Still in Motion

We've Got the Spirits, Yes We Do

Tomorrow afternoon, under a giant tent set up adjacent to the Santa Monica beach boardwalk in Southern Cali, the 23rd Annual Independent Spirit Awards will take place.  It's a really fun event--the folks at FIND know how to throw a good party--with plenty of shiny celebs on hand, an irreverent host (Rainn Wilson, pictured--I can't say I'll miss Sara Silverman too much), and tons of press to celebrate the best in independent film.  Broadcast live on the IFC Channel at 2:00 p.m. PST / 5:00 EST, the show will be shown again on AMC later in the evening.

Here are the finalists for the IFC Truer Than Fiction award:  Laura Dunn, director of The Unforeseen, Gary Hustvit, director of Helvetica and John Maringouin, director of Running Stumbled.  The nominating panelists were committee chair, John Vanco, Dennis Lim, Cara Mertes, Laura Poitras and AJ Schnack.  The 12th annual Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of nonfiction features who has not yet received significant attention.

The nominees for Best Documentary are: Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker's The Prisoner Or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair, Pernille Rose Gronkjaer's The Monastery--Mr. Vig and the Nun, Jennifer Baichwal's Manufactured Landscapes, Tony Kaye's Lake of Fire and Dan Klores' Crazy Love.  The members of this nominating committee were committee chair, Greg Laemmle, Amy Berg, Jeff Feuerzeig, Margarita Martinez, Eugene Hernandez, Thom Powers and Ella Taylor.  This award will be given to the director.

You can see the rest of the Spirit Award nominees here.

Based on a criteria of "uniqueness of vision, original, provocative subject matter, economy of means and percentage of financing from independent sources," the majority of categories are open to American independent features only, meaning that the filmmakers need to be US citizens--the films themselves can be shot in other countries and can be in other languages besides English.

Anyone can become a member of Film Independent, said membership entitling any member of the organization to voting privileges for the Spirits.  Dawn Hudson, executive director of FIND, says that, ". . . the organization was founded on the principle of inclusion; you don't have to have credits to get into the organization and you don't have to be sponsored to get in.  The definition of independent means that you may not have worked within the system or within any system, so you don't need that to validate you for membership." 

This member will be blogging throughout the ceremony tomorrow from the party at the W Hotel's Whiskey Blue, where the show will be simulcasting from the big white tent by the beach.

MoMA Documentary Fortnight 2008 Continues

I already wrote about this here, but just a reminder that this is still going on through March 3; it's an excellent program of hard-to-see films.  Click here for details.

Listening Is an Act of Love--IDA Celebrates Oscar-Bound Filmmakers

Every year on the Wednesday before the Academy Awards, the International Documentary Association fetes the nonfiction filmmakers going to the big show to vie for the Golden Boy.  Last night, I sat in the beautiful Samuel Goldwyn theater at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in Beverly Hills to be part of the documentary community's send-off for this group of talented men and women.  (And, on my drive in from the beach, I got to watch that bitchin' lunar eclipse.  When I pulled up to the Academy, there was a small crowd hanging off the sidewalk curb gazing up at this planetary sleight-of-hand.)

The reception was very understated and warm, more like a family gathering than some stuffy cocktail shindig.  Sandra Ruch, IDA executive director and den mother, scooted around the room shuttling nominees over to meet the press corps and dispensing hugs and well wishes like a proud parent.  I've never been to this function before and, since I'm currently helping to create and shepherd a brand-new ceremony for a recently-created honor for craft in nonfiction filmmaking, I was interested in seeing how the evening would play out on many levels.

What worked, of course, was the atmosphere of love and support I speak of above, plentiful good food and drink, and an unobtrusive press junket set up in the corner of the big reception area.  I saw friends I haven't seen in a while like documentary magazine associate editor, Tamara Krinsky, fimmaker, Lisa Thompson, who is currently editing Patricia Foulkrod's new project and is soon off to Italy to direct something in Rimini (thatta girl!) and her lovely beau What's-His-Name (inside joke).

AJ Schnack, co-chair of the Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking escorted Danish director, Pernille Rose Gronkjaer, a Spirit Award nominee for Best Documentary.  No aspersions cast to any of this year's nominees, but if ever there was an Oscar-calibre documentary, Gronkjaer's The Monastery: Mr. Vig and the Nun would be it.  A casualty of one of those wild-hair Academy rules that forbids any kind of broadcast in order to be eligible to qualify, Gronkjaer's film played on Belgian television, said broadcast essentially sidelining her chances to qualify, which she was fully intending to do.  More on the doc Spirit nominees coming soon, but I really want to see her walk away with that one on Saturday.

Oh, back to IDA Oscar night: up the stairs to the aforementioned humongous, red velvet-bedecked theater for the show.   Once seated, I looked around and realized how sparsely attended this event was, but considering everything else going on this week awards-wise. . .

Hostess Sandra Tsing Loh, unfortunately, delivered her lines in a circus barker style that was slightly distressing and inappropriate, but once the filmmakers started coming up to deliver their emotional messages of gratitude--to their subjects, to their fellow filmmakers and to the community--everything else fell away and we all basked in the wonder and excitement that exuded from the stage (in between awkwardly edited film clips):

The shorts: Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega told us about winning the confidence and trust of the female inmates they filmed for La Corona; Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth breathlessly recounted their discovery of Laurel Hester and Stacie Andree's heartrending court battle before Hester's imminent death, and the immediacy of their deep-sea dive into the project that would become Freeheld; James Longley was encouraged to extract and expand the story of Sari's Mother from his feature Iraq in Fragments by Thom Powers, to create his powerful and moving nominated short (thanks to AJS for that tidbit of info); and Tim Sternberg's equally serendipitous journey finding Salim Baba, whose main character takes DIY filmmaking to a whole new level.  (For the record, I think it will be Sternberg who takes the prize.)

On to the features: Alex Gibney and Eva Orner talked about the experience of making their incredible Taxi to the Darkside, another searing indictment of our government's complicity in some pretty nasty business in the name of democracy; No End in Sight's Charles Ferguson profusely thanked his producer, Audrey Marrs, without whom he could not have made the film in the first place,he said; former news journalist and first-time filmmaker, Richard  E. Robbins of Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience gave a very emotional speech, enthralled with the support and uplift he's received this year from fellow nonfiction filmmakers, something he certainly did not experience in the news biz; the Fines, makers of War/Dance , unfortunately, did not make an appearance, but will most certainly be walking down the red carpet on Sunday; and, finally, Dog Eat Dog Films' own Michael Moore, director and star of Sicko, took the stage.  Eugene Hernandez nailed this portion of the evening exceedingly well, so you can read about Moore's lengthy spiel here, but suffice to say, in typical Moore-ish bombast, he held forth on his mission to shepherd in a new dawn where documentary will be shown in every multiplex across the nation!

With a final closing sputter and honk from Loh, everyone adjourned for  a coffee and dessert reception.  The last conversation I overheard before saying my goodbyes was the one between Orner and Gibney coordinating their limo ride to the Kodak on Sunday.  Again, my congratulations to all.

Ed Pincus and Lucia Small Interviewed by the Film Panel Notetaker

There's a really nice interview with filmmakers Ed Pincus and Lucia Small, directors of The Axe in the Attic--click here to read it.

Educational Distribution for THE GUARANTEE

I saw Jesse Epstein's animated short, The Guarantee, at Full Frame last year as part of a sneak peek with Jennifer Venditti's Billy the Kid (nominated for a Cinema Eye Honor for Outstanding Debut Feature).  I was wild about Epstein's film and got to interview her about this piece, number two in a trilogy of shorts about body image she's producing and directing.  The first film is called Wet Dreams and False Images.  I'm very much looking forward to seeing the third.

Epstein has started to distribute The Guarantee to universities and high schools through the distribution collective, New Day Films.  The short is accompanied by a free online study guide. 

You can get more info, see the trailer, and read reviews of the film here.  You can also click here to read my in-depth interview from last May with this very talented young filmmaker.

IDA DocuDay in New York

Hey, New Yorkers, this coming weekend, don't miss out on an opportunity to see all five of the feature-length, and three of the short documentaries vying to take home Oscar at the 80th Annual Academy Awards, broadcast live from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood at the end of this month.

Saturday and Sunday, February 16 and 17, the Paley Center for Media and the International Documentary Association will host these screenings.  Admission is free for IDA and Paley Center members, $10 for adults, $8 for students and seniors, and $5 for children under fourteen.  Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis, so get there early to grab a seat.  It's a great opportunity to see these incredible works of nonfiction.

Doug Block's 51 BIRCH STREET at UCLA's Doc Salon

There will be a free Doc Salon screening of Block's moving film about his family at UCLA's James Bridges Theater situated on the beautiful West L.A. campus on Thursday, the 28th of February at 7:30 p.m.  Block will be making a personal appearance for a Q&A after the screening, and then will host an informal gathering for local D-Word members at Jerry's Deli in Westwood Village.  DVDs of the film are available for purchase on the 51 Birch Street website.

Wholphin Swims Into Town This Week

Erudition and variety (and just plain hijinks) are the stuff that a Wholphin DVD collection is made of.

Editor Brent Hoff, and his lovely sidekick, Emily Doe, are two of my favorite people.  When I met them last in Amsterdam, they were there, literally, for about 48 hours and then were jetting off to the south of France to dig through a shorts archive they'd discovered that was lying there, basically, undisturbed by anyone.  A goldmine for the likes of them, intrepid film programmers that they are.

This week's Stranger Than Fiction session brings the Wholphin crew to the IFC Center with neat, new stuff including the drunken bee movie Brent was going on about in a phone interview we did months ago for Renew Media. 

Can't wait to see it.  Get your ticket; I already have mine.

Eric Scott Latek's SWEET DREAMS

Eric Scott Latek is an extraordinary storyteller and filmmaker and his nonfiction film, Sweet Dreams, championed by the likes of Nancy Buirski and Thom Powers, is not being seen.  Yes, it's played at various festivals, and last week Powers programmed it for his Stranger Than Fiction series at the IFC Center in New York with filmmaker and subject (Gary Balletto, pictured) appearing in person.  But, my goodness, if ever there was a piece that deserved a wide theatrical release, this would be a good choice.

Shot, cut and composed by Latek, Sweet Dreams was shot over the course of three years in the "wiseguy belt" of Providence, Rhode Island and follows two young Italian-American men, one a bit of a lost soul who's failing miserably as a bookie, the other your basic small-town hero, quietly going about the business of being extraordinary, in every way--as an athlete, a husband, a father, a businessman, and a community leader.

Drawn to this film mostly because I'm a huge boxing fan, thanks to Saturday afternoons sitting on the couch together with my father watching match after match, I had no idea what kind of depth and artistic virtuosity I would encounter.  It was a bit serendipitous that Jason Kohn, the director of Manda Bala (Send a Bullet), was also sitting in the theater, because this film left me with the same kind of awe I felt after watching his film at Full Frame last year.  Latek's film was in the same program and, somehow, I missed it there. And while Kohn's film has secured more public notice due to a Grand Jury Prize in Documentary at Sundance last year and via select theatrical screenings, Latek's has pretty much languished in obscurity despite screening in 30 select cities via satellite by Emerging Pictures last year through their Emerging Cinemas Network.  (They are also helping John Sayles with his latest release, The Honeydripper.)

The film is visually and aurally stunning, with intricate, carefully composed layers of narrative that flood the senses.  Latek edits his own piece so hypnotically that I'm pretty sure it's almost a completely intuitive process for him at this point.  Textures are seamlessly woven together--sort of like my gorgeous Turkish rugs.  You can stare and stare at all the imagery that's in front of you and somehow take it all in--a lot of times it has the feeling of saturation, near claustrophobia, you're so close.  It's visceral and it's exhilarating because you can't sit passively very comfortably--I was wiggling around in my seat.  You feel like you're in there.  Just like I felt when I watched Muhammad Ali, Roberto Duran or George Foreman prance around like over-sized ballerinas and then, boom, down goes the guy facing them the moment before.

Latek, who claims to not be able to play a note of music on any instrument whatsoever, also composed the score.  Huh?  Yes, on the computer, he can compose, too, and the rest is filled in by the classical music he also loves.  (And as Powers noted, the classical stuff is free to use).

In the film's press release, Latek says he is going to "continue to push the method of marrying documentary with the filmmaking conventions of fictional cinema."  If that means making more films like this, push it, baby.  Well done.

5th Edition of True/False: The Roster Is Up!

This is the first year I'll be attending the True/False Film Festival and I'm very excited to be going to what is quickly becoming a destination must for nonfiction filmmakers and fans. 

I met David Wilson, co-director and programmer with Paul Sturtz (both, adorably, pictured at left), in Amsterdam at the IDFA this past fall, and was so impressed by his passion and drive to find the best of what's out in the world right now for their Columbia, Missouri-based festival.  The ethos behind what they do is to "highlight innovative work with a cinematic scope, exhibit creative takes on contemporary currents, and, most of all, show works that provide dialogue about its subject and the documentary form itself."

I am fascinated by the doc/fiction hybrid and will be focusing on several films that offer the best of that kind of hard-to-pull-off-successfully storytelling.  (Stay tuned for my upcoming post on Eric Scott Latek's Sweet Dreams, a hugely successful example of this.)  I will also be curating and writing extensively on the doc hybrid for Renew Media's just-about-to-be-launched Re:Frame project.

Click here for the full line-up of films and other fun stuff planned for this year's program.

Special Screening of Academy Award-Nominated Doc

There's a free special screening of producer/director Richard E. Robbins' Academy Award-nominated feature Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience in Los Angeles this coming Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills.

Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts will be the special guest speaker.  The film was built upon a project created by the NEA to gather the writings of troops and their families from the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan.  The screening is hosted by The Documentary Group and the gorgeous and talented, Josh Lucas, one of the many celebrities lending their voices and participation to this brilliant film.  RSVP to [email protected] for yourself and a guest.

A Tribute to St. Clair Bourne

I'm just about to zip off to our nation's capitol for the Making Your Media Matter conference, but wanted to call attention to a don't-miss-it event happening this weekend:

Click here to read about the program for this coming Sunday's tribute to a great American documentarian.

More from DC in a bit.

"Axe in the Attic" Screens at Museum of Moving Image

Filmmakers Ed Pincus (Black Natchez, Diaries) and Lucia Small (My Father, the Genius) debuted their deeply moving documentary,The Axe in the Attic, at this year's New York Film Festival.  On Saturday, February 23 at 6:30 p.m., there will be a special screening at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens.  Lucia will be there for an audience Q&A. 

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, these two white northerners journey down to New Orleans with cameras in tow to experience first-hand the damage and devastation that played out on their television screens.  No longer able to stand by passively, they end up making an extremely personal (at times, excruciatingly so) documentary where their own personal struggles and demons act as counterpoint to the testimonies of the displaced residents of the region, the majority of whom are still trying to put their lives back together--still homeless, still lost, still angry.  But, in many cases, far from hopeless.

Ty Burr of the Boston Globe says that the film is about "rediscovering our common humanity--pushing through the flat screen of TV footage to connect with the Katrina victims as individuals."  In this film, some of those connections are more like collisions.  It's fascinating to watch.

Click here for museum and ticket information.  Don't miss this vital, searing contribution to the growing Katrina film archive.

Sex, Love and Hot Fudge--A Sneak Peek for Valentine's Day

My friend, Sarah Feinbloom (yep, that's her pictured at left), makes pretty hard-hitting, intense documentaries and lots of fundraising videos for good causes.  Based in the Bay Area of California for many years, Sarah's been a long-time member of the distribution collective, New Day Films. Her film on the religious lives of teenagers, What Do You Believe?, screened on PBS, and her beautiful piece on child trafficking in Thailand, Daughters and Sons, was featured on NPR.  It also won for Best Short Film on Child Advocacy at the 3rd Annual Artivist Awards, which I produced in the fall of '06 at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.

Shortly after that, Sarah told me that she was working on something a little more light-hearted (and delicious!) and that her work-in-progress film, In Search of the Heart of Chocolate, would be more of a sensually-conscious journey rather than the socially-conscious fare that is her normal bent.  It centers around her search for the origins of her chocolate obsession.

On February 12th, a couple of days before that day where everyone's supposed to do something romantic for his or her sweetie--like buying chocolate!, there will be two screenings at the Delancey Street Screening Room at 600 Embarcadero in San Francisco.  This "chocumentary" features Bay Area chocolatier, Jack Epstein, who runs Chocolate Covered in Noe Valley, and some of his die-hard chocoholic customers, all consumed by the discovery of the perfect chocolate experience.  An all-chocolate reception will follow the later screening.  I saw an earlier cut of this and it is, indeed, quite a treat!

If you live in the area, or are planning a romantic weekend in the city by the bay, you can reserve a spot by emailing [email protected].