DOC, the Documentary Organization of Canada, sent out a news release today in reaction to the CMF announcement regarding funding for POV documentaries.

March 26th, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A Good Day For POV Docs!

DOC pleased at CMF new $ 3.5 M English POV program

DOC is pleased that the Canada Media Fund (CMF) board and staff have recognized the distinct conditions of production of POV documentary and that calls have been heard for a separate program within CMF.

DOC is also relieved that in-house and affiliate documentary production will be capped at 7.5% stemming fears that independent producers would be harmed by a large volume of in-house productions. This cap is still much higher than historical amounts and what DOC had requested in its submission. In-house production will be an issue we will monitor closely.

Concerns remain on the following: the impact of the 50% flex broadcasters now have will give them considerable leverage to shift money from one genre to another. This could mean that dollars once allocated to documentary production could go elsewhere.

Of concern also is the funding gap which has been created with the new requirement of a second value added interactive platform. Funding sources for this kind of content are few, and it is unclear to what degree broadcasters will offer to pay for documentary web content.

DOC Chair, John Christou states:

“We’re optimistic about the new CMF guidelines. When it was first announced that CTF would morph into the CMF, documentary filmmakers were very concerned that we’d be shut out. But the CMF staff & board have worked hard to address our concerns, and we’re pleased that a new POV Selective Fund has been incorporated into CMF.”

In conjunction with the CRTC decision brought down earlier this week, which announced that the Commission will be reviewing the definition of documentary, DOC feels the genre is getting some much needed attention from policy makers.

About DOC
The Documentary Organization of Canada / Documentaristes du Canada (DOC) is the collective voice of independent documentary filmmakers across Canada. DOC is a national non-profit arts service association representing over 700 directors, producers and craftspeople in the Canadian documentary community. DOC advocates on behalf of its members to foster an environment conducive to
documentary production and strives to strengthen the sector within the broader film production industry.

On Wednesday, April 7, 2010, at 8:00 p.m. ET, PBS will bring to life Siddhartha and his journey in THE BUDDHA, a two-hour documentary directed by award-winning filmmaker David Grubin. Outspoken Buddhist and actor Richard Gere narrates this in depth look at the life and teachings of one of the most followed spiritual masters more than 2500 years after his death.

“Buddhism is growing more and more popular in America,” said David Grubin. “But the Buddha himself remains a mysterious, exotic figure, the founder of a religion in a different key. The Buddha never claimed to be God, or his emissary on earth. He said only that in a world of unavoidable pain and suffering, he had found a serenity which others could find too. In our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion, the Buddha’s teachings have particular relevance.” [source]

Below is a Flickr slideshow of images shared by PBS relevant to The Buddha:

The full festival line-up for the 2010 DOXA Documentary Film Festival will be announced on April 7, 2010. Last week we told you about the opening and closing films for the festival Terre Madré and Saint Misbehavhin’.

Here are four more films you will be able to check out at this year’s festival:

A Mountain Musical – Eva Eckert, Austria

In Eckert’s stunning and frequently hilarious film, the Austrian tradition of yodeling is is carried on in the unusually beautiful voices of an aged population. The myths and toil of an industrial landscape told through the music of miners, coal burners, mountain farmers and factory workers give voice to a truly unique portrait of the Eisenwurzen region and its fascinating inhabitants.

The Mirror – David Christensen, Canada

The Italian town of Viganella dwells in darkness 83 days of the year. Naturally enough, it’s not much of a tourist spot. With gumption, zeal and more than a touch of hubris, the local mayor decides to remedy his town’s darkness by installing a giant mountaintop mirror to reflect light to the pale citizenry. What follows is a wryly touching story of light and darkness and many shades of gray.

The Topp Twins: The Untouchable Girls – Leanne Pooley, New Zealand

New Zealand’s favourite singing, dancing and yodeling lesbian twin sisters reveal all in this riotous and rollicking film. From their “coming out” to Jools Topp’s recent brush with breast cancer, Leanne Poole’s Untouchable Girls is bursting with music, hilarious archival footage and home movies, as well as interviews with the Topps’ infamous comedy alter-egos including Ken and Ken, Prue and Dilly Ramsbottom, Camp Mother and Camp Leader, and the bowling ladies.

Disco and Atomic War – Jaak Kilmi & Kiur Aarma, Estonia/Finland

Did Dallas and disco dancing really pave the way for the fall of the Soviet Union? Disco and Atomic War tells the story of a cultural war, where a totalitarian regime stood face to face with J.R. Ewing and lost. Pop music and soft porn intercepted on the broadcast waves of Finnish TV helped fuel a secret frenzy in neighbouring Estonia, an ultimately contributed to the demise of Soviet authority.

Once again, the full festival line-up including show times will be released on April 7, 2010.

Singapore-born Vancouver director Su-An Ng, one of this year’s six participants in DOXA Documentary Film Festival’s Connexions Youth Forum, will have her award winning animated short Nature on Its Course screened by the New Asia Film Festival as part of their March Screening – Singapore Film Night.

Synopsis:
Nature on its Course is a short mixed-media animation about a careless hunter who takes more than he needs. It is a reminder to viewers to respect their environment and not to underestimate the forces of nature.

Run time: 2 minutes 30 seconds
Genre: Short / Animation / Experimental

The event will take place on March 27, 2010 from 7pm – 10:00pm at Richmond Cultural Centre (7700 Minoru Gate in Richmond BC)

Su-An Ng will be in attendance to participate in Q & A’s after the screening.

** The event is in both English and Chinese **

DOXA Documentary Film Festival is pleased to announce Pull Focus Films as another Community Partner fro the 2010 festival year.

Pull Focus is a Vancouver based independent film school that partners filmmakers with non-profit organizations to provide hands-on film training and storytelling techniques for all skill levels. We are offering 4 new courses this Spring and holding an open house on March 23rd, 2010 at 306 Abbott Street. Doors open at 7:00 pm, film screenings at 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm. 

Pull Focus New Spring Courses:
The Invisible Storyteller: Editing Documentaries
Filmmaking for the Web
Introduction to Documentary Filmmaking
Introduction to Final Cut Pro
info@pullfocusfilms.com

The Invisible Storyteller: Editing Documentary
Start date April 12, 2010 6 consecutive weeks, four-hour classes twice per week
Course Instructor: Ileana Pietrobruno

Do you have an unfinished documentary sitting in limbo? Editing is a lot more than button pushing. The lecture portion of the course focuses on creating visual stimulating narratives while the labs explore advanced Final Cut Pro techniques. Students have the option to work on their own project with the mentorship of an industry professional over a six-week period. Students who do not have their own footage will be provided with raw source material of an unfinished documentary. info@pullfocusfilms.com

Also, feel free to RSVP on Facebook for their Spring Open House. Come help us celebrate and see some local films!

8-306 Abbott St (near Cordova)
Film screenings! Doors at 7:00, free admission!
Date: March 23,2010

As part of our community partners program DOXA Documentary Film Festival is proud to announce the 5th Annual WIFTV Women in Film Festival (WIFF 2010) will be held April 17 – 18, 2010 at the Vancity Theatre in Vancouver, BC CANADA. Meet some of today’s most talented female filmmakers. It will be a weekend of networking, panel discussions, pitch sessions and film screenings.

The 2010 festival will include:

• An opening reception and screening of a feature film by a renowned female director.
• An exhibitor showcase and networking lunch with media professionals.
• Panel discussions on women in the film industry.
• Pitch sessions with noted producers, broadcasters and casting agents.
• An impressive line-up of short films by today’s most talented female filmmakers from around the world.

On Sunday (April 18th), from 2:30-4pm, seven short film documentaries will be showcased including:

When I Grow Up by Toshimi Ono
Let’s Play Boccia! by Angelina Cantada
A Harlem Mother by ivana Todorovic
LoliGirls: The Story Behind the Frills and Bows by Kate Slomkowski
Remember Ours Sisters Everywhere by Moira Simpson
Pigeon Park Savings by Laurie Kindiak
Echo Bay by Mary M. Frymire

DOXA Documentary Film Festival together with the National Film Board of Canada are proud to present the 5th annual Connexions Youth Forum, an educational program designed to foster documentary filmmaking and storytelling skills in youth between the ages of 19 and 26 who face barriers in attaining their career goals. Connexions immerses six promising young participants in the world of documentary through workshops, mentoring sessions and attendance at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival.

For a second year, DOXA is offering the Connexions Youth Forum to young women as they begin to move beyond gender barriers within the film industry. DOXA hopes to address gender inequality within the documentary genre by selecting from a group of talented young women wishing to work in the documentary form.

According to members of the DOXA Documentary Film Festival selection committee responsible for choosing this year’s six participants for the Connexions Youth Forum making the final decisions were quite difficult. It was tough to decide among all the wonderful submissions they received just who would fill the six coveted spots. It was not at all easy to say no to anyone, but after much pondering, watching and re-watching the needed cuts were grudgingly made and the participants were chosen.

DOXA is pleased to welcome Josephine Anderson, Kerry Blackadar, Su-An Ng, Emily Newton, Nisha Platzer and Dolly Reno to the 2010 Connexions Youth Forum.

Su-An Ng is 24 years old, originally from Singapore now living in Vancouver and is an Animation graduate from Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Her first film titled "Nature On Its Course" has been screened in various film festivals worldwide.

22-year-old Nisha Platzer, first became interested in making films at the age 14. She is currently studying Communications (film, video, sound and intermedia) at Concordia University in Montreal.

Josephine Anderson is 24-years-old and holds a B.A. in English Literature from UBC and is a graduate of the Capilano University Documentary Film Program. Her short documentary, The Janitor, was recently nominated for Labour Video of the Year by LabourStart. Currently, Josephine is editing a video for Tumaini Children’s Project.

Emily Newton is a 22-year-old Vancouverite and a recent graduate from Queen's University's Film and Media Program. Emily has traveled around Canada and Australia making documentaries focusing on social and environmental issues.

25-year-old Kerry Blackadar is currently completing her Masters in Journalism at the University of British Columbia, where she has had the opportunity to produce various television news projects and co-create a documentary on shrimp farming for PBS Frontline.

Dolly Reno, 19 years old, is an aspiring filmmaker/singer/songwriter of Native and European ancestry. Her foray into film came via her love of photography and upon the urging of her father, who recognized in his daughter a desire to voice her concerns for social justice to a wider audience, through her gift for communicating with visual media.

These young women will participate in a 10-day intensive workshop that focuses on the art of storytelling using digital media. The forum also provides the opportunity for participants to work together and network with experienced filmmakers throughout the week as they create their own documentary project that will screen on DOXA’s Closing Night.

National Film Board instructors and mentors to be announced soon.

If you are one of the many lucky folks already receiving our newsletter, you are already aware of our announcement regarding the opening and closing night films for this year’s DOXA Documentary Film Festival taking place from May 7th to 16th 2010.

Opening the festival is TERRE MADRE directed by Ermanno Olmi, Italy — Friday May 7, 7:30pm – Granville 7

The Terra Madre (Mother Earth) conference is held in Turin, Italy attracting some 6000 delegates – activists and farmers from 153 nations to meet and exchange ideas, experience and plans for the future of food production and sustainability. Italian filmmaker Ermanno Olmi attended the conference to document the event. Now in his late-70s, Olmi is free to reinvent the documentary form, which is exactly what happens in his new film, Terra Madre. Beginning with the conference itself, the film branches off into multiple narratives, including a sojourn north to visit the International Seed Bank in Norway, and to farms in China and India. Interspersed with conference delegates offering insight and advice, the film then gently settles on a remote Italian farm where something remarkable happens. All the discussion pales before the simplicity of old fashioned farming. As the film moves from theory to reality — cycling through the seasons of planting, harvesting, cooking and eating — traditional documentary falls away, and a singular type of poetry emerges. A poem to beauty, food and the slow passage of time, Terra Madre is a ravishingly beautiful ode to the earth in all its fecundity and abundance.

DOXA OPENING NIGHT PARTY

Join us for a Terra Madre Celebration following the Opening Night Film for an evening celebrating Italy and the Slow Food movement! Enjoy fine food and listen to live entertainment while gathering all the hot buzz for the festival!

Harrison Galleries (901 Homer Street), Vancouver, BC

Film and Party tickets ($35) OR Film Only ($15) — purchase tickets now.

Closing the festival is SAINT MISBEHAVIN’: The Wavy Gravy Movie directed by Michelle Esrick, USA — Saturday May 15, 7:30pm – Granville 7

Nowhere is the pure joy of activism better embodied than in the big colourful personage of Wavy Gravy. Wavy began life as Hugh Romney, a beat poet who played in the same coffee houses as Bob Dylan. Christened Wavy Gravy by none other than blues legend B.B. King, Wavy’s adventures included traveling around with Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters in the infamous psychedelic bus; but he was truly immortalized when he took to the stage of the Woodstock Festival and promised 400,000 people “breakfast in bed”. More than a decade in the making, director Michelle Esrick’s riotous, rollicking film is imbued with the tie-dyed colours of Wavy’s unique spirit. Saint Misbehavin’ is one of those rare films that forces you not only to reevaluate what is possible in the world, but more importantly, to rethink the means of change. This film may send you out determined to change everything, with a smile on your face and revolution in your heart.

“Perfectly executed and hugely entertaining.” – IndieWire

If you would like to stay in the loop regarding more DOXA Documentary Film Festival information as it happens you can do so by following this blog and signing up for our newsletter.

Leading up to the DOXA Documentary Film Festival taking place from May 7 to 16, 2010 we will be releasing information about this year’s through various media outlets. The latest mention comes to us via The Georgia Straight, Vancouver’s premiere arts and events publication.

Here is the DOXA portion of the article:

The celluloid blowout of the season is the DOXA Documentary Film Festival happening May 7 to 16, with films divided between the Granville 7, Vancity, and Cinémathèque. The fest is staggering from its own budget shortfall, as discussed at doxafestival.ca, where you can still find out how to become a volunteer or, better yet, a donor. (The complete film lineup will be there April 7.)

“We got cut like everybody else, so it’s been tricky,” said Kristine Anderson, DOXA’s top programmer. “We really had to pay attention to all the little details and cut a lot of corners. On the other hand, our sponsors—corporate or community—have been just as generous as before, if not more so.”

The doc-making crowd has already been hit by budget drops all decade long, but she said that isn’t reflected in the stuff that does get made.

“The filmmakers are adjusting and adapting and are not being entirely quiet about it. It’s important to keep lobbying for the importance of the arts. The community is struggling, but not beaten down. Since we grew to 10 days last year, however, our lineup has actually improved. And that quality will bring more and more people to our theatres.”

Read the complete article on straight.com.

There are more and more filmmakers bringing their documentary projects online. The folks at Receive Bacon Productions a documentary film production company in Gould, Ontario are another great example of filmmakers taking full advantage of online social media tools to promote their episodic online series THE HUMAN PROJECT.

SYNOPSIS

THE HUMAN PROJECT is a series of experimental art documentaries that explore the absurdity of life and the human condition. Each segment examines the stories of several people who have shared a common life experience.

This pilot episode focuses on two topics: people who have unexpectedly found dead bodies, and stories from those with scars that affect their lives in some way.

From funny, to sad, to just downright strange; THE HUMAN PROJECT highlights the poignant differences and similarities that connect us as a species.

TRAILER

As well as THE HUMAN PROJECT web site, you can get updates, see and/or learn more from their social profiles: Twitter, Facebook Group, Vimeo, YouTube and Flickr