archives and other venues throughout New York City.  In autumn of '07, the year I moved back to New York, I participated in a panel at Evil City with Michael Tully, Stu VanAirsdale and Karina Longworth--with lots of cocktails on hand.  It was such a blast that I didn't hesitate when they asked me to jury and lead a panel this year. 

In its current incarnation, it is now named after, and partnered with, Royal Flush Magazine, a nationally-distributed "killer rag" that celebrates underground music, art, video games, pop culture and indie movies.  During this year's fest, the magazine will showcase its 2009 issue featuring Playboy founder, Hugh Hefner, and rock goddess, Joan Jett, appearing on two separate covers. 

To start things off in Royal Flush splendor, the festival kicks off with a free opening night bash on the 15th at the Hiro Ballroom in the Maritime Hotel.  There will be live performances at the Knitting Factory throughout the fest from the likes of British psychedelic punks The Raincoats, and an appearance by Melissa Auf der Maur of Hole and Smashing Pumpkins fame.  The fest has a sneak peek of her self-produced new project called Out of Our Minds, a multimedia concept that includes a musical album, comic and film directed and edited by Tony Stone.  It's breathtakingly beautiful with mesmerizing imagery, and of course, sonically stunning.  Take a look and a listen here.

The film program will open with Merle Becker's ode to American rock poster art, American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art, one of several New York premieres.  To take a gander at other filmic fare on offer, click here.  Cool program, eh?  Come join festival directors Jim Muscarella (film), James Galus (music), and Josh Bernstein (art) for a fun-filled four days featuring thirteen New York feature film premieres, six live rock, metal and hip-hop shows, three exclusive art events and a closing night burlesque bash.

I'm also very excited about the stellar filmmaker panel I'll be moderating on Sunday the 18th at 1:30 p.m. called Docs Under Duress at the Soto Clemente Vélez Cultural and Educational Center's Milagro Theater on Suffolk Street.  I will be joined by Ross Kauffman (Born Into Brothels), Andrew Berends (Delta Boys), Eric Daniel Metzgar (Reporter), Ian Olds (Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi), and Laura Poitras (Flag Wars, My Country, My Country).  We will talk about doc filmmakers who take great personal risks to tell important stories from war-torn or impoverished places around the world.  These five artists will share their own personal experiences making their films and how these works impact domestic and international audiences. 

The two other panels will take place on Saturday the 17th in the same location.  The first, at 2:00 p.m., is called How Green Was My Production? with Tony Stone, director of Out of Our Minds, Jesse Ash of GreenerMedia.com, M.J. Magbanua of White Collar, Kerin Ferallo of FX's Damages and Rooftop Films' program director, Dan Nuxoll.  At 4:00 p.m., John Holmstrom of PUNK Magazine will moderate Blog This Panel with Michael K of Dlisted.com, Brandon Harris (Hammer to Nail, FILMMAKER Magazine), Heidi McDonald of Publisher Weekly's The Beat, and Brandon Kim of IFC.com's Indie Ear.  Definitely not the usual suspects at a film fest; praise be for a little originality.

Come out and join the fun and support a hometown fest.  I'll have more updates as Royal Flush approaches and hopefully, if he has a bit of time, a chat with film festival director, Jim Muscarella.

We've Drunk the Kool-Aid: The CIFF Experience

Following hot on the heels of AJ Schnack's laudatory post about the Camden International Film Festival today, I'll weigh into the mix, too.  Thom Powers introduced me to festival founder, Ben Fowlie, and festival producer, Leah Hurley, this past spring when they came to New York to co-host a screening of Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly's crowd-pleasing and deeply moving documentary, The Way We Get By, with Stranger Than Fiction and P.O.V. 

This film had been a work-in-progress screening at last year's CIFF.  Realizing that they had the burgeoning programming chops and the potential to nurture important films such as this one, Fowlie and Hurley were intent on upping the ante a bit and really putting their small, regional nonfiction festival on the map as a circuit destination.  I heard from many local supporters during the fest this year that, indeed, they were well on their way to doing just that; it was a thrilling event for the whole community to have access to a such a powerful slate of films.  Man, the people are friendly there!  (Pictured, still of downtown Camden from the film Peyton Place, shot on location there in 1957.)

For the first time this year, they had juried competitions with cash prizes, starting with a best feature category and an emerging vision category.  Next year, they will also include an Audience Award, a truly meaningful prize to any filmmaker.  Fowlie and Hurley also brought on producer, Dominic Musacchio, to help put on the inaugural Points North forum, bringing a few select industry guests and independent filmmakers together to talk about the current state of things.  It was informal and it was real and it was pertinent.  But more than that, it was fun.  I'm one of those who think the panel presentation format should be put out to pasture.  I have come to loathe the words "paradigm shift" and other phrases of that ilk that have nothing to do with a filmmaker's daily existence.  There was an engaged, smart local audience and we let them into the conversation.

So this year CIFF caught fire and I'm so glad I got to be a part of that.  It's exciting to have another domestic nonfiction fest in such a beautiful spot, run by such talented people.  I call "the princess room" at The Inn at Camden Place.  The ducks and swans are awaiting my return next year.

Icarus Films Acquires Fanlight Productions

In major distribution news, Jonathan Miller sends word today that his company, Icarus Films, has acquired the 28-year-old educational distributor, Fanlight Productions, and its collection of 350 award-winning films and DVDs on health, mental health, aging and disability issues.  Fanlight is one of the leading distributors of independent documentary films on these issues in North America. 

Miller's plan is to maintain Fanlight as a free-standing label, but most of their titles will be integrated into the Icarus Films collection.  You can visit the Icarus site to see the first fourteen titles, listed under New Releases, by clicking here.

CIFF '09 Jury Selections

At the '09 Camden International Film Festival award ceremonies this evening at the beautiful Camden Opera House (which preceded the closing night film, Robert Stone's Earth Days), the recipients of the Harrell Award for Best Documentary Feature and the CIFF Award for Emerging Cinematic Vision were announced, with prizes of $1,000 each.  The CIFF Award winner also receives a free course at the Maine Media Workshops. 

The Harrell Award went to Jean-Pierre Duret and Andrea Santana's Because We Were Born (Puisque Nous Sommes Nés).  Camden was the French-Brazilian film's US premiere and it's about to launch its theatrical run in France in a few days.  Here's what I and fellow jurors, Ryan Harrington and Dana Rae Warren, had to say about Duret and Santana's exquisite work:  "The jury gives Jean-Pierre Duret and Andrea Santana's Because We Were Born the Harrell Award for Best Documentary Feature for its excellence in cinematic craft and for its rigorously pure vérité aesthetic.  The filmmakers have created a work that challenges the viewer on many levels.  Told with a quiet intensity and deep love and respect for their subjects, in our opinion, this piece represents the best of what nonfiction cinema has to offer." 

The CIFF Award went to Patrick Shen's The Philosopher Kings, a journey through the corridors of the most prestigious colleges and universities in America to learn profound life lessons from the custodians that clean and maintain these hallowed halls of academe.  You can watch the trailer here.

I will have much more from CIFF in the coming days, along with several film reviews from the outstanding program.  Congratulations to Ben Fowlie, Leah Hurley, Dominic Musacchio and the entire festival team for putting on a really magical event.  We were duly impressed and look forward to visiting again in the years to come. 

OCTOBER COUNTRY at Stranger Than Fiction

Still deep into this jewel of a festival called Camden International in Maine and will be writing more in the days to come, but wanted to mention that Donal Mosher and Michael Palmieri's award-winning film will be screening at a special Stranger Than Fiction evening on Monday night, the 5th. 

Palmieri and Mosher will be there for a Q&A and drinks gathering in the West Village afterward .  Do not miss this opportunity to see one of the best films of the year.

THE HORSE BOY Opens in New York

Today, September 30, a truly wonderful and uplifting film opens at the IFC Center.  Originally called Over the Hills and Far Away, The Horse Boy, directed by Austin-based Michel Orion Scott and released by Zeitgeist Films, is a thrilling piece of cinema, and should definitely be seen on the big screen. 

Read my review on the Hammer to Nail site here.  Be sure to go see it--it's gorgeous.

Points North

This week, the 5th iteration of the Camden International Film Festival begins, October 1 - 4 in Camden, Rockport and Rockland, Maine.  I will be heading up to jury one of two competitive categories, the "Harrell Award" for Best Documentary.  The films in competition are Jean Pierre Duret's Because We Were Born (Puisque Nous Sommes Nés), AJ Schnack's Convention (also the opening night film, still from film pictured), Joe Berlinger's Crude, Rupert Murray's The End of the Line, David Redmon and Ashley Sabin's Invisible Girlfriend, Marshall Curry's Racing Dreams, Vassiliki Khonsari and Sevan Matossian's Pulling John, Vikram Jayanti's Snowblind, and Geralyn Pezanoski's Mine.  My fellow jurors will be Ryan Harrington, head of Bugle B Productions and the Tribeca Gucci Documentary Fund and Maine-based filmmaker and consultant, Dana Rae Warren of Moody Mountain Media.

The "CIFF Award" for emerging cinematic vision is awarded from a category of filmmakers coming to CIFF with their first or second feature documentary.  Competing in this category are Monika Navarro's Lost Souls (Animas Perdidas), Noah Hutton's Crude Independence, Will Hyler's The Fish Belong to the People, Mai Iskander's Garbage Dreams, Donal Mosher and Michael Palmieri's October Country, Luciano Blotta's Rise Up, Rivkah Beth Medow and Gregory O'Toole's Sons of a Gun, Patrick Shen's Philosopher Kings, and Gabriel Noble's P-Star Rising.  Jury members are program manager of the LEF Foundation, Sara Archambault, filmmaker Ian Cheney, and IFP's community manager, Danielle DiGiacomo.  You can read about all the films in competition, as well as the rest of the fine program, by clicking here.

Also, I will be moderating one of two roundtable workshops for Maine filmmakers for the inaugural Points North Documentary Film Forum on Friday afternoon, October 2, at the Maine Media Workshops in Rockport.  The first section will be led by Maine-based sales agent, Louise Rosen, called A New World: Nonfiction Film Funding, Trends and Players.  She will moderate this roundtable featuring HBO's Greg Rhem, Sundance Documentary Institute's Patricia Finneran, PBS' Jalyn Henton, LEF Foundation's Sara Archambault, and Ryan Harrington.  Next up, I will be leading a discussion called The Survivor's Guide, Sustainable Filmmaking, with Ian Cheney, Danielle DiGiacomo, David Redmon, Ashley Sabin, AJ Schnack and Dana Rae Warren.  This will be the first time many Maine-based emerging filmmakers will have access to industry professionals of this calibre.  If you're in the area, please come by and join us.  To learn more about Points North details, click here.

Look for my interview with CIFF founding director, Ben Fowlie, on the Hammer to Nail site early this week.

40/40 Vision

Still a week away but this will give you plenty of time to get your tickets to the first of a series of cocktail events in support of Rooftop Films called 40/40 Vision.  These fundraising evenings are hosted by Rooftop and one of their advisory board members, Tad Barnes--at Tad's place in the BK.  (Note: this photo is not a pic of Tad's place.)

There will be five parties that will feature the best of Rooftop's programming and will probably prove to be a key networking spot to boot.  Each evening will begin with your $40 admission price (all tax deductible, BTW) for a full cookout and all the Radeberger beer you can drink.  (Well, maybe half of what you can drink.)  There will be a screening and a chance to mingle with Rooftop staff and featured filmmakers in an intimate setting, Tad's terrace in Williamsburg.

The 9:00 p.m. Saturday night parties will be on September 26 (Benh Zeitlin's exquisite Glory at Sea will play); October 10 (Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher will show excerpts from October Country, their award-winning feature doc); October 24 (Yoni Brook and Musa Syeed's highly-entertaining Bronx Princess will play); November 11 (Jesse Epstein's 34 x 25 x 36, the latest short work in her body image series will be featured); and November 21 (Carlin by Brent Green; the screening will include a live musical performance by Green). 

Click here to choose a date and buy your tickets in advance.

Blog Surfing

Lest you think I'm ignoring you, my lovely SIM-ites, I'm letting you know that I will be blogging this week on the FILMMAKER Magazine blog site.  I'm covering the Independent Film Week which starts today and goes through Thursday--with a whole day devoted to docs to top it off! 

Please stop by and keep up on the latest and greatest from indie film-dom's elite and erudite crowd.  Also, if you're going to physically be at the market, come find me and say "hi."  I'll be the woman snoring into her laptop.

Pitch Fever at Sheffield Doc/Fest

Sheffield Doc/Fest Marketplace Producer, Charlie Phillips, writes to say that submissions for this year's main market event, The Meet Market, have gone "haywire," with loads of projects coming in.  There are, however, five other pitch forums that take place during the festival.

Canada's National Film Board (NFB) will have the Crossmedia Pitch.  They're looking for innovative, interactive, socially engaging projects with applications for mobile and broadband.  The theme is "Migrations," and the prize for the best pitch will be C$5,000.  The deadline for submissions is the 9th of October.

The Wellcome Trust Pitch, with a very generous prize of £10,000, is looking for documentary films, games and other online ideas around health, biology or medical themes, also with a deadline of October 9.

The Channel 4 pitch prize comes with a 10 - 12 week commitment to direct a 30-minute film with a £50,000-budget for the channel's critically-acclaimed doc strand, "First Cut."  The deadline for applications is September 25.

The Mini MeetMarket is for emerging filmmakers looking for advice on their projects-in-development and executive producers.  That deadline is October 14.

Lastly, Current TV will host a pitch forum with a prize of £5,000 for the best ideas on UK-based, investigative current affairs pieces.  The deadline is October 16.

So start shuttling all those brilliant ideas over there.  Information and other details for all pitches, plus details on the main market, are on the Sheffield site.  Click on "Marketplace."  Good luck!

Doxita Season II at IFC Center Tonight

Programmer extraordinaire, Karen Cirillo, is bringing her little bag of tricks to the IFC Center tonight at 8:00 p.m.  Doxita, Cirillo's traveling shorts program, is in its second season and the films she's showcasing tonight are little-gem discoveries she's culled over the years at festivals and in her other circumambulations around the globe, making her a long-time member of the Poverty Jet Set.  (Is that in the dictionary yet, Mark?)

Tonight, she brings to New York audiences a fine program of short documentaries called All In A Day's Work.  (Cirillo's criteria for a film to qualify as a short is a running time of under 40 minutes.)  The featured films are China's Wild West, Urszula Pontikos, Breadmakers, Yasmin Fedda, Wood (film still, pictured), David Fenster, Shika Shika, Stephen Hyde, and The Tailor, Oscar Perez.  They are all high recommends in my book.  The show's from 8:00 - 10:00 and tickets are $12.50; $8.50 for seniors.

It's Independent Film Week Time Again

Hard to believe, but IFP's Independent Film Week conference has rolled around again.  Beginning next Saturday, September 19th and going through Thursday the 24th, emerging and seasoned filmmakers, indie producers, programmers, funders and other various and sundry creative folk will come together to take a look-back gander at this past year and a look forward to what the future holds in store for us all in dozens of panels, meetings and networking events.  Running concurrently, will be the 31st Annual Project Forum where narrative and nonfiction filmmakers will get to showcase their works-in-progress.

IFP is expanding its strategic relationship with the Sundance Institute, and has formed a new partnership with B-Side.  The Good Pitch, produced by Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation, will also stage its unique forum, bringing together makers of social-purpose film projects with a group of participants from various charities, foundations, and government and media entities interested in forming alliances for their causes around feature documentary productions.

It's a pretty key spot to be, especially for US filmmakers, since it's the oldest and largest forum in this country, the best opportunity for filmmakers to connect with industry professionals.  It's also the only domestic forum where the focus is on connecting projects still in development with financing and sales opportunities.  Saturday and Sunday's focus will be on Making Your First Feature; Monday's theme will be Filmmaking 2.0 (we're evolving!); Tuesday's panels and workshops will explore the Global Marketplace; and Wednesday will uncover The Truth About Nonfiction.  For a full list of all 116 projects chosen to participate in the Forum--Emerging Narratives, No Borders International Co-production Market, and Spotlight on Documentaries--visit the IFP site. 

I also want to give a mention to two free screenings that will happen on opening weekend co-hosted by the IFP and Rooftop Films.  Rooftop just finished up their '09 summer series last night with a wonderful program of nonfiction shorts celebrating the borough of Brooklyn--all under clear skies, a minor miracle.  Saturday night, the documentary Burning in the Sun will world-premiere on the pier at Solar One, and on Sunday, they will present the IFP Independent Filmmaker Labs Sneak Preview Showcase at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge in Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park.  For more info on these screenings, visit the Rooftop site.

Once again, I will be reporting on-site throughout the week on the FILMMAKER Magazine blog and then look for my wrap-up piece on the whole shebang in the magazine's next issue.

Sheffield Doc Fest '09 Announces Highlights

The full film program for the 2009 Sheffield Doc/Fest won't post until early October, but the press office has released a teaser roster of films that will be showing there this year.  Added to this year's showcases will be a whole category devoted to Comedy docs and one on Cross-platform docs, in addition to the existing Music, Green, Arts and "Bent" doc strands.  There will also be a special focus on Russian nonfiction cinema. 

Sheffield is fast-becoming one of the top-tier places to go for an authentic market atmosphere, one in which filmmakers, producers, funders, programmers, sales agents and commissioning editors have highly structured time together.  The Meet Market component has been lauded by the likes of executive producer, Julie Goldman of Cactus Three, writer and Austin Film Society communications manager, Agnes Varnum and SXSW head of programming, Janet Pierson, for its organization and proficiency in making productive meetings happen between all interested parties.  And speaking of parties, they're apparently legendary there and that has a lot to do with its feisty director, Heather Croall, a party girl supreme with good strong brain matter between her ears.  The documentary world is lucky to have her.  And Marketplace Producer, Charlie Phillips, keeps everyone up-to-date on the latest and greatest by hosting Sheffield's informative blog site.

In its 16th year, Sheffield will screen more than 100 films from November 4 - 8, including 16 world, and 10 EU premieres.  Film programmer, Hussain Currimbhoy, acknowledges that, "The appetite for documentary is still voracious and changing viewing habits are proof of this with new online platforms for watching docs.  Financial crises or not, it seems like documentary is the one genre in film that is constantly evolving and responding to changes in its environment and adapting to its audience."

The Music doc strand will feature Barbara Kopple's Woodstock: Now and Then (Kopple, pictured), its EU premiere and Gabriel Noble's P-Star Rising, its UK premiere.  The Green doc strand will feature Robert Stone's Earth Days, its UK premiere, and Louis Psihoyos' The Cove.  And the inaugural Comedy strand will feature Ben Steinbauer's heart-warming Winnebago Man, its EU premiere, and Jenna Rosher's delightful and powerful, Junior, its international premiere after débuting domestically at SILVERDOCS this past June.  Some of the slated world premieres are Jawed Taiman and Sharon Ward's Addicted in Afghanistan, Michel Negroponte's I'm Dangerous With Love and Erasing David by David Bond.

Tickets for the public go on sale Monday, October 5.  Click here for more info and to keep updated on the fest's offerings.  Let's see if Cinderella can pack up her slippers and ballgown and jettison herself over the Atlantic in November.  Stay tuned for more news from Sheffield in the coming weeks.