Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

The CW Revives MADtv, Showtime Sets 'Episodes' End and More — Indiewire's Monday Rundown

Indiewire — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 21:30:00 GMT

The 2016 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Award Winners announced this year's winners at yesterday's annual Awards Barbecue, including "Starless Dreams," "Gleason" and "Life, Animated." Check out the full list of winners here.

Read below for more of today's breaking news stories:

- Gloria Steinem will executive produce and host "WOMAN," a new show on VICELAND. The series will investigate "how violence against women drives global instability," according to a press release.

- Netflix renews 'Degrassi: Next Class' for a second season.

- The 25th Aspen Shortsfest announced this year's winners on Sunday evening, including "Deer Flower," "Hounds" and "Thanks for Dancing." You can check out the full list of winners here.

- "National Lampoon’s Animal House" is returning to theaters this summer for two days only on August 14 and August 17. The revival screenings will be a part of the TCM Big Screen Classics Series from Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies, which also includes previously announced movies like "On the Waterfront" (April), "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off" (May), "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (June) and "Planet of the Apes" (July).

- Natasha Lyonne is in final talks to be in Netflix’s biopic “A Futile and Stupid Gesture,” which tackles the life of National Lampoon co-founder Douglas Kenney. Head to Variety for more information.

- "MADtv," the show which, over its 14 season run, featured the talents of folks like Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Ike Barinholtz, Taram Killam and Alex Borstein, is coming back to television as a new CW series. Eight hour-long episodes have been ordered, to feature a mix of new and returning cast memberes. And unlike its original run on Fox, Variety reports that it will be in primetime.

- Matt LeBlanc's Golden Globe-winning Showtime series, "Episodes," will end after its fifth season airs in 2017. Long-rumored to be the case since LeBlanc took over co-hosting duties on "Top Gear" and landed a lead role on the upcoming CBS comedy series, "I'm Not Your Friend" (opposite Jenna Fischer), the news is still hard to swallow considering the addictive meta humor and charming central performance of the brilliant series. Co-creator Jeffrey Klarik will direct all seven episodes of the fifth and final season when production begins next week.

Watch an exclusive clip from Full Frame winner "Life, Animated" below...

'God Knows Where I Am': Why The Documentary Shot on Film To Capture The Subject's Mental Illness

Jedd Wider and Todd Wider — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 18:18:29 GMT

[Editor’s Note: One of the principal reasons documentary film is currently experiencing such recent rebirth is directly attributable to the advent of digital cameras. Not having to be precious about burning expensive film, nonfiction filmmakers are free in a way they never were in the first hundred years of cinema. Which is why, when a rare doc like "God Knows Where I Am" chooses to shoot in 16mm and 35mm, it tends to stick out.

"God Knows Where I Am" is a feature-length documentary film about Linda Bishop, a well-educated mother suffering from severe bipolar disorder, who became homeless and was eventually committed to the New Hampshire State psychiatric hospital for three years. After refusing treatment and wandering ten miles away from the hospital, Bishop broke into an abandoned historical farmhouse where she lived off rainwater and apples she picked from a nearby orchard during one of the coldest winters on record in New Hampshire. When they found her dead, they also discovered a diary she kept daily during her four month stay at the farmhouse that documents her loss of sanity but also her insight, humor and spirituality.

Indiewire asked the award-winning directors Jedd and Todd Wider what it was about Bishop’s journey that called for a return to celluloid and using a variety of cameras that ranged from a 1939 Eyemo to the modern Arri Alexa.]

Depicting Mental Illness

In tackling the subject matter, we focused on the important social justice issues of the film through an intimate and artistic exploration. How does one depict insanity? How does one depict the interior landscape of a person who is imprisoned by the mind? How do we, as filmmakers, build empathy for a person who is no longer alive? The film is told from a variety of perspectives, including Linda's own, through recollection and first person narrative. It unfolds in a way that echoes films like "Rashomon," where the audience sees different versions of an event. Here, the audience is presented with different views of the unraveling of a human being, including her own view. Which view do you trust? We wanted to create a unique documentary that pushes the boundaries of the medium artistically and, at the same time, questions our societal norms for dealing with the mentally ill.

In creating the film, we, together with our cinematographer Gerardo Puglia, were very conscious of exploring the visual medium in a purposeful manner. We chose to use film as well as digital video. As Linda was an art history major before her break with sanity, the aesthetic and visual nature of telling the story was explored in ways that reference both film history and art history. The work of specific painters such as Hammershoi, Wyeth and Magritte, and filmmakers such as Tarkovsky and Malick influenced the palate of the film. Subtle reference to religious iconography was also made because Linda's diary becomes increasingly spiritual as it moves towards the end of Linda's life.

Shooting in Film: Using Historical Cameras

The depiction of Linda's conscious state was shot in film, using 35mm, 16mm, and Super 16mm for different reasons. We employed a variety of cameras, including a 1939 Bell & Howell Eyemo (a camera used in WWII war photography) and a 1980s Aaton XTR Prod, each for thematic reasons to underline notions of dreamscapes, personal nostalgia and commercial memory. We tried to elevate the visual quality of the film as a way to honor Linda, who was an extremely insightful and visual person.

Shooting in Film: Super 16MM

Linda hid in an attic in the farmhouse, trying to avoid being seen by neighbors, where she found magazines from the 1970s, many of which depicted advertisements for food. Those ads had a certain patina and do not feel like ads from today. We tried to echo the nostalgia of the ads and when we turned to capturing the numerous recipes and food segments in the diary Linda wrote about, we felt it was appropriate to shoot those scenes in Super 16mm.

When Linda writes about how hungry she is while she is starving and how she is dreaming of a Thanksgiving dinner, we wanted to present the imagery of food in both an enticing and dreamy way. We wanted the audience to feel hunger but also feel they were seeing a dream. Many of the food shots were shot in Super 16mm with an Aaton XTR to capture a sense of nostalgia, but also a sense of unease as further enhanced by the graininess of the film. These were images that represented, to a certain extent, a distorted reality of a mentally ill woman yearning for and imagining food, but yearning for food as she imagined it from food commercials she had seen years before when she was more lucid.

Shooting in Film: 35MM

When we turned to depicting what Linda may have seen looking outside the window of the farmhouse over the four month period she was there, or within the room that she died, we did not want to use a medium that felt too immediate or hypertransient, so we chose 35mm film, which requires patience and deliberation to compose shots. While in the farmhouse, in a metaphoric sense, Linda lived in a world of film, a world not completely rooted in modernity. There was no electricity or heat, and she spent her time writing in a diary, collecting apples and dreaming, not surfing on the internet. 35mm film image also has an extremely beautiful quality to it, and much of what Linda was looking at outside including rolling fields, an historic barn, lilac branches, a rambling brook, deer and birds, etc. was extremely beautiful. The 1939 Eyemo was used to help map the internal landscapes of the house as well as evoke a sense of memory. One of our Eyemos was also spring-wound which gave the images a sense of uneasiness in its inconsistent exposure uniformity and flicker quality.

Shooting in Film: 16MM

When Linda was released from the state psychiatric hospital, she wandered through various paths in the forest feeling a sense of freedom until she arrived ultimately at the farmhouse. We shot these scenes with a 16mm 1966 Bolex and a 16mm 1972 Canon Scoopic. 16mm was ideal to capture the vigor and agitation of her journey from the hospital which was helped by the grain of the film. We wanted to free these shoots from any sense of formalism and we openly embraced the streaks of light, soft grainy over-exposed images and lens flares that naturally came with shooting in 16mm. We freed the camera without even looking through the viewfinder. In these 16mm scenes, the viewer does not merely see but actually experiences the act of Linda walking vigorously from the hospital, away out of town and through the forest towards the farmhouse.

Shooting in Digital Video

We conducted many of the interviews in the actual farmhouse where Linda lived and ultimately died. These interviews were shot in digital video with a Canon C300 to capture the truth of those who came to know Linda over the years and to create a feel of those interviewees being truly present or immediate.

We used an Arriflex Alexa in most of the nature shots in the film. Linda lived through one of the worst winters in New Hampshire history. The fall and winter months play a prominent role in the film as Linda struggles through a frozen landscape to attempt to survive longer as she runs out of apples and water. Her desperation in running out of food is mirrored in the desolation of the physical surroundings around her. As she slowly approaches death so does the farmhouse and nature under the weight of winter. The Alexa was stunningly effective in helping us to search for nature's soul in the sun, clouds, snowstorms, icicles hanging from the farmhouse windows and frozen hills throughout this desperate New Hampshire winter. We used the Alexa for the eye-of-God shots.

Using a Technocrane

We also used a Technocrane with a 60-foot telescopic arm and remote-controlled camera. The smoothness of the arm helped us to recollect the meditations of a solitary soul moving through the interiors of the farmhouse and landscape with a great sense of precision and composition. The beam of light near the end of the film reminds one of the "camera obscura" when images of memory are pushed / forced through a tear in the curtain. In addition, the death scene at the end of the film was shot with a Lensbaby where the lens was actually attached to a piece of accordion like rubber giving the impression of losing consciousness just by moving the optics in and out between one's fingers.

Sound: Creating an Experiential Documentary

One of our goals in making this film was to create what we call an experiential documentary. We wanted the audience to experience and feel a little of what Linda might have felt. When she writes about silence in her journal, we wanted the audience to feel what silence sounded like inside the farmhouse as she sat alone in the attic in the middle of the night. Likely sounds Linda may have heard were the sounds of the wind swirling through the double-hung windows, the distant sound of cars, occasional dogs and birds, lapping water from the brook near the farmhouse and the creaking of the old floorboards in the farmhouse. We captured those sounds in the same rooms where Linda sat.

Celebrating The Humanity of the Film Subject

We strived to celebrate the humanity of Linda Bishop by not only telling her story, but by portraying cinematically what she most likely experienced in the New Hampshire farmhouse where she lived for four months prior to her death - what she saw, what she heard, what she thought. By paying close attention to the use of film and camera we attempted to elevate and highlight those experiences and respect the dignity of Linda's journey.

Jedd Wider and Todd Wider have produced seventeen critically and commercially successful feature documentary films over the past 15 years including Academy Award, Emmy Award and Peabody Award winning "Taxi to the Dark Side" (directed by Alex Gibney), Academy Award nominated "Kings Point," Primetime Emmy Award winning and Peabody Award winning "Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God," Emmy Award nominated "Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer," and Emmy Award nominated "Semper Fi: Always Faithful."

"God Knows Where I Am" is their directorial debut. The film will screen at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival this weekend and at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival later this month.

Full Frame: Why Are Women Filmmakers Finding More Opportunities in Documentaries?

Chris O'Falt — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 17:14:14 GMT

The Full Frame Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina started yesterday and runs through the weekend. The documentary fest has a long history of celebrating and raising the profile of female filmmakers. This year, the Grand Jury is all women (Rachel Boynton, Margaret Brown, Ricki Stern), the Full Frame Tribute Award is being given to Kirsten Johnson ("Cameraperson"), and once again the lineup features some of the most talented women filmmakers working in the nonfiction space. Recently, Indiewire checked in with the women directors behind the 19th edition of Full Frame to get a snapshot of the state of women in nonfiction.

Why are female filmmakers finding more of a home in doc than fiction film?

Nancy Buirski, Founder of Full Frame and Director of "By Sidney Lumet":

"Easy, they are less expensive to make. There are less barriers to raise money when the stakes are lower. Indeed, many doc filmmakers self-fund initially, to move their careers or a passion project into gear. Additionally, many of the commissioning editors in TV are women and relate strongly to women's stories as well as to men's. It pertains to barriers of entry. A sad reality is that those financing feature films are willing to take risks on untried male directors, but not so on female. In the feature film world, female directors must have proven themselves, somehow, someway, before they'll get a narrative film funded."

Eleanor Mortimer, "Territory":
"When you are making a documentary you can set out on your own - you don't have to impress people, or assert authority; you can just be you. It seems that in the fiction world you have to insert yourself into a pecking order, which is much more complicated as a woman amongst the male egos that dominate the film industry."

Dawn Porter, "Trapped":
"There are fewer gatekeepers in documentary film - less sitting around waiting for a green light."

Margaret Byrne, "Raising Bertie":
"I think women are finding more opportunity in documentary rather than fiction not only because funders and broadcasters are supporting diversity, but also because women are creating their own opportunity. I didn't need anyone to allow me to start making my film, and if I had it would never have existed."

Ceyda Torun, "Kedi":
"The main reason my first feature ended up being a documentary is because I needed to jump through fewer hoops to get it made. Not having to wait for cast, talent agents, pre-sales, minimum guarantees, and not needing nearly as much money meant that I could just put a small crew together and go out and shoot."

Miriam Smith, "The Ground We Won":
"[S]maller budgets, more creative autonomy, the potential for alternative funding models, the ability to tell different kinds of stories that are less "market driven," more flexible shooting schedules that can work around childcare."

Amy Nicholson, "Pickle":
"It's almost impossible to answer this without sounding sexist (in the reverse), but I think women naturally possess the traits that you need to make a great documentary. You have to be really organized, compassionate to a fault, passionate about your subject matter, tenacious, tireless, willing to talk to pretty much anybody from any walk of life and be willing do pretty much anything to finish. You also have to be able to slog it out alone in your pajamas 90% of the time. Of course there are plenty of men who have those qualities and they make amazing docs, too. Maybe there is a different set of skills that are important in the fiction world?"

Eileen Hofer, "Nuestro mar":
"I would say it depends on each level of sensitivity and maybe women have an easier contact with real people. Whenever I shoot a documentary, I'm 100% open to what is around me. I come with a script, but I throw it away the first day of shooting in order to keep my eyes open to what those people or the world will offer me."

Virginija Vareikyte, "When We Talk About KGB":
"Well, I have never been in the fiction world, so it is hard for me to compare the challenges. But it is always about the people one works with, despite whether it is fiction or nonfiction world, there is always a probability of running into someone who considers a woman less of a filmmaker. I‘ve been working mainly on documentaries and in my past I have had experiences with people like that. I had producers who did not want me as a director, even if I had more experience than my competitors. I had to put a lot of efforts to change their mind. This attitude is common not only among male producers, but in the daily surroundings too. When we were making 'When We Talk About KGB' and later presenting ourselves as co-directors people always perceived that [co-director] Maxi [Dejoie] was the director, and that I am a girlfriend, assistant, translator or something else."

Nancy Buirski, "By Sidney Lumet":
"Having run a documentary film festival (Full Frame) for ten years, I can say there are easily as many female documentary filmmakers in attendance as male. And they come back year after year, whereas males move on to features more often and more easily."

Kim A. Snyder, "Newtown":
"Precedent - the 'Hollywood system' is just more male centric and dominated and more women are in positions of funding and power in the doc world proportionately. Women have gotten used to accepting too readily that the leap from docs to fiction is less likely than is true for male counterparts in my experience."

Are Bigger Budget Docs the New Glass Ceiling?

Katy Chevigny, "Deadline":
"I think when more money is involved, there are more people to answer to, and you are more likely to encounter people who would rather put their faith and money in the hands of a male director. It seems clear to me that when the budgets and prestige gets bigger, the inclination to hire men also grows."

Kathy Leichter, "Here One Day":
"It's still about who you know and what connections you have. I don't see the big films taking on new talent and taking risks there. There certainly needs to be more women and more women of color and people of color directing the bigger budget docs. There are some women who have made it there, but not many."

Virginija Vareikyte, "When We Talk About KGB":
"No, I have not yet found this to be true. But I have not yet made a documentary with a big budget. Maybe for this reason I should rethink my statement above… Yes, unfortunately, for a woman very often it will be twice as difficult. I don‘t know why it is like that, or how and when it will change. However, even having this knowledge, no woman filmmaker will ever give up on trying to bring her ideas to the screen. Filmmaking itself is full of unimaginably difficult obstacles, being a woman in this field just comes with the package. I don‘t believe there are any glass ceiling that would be unbreakable."

Nancy Buirski, "By Sidney Lumet":
"Yes, of course - the bigger the budget, the harder it is to pull off. But that's not the only obstacle. If you are not making a film that's a sure fit on TV, the obstacles are much greater."

Dawn Porter, "Trapped":
"We shall see. I think people are surprised when I say what the budgets for my films have been. I am just now starting to make a point of disclosing them so no one can say I can't handle a large budget."

.... and the Oscars?

Margaret Byrne, "Raising Bertie":
"You mean the tall white man awards?"

Dawn Porter, "Trapped":
"Proof in the numbers, don't you think?"

Katy Chevigny, "Deadline":
"Yes, same with the Oscars and other big awards. Men are seen as the 'big talents' with the wow factor while women may be accomplished and hard-working."

Amy Nicholson, "Pickle":
"I don't really see a huge bias. If there is one in the documentary world, it's a pretty good secret, because I see a lot female filmmakers and producers win a lot of awards every year. Sheila Nevins has probably had to build a wing on her house for the extra shelf space."

Kathy Leichter, "Here One Day":
"We need more women in every category."

Nancy Buirski, "By Sidney Lumet":
"Qualifying and campaigning for awards is extremely costly. Again, it's all about financing, which goes back to who bears the risk."

Watch this exclusive clip from "Raising Bertie," which is premiering at Full Frame 2016:

Watch: This Exclusive 'Raising Bertie' Clip Will Make You Cry

Bryn Gelbart — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 16:45:43 GMT

If fictional coming of age movies aren't feeling raw enough for you, Kartemquin has a new doc right up your alley. Welcome to Bertie County, North Carolina, where three boys make the treacherous leap to manhood in "Raising Bertie."

READ MORE: Grasshopper Film Picks Up Kartemquin Films Sports Doc 'In the Game'

The documentary explores the grit of growing up as African Americans in the rural South, delving into complex relationships between generational poverty, educational inequity and race. In this Indiewire exclusive clip, Reginald "Junior" Askew visits his father in prison, where he has been for the past seven years. The results are astounding and powerful. It's worth keeping this one on the radar long enough to see the final product.

"This film has been a labor of love. Over the last seven years, we have maintained close, trusting relationships with each family in the film. I love them and am honored that they trusted me, gave me an unfiltered window into their lives, and believed what we were doing was important," said director Margaret Byrne in an official statement. "The individuals in this story are representative of their community and they matter."

"Raising Bertie" will premiere at Full Frame on April 9, and will soon come to subsequent festivals. Watch our exclusive clip above.

Full Frame: 13 Must-See Documentaries About American Elections

Chris O'Falt — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 14:20:16 GMT

The 19th Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, held in Durham, North Carolina, starts today. The festival’s annual Thematic Program is designed to allow the fest to examine an ongoing issue by showcasing films from the past. With this being an election year, Full Frame invited veteran filmmaker R.J. Cutler to program a series of 13 documentaries, titled "Perfect and Otherwise: Documenting American Politics," that examine how nonfiction filmmakers have captured the American electoral process.

Cutler is an expert on the subject, having been the ambitious producer who convinced George Stephanopoulos to allow a documentary crew to follow Governor Bill Clinton’s 1992 run for President around in "The War Room," and directing "A Perfect Candidate" and "The World According to Dick Cheney." Cutler recently did an extensive interview with Programming Director Sadie Tillery that is a must read for anybody who is interest in the history of documentary film, or American politics. As Cutler told Tillery, "There are many ways to view the films collected in 'Perfect and Otherwise: Documenting American Politics,' but those who choose to do so chronologically will experience a narrative of both American politics and documentary filmmaking over a 65-year span."

READ MORE: The Best Documentary Filmmaking Advice from Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

The list of films is a reminder how many of our great nonfiction filmmakers have tackled capturing American elections and how many of the most important campaigns, dating back to John F. Kennedy, have granted them access.

"Primary" (1960), Dir: Robert Drew

Robert Drew’s groundbreaking film follows the 1960 Wisconsin primary as John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey go head-to-head in a battle for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

Cutler: "The story of this campaign is told using what was at the time breakthrough technology: a hand-held camera synced to a portable sound recorder so that filmmaker and subject are equally mobile. Moving from private places to public, the camera brings viewers inside the campaign as the candidates themselves are experiencing it and reveals the subjects in ways that had simply never been seen before."

"Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment" (1963), Dir: Robert Drew

This in-depth look at the University of Alabama’s integration crisis chronicles key decisions from multiple perspectives, including those of Governor George Wallace and President John F. Kennedy.

Cutler: "As a showdown between the southern state governor and executive branch develops, Drew and his collaborators are given truly remarkable access. Building upon the relationships they developed with the Kennedys during the campaign, there is clearly a foundation of trust between subject and filmmakers, and down in Alabama, Wallace takes to the filmmaking process like a fish to water."

"Campaign Manager" (1964), Dir: Richard Leacock, Noel E. Parmentel Jr.

This brief (25 minute) portrait follows 28-year-old campaign manager John Grenier as he maps out strategies for Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presidential run and engineers a takeover of the Republican convention. (Short)

"Jingle Bells" (1964), Dir: DA Pennebaker

This short film trails New York Senate hopeful Robert Kennedy as he makes a public appearance at a New York City children’s school at Christmas time.

"Medium Cool" (1969), Dir: Haskell Wexler

A narrative film set against real footage of the riots surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention, unpacks the moral obligations of bearing witness through the story of a news cameraman and his relationship with a single mother. The one of a kind hybrid film by the late, great DP Haskell Wexler.

"America Is Hard to See" (1970), Dir: Emile de Antonio

Using thousands of feet of newsreel, director Emile de Antonio looks back at Senator Eugene McCarthy’s failure to win the Democratic party’s nomination running on a platform of liberal, peace politics.

Cutler: "Does anyone recognize the narrative of the upstart outsider left-wing candidate who shocks the mainstream establishment by energizing the youth vote and achieving a near game-changing triumph in the New Hampshire primary? Of course we do — that’s The Bernie Sanders Story. Nope, it’s 'America Is Hard to See' and the candidate is Eugene McCarthy."

"The War Room" (1993), Dir: Chris Hegedus, DA Pennebaker

Watch James Carville and George Stephanopoulos as they plot, react and attack to ensure Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton is elected president.

Cutler: "It’s late afternoon on Election Day. The Secret Service is doing a security sweep of campaign headquarters in case the candidate decides to come by to celebrate and thank the staff later that night. As a result, the War Room has cleared out, and only James Carville and George Stephanopoulos have been allowed to remain inside. It has already become clear to both men that Bill Clinton is going to win in a landslide. In that very moment we see two men whose lives will never be the same again. Their subject becomes how to address the about-to-be-elected President."

"A Perfect Candidate" (1996), Dir: R.J. Cutler, David Van Taylor

Campaign strategists, and an acutely aware journalist, take center stage in this document of the volatile 1994 Virginia senatorial race between Oliver North and Charles Robb.

Cutler: "[It’s] a film filled with people who are desperately crisscrossing the state of Virginia looking for something in which to place their faith. And that’s the motif that speaks loudest to me: the search for something to believe in."

"Taking On the Kennedys" (1996), Dir: Joshua Seftel

In his first race for public office, Rhode Island doctor Kevin Vigilante finds himself running a congressional campaign against 26-year-old Patrick Kennedy, Ted Kennedy’s youngest son. Vigilante’s 1994 race is against more than his opponent; he’s gone into battle against one of the most powerful families in American politics.

"With God On Our Side: Prophets and Advisors" (1996), Dir: David Van Taylor

This episode of the comprehensive six-hour series "With God On Our Side" explores the rise of Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority and its influence during Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

Cutler: "Again and again we see resonances with our own moment, as when the Republican base forges a partnership with a right-wing faction only to find the arrangement backfiring and causing many to wonder if they’ve created a monster they’ll be unable to control. Is it the Tea Party or even Donald Trump? Indeed not, it’s the Moral Majority, whose relationship with Ronald Reagan is chronicled [by] David Van Taylor."

"Chisholm ’72: Unbought & Unbossed" (2004), Dir: Shola Lynch

A powerful look at Shirley Chisholm’s pioneering, grassroots campaign for president considered through the recollections of many, including the candidate herself.

Cutler: "A woman running for president; an African American running for president. Is it 2008? Nope, it’s 1972, and Shirley Chisholm is making exponential history all by herself."

"Our Brand Is Crisis" (2005), Dir: Rachel Boynton

The doc that inspired last year’s Sandra Bullock starrer. American political strategists from the firm Greenberg Carville Shrum travel south to advise on marketing tactics for Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada’s campaign for president of Bolivia.

"Caucus" (2013), Dir: AJ Schnack

In 2012, eight unorthodox GOP candidates navigate the Iowa caucuses — an endless series of public events and uncomfortable questions — in hopes of securing their party’s nomination.

Cutler: "Early on, Schnack shows us a gigantic television screen, as if to announce that this film exists in the literal and metaphorical context of an overwhelming media presence."

READ MORE: Surface Tension: R.J. Cutler's "The September Issue"

Check out the trailer for the fictionalized version of "Our Brand is Crisis" below:

Full Frame to Honor Director/Cinematographer Kirsten Johnson With Award, Retrospective

Inkoo Kang — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 18:00:00 GMT

Filmmaker Kirsten Johnson will be feted at the 2016 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.

Johnson will receive this year's Tribute Award and have her 27-year career behind the camera showcased in a retrospective at the festival. Among the scheduled films is "Cameraperson," her widely acclaimed documentary feature that premiered at Sundance last month.

Johnson's previous directorial credits include the 2004 documentary "Deadline" (co-helmed with Katy Chevigny) and the HBO doc "Innocent Until Proven Guilty." She has served as principal cinematographer on more than 40 feature-length nonfiction films, including Laura Poitras' "Citizenfour," "Asylum" and "The Oath." She is also a frequent collaborator with Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick, having shot the films "Outrage," "This Film is Not Yet Rated," "Derrida" and "The Invisible War."

“I am enormously proud to celebrate Kirsten Johnson this year. Her undeniable talent is evident in so many exceptional films of the past few decades, and this Tribute allows us to highlight her incredible body of work,” commented Sadie Tillery, Full Frame’s Director of Programming. “Recognizing Kirsten’s impact as a cinematographer also allows us to acknowledge and discuss documentary as a collaborative art form and celebrate the essential role of the artist behind the lens.”

"What a magnificent and juicy thrill to be seen by Full Frame in this way!” added Johnson. “'Cameraperson' is about trying to find ways to acknowledge how much is going on beyond the edges of the frame in documentary camerawork. Just the name Full Frame says it! It is a very full frame, indeed. Full Frame has always been a part of this collective tradition of searching to understand what happens to us when we are filmed, when we hold cameras, and when we share the pleasure of seeing anew. I can't wait to share this experience of watching these films again with such an extraordinary group of people in a place where everyone cares so deeply about the past, present, and future of documentary work."

The 19th Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will be held on April 7-10, 2016, in Durham, N.C.

The Best Documentary Filmmaking Advice from Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

Sam Adams — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 23:44:58 GMT

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival isn't just a longstanding showcase for the art of nonfiction film. It's also where the people who make those films gather, and where aspiring documentarians can bend their ears without fighting a crowd. It's a place where you might sit down to grab a quick bit between films and find Albert Maysles doing the same at the other end of your table, or where you can run into an Oscar-nominated filmmaker who tells you that "Giovanni and the Water Ballet" a half-hour documentary about a 10-year-old boy trying to make it to Holland's synchronized swimming championships, is the best narrative he's seen in years, and the next day it wins the festival's audience award.

READ MORE: Barbara Kopple, D.A. Pennebaker and Other Documentary Filmmakers on the Film Preservation Crisis

The "Give It to Me Straight" panel, which gathered experienced documentary filmmakers to share the wisdom of their long careers, was, in a sense, a mere formalization of Full Frame's ongoing open exchange: Filmmakers talking to each other with microphones instead of over barbecue and vinegar slaw. It was also like a living version of Jessica Edwards and Gary Hustwit's book "Tell Me Something" which tapped documentary legends like Maysles, D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, Errol Morris and Martin Scorsese for filmmaking tips that tended to double as life advice — advice that, Edwards, who moderated the panel, said, came in handy when making her first feature, "Mavis!"

As at True/False, Maysles' spirit was felt all through Full Frame, so Edwards began by asking the panelists — Maysles' daughter Rebekah, "Black Panthers" director Stanley Nelson and Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Marshall Curry, the subject of the festival's career retrospective — about Maysles' influence on them and their work. That kicked off a freewheeling discussion in which practical tips and more far-reaching guidance flowed freely. We've boiled it down to a few takeaways.

Follow Albert Maysles' example: Be generous and open, whether with subjects or other filmmakers.

"When he passed away, my mother and I were reading all these articles, and we realized there was something about his generosity and the way he was open with people that's not replicable," said Rebekah Maysles. "He was able to be open to anyone, whether that was good or bad. I spent a lot of time trying to push people away a bit that I didn't think were as good people, but he could always figure out the good part of it."

Curry recalled how he came to Full Frame before he had ever made a film." It was the kind festival where you could see D.A. Pennebaker and Al Maysles and go up them and say 'I like your work' and start a conversation about it. It was extraordinary for me, and one of the reasons I decided to make documentary films," said Curry, who went on to tell a story about bringing his infant daughter with him during his first visit to Full Frame. "I was out in the courtyard and started talking with Al, and he picked her up and put her on his lap.... I found that picture recently, and it's just him looking straight into her eyes, which is exactly what made him an extraordinary person and an extraordinary filmmaker: His ability to talk to anybody and to coax the humanness out of them, and to encourage people who were curious about this work to come on in, the water's great. See what you think."

READ MORE: How to Win an Oscar for Best Documentary (Or At Least Try)

Never put the camera down.

Curry said that Maysles gave him great advice: "always point the camera, even when you're not shooting. If you put the camera down when nothing's happening and then when something interesting starts to happen you start pointing it again, everybody senses it and it changes the dynamic. But if you're constantly pointing it at people, even when you're not rolling, it makes them accustomed to the fact that there's this piece of glass in the room and a person holding it. People can be on their best behavior for an hour or two, but not for five or six."

Love the process of making a movie, not just the result.

"You have to enjoy the journey," said Stanley Nelson. "That's something a filmmaker said to me when I was just starting out. That's the most important thing."

If you don't enjoy the steps of the process, you likely won't be a documentary filmmaker for long. Nelson continued: "What you remember are the moments in shooting, the moments in the edit room, the experiences that you have with people. You can't remember after a while if you put that shot in the film or not that you're agonizing over now. There's no red carpet for us as documentary filmmakers. People aren't throwing rose petals in front of us as we walk. People don't say, 'Come on into this restaurant, we have a seat for you.' You get so wrapped up in everything about the film, raising the money or this cut or that cut. If you don't enjoy the journey, the day-to-day parts of making the film, then why are you doing it? I genuinely like making films. That's what's sustained me. That's also what makes your films better. If you like doing it, you'll want to go that extra mile."

READ MORE: Making a Living at Documentary Filmmaking is Harder Than Ever. Here's Why

When is the right time to screen your rough cut? And who should see it first?

"You need to be very idealistic and very wide-eyed when you're making a film, and when you're meeting people and you need to encourage your creativity and chase moments that are outside of what you expect," said Curry. He added: "At a certain point, you have to stop being precious with your material and be cruel and harsh and judgmental, particularly in the editing process. It's easy to fall in love with your subjects and scenes, and that love is a huge part of what makes it successful, but it's also important to be cruel, and to get people who aren't your friends or family to tell you what's good and what's not working."

Nelson said, "We do screenings somewhere between rough and fine cut, five or six people at most, whose opinion I really trust. Some of those tend to be filmmakers, some of them are not filmmakers but just people I think are really smart. I'll show them the film like it's finished, we'll get some takeout food, and have them talk about the film — and try not to talk too in response until the end. One of the things I try to do is wait until I feel like the film is there."

For "Iris," Maysles said they did rough-cut screenings. "What was very helpful for us was making sure certain things were clear, but also to see if there was an overall issue. Finding out people's different questions and issues really helped us figure things out."

Curry said he does rough-cut screenings, but he also "drags people in front across the hall to spot-check." He'll ask: "Is this funny? Do you know what you're looking at here?"

READ MORE: Full Frame Film Festival to Honor Marshall Curry as 2015 Tribute

When do you let the subject of the film see it?

"I avoid showing it to the characters in the film as much as humanly possible," said Nelson. "One of the things as filmmakers we all want to think is, 'They're gonna love it.' I think what you have to think about is, What if they hate it? Until you're ready to show it to them or you contractually have to, you have to think, what if they don't like it? Then what?"

Masyles said it's all about timing. "You have to make sure you show to them at the right time, at a point where there's no going back. You're open to talking about things, but you're very strong about it."

You want to leave yourself time in case you need to make changes, said Curry. "I do show my films to the subjects almost always before it premieres. If you did make a mistake or something's wrong or out of context, I want to know what with enough time to fix it. But also I reserve the right to make that decision myself," he explained.

Don't quit your day job. Or do.

"It's different for men and women," said Edwards. "Not quitting your day job is probably a good idea, but hopefully the day job is something inside the documentary world, or informing you as a filmmaker."

Certainly, having a day job that's related to filmmaking is beneficial. "If you have a film that takes seven years, you can't be working on that the whole time. For me, it's more just 'Take everything you can.' If you can, try not have a day job that's completely different than working on films."

Of course, everyone has a different path. "One thing to be clear about when you go to these panels is that the advice you get is just the way we did it. Everybody does it in a different way. It might be great for you to quit your day job. It might be the worst thing in the world," said Nelson, who added that it's wise to learn to do as many things as you can in the film industry. "There's no reason why you should not know at least the rudimentaries. It's important that you learn how to edit, how to do sound, how the camera works — there's no excuse not to at this point."

Edwards said that working as a film publicist allowed her to better understand the business. In fact, she was a publicist for Curry's "If a Tree Falls." "It taught me so much. I would go to every festival, work with amazing filmmakers, and it taught me everything about the business that I didn't get in film school. And I was making shorts the whole time," she said.

Ultimately, Edwards joked that Frederick Wiseman gave the best advice in the book. "It was two words: 'Marry rich,'" she said.

Watch the full panel below:

READ MORE: 5 Key Takeaways from the Documentary Film Preservation Summit

2015 Full Frame Doc Film Fest Announces Winners: Lyric R. Cabral, Alexandra Shiva, Phie Ambo

Inkoo Kang — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 14:00:00 GMT

Female documentarians made up 8 of the 11 award winners at the 2015 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina.

Betzabé Garcia's "Kings of Nowhere" and Lyric R. Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe's "(T)Error" won the festival's grand jury prize, while Alexandra Shiva's "How to Dance in Ohio" picked up the audience award. Phie Ambo's "Good Things Await" garnered The Nicholas School Environmental Award.

Here are the female award winners from the 2015 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival:

The Reva and David Logan Grand Jury Award
KINGS OF NOWHERE, directed by Betzabé Garcia
(T)ERROR, directed by Lyric R. Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe

Full Frame Jury Award for Best Short
LAST DAY OF FREEDOM, directed by Nomi Talisman and Dee Hibbert-Jones

Full Frame Audience Award—Feature
HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO, directed by Alexandra Shiva

Full Frame Audience Award—Short
GIOVANNI AND THE WATER BALLET, directed by Astrid Bussink

Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award
LAST DAY OF FREEDOM, directed by Nomi Talisman and Dee Hibbert-Jones

Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award
TOCANDO LA LUZ (TOUCH THE LIGHT), directed by Jennifer Redfearn

The Nicholas School Environmental Award
GOOD THINGS AWAIT, directed by Phie Ambo

Docs on Sonia Sanchez, Senegal's 2011 Presidential Elections, Mavis Staples, Althea Gibson Are Full Frame 2015 Selections

Tambay A. Obenson — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 17:04:03 GMT

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, one of the top documentary film festival in the world, has announced its “Invited Program” and “NEW DOCS” lineup of new feature and short films. The full schedule will be released on March 19.

Of note, with regards to this blog's interests, from directors Barbara Attie, Janet Goldwater and Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, the appropriately-titled "BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez," a project whose Kickstarter campaign was featured on this blog 2 years ago, which focuses on the life of the 80-year-old poet (born Wilsonia Benita Driver) - her emergence as a seminal figure in the 1960s Black Arts Movement, to civil rights involvement, women’s liberation, as a poet, playwright, teacher and activist.

Despite her achievements, there has yet to be a major film documenting her life and the impact of her work, and this documentary - the title drawn from Sanchez's second book of poetry, "We a BaddDDD People") hopes to rectify that, with a look at Sanchez as writer and at the groundbreaking artistic and political movements she embraced and influenced. Per the filmmakers, at the heart of the film will be her performances.

Also worth noting is "Incorruptible" from director: E. Chai Vasarhelyi. Its focus: on Senegal’s crisis-heavy 2011 presidential elections. In short, at the time, Senegal's former president of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade's second term in office saw his popularity take a beating, as many were upset by the lack of progress in dealing with infrastructure problems in the country as well as rising inflation. You might recall an item we posted here on S&A a few years ago, which mentioned criticism Wade faced for his commissioning of the gigantic and expensive African Renaissance Monument, later unveiled during Senegal’s 50th independence anniversary in April 2010, when Wade asserted that he'd essentially earned about 1/3 of any revenue generated by visitors to the statue, simply because he came up with the idea for it.

But that was just one matter of contention out of a handful; his proposals to ammend the country's constitution in his favor, also drew much criticism; Most notably, Wade announced his intentions to stand for re-election for a 3rd term, even though the constitution limited presidential terms to two, which he already would have served.

However, the country’s Constitutional Council allowed him to go ahead with his bid for a third term, which, of course, also drew much criticism, both in Senegal and abroad, inspiring protests, although that failed to stop Wade from standing for re-election again, the following year.

He would seemingly receive the most votes - almost 35 percent, in a field of a dozen other candidates - the closest behind him being former prime minister Macky Sall, who won almost 27 percent of the vote.

And because a minimum of 50% is needed in order to avoid a second round of voting, a run-off election between Wade and Sall was held a month later, which eventually led to an overwhelming victory for Sall, who won about 66 percent of the vote.

Wade then stepped down in April.

That entire fiasco, we could call it, will be the subject of director Vasarhelyi's documentary, promising an unbiased work of investigative cinema that captures the election and pro-democracy movement from both sides,

Vasarhelyi's last film was the feature documentary also centered on a prominent Senegalese figure - the award-winning "Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love."

Other titles to be aware of, all films receiving coverage on this blog following previous screenings include: "Mavis!" - on Mavis Staples' career, family, and legacy; "(T)ERROR" - on FBI informant “Shariff” and his counterterrorism sting engagements, highlighting the controversial methods used in the government’s war on terror; "3 ½ MINUTES" - on the 2012 shooting death of black teenager Jordan Davis at a Florida gas station and the subsequent trial of his killer, Michael Dunn; "Althea" - the story of Althea Gibson, the "Jackie Robinson of tennis;" and "The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution" - on the vibrant history of the Black Panther Party, from its early beginnings to its dissolution.

There could be others on the below lengthy list that I'm not yet familiar with, and so didn't mention; but, as usual, I plan to scrub the entirely list in search of titles that fit this blog's interests.

Full Frame, a qualifying event for consideration for the nominations for both the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject and the Producers Guild of America Awards, celebrates its 18^th annual festival this April -  April 9-12, 2015, in Durham, N.C.

"We are incredibly proud of the talent on display in our 2015 lineup,” said director of programming Sadie Tillery. "These new films take us places: remote landscapes, hypnotic fairs, and steep climbs. They probe legal cases, unveil artistic processes, and witness turmoil. They bring history to life and encourage us to think deeply about current events. And altogether, they highlight people, the human experience, and allow us to reflect on the world in which we live. It’s a gift that filmmakers share this work with us, and we can’t wait to share it with our audiences in April.”

The “NEW DOCS” program includes 49 titles, 35 features and 14 shorts, from across the United States and around the world, selected from over 1,300 submissions, including 12 World Premieres, 13 North American Premieres, and two U.S. Premieres. Nearly all of the films are screening in North Carolina for the first time. “NEW DOCS” films are eligible for the Full Frame Audience Award and are shortlisted for a variety of additional juried prizes. Award winners will be announced at the annual Awards Barbecue on Sunday, April 12.

The “Invited Program” features 21 films screening out of competition, including one World Premiere and one U.S. Premiere. Within this list are the festival’s “Center Frame” screenings, which feature moderated panel discussions following the films and take place in Fletcher Hall at the Carolina Theatre. The “Opening Night Film,” “Center Frame” programs, and special free screenings will be announced in the coming week.

Full lineup follows:

NEW DOCS

Abandoned Goods (Directors: Pia Borg, Edward Lawrenson)

A meditation on artwork and experiences connected to the Adamson Collection, some 5,500 paintings, sculptures, and drawings made by patients in Netherne, a psychiatric hospital, between 1946 and 1981.

BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez (Directors: Barbara Attie, Janet Goldwater)

Rich with spoken word performances and readings by young black artists, this film honors the life and legacy of poet, activist, and teacher Sonia Sanchez. World Premiere

Barge (Director: Ben Powell)

A meditative microcosm of the American Dream, Barge documents a hard-working crew’s month-long hitch aboard a Mississippi River towboat bound for New Orleans.

Bikes vs Cars (Director: Fredrik Gertten)

A global look at bicycles as a tool for change in a world overrun by cars, from the frustrations of gridlock in Los Angeles to the fight for safe bike lanes in São Paulo.

Cairo in One Breath (Director: Anna Kipervaser)

A layered examination of soundscapes and sacred spaces as thousands of muezzins in Cairo are replaced by a single radio broadcast of the adhan, the Muslim call to prayer. World Premiere

Cartel Land (Director: Matthew Heineman)

With stunning access amidst danger and violence, Cartel Land viscerally exposes two contemporary vigilante movements, one on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Chasing the Wind (Inseguire il vento) (Director: Filippo Ticozzi)

Gifted Italian mortician Karine spends her days among the dead and her evenings among the living, approaching both worlds with contemplation and calm. North American Premiere

The Circus Dynasty (Director: Anders Riis-Hansen)

Expectations are high when the son and daughter of two famous circus families fall in love. But will the fickle flames of young romance threaten this perfect union? North American Premiere

Containment (Directors: Peter Galison, Robb Moss)

Issues of waste disposal at three radioactive sites pose profound practical and philosophical conundrums for the present and the future. World Premiere

Crooked Candy (Director: Andrew Rodgers)

A vibrant compilation of colorful plastic, this short captures one man’s fascination with Kinder Eggs and the intricate collectibles that lie at the core of these milk chocolate ovoids.

Curious Worlds: The Art & Imagination of David Beck (Director: Olympia Stone)

A portrait of artist David Beck, who sculpts, carves, paints, and welds to make intricate creations as masterfully layered as they are playful and personal. World Premiere

Devil’s Rope (Director: Sophie Bruneau)

An elliptical meditation on barbed wire, from its role in the settling of the American West to its present-day use by militaries and prisons. North American Premiere

The Farewell (La despedida) (Director: Alejandro Alonso)

Long retired from the local mine, Pablo Fabelo spends his days smoking cigars, playing cards, and quietly reminiscing in this languid, lushly photographed short. North American Premiere

The Fish Tamer (El domador de peixos) (Directors: Roger Gómez, Dani Resines)

At the request of an ailing friend, a fisherman sets out to free Juanita, a beloved and exceptionally talented carp.

For Floppy Ears Only (Wat konijnen mogen weten) (Director: Ronja Hijmans)

When her mother suddenly passes away, eight-year-old Lulu finds strength in her father, brothers, and stuffed animal, Rabbit. North American Premiere

From This Day Forward (Director: Sharon Shattuck)

In the lead-up to her wedding, filmmaker Sharon Shattuck returns home to better understand the enduring relationship between her mother and transgender father. World Premiere

Giovanni and the Water Ballet (Director: Astrid Bussink)

Giovanni dreams of becoming the first boy to compete in the Dutch synchronized swimming championship. With the support of his girlfriend, Kim, can he pass one final exam?

Good Things Await (Så Meget Godt I Vente) (Director: Phie Ambo)

An aging farmer runs a biodynamic farm in the Danish countryside, prioritizing spiritual methods over contemporary standards. Will new regulations threaten his way of life?

Graminoids (Directors: Demelza Kooij, Lars Koens)

Changing winds blowing through a field of grass create mesmerizing patterns and otherworldly landscapes in this symphony of sound and movement.

Here Come the Videofreex (Directors: Jon Nealon, Jenny Raskin)

Using brand-new portable video technology, a pioneering collective of 1970s radicals captures counterculture happenings ignored by TV network news. World Premiere

How to Dance in Ohio (Director: Alexandra Shiva)

Three young women on the autism spectrum attempt to navigate social rules and the impending challenges of adulthood as they prepare for their first formal dance.

In the Country (Ute på landet) (Director: Anders Jedenfors)

This exquisite black-and-white portrait captures the choreography of coexistence, revealing simple details of a longstanding couple’s day-to-day life in rural Sweden. North American Premiere

Incorruptible (Director: E. Chai Vasarhelyi)

During the political crisis surrounding Senegal’s 2011 presidential elections, an artist-led youth movement forms to protect the democracy.  World Premiere

King Georges (Director: Erika Frankel)

Forty years after opening La Bec-Fin, French chef Georges Perrier strives to keep his landmark restaurant relevant in a culinary world of new stars and shifting tastes.  World Premiere

Kings of Nowhere (Director: Betzabé García)

In this poetic and patiently photographed film, a handful of residents stay their ground after a flood leaves their Mexican village semi-submerged.

Kings of the Wind & Electric Queens (Directors: Cédric Dupire, Gaspard Kuentz)

This sensory film spirits us through the frenzied preparations and primal beats of an annual fair in Sonepur, India.  U.S. Premiere

The Land (Director: Erin Davis)

Children’s empowerment is tied to exploring risk at an “adventure playground” in North Wales, where kids are free to use saws, make fires, and climb tall trees. World Premiere

The Lanthanide Series (Director: Erin Espelie)

Shifting images, sounds, and texts illuminate the role of rare earth elements and black mirrors in our modern world of screens and recording technology. North American Premiere

Last Day of Freedom (Directors: Dee Hibbert-Jones, Nomi Talisman)

Beautiful animation accompanies poignant testimony in this haunting short about a man who discovers his brother has committed a serious crime. World Premiere

The Last Hour in the Sun (Het laatste uur in de zon) (Director: Suzanne Jansen)

Emile longs to be a pilot, but the financial crisis stands in the way of his childhood dream in this film about family, identity, and opening up to the uncertainties of the future. North American Premiere

Love Marriage in Kabul (Director: Amin Palangi)

Afghan-Australian aid worker Mahboba Rawi must challenge traditions and navigate a web of complex negotiations to help two young Afghanis marry for love.

Mavis! (Director: Jessica Edwards)

Joining Mavis Staples on tour, this vibrant film charts the singer’s prolific career and reflects on her deep attachment to family, powerfully highlighting her legacy with exceptional performances.

Monte Adentro (Director: Nicolás Macario Alonso)

Two brothers from a Colombian muleteer family personify the contrast between city and country, joining forces for one epic mule-driving expedition through the Andes.

Nadeshda (Directors: Anna Frances Ewert, Falk Müller)

Three Roma children with musical aspirations grapple with discrimination and the limiting, and sometimes threatening, traditions of their Bulgarian ghetto. U.S. Premiere

Of Men and War (Director: Laurent Bécue-Renard)

Combat veterans at a group therapy center attempt to overcome their PTSD and rebuild their lives in this unflinching look at the walking casualties of war.

Overburden (Director: Chad A. Stevens)

In a West Virginia coal mining community, environmentalist Lorelei Scarbro battles a dangerous coal company, and her community’s pro-coal residents, to protect her home. World Premiere

Peace Officer (Directors: Scott Christopherson, Brad Barber)
After a former sheriff sees his son-in-law killed in a controversial police standoff, he dives into an obsessive investigation of the militarization of American law enforcement.

The Queen (La Reina) (Director: Manuel Abramovich)

As the grown-ups fuss to prepare her to be queen of the carnival, 11-year-old pageant competitor Memi learns that beauty is pain.

R. Enstone (Director: James Varley)

The discovery of a box of mysterious and sometimes darkly paranoid footage shot by a man named Richard Enstone raises unanswerable questions. North American Premiere

Sad Songs of Happiness (Director: Constanze Knoche)

When their voice teacher enters them in a prestigious European music competition, three Palestinian schoolgirls learn lessons about dreams and dashed hopes. North American Premiere

Saving Mes Aynak (Director: Brent E. Huffman)

An Afghan archeologist races to save ancient Buddhist artifacts from a 5,000-year-old site near Kabul before a Chinese mining company demolishes the area.

The Solitude of Memory (¿Por qué el recuerdo?) (Director: Juan Pablo González)

In this brief film about grief and remembrance, a father recounts the story of his son’s death in multiple iterations as his language and landscapes poetically converge.

The Storm Makers (Director: Guillaume Suon)

A heartbreaking exposé of Cambodia’s human trafficking system, revealed through the stories of two guiltless “recruiters” and a young woman who was sold into slavery and escaped. North American Premiere

Tell Spring Not to Come This Year (Directors: Saeed Taji Farouky, Michael McEvoy)

When international forces pull out of Afghanistan in 2014, the ill-equipped troops of the Afghan National Army take over control of the extremely dangerous Helmand Province. North American Premiere

The Term (Directors: Alexei Pivovarov, Pavel Kostomarov, Alexander Rastorguev)

This chaotic, farcical document of the rising tide of protest against Vladimir Putin’s rule in Russia centers around three young leaders of the opposition movement. North American Premiere

(T)ERROR (Directors: Lyric R. Cabral, David Felix Sutcliffe)

FBI informant “Shariff” grants filmmakers unprecedented access as he engages in a counterterrorism sting against a white Muslim man, illuminating the controversial methods employed in the government’s war on terror.

Tocando la Luz (Touch the Light) (Director: Jennifer Redfearn)

In this quietly arresting film, three blind women in Havana, Cuba, share their heartbreaks and hopes, and navigate their profound desire for independence. World Premiere

Uyghurs, Prisoners of the Absurd (Ouïghours: Prisonniers de l’absurde) (Director: Patricio HenrÍquez)

A group of Uyghurs, China's Muslim minority, escape persecution by fleeing to Afghanistan, only to find themselves sold as terrorists to U.S. forces and held for years at Guantanamo Bay.

White Chimney (Savupiippu) (Director: Jani Peltonen)

This enigmatic short weaves together past and present to explore what happened to a young Finnish actress at a hotel party in 1939.

Invited Program

3 ½ MINUTES (Director: Marc Silver)

In 2012, an African American teenager was shot and killed while sitting in a car with three friends at a gas station in Jacksonville, Florida. This powerful film examines the ensuing trial.

Althea (Director: Rex Miller)

The story of Althea Gibson, the unlikely “Jackie Robinson of tennis,” a tough, competitive athlete who blazed trails and crossed color lines.

Being Evel (Director: Daniel Junge)

From motorcycles to rockets, from hustler to Johnny Carson’s couch, Evel Knievel’s real triumph spanned more than 14 Greyhound buses.

Best of Enemies (Directors: Morgan Neville, Robert Gordon)

In 1968, a series of nationally televised debates matched conservative William F. Buckley against liberal Gore Vidal: intellectual argument quickly gave way to verbal blood sport.

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (Director: Stanley Nelson)

A clarifying and vibrant history of the Black Panther Party, rich with rare archival footage, from the Party’s early beginnings to its ultimate dissolution.

City of Gold (Director: Laura Gabbert)

Food critic Jonathan Gold takes us on a journey through Los Angeles’s eclectic food scene, introducing a trove of international delicacies far off the well-beaten path.

Deep Web (Director: Alex Winter)

Alex Winter investigates Silk Road, the online black market and trade hub for illegal drugs, concentrating on the arrest and trial of Dread Pirate Roberts, the site’s unlikely founder.

(Dis)Honesty – The Truth About Lies (Director: Yael Melamede)

Personal stories of dishonesty are interwoven with insights by behavioral economics expert Dan Ariely in this enlightening study of the human tendency to lie. U.S. Premiere

DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: The Story of the National Lampoon (Director: Douglas Tirola)

This history of the bawdily irreverent humor magazine reveals the antiheroes of the antiestablishment through lively interviews and captivating archival footage.

Harry & Snowman (Director: Ron Davis)

The story of the deep friendship between a former plow horse and a gifted equestrian, who together make an unexpectedly formidable show jumping team. World Premiere

Hot Type: 150 Years of the Nation (Director: Barbara Kopple)

This tribute to America’s oldest weekly magazine goes behind the scenes of editorial meetings, intern hirings, and in-depth (left-leaning) political and cultural reporting.

Iris (Director: Albert Maysles)

The late, legendary Albert Maysles documents 93-year-old fashion icon Iris Apfel in this charming celebration of style, wit, and individuality.

Kingdom of Shadows (Director: Bernardo Ruiz)

The U.S.-Mexico drug war is humanized through the stories of a U.S. federal agent, a former drug smuggler, and an activist nun.

Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck (Director: Brett Morgen)

This first fully authorized account of the late Nirvana frontman’s life reveals Kurt Cobain’s personal archive of journals and recordings, unseen and unheard until now.

Listen to Me Marlon (Director: Stevan Riley)

This excavation of the private thoughts of one of Hollywood’s public stars, Marlon Brando, is composed entirely of archival materials, most notably audio messages the actor recorded to himself.

The Look of Silence (Director: Joshua Oppenheimer)

In this arresting companion piece to The Act of Killing, an Indonesian optometrist confronts the men who murdered his brother and demands accountability in a society silenced by fear.

Meru (Directors: Jimmy Chin, E. Chai Vasarhelyi)

An elite climbing team tries to ascend the treacherous Shark’s Fin on Mount Meru. Remarkably photographed by the climbers themselves, their journey tests the boundaries of endurance, trust, and friendship.

Sunshine Superman (Director: Marah Strauch)

This portrait of the “father of BASE jumping,” Carl Boenish, weaves recollections from friends and family through an astounding array of his own daring 16mm documentation.

Tiger Tiger (Director: George Butler)

Follow big cat specialist Dr. Alan Rabinowitz deep into the dangerous Sundarbans forest on the border of India and Bangladesh, where he hopes his work will help save endangered wild tigers.

Western (Directors: Bill Ross, Turner Ross)

With equal parts grit and sensitivity, a mayor and a rancher wrestle changing forces and impending violence in brother towns on opposite sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Wolfpack (Director: Crystal Moselle)

A stranger-than-fiction story of six teenage brothers who’ve grown up locked inside their Manhattan apartment, with movies as their only avenue to the outside world.

The 18^th Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will be held April 9-12, 2015, in Durham, N.C., with Duke University as the presenting sponsor. The complete schedule of films will be announced March 19. Individual tickets go on sale April 2, and can be purchased online at http://www.fullframefest.org.

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival to Honor Marshall Curry as 2015 Tribute

Rosie Narasaki — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 18:27:41 GMT

This year's Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will honor two-time Academy Award-nominated documentary director/producer/cinematographer/editor Marshall Curry with the 2015 Tribute Award. The festival will present a retrospective of his work, along with a film series focusing on the complex moral questions around documentation, which will be curated by prolific and decorated documentary director/producer, Jennifer Baichwal.

Curry, whose most recent film "Point and Shoot" won Best Documentary at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival, said of the announcement, "Full Frame is where I had the first showing of my first film, 'Street Fight.' [...] I have a fond memory of pacing around outside the theater, nervously trying to keep from throwing up. [...] It's a magical festival, well curated, with a warm and generous spirit."

On her series on the ethics of representation in documentary film (the films she has selected, along with the Tribute films, will be announced in March), Baichwal said, "The ethics and politics of representation have preoccupied me since I started making films two decades ago. [...] It came to a head in 2003 with The True Meaning of Pictures. I realized that by showing the photographs of Shelby Lee Adams in our film, we were subject to exactly the same criticism leveled against him for taking them. And I knew we had to address this in some way beyond having people argue about whether the representation was ethical or not. I also realized that there is no overall rule for tackling these issues: each context, each situation, demands its own complex, delicate, honest, ethical approach."

The 18th Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will take place April 9-12 in Durham, North Carolina.

READ MORE: 7 Tips for Documentary Filmmakers from Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

Reality Checks: Why the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Is More Relevant Than Ever

Anthony Kaufman — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 15:50:05 GMT

As the landscape for documentaries in North America changes and expands, so, too, does the terrain for documentary film festivals.

Doc-specific festivals, which might have been an extremely specialized niche five years ago, are now blossoming: Relatively young events like True/False, DOC NYC and the Camden International Film Festival are rising in stature; more players are coming into the mix (the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s "Art of the Real" series); and longstanding gatherings like Hot Docs (in late April) and Full Frame, which just wrapped, are going strong. (Meanwhile, the Washington D.C. area-based AFI Docs, formally known as Silverdocs, by all accounts, has yet to reestablish itself after its rebranding and losing its longtime steward Sky Sitney.)

Full Frame, one of the oldest U.S. documentary festivals (which was launched in 1998 as Double Take), remains as vibrant as ever, thanks to a host of factors: a dedicated documentary filmmaker and industry fan-base; strong support from local audiences and well-endowed sponsors (namely Duke University); and the burgeoning development of its host city, Durham, North Carolina, which has evolved over the last few years from downtrodden post-industrial town to hipster hub, complete with farm-to-table restaurants, local breweries and food trucks galore.

And set during early April, when much of the country is still thawing out, "It's like spring break for documentary filmmakers," as veteran attendee and nonfiction filmmaker Doug Block called it.

Block's opening night film "112 Weddings” was one of the festival's most noteworthy world premieres. After penetrating his own family life in "51 Birch Street" and "The Kids Grow Up," Block turns his amicable camera outwards in this alternatingly funny and sobering examination of the institution of marriage. The film has a ready-made premise: As a part-time wedding videographer, Block goes back to some of the couples he photographed over the years and interviews them about the fickle ways of marital bliss (and misery). Some couples are doing just fine; others have been wrenched apart by parenthood, medical issues or the fact that after so many years they've grown into different people. "112 Weddings," which will premiere on HBO, makes damningly clear that weddings and marriages are poles apart. As the film's marital expert, a New York rabbi, notes: If you throw a bunch of money and liquor at a wedding, it's destined to be a blast. But throw a bunch of money and liquor at a marriage? "It often gets worse," he says.

Another world premiere crowd-pleaser marked by emotional highs and lows, "The Hand That Feeds" is a rousing chronicle of a group of undocumented Latino workers at a Hot & Crusty franchise in New York City who fight for better working conditions, such as a minimum wage, overtime, and above all, respect. Though the film's exploration of its characters lacks depth, it is a well-plotted and captivating David & Goliath story, filled with plenty of narrative twists and turns and ups and downs, which will go down easy with viewers. The film received a standing ovation, which doubled in fervor when the film's central protagonist, a soft-spoken immigrant named Mahoma López, was invited to speak after the screening. "The Hand that Feeds" deservingly won the festival's Audience Award — which comes with a $3,000 cash prize.

The festival's big winner, "Evolution of a Criminal," which premiered at SXSW and won both the Grand Jury Prize and Duke's Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award (for a total of $17,500), tells the story of the filmmaker, Darius Clark Monroe, a Houston honors student who robbed a bank when he was 16. Through interviews with his friends, accomplices and family, a thoughtful portrait of Monroe emerges and what drove him to his crime. But as his teary-eyed mother astutely observes, "Even though you did a criminal act, you weren't a criminal." While the film relies too heavily on extended reenactments that distract from the heart of the story, the documentary's intimate and candid interviews provide a probing account of one man's attempt to redeem and ultimately re-define himself, not as a convict but as a filmmaker.

Full Frame's venues — all centrally housed in a complex that combines a Marriott Hotel, convention center rooms, and the vintage 1,031-seat two-balconied Carolina Theatre — were well attended and bustling with receptive audiences. Attending filmmakers were likewise excited, eager to share their work with the crowds and moreover, each other. Indeed, the festival has become a key place for documentary filmmakers to network, exchange ideas and be inspired by each other. "We are at a filmmaker's festival," Kartemquin Film's Gordon Quinn noted during a Q&A after a screening of the superbly crafted new documentary "E-Team."

Indeed, at any given time in the lively hospitality area, with its ongoing supply of food from local eateries, filmmakers such as D. A. Pennabaker, Joe Berlinger, Steve James, Amir Bar-Lev, Lucy Walker, and others discussed the craft and industry changes impacting documentaries.

One such topic of conversation was the increasing use of festivals as the theatrical release for their films. While distribution outlets for documentaries appear to be growing on VOD and online platforms, the theatrical marketplace remains a very costly and crowded place. If filmmakers can bring their films to festivals like Full Frame and enjoy packed houses, free food and drinks, supportive communities and nearly $50,000 in cash prizes, the long slog and expense of a theatrical tour seems, by comparison, downright crazy.

7 Tips for Documentary Filmmakers from Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

Anthony Kaufman — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 15:46:02 GMT

At the 17th Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina, which ended last weekend, several nonfiction industry bigwigs gathered for a series of panel discussions called the A&E IndieFilms Speakeasy (moonshine was actually provided, perhaps to loosen up the speakers’ inhibitions).  Top programming executives from A&E IndieFilms, POV, CNN Films and Al Jazeera America as well as funding specialists from the Catapult Film Fund, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Tribeca Film Institute  and Indiegogo shared advice with attendees about how to get funded and go the distance in today’s competitive documentary environment. Read our full report from the festival here.

Here are the 7 top takeaways for documentary filmmakers:

1. Think commercial—if you want to attract a big broadcaster.

The major documentary broadcasters—HBO, A&E, CNN Films, Al Jazeera—are all interested in films about social issues, but projects need more mainstream elements in order to get primetime attention. As A&E's Molly Thompson said, "We look for ways to hide the aspirin in the apple sauce." Because A&E focuses only on 2-4 projects a year, all aimed at theatrical distribution, the company's documentaries—"big, splashy and character-driven," according to Thompson--have some of the highest budgets in the space. With more slots to fill—approximately 10—CNN Films' Courtney Sexton said the company’s new documentary unit wants films with "commercial appeal to a wide audience"—the kind that can spark discussion across CNN’s programs. Al Jazeera America's Cynthia Kane called for "timely, relevant social issues documentaries that can open up the conversation."

2. Beware of the competition (the odds are against you).

As you might expect, documentary funders and broadcast outlets receive thousands of submissions -- so it's easy to get lost. P.O.V’s Cynthia Lopez said they get about 1,200 submissions each year for approximately 36-40 slots. The Tribeca Film Institute’s Ryan Harrington said they receive about 2,000 submissions (of those, 45-50 will get some support). Statistically, that means only about 2-3% of projects get funding. With odds like that, said Lopez, "You need to look at your business model very carefully."

3. Find the right development money for your project.

If the chances of finding funding may be stacked against you, there is money to be had from a variety of different funders and foundations, but look closely at which funder is the most appropriate for your particular project. TFI, which looks for "good films that happen to be docs," according to Harrington, has an annual funding budget of about $2 million (which is shared between documentaries, narrative films and cross-platform projects). The Catapult Film Fund provides up to $20,000 in start-up money, helping to get documentaries off the ground. The National Endowment of the Humanities, which focuses only on non-profit projects that "educate the public," according to the NEH’s Chrissy Cortina, will offer up to $70,000 for films at the development stage and $450,000 for projects in production.

Read More: Indiewire's Ultimate Guide to Documentary Advice

4. Know when to apply for what money.

Funders aren’t exclusive, as one can see from the number of different entities often attached to documentary projects. And some funders would prefer to be approached early on, while others prefer to be approached later in the process. For instance, filmmakers might go first to the Catapult Film Fund, which helps develop a more thorough pitch and clip reel, and then take that material to the Tribeca Film Institute for production funding, and then take that more complete package to a broadcaster.

5. Story matters.

When pitching projects, it’s about the story, funders seem to universally agree. A cool premise isn’t enough; it’s how that premise unfolds into a compelling three-act narrative -- ideally, with a compelling character to carry the story. "Documentary filmmaking is creative storytelling," said TFI's Harrington. "My biggest pet peeve is when a filmmaker tells me why I should care about the story, rather than convey the story itself."

6. Use video footage to sell your story. And make sure it’s good.

Because documentaries are a visual medium, pitches should include video clips or visual material that shows funders what the project looks like. If you haven’t shot anything, look for preexisting footage—on YouTube or elsewhere—that can give funders a sense of what your characters look like and how they appear before the camera. And if funders ask for 7 minutes of footage, "Don’t send a 3-hour rough cut," said Harrington. "This is your chance, and you should put your best foot forward: Show how unique your character is. Show how unique your story is." According to Indiegogo’s Kristen Konvitz, the pitch video is also the most important element of a crowdfunding campaign. "People don’t read," she said.

7. Don’t forget to follow up.

Particularly when it comes to working with funding organizations, whether the NEA or TFI, don't be afraid to talk to a human being about your project. The NEA’s Chrissy Cortina said she frequently tells applicants whether their projects are suitable or not, and what they can do to improve their proposals. And if your project is rejected, they’ll consult with you on why it was passed over and may even offer further consultation. Unlike film festivals, which simply reject you without explanation, funders will frequently cast you off with a more gentle, helping hand.

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Announces 2014 Lineup

Ziyad Saadi — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 17:58:08 GMT

Documentaries rely heavily on festivals to obtain the much-needed attention of distribution companies. And few doc festivals carry as much prestige as the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, which will be celebrating its 17th year from April 3-6 and has just announced its "Invited Program" and "NEW DOCS" lineup of new feature and short films.

Opening the festival is acclaimed director Doug Block’s documentary “112 Weddings,” which is set to have its world premiere. The film, an HBO documentary feature, is described as "a heartwarming examination of the struggles and joys that come with lifelong partnership." After two decades filming weddings part-time, Block revisits couples years after the big day in order to see how love and life have unfolded after vows.

Full Frame, a qualifying event for consideration for the nominations for both the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject and the Producers Guild of America Awards, features 21 films screening out of competition in its "Invited Program." Within this list are the festival’s “Center Frame” screenings, which feature moderated panel discussions following the films and take place in Fletcher Hall at the Carolina Theatre. The “NEW DOCS” program includes 48 titles (33 features and 15 shorts) from across the United States and around the world, selected from over 1,200 submissions, including 10 World and 10 North American Premieres.

Director of Programming Sadie Tillery stated, “I’m inspired by the quality of the filmmaking and the wide breadth of subject matter represented in these works. I’m also proud that a number of vibrant films will be having their debuts at Full Frame.” Specific screening times and venues will be announced with the release of the full schedule on March 13th.

Check out the lineup below:

Invited Program

112 Weddings (Director: Doug Block)
Documentary filmmaker and part-time wedding videographer Doug Block tracks down couples he’s filmed over the years, contrasting past with present to see how love and life have unfolded after vows. World Premiere

20,000 Days on Earth (Directors: Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard)
Equal parts document and daydream, Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth’s innovative film features the inimitable Nick Cave in a series of revelatory and imaginative vignettes.

Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq (Director: Nancy Buirski)
Tanaquil Le Clercq inspired choreographers unlike any ballerina before her, but in 1956, at the height of her fame, she was stricken with polio. A mesmerizing film of love, loss, and surprising grace.

Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory (Director: Michael Rossato-Bennett)
When a social worker discovers that music can unlock the memories of patients whose minds are clouded by dementia, he embarks on a mission to transform lives one iPod at a time.

The Battered Bastards of Baseball (Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way)
A celebratory portrait of the Portland Mavericks, who joined the minor leagues in 1973 as the lone single-A team without a major-league affiliation.

The Case Against 8 (Directors: Ben Cotner, Ryan White)
This behind-the-scenes film, shot over five years, follows the unlikely team who fought to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage, and won.

E-Team (Directors: Katy Chevigny, Ross Kauffman)
Four fearless activists from the Human Rights Watch’s Emergency Team take us to the frontlines of Syria and Libya as they investigate and document war crimes.

Freedom Summer (Director: Stanley Nelson)
Remarkable archival footage and unforgettable eyewitness accounts take us back to the summer of 1964, when hundreds of civil rights activists entered Mississippi to help enfranchise the state’s African American citizens.

The Green Prince (Director: Nadav Schirman)
A real-life thriller about the complex relationship between a Palestinian spy and his Israeli Shin Bet handler.

Ivory Tower (Director: Andrew Rossi)
Is a college degree worth the price? This sweeping examination of higher education questions the value of college in an era of rising tuition costs and staggering student debt.

Last Days in Vietnam (Director: Rory Kennedy)
Historical footage and reflections by U.S. diplomats and soldiers transport us to Saigon in April 1975 and the moral quandaries surrounding the order to evacuate American citizens only.

The Missing Picture (Director: Rithy Panh)
This deeply poetic and personal document uses hundreds of clay figurines—as so few photos exist—to recreate events and validate memories of the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.

My Prairie Home (Director: Chelsea McMullan)
Transgender singer-songwriter Rae Spoon tours Canada in this impressionistic merging of dreamy music videos and intimate interviews.

No More Road Trips? (Director: Rick Prelinger)
Compiled from hundreds of home movies to create a dream ride across 20th-century America, this mixtape’s soundtrack and narration is provided by the audience.

One Cut, One Life (Directors: Lucia Small, Ed Pincus)
Two filmmakers undertake the making of a very personal documentary when one of them is diagnosed with a terminal illness, approaching matters of life and death with profound honesty. World Premiere

Our Man in Tehran (Directors: Drew Taylor, Larry Weinstein)
This riveting film recounts Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor’s role in the high-risk rescue of six Americans from Tehran during the Iran hostage crisis. US Premiere

Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa (Director: Abby Ginzberg)
Lawyer, writer, art lover and freedom fighter Albie Sachs fights to overthrow South Africa’s apartheid regime. World Premiere

Supermensch (Director: Mike Myers)
As entertaining as it is heartfelt, this star-studded film celebrates the adventurous life of talent manager, producer, and dealmaker extraordinaire Shep Gordon.

Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People (Director: Thomas Allen Harris) 
This invaluable document is a journey through the African American family photo album: its political, social, and artistic history; its stories of loss, self-invention, community, and beauty.

The Visitors (Director: Godfrey Reggio)
Stunning black-and-white images set to a score by Philip Glass propel this visceral rumination on humanity’s relationship with an increasingly digital world.

WHITEY: United States of America V. James J. Bulger (Director: Joe Berlinger)
This true-crime doc examines the sensationalized trial of a notorious South Boston gangster and brings new allegations of law-enforcement corruption to light.

NEW DOCS

Ana Ana (Directors: Corinne van Egeraat, Petr Lom)
Four young women in Egypt tell their stories in an unforgettable cinematic collaboration that merges the personal and the political. North American Premiere

Apollonian Story (Directors: Ilan Moskovitch, Dan Bronfeld)
A modern hermit has spent the last 40 years single-mindedly carving a home out of a Mediterranean cliff. When his estranged son comes to help, the pair must navigate long-standing tensions. North American Premiere

Book of Days (Director: Ian Phillips)
Filmed over seven years, this fascinating short follows an enigmatic artist and bookseller as he struggles to get his book, Hannibal Barca, published. World Premiere

Born to Fly (Director: Catherine Gund)
“Action architect” Elizabeth Streb choreographs performances that push the human body to extremes in this exhilarating portrait of Streb and her company of dancers as they take to the air.

Bronx Obama (Director: Ryan Murdock)
An unemployed Puerto Rican father chases the “look of a lifetime” when he realizes he bears an uncanny resemblance to our 44th president.

Buffalo Dreams (Director: Maurice O’Brien)
Fanciful dreams meet cold reality as a Scottish family tries to raise American bison far from their native grasslands. North American Premiere

Butterfly Girl (Director: Cary Bell)
An unsentimental, deeply moving portrait of a young woman trying to live a “normal life” despite having a rare, often fatal, skin disease.

Can’t Stop the Water (Directors: Rebecca Ferris, Jason Ferris)
Abandoned homes line the one road of the disappearing Isle de Jean Charles in Louisiana, home to a Choctaw community. This is the story of those who’ve stayed.

CAPTIVATED: The Trials of Pamela Smart (Director: Jeremiah Zagar)
In telling the story of the first fully televised trial in the U.S., this incisive, multilayered film looks at how mass-media coverage and sensationalism impact the workings of justice.

The Case of the Three Sided Dream (Director: Adam Kahan)
Rahsaan Roland Kirk, an extraordinary musician who preferred the term “black classical music” to “jazz,” lived in a world of sound and dreams—and action.

The Chaperone (Directors: Fraser Munden, Neil Rathbone)
Charm and surprise characterize this animated story of a fight that breaks out between chaperones of a middle-school dance and a biker gang.

The Circle (Director: Bram Conjaerts)
Scientific data, animation, and man-on-the-street interviews collide in this portrait of life above the world’s largest high-energy particle accelerator.

DamNation (Directors: Ben Knight, Travis Rummel)
This poetic, reflective film follows the growing and increasingly successful movement to tear down America’s dams and restore long-standing fisheries, through both legal means and guerilla tactics.

Evolution of a Criminal (Director: Darius Clark Monroe)
Ten years after robbing a bank as a teenager, filmmaker Darius Monroe returns home and turns the camera on himself—to tell the story of what happened and look at the fallout from his actions

Fairytale of the Three Bears (Director: Tristan Daws)
Three hardworking men recall the story of the “Three Bears” as they muse on their lives in post-Soviet Russia. North American Premiere

Flowers from the Mount of Olives (Director: Heilika Pikkov)
Mother Ksenya, an 83-year-old nun in a convent in Jerusalem, reflects on her remarkable life as she embarks on one final challenge: silence. North American Premiere

Foundry Night Shift (Director: Steven Bognar)
In the wee hours, when electrical demand is down, workers stoke elaborate furnaces to produce the steel frames for Steinway pianos.

The Great Invisible (Director: Margaret Brown)
A chilling investigation of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill through the stories of people still experiencing its aftereffects, from oil executives to Gulf Coast residents—long after the media moved on.

Hacked Circuit (Director: Deborah Stratman)
A single suspenseful shot takes us inside the art of aural illusion and reveals that all is not as it seems or sounds.

The Hand That Feeds (Directors: Rachel Lears, Robin Blotnick)
A group of NYC restaurant workers stand up for their rights, despite the threat of job loss and deportation, in this moving story of a bitter labor dispute. World Premiere

Happy Valley (Director: Amir Bar-Lev)
This compelling look at Penn State’s football scandal goes beyond the surface of spectacle to get at the heart of the responses of an impassioned community.

The Hip-Hop Fellow (Director: Kenneth Price)
Music producer and turntablist supreme Ninth Wonder travels from North Carolina to Massachusetts to become Harvard’s first Hip-Hop Fellow. World Premiere

In Country (Directors: Mike Attie, Meghan O’Hara)
The lines between what’s real and what’s pretend blur as members of a platoon of Vietnam War re-enactors go to battle, each for their own complicated reasons. World Premiere

The Lab (Director: Yotam Feldman)
Israeli filmmaker Yotam Feldman points a chilling lens at his country’s defense industry, the fourth largest arms exporter in the world. North American Premiere

Light Fly, Fly High (Directors: Susann Ostigaard, Beathe Hofseth)
Born into the “untouchable” caste, an Indian girl challenges her fate by entering a government-subsidized (and unfortunately, corrupt) boxing program. North American Premiere

Monk by Blood (Director: Ema Ryan Yamazaki)
Scion Sasaki, an aspiring chef and sometimes DJ, grapples with the responsibility of taking over his family’s ancestral Buddhist temple, a tradition dating back 23 generations. North American Premiere

Monk with a Camera (Directors: Guido Santi, Tina Mascara)
Nicky Vreeland trades in his rarified high-society existence for a Tibetan Buddhist monk’s maroon robes. Luckily, he brings his camera along.

The Notorious Mr. Bout (Directors: Tony Gerber, Maxim Pozdorovkin)
With unprecedented access and years of home movies, this multidimensional film points a lens at international arms smuggler and philosophical businessman Viktor Bout.

Olga – To My Friends (Director: Paul Anders Simma)
A young woman living alone on a reindeer herding post 1,000 miles north of Moscow contemplates solitude and purpose, and what she will do if the post is shut down. North American Premiere

The Overnighters (Director: Jesse Moss)
The unintended consequences of good intentions become evident when a pastor in an oil boomtown opens his doors to desperate and disillusioned jobseekers.

A Park for the City (Director: Nicole Macdonald)
Surveillance cameras give us a Night at the Museum look inside Detroit’s abandoned zoo on Belle Isle, a no-man’s land of flora and fauna reverting to wilderness. 

Private Violence (Director: Cynthia Hill)
“Why didn’t you leave?” This urgent and inspiring film follows two women’s complex stories of survival while exploring the way we talk about and deal with domestic violence as a society.

Return to Homs (Director: Talal Derki)
This film takes us to the frontlines of the Syrian Civil War as two friends who are determined to defend their city abandon peaceful resistance and take up arms, heading straight for the heart of the warzone.

Rich Hill (Directors: Tracy Droz Tragos, Andrew Droz Palermo)
Three boys from a small Missouri town grapple with isolation and instability in this expressionistic film that portrays, with grace and complexity, family bonds, poverty, and survival.

Ronald (Director: John Dower)
One man, one supersized pair of red shoes, over ninety-nine billion served. World Premiere

Santa Cruz del Islote (Director: Luke Lorentzen)
On this remote island, the most densely populated on the planet, a community struggles to maintain their way of life as resources and opportunities dwindle. World Premiere

Seeds of Time (Director: Sandy McLeod)
As humans face a “perfect storm” of disastrous scenarios, scientist Cary Fowler demonstrates the importance of biodiversity by developing seed banks across the globe.

Sex(Ed) The Movie (Director: Brenda Goodman)
Remember the first time you heard about sex? Through clips from film and TV archives, this hilarious, humbling film takes a look at our country’s earnest attempts to share the facts of life.

The Silly Bastard Next to the Bed (Director: Scott Calonico)
JFK handles a scandal over some pricey bedroom furniture in the last summer of his presidency. World Premiere

Summer 82 When Zappa Came to Sicily (Director: Salvo Cuccia)
Frank Zappa’s 1982 European tour comes to a surprising, and riotous, conclusion in Palermo in this film featuring rare footage and local insights. North American Premiere

The Supreme Price (Director: Joanna Lipper)
Hafsat Abiola fights to realize her parents’ dreams of alleviating poverty and ending military dictatorship in this powerful look into the Nigerian pro-democracy movement. World Premiere

Swallow (Director: Genevieve Bicknell)
Eating: a pleasant or unpleasant task? Food: tasty and bubbling or oozy and disgusting? North American Premiere

Tough Love (Director: Stephanie Wang-Breal)
Two parents navigate the red tape of America’s child welfare system as they fight to regain custody of their children. World Premiere

Ukraine Is Not a Brothel (Director: Kitty Green) 
The women of FEMEN, the provocative topless feminist movement in the Ukraine, confront the power structure fueling their organization.

Watchers of the Sky (Director: Edet Belzberg) Four extraordinary people embody the vision of Rafael Lemkin, who created international law to stop genocide and hold leaders accountable.

Where is My Son? (Director: Qu Zhao)
Abandoning a successful career in the big city, JunKyo Lee returns home to care for his ailing mother in her final years. North American Premiere

White Earth (Director: J. Christian Jensen)
Against the backdrop of an ethereal North Dakota winter, three children and their immigrant mother describe scenes of isolation and exertion—the impact of the oil boom on their everyday lives.

Yangtze Drift (Director: John Rash)
In gorgeous black and white, this updated city symphony moves along the varied sights, sounds, and rhythms of a great river. World Premiere

Award Winning Directors Steve James and Lucy Walker to be Honored at 2014 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

Eric Eidelstein — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 20:13:41 GMT

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, which takes place every spring in Durham, North Carolina, will honor Emmy-winning director Steve James ("Hoop Dreams" and Sundance hit "Life Itself") and Lucy Walker ("The Crash Reel," "Waste Land") at their 17th annual festival. James' work will be celebrated as part of the Full Frame Tribute, while Walker will curate a series of films focusing on subject in documentary as part of the Thematic Program.

“I've always enjoyed Full Frame's Thematic Program, and credit it with introducing me to films I'd never seen on the big screen before,” said Walker. "The documentaries I most enjoy all have memorable characters, and in my own work, I've gravitated towards character-led stories. I'm thrilled and honored to guest curate a selection of films for the Thematic Program that have unforgettable personalities at their heart and center."

The 17th Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will be held April 3-6 with a list of the official film titles and festival attendees for the Full Frame Tribute and Thematic Program being announced later in March.

Festival passes are now available for purchase while individual tickets will start selling on March 27th.

Review: In Documentary 'Maidentrip,' Laura Dekker Looks for Paradise in a Sea that Never Ends

Beth Hanna — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 18:47:00 GMT

Jillian Schlesinger's "Maidentrip," which debuted at SXSW and screened at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, chronicles Dutch teen Laura Dekker's sail around the globe at age 14, a feat which would win her the title in 2012 of youngest person in history to make the voyage alone. Observant and unassuming, the documentary looks at the significance of Laura's trip not in terms of records, but as a rite of passage, and as a way for the teen to negotiate her past.

The film gets the ugly stuff out of the way first. Following Dekker's announcement to sail in 2009, she and her father were embroiled in a ten-month legal battle. Dutch authorities claimed that Laura needed a custody transfer, while the internet tossed words at her including "arrogant," "spoiled" and the particularly nasty sentiment: "I hope she sinks." After a year of warring with the courts and shouldering waves of media opinion, Laura was permitted to make her voyage, and to remain under her father's custody. This period in time Schlesinger keeps to an economical five-minute montage.

Indeed, "Maidentrip" is pleasantly free from the hysteria that surrounded Laura Dekker for over a year, and instead presents her trip in a judgment-free manner. It neither suggests (as it understandably could) that 14 is an alarmingly young age to traverse the mightily unforgiving Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, nor takes a blindly positive "Ra! Ra! Go Laura!" stance (as would be tempting, given that Laura proves herself an admirable badass in many ways).

Instead, Laura is portrayed as an independent outsider, at once open-hearted, enviably confident and a bit prickly, sick of what she sees as daily life in Holland (which she rounds up succinctly: "Get money, get a house, get a husband, get a baby, then die"). She pines for a truly outsized adventure. While other young record-holding sailors completed the round-world trip without lengthy stops at ports, Laura gives herself two years for the excursion, so that she can soak in the land-bound culture of the different climes where she alights (among them French Polynesia, Australia, the Galapagos Islands and South Africa).

A large portion of the footage we see was filmed exclusively by Laura while onboard. To be eligible as a record-holder, she was allowed no crewmates while captaining her trusty boat The Guppy, so Dekker acts as her own camera operator and narrator, periodically filming herself throughout her trip, commenting on the winds, weather and whatever else might be on her mind.

Laura's camera proves therapeutic for the onset of loneliness that strikes her early in the expedition; the device is something to talk to. She comments on the silly and mundane, but also on the more profound experiences of being thousands of miles from land or another human. We hear her sniffling through tears as she films a pod of dolphins swimming alongside her boat, pleading with them to stay awhile and assuage her feelings of isolation.

Yet as time and the documentary go on we sense a change in Laura. She's relishing the days on end of alone time, and seemingly more attuned to the fluctuations of the ocean. A rather dicey passage around the southernmost tip of South Africa offers up 60-foot waves and weather conditions that a newspaper informs us "even the bravest skipper wouldn't attempt." Laura checks in with us for a moment during this leg of the journey, glowing green in her camera's night vision, unphased by the torrents of rain and wind raging outside.

Of course many of the most daring parts of Laura's voyage -- those that would consume her undivided attention -- aren't caught on camera, and we're left to fill in the blanks. Director Schlesinger instead focuses on the meditative aspects of the young woman's sail, examining how a preternaturally assured teen handles the day-in, day-out routines of taking care of herself and her home, getting from point A to point B, drifting pleasantly in between, and greeting and parting from new places and friends.

I would argue that Laura's voyage is a coming-of-age, at once grander and more outlandish than most, while set in a strangely contained microcosm of time (two years) and space (her 40-foot boat). Yet Schlesinger also pointedly includes home video and photo montages of Laura's early life as an infant and toddler, when she and her parents, who soon thereafter divorced, were sailing the globe as a family. It's telling that Laura retraces her parents' route port for port, and that she repeatedly refers to the sunny, tropical locations as"paradise." As she describes in voiceover her difficult childhood, much of which she spent alone while her single father worked and her mother began a new, separate life, we realize that Laura's record-breaking sail not only represents her ascension into adulthood, but also her way to reclaim a paradise lost.

Watch an exclusive clip from "Maidentrip" here. The film opens at IFC Center on January 17.

Watch: Award-Winning Short Documentary 'The Record Breaker' Showcases A Life of Weird World Record Breaking

Clint Holloway — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 16:41:23 GMT

Ever wondered what compels people to go after such odd accomplishments as World's Largest Hula Hoop or Longest Duration Balancing a Lawnmower on Chin? The acclaimed short documentary "The Record Breaker" introduces the audience Ashrita Furman, a health food store manager in Queens who has amassed over 350 Guinness book records over the past three decades. The 24-minute film, which garnered the Vimeo Audience Award at this year's Full Frame Documentary Film Festival as well as the jury prize at Palm Springs International ShortFest, traces Furman's life and follows him as he sets out on a bizarre, potentially unperformed task: climbing Machu Picchu on stilts.

And the film has just been made available online for free via Vimeo:

The Record Breaker from Brian McGinn on Vimeo.

5 Things I Learned at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

Robert Silva — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:31:28 GMT

Four days and a dozen screenings later, I've returned from 2013's Full Frame Documentary Film Festival -- one of the largest documentary film festivals in North America. I saw reality turned to art. I witnessed unforgettable moments (check out my notes on this panel). And I discovered the glory of Biscuitville (Full Frame takes place in Durham, North Carolina -- where the restaurant Biscuitville reigns supreme). Here's what I learned from the experience:

1. Why All Polemical Documentaries Fail
Someone asked me what I thought of "Pandora's Promise," Robert Stone's documentary about nuclear energy. "I thoroughly enjoyed it and was totally persuaded by it," I said. "Until I realized I had actually been given no information." That's the gist of my problem with Stone's film, which makes the argument that nuclear power is the only realistic way to curb global warming -- and totally safe, he promises! Stone makes impressive use of visual devices such as graphs with no data and children grinning at the camera. His argument may be airtight, but that's because it's hermetically sealed. As absorbing as the film is, I can't help but feel like I'm being sold a stereo.

2. What the Sun Does to Dead Bodies
A Tucson coroner unzips a body bag to reveal a corpse tanned to the color of boot leather. He rolls over the migrant whose roasted body seems ready to fall apart. "The Undocumented," which made its world premiere at Full Frame, takes pride in not shielding our eyes from the human casualties of U.S. border policies. Each year, hundreds of migrants die while making the journey across the Arizona desert. Director Marco Williams monitors the workflow of those who patrol the border, recover the bodies, and identify the dead. If the film struggles to find a human center to the story, its images are likely to stay with viewers.

3. You Can Compare a Masterpiece to Anything
According to one of its three editors, the first cut of "American Promise" was 32 hours long. "After that, twenty hours came out easy," she said. The spellbinding doc, which won Full Frame's Grand Jury Award (and resists the capsule review format), follows two African-American boys who attend the elite Dalton School in New York. It's been compared favorably to "Hoop Dreams" and Michael Apted's "Up" series. But the closer resemblance is I think Kenneth Lonergan's "Margaret." Sure, both films are about young people attending prep schools who grow up in New York. But the closer affinity has to do with their willingness to embrace the complexity of life.

4. How to Make a Movie About Mass Murder (And Keep Your Soul)
You might not be familiar with the 2011 shootings in Norway, but it doesn't really matter; you don't learn much about it in John Appel's "Wrong Place, Wrong Time," which made its North American premiere at Full Frame. The documentary avoids the ethical quandaries of making a film about a mass murder, one that left over 70 dead, many of them children, by maintaining an a rigid (and at time stultifying) focus on the survivors. In interviews that recall Andy Warhol screen tests, the survivors speak quietly about the seconds and minutes that meant the difference between living and dying.

5. It's Possible to Blow a Postage Stamp 100 Meters While Holding a Baby Sloth
When I saw "The Record Breaker," about Guinness Record-breaking addict Ashrita Furman, I expected a retread of his story segment on 60 Minutes. Instead I got a swimmingly edited, life-affirming film that was, yes, genuinely touching. Clichés all, but so what. The short won Full Frame's Audience Award and features an image of the above act that I will carry with me forever.

Sundance and True/False Programmers Discuss Festival Economics at Full Frame

Sean Farnel — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:37:52 GMT

This past weekend the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival hosted a speakeasy chat around the issues raised in the series of Indiewire articles that followed my Fair Trade For Filmmakers piece in this space. Props. It's a queasy discussion for many festivals, evident in some of the defensiveness that has informed certain responses to the topic thus far. Yet, it's also an opportunity for those festivals progressive enough to reimagine the role their events may have in tangibly supporting independent filmmaking.

Full Frame is one such event, as is True/False. T/F co-conspirator David Wilson, who joined Sundance's Caroline Libresco and I in leading the discussion, seized the moment. Wilson announced that True/False festival would be offering filmmaker honorariums at next year's event. It was the third time he received applause during the talk, that fucking scene stealer.

Libresco pointed to broader issues around filmmaker support and remuneration ("Why are filmmakers always the last to get paid?"), but our moderator was having no deflections (as worthy a discussion as it may be). So we stayed on topic. The notion that any sum that a festival could pay a filmmaker is small change next to the way way more massive financial obstacles faced by creators doesn't wash with me. If it's that minuscule, then pay it. As one very respected filmmaker/producer attending put it (and I paraphrase), "It's always nice to be a able to tell your mom and dad that you're getting paid for your work."

We all agreed that, as a first step, the imperative of any film festival should be negating all costs incurred by a filmmaker in attending their event (more applause for Wilson!). I confessed that my 35% rule was a provocation, maybe even a bit of a red herring, and that the whole point of the discussion, for me, is getting a better deal, and tangible value, for filmmakers presenting their work at festivals.

Travel expenses and honorariums are a great start. And here are a few other practical suggestions for those festivals looking to make their events more filmmaker friendly:

Here's the video of the panel courtesy of the Full Frame Documentary Festival

ELIMINATE OR SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE SUBMISSION FEES. These fees 1) offset the administrative expense of the submission process 2) generate revenues and 3) provide a minimal barrier to entry, helping to stem the flood of submissions. Still, they are also taxes on the unconnected, especially as most credible festivals derive only minuscule portions of their programme from truly unsolicited submissions. And if filmmakers are to pay a fee, then perhaps festivals could consider some kind of feedback mechanism, even if it's the most perfunctory of human acknowledgments that a work was, indeed, seen.

IF YOU LOVE SOMEBODY, SET THEM FREE. Yes, I just quoted a Sting song. Most festivals invite films as they roll through their programming process, yet do not issue declination letters until well after they've locked their programmes. Filmmaker's fates hang in the balance, and often they lose months waiting on decisions that may have been made many weeks before they are notified. While a festival's shortlist is invariably rather long, even longer is that list of films that are decisively ruled out early in the process. Festivals should cut those filmmakers loose as early as possible. Sure, it might be can of rattlesnakes, but figure it out. Share a bit of the pain with the filmmakers, but set them free.

GIVE THEM THEIR AUDIENCE. Here I pay tribute to the great Les Blank, who always sold DVDs of past work directly to audiences following screenings of his films. I once helped him out after a Hot Docs screening of All In This Tea. He pocketed a few hundred bucks in twenty minutes, pulling discs out of rucksack he carried around. In the digital age every festival has a website page for each film in the programme. They also have large email lists. How about allowing direct donations to filmmakers via a paypal link on the festival website? Or, actively promoting digital releases with direct marketing to the festival audience? This comment, by James Belfer, was one of my favourites generated by the Fair Trade pieces: "If festivals gave me my audience I could do incredible things with it. I could A/B test SEO and inbound marketing techniques. [huh?] I could use it use it as a springboard towards self-distribution. I could even make new friends and family for my film. These things lead to a stronger audience overall, a higher chance of becoming cash flow positive, and maybe even leverage to show proof of concept when negotiating distribution deals. Don't give me money, give me my audience."

ISSUE ATTENDANCE REPORTS. Oh, here I go, pushing buttons again, but this was also mentioned on the panel at Full Frame. Wouldn't it be useful for producers to use the data from a film festival screening or run as negotiating leverage, or even for distributors to be able to report festival box office to drive up the screen averages? This is a raw idea, but we'd all like to know exactly how many people are watching films at film festivals, wouldn't we? Never mind the elusiveness of VOD numbers, even less is known about festival box office numbers.

Somebody recently advised me that I should never write more than 1000 words on the internets, so I stop here. In fact, I'm passing the torch on the issue. I'm no evangelical. There's a comments section below in which to provide your constructive suggestions, or your anonymous snipes. I'll offer my favourite comment a complimentary festival consultation (which I honoured, last time, btw). I'll also continue to collate the whole shebang on Storify. God speed. There are other bridges to burn.

Sean Farnel will be learning more about transmedia, and fine tequila, next week at Ambulante. He's working on something amazing. Many things, actually.

To Pay or Not to Pay: Discussing Film Festivals, Money and What You Need to Know at Full Frame

Robert Silva — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:16:57 GMT

In his Indiewire article "Fair Trade for Filmmakers," former Hot Docs programmer Sean Farnel made the case that film festivals owe something more to filmmakers than the honor of being selected. They owe them money. His contention that festivals should give filmmakers a cut of the ticket sales yielded strong reactions.

Last week at the 2013 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Farnel appeared with True/False co-director David Wilson and Sundance senior programmer Caroline Libresco to discuss the article and making the festival experience better for filmmakers. Here's some highlights:

What inspired you to write the article?

Sean Farnel: I was programming at Hot Docs and we were often asked for screening fees. We had a 'no screening fee' policy . . . And yet we did pay screening fees from time to time when I really wanted a film. If it was going to be five hundred bucks or a thousand Euros or whatever, we'd find a way, we'd do it . . . I thought it was unfair because usually these fees would never find their way to the filmmaker because they weren't in the normal revenue line. . . And I thought if a few distributors are getting that money for us why can't we figure out a way to spread this money around to independent filmmakers?

A commercially released film gets 35 percent of ticket sales. But how does a festival run compare to a theatrical run?

Sean Farnel: Toronto has like seventy film festivals. That is the art-house repertory life of the city. If you did the numbers, the festivals combined do better numbers. . . But none of those revenues are cycled back to distribution or the filmmaking chain.

In an ideal world, how much should filmmakers get paid in screening fees?

Sean Farnel: The goal for me is thirty-five percent.

David Wilson: I think ten percent, even as a more far-off number, is a more realistic number.

Sean Farnel: And reach for the stars, maybe you'll make the moon.

David Wilson: I think my goal would be to make attending a festival a zero-sum for filmmakers. As an initial first thing. You know, even when we're doing flight and lodging and doing food and voucher for restaurants; they're still spending money. It's still going to cost them.

Caroline Libresco: I just don't think [screening fees are] relevant to the conversation . . . I think it raises the larger question: To what extent can we support artists in the U.S. at large? I don't think screening fees at film festivals would solve that problem on even a miniscule level.

Bare minimum, what should a festival offer filmmakers?

David Wilson: Flight and lodging. Every small festival in the country can do at least that. If you can't do that, I'm not sure why you're a festival.

Let's forget screening fees. What else could festivals do to make the experience better for filmmakers?

Sean Farnel: Festivals invite people as they go in the [submission] process, yet they never let filmmakers know until the end. Ninety-five percent of the people are going to be declined from most of the festivals, but they don't find out at the end . . . Why can't filmmakers be notified when there's a definitive "no" to their film? So they can move on and find another strategy? Yet they have to wait months in some cases for a "no."

David Wilson: It's so much nicer to think your film lasted all that way!

Caroline Libresco: It would create a frenzy among the filmmaking community if decisions were given before the end.

Sean Farnel: But it's a change in culture. Things in the culture have to change. And that's a major snag for a filmmaker to wait three months to find out they didn't get into Sundance. To have to regroup to miss a lot of deadlines as they're waiting. And you've lost three to six months of the life cycle of your film.

How about submission fees. Why are they so expensive?

Sean Farnel: There are submission fees because it's an expensive process to administer. Yet, I still tell filmmakers to refuse to pay them because in reality they're unevenly applied. Most filmmakers that we know, we waive the fees for them. It was, I thought, a very unfair practice in terms of evenly and justly applying those fees. And usually it was I thought a tax on the poor. You were making the filmmaker with the least chance of getting into the festival pay the fee.

Anything else filmmakers should know before submitting to festivals?

Sean Farnel: It's an honor to be selected. It's difficult to be selected in the film festival circuit. But it's also a business transaction.

'American Promise' Tops Full Frame Winners

Peter Knegt — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:01:02 GMT

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has announced the winners of its 2013 edition, which ran this past weekend. Joe

Full list of winners below, with descriptions and statements provided by the festival:

The Reva and David Logan Grand Jury Award

The Reva and David Logan Grand Jury Award was presented to American Promise directed by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson. This personal film follows the directors’ son and his best friend from their first day of kindergarten through high school graduation, and how their lives diverge. This award is sponsored by The Reva and David Logan Foundation.

The Jury, Greg Barker, Nina Davenport, and Tia Lessin, stated: “We chose this film – which spans twelve years in the lives of two African American families – for the elegance and honesty with which filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson tell the story of their son Idris and his best friend Seun growing up in Brooklyn. This epic cinema-verite film is at once a revealing and affecting depiction of the contemporary black male experience and a deeply personal and beautifully observed portrait of a family.”

The Full Frame Jury Award for Best Short

The Full Frame Jury Award for Best Short was given to By Her Side directed by Niels van Koevorden, In this film, three fathers-to-be share their hopes, dreams, and anxieties as they anticipate the birth of their children. The Full Frame Jury Award for Best Short is provided by Drs. Andrew and Barbra Rothschild.

The Jury, Ross McElwee, Elise Pearlstein, and Angela Tucker stated: “By Her Side takes the simple approach of intercutting interviews with three expectant fathers followed by the births of their children to deliver a surprisingly profound take on the act of becoming a father.”

Honorable Mention

The shorts Jury awarded an honorable mention to A Story for the Modlins directed by Sergio Oksman, stating “we also felt inspired to recognize the experimentation and inventiveness of A Story for the Modlins, which felt like it deserved a category of it’s own.” After discovering a stranger’s box of family photos on the sidewalk, Oksman pieces together a sketch of the Modlins’ bizarre lives.

Full Frame Audience Awards - Feature

A Will for the Woods, directed by Amy Browne, Jeremy Kaplan, Tony Hale and Brian Wilson, received the Full Frame Audience Award Feature. This film explores the green burial movement by focusing on one man’s quest for a final resting place that will do no harm to the earth.The Audience Award Feature is sponsored by Merge Records.

Full Frame Audience Awards - Short

The Record Breaker, directed by Brian McGinn, received the Full Frame Audience Award Short. Even though he holds more Guinness Book of World Records than anyone else on the planet, McGinn’s film shows that Ashrita Furman is not slowing down. The prize for the Audience Award Short is provided by Vimeo.

The Center For Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award

The Center For Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award was given to A River Changes Course, directed by Kalyanee Mam. Is convenience progress? The film is a beautiful and heartbreaking vérité look at three families subsisting in (what may be the end of) rural Cambodia. Provided by the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, this award honors a documentary artist whose work is a potential catalyst for education and change. Representatives from the Center for Documentary Studies juried the prize: Randy Benson, Katie Hyde, Lynn McKnight, Dan Partridge, Tom Rankin, Elena Rue, Teka Selman, and April Walton.

The Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award

Cutie and the Boxer, directed by Zachary Heinzerling, was awarded The Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award. Provided by the Charles E. Guggenheim family, this prize honors a first-time documentary feature director. In this film, the tension between an artist and his supportive wife of forty years is further strained when a curator expresses interest in her work. Robin Hessman, Alison Klayman, and Mark Landsman participated on the Jury.

Full Frame Inspiration Award

God Loves Uganda, directed by Roger Ross Williams, received the Full Frame Inspiration Award. The film captures how American Christian evangelists export virulent anti-gay teachings to Sub-Saharan Africa with deadly consequences. Sponsored by the Hartley Film Foundation, this award is presented to the film that best exemplifies the value and relevance of world religions and spirituality. Andrew Garrison, Sarah Masters, and Petna Ndaliko Katondolo participated on the Jury.

Full Frame President’s Award

The Full Frame President’s Award was presented to the Pablo’s Winter, directed by Chico Pereira. Former Almadén mercury miner Pablo spends his halcyon days cursing, kvetching, and chain-smoking to the chagrin of his wife and his doctor. Sponsored by Duke University, representatives on behalf of the President’s Office juried the prize.

The Kathleen Bryan Edwards Award for Human Rights

After Tiller, directed by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson, received The Kathleen Bryan Edwards Award for Human Rights. After the murder of their friend and colleague Dr. George Tiller, only four physicians continue to perform late-term abortions, risking their lives for women’s right to choose. Provided by the Julian Price Family Foundation, this award is presented to a film that addresses a significant human rights issue in the United States. Representatives from the Kathleen Bryan Edwards family juried the prize: Anne Arwood, Laura Edwards, Clay Farland, Margaret Griffin, and Pricey Harrison.

Honorable Mention

The Kathleen Bryan Edwards Family awarded an honorable mention to The Undocumented directed by Marco Williams. This film offers an unvarnished account of the repatriation of the remains of immigrants who died crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in the Arizona desert.

The Nicholas School Environmental Award

The Nicholas School Environmental Award was presented to A Will for the Woods directed by Amy Browne, Jeremy Kaplan, Tony Hale and Brian Wilson. This film explores the green burial movement by focusing on one man’s quest for a final resting place that will do no harm to the earth. The Nicholas School Environmental Award honors the film that best depicts the conflict between our drive to improve living standards through development and modernization, and the imperative to preserve both the natural environment that sustains us and the heritages that define us. Representatives from the Nicholas School of the Environment juried the Prize: Cindy Horn, Stephen Nemeth, Hart Bochner, Rebecca Patton, and Tom Rankin.

Exclusive: 2 Powerful Scenes From Health Insurance Doc 'Remote Area Medical'; Premieres at Full Frame

Mark Lukenbill — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:08:06 GMT

Last year, filmmaker duo Jeff Reichert and Farihah Zaman (2010's election doc "Gerrymandering") made a three minute informational doc on Remote Area Medical, a free, three day pop up medical clinic in Tennessee that specializes in providing care to Americans without health insurance. You can see the short here, but ever since the two have been working on completing a full length version of the doc.

The feature, also titled "Remote Area Medical," aims to put a human face on what it means to not have health insurance. It will have its world premiere at Full Frame Film Festival, which runs from April 4th to 7th in Durham, North Carolina. It'll then move over to Hot Docs, the Canadian International Film Festival, from April 25th to May 5th. The moving doc boasts a score from longtime David Gordon Green collaborator David Wingo and was cut by Spike Lee's go to doc editor Sam Pollard. You can check out two exclusive scenes from the film below.

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Reveals 2013 Slate

Beth Hanna — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 19:56:38 GMT

At a time when doc production is exploding and ways of telling real-life stories have never been more innovative and varied, it's a great moment to check out the eclectic selection at the 16th annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, which is becoming a major doc showcase. Running April 4-7 in Durham, North Carolina, Full Frame has revealed its 2013 slate.

Included in this year's voluminous program of new films are Sundance hits "After Tiller," a portrait of doctors who perform third-trimester abortions, Lucy Walker's portrait of an intrepid snowboarder, "The Crash Reel," and HBO's CIA vs. Bin Laden doc "Manhunt," as well as SXSW entries "Maidentrip" and "Downloaded"; the former following teen Laura Dekker's record-breaking sail around the world, and the latter an in-depth look at Napster.

The invited program includes two TIFF debuts, Williams' sisters portrait "Venus and Serena," and "Free Angela and All Political Prisoners" as well as arty fishing industry close-up "Leviathan."

HBO's "Gideon's Army," following three young public defenders in the Deep South, is set for opening night.

Invited Program

Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me (Directors: Drew DeNicola, Olivia Mori)
Myth and music collide in this story of the influence and impact of revered power-pop band Big Star, featuring never-before-seen footage, photos, and interviews.

Citizen Koch (Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin)
A multilayered dissection of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United campaign finance decision as seen through the lens of Wisconsin’s 2011 election standoff.

The Crash Reel (Director: Lucy Walker)
After a training accident leaves Kevin Pearce with a traumatic brain injury, the intrepid snowboarder undertakes a remarkable recovery.

DaVinci (Director: Yuri Ancarani)
This surreal portrait of a fantastic voyage features visuals from a camera-based surgical computer controlled by a single joystick.

The Editor and the Dragon: Horace Carter Fights the Klan (Directors: Martin M. Clark, Walter E. Campbell)
A smalltown newspaper editor in North Carolina stands up to the KKK and is awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for his courageous and tireless dissent.

Fight Like Soldiers, Die Like Children (Director: Patrick Reed)
If you’ve been to hell and back, how do you exorcise the memories? Former U.N. commander Roméo Dallaire’s new mission: end the use of child soldiers. North American Premiere

First Cousin Once Removed (Director: Alan Berliner)
In this stirring tribute, Alan Berliner traces the tenacious lines of connection between him and his cousin Edwin Honig as Edwin slowly succumbs to Alzheimer’s disease.

Free Angela & All Political Prisoners (Director: Shola Lynch)
Activist Angela Davis recounts her 1970 arrest and trial, which helped define her life as a revolutionary icon and champion of free speech.

The Fruit Hunters (Director: Yung Chang)
Extremely dedicated connoisseurs seek to devour, yet also sustain, the world’s most intoxicating and elusive produce.

Gideon’s Army (Director: Dawn Porter)
This remarkable film—a powerful testament to what it means to dedicate one’s life to the service of others—follows three young public defenders as they wrestle with massive caseloads and overwhelming student loans in order to ensure the rights of the accused.

If You Build It (Director: Patrick Creadon)
Innovative teachers, striving students, and a radical curriculum in Bertie County, N.C., are chronicled over the course of one transformative year. World Premiere

In So Many Words (Director: Elisabeth Haviland James)
This intensely revealing biography of writer Lucy Daniels expands the documentary form with its imaginative visualization of the stresses of her early life. World Premiere

The Last Shepherd (L’ultimo pastore) (Director: Marco Bonfanti)
This beautifully shot story of the last travelling shepherd shows that pastoral bliss may be sustained even in industrial northern Italy.

Leviathan (Directors: Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel)
This gripping multi-perspective account takes us deep within the shadows of a commercial fishing vessel.

Manhunt (Director: Greg Barker)
This spellbinding film dissects the painstaking search for Osama bin Laden, which originated with the “Sisterhood,” a remarkable team of CIA analysts.

Mussels in Love (L’Amour des Moules) (Director: Willemiek Kluijfhout)
In this magnificently photographed and playful ode, a variety of characters profess their devotion to the briny mollusk. US Premiere

Open Heart (Director: Kief Davidson)
Rwandan six-year-old Angelique must have heart surgery, but her dad isn’t allowed to go with her to the hospital in Sudan, or to recover her body if she dies.

Pandora's Promise (Director: Robert Stone)
Environmentalists and former anti-nuclear activists on three continents reflect upon their changes-of-heart about the safety and tremendous potential of nuclear energy.

Running from Crazy (Director: Barbara Kopple)
In light of her family’s history of suicide, Mariel Hemingway refuses to let mental illness overwhelm her own life: “control is everything.”

Sofia’s Last Ambulance (Director: Ilian Metev)
Krassi, Mila, and Plamen staunchly navigate the potholes that pepper Bulgaria’s capital, Sofia, in one of the city’s few remaining ambulances.

Venus and Serena (Directors: Maiken Baird, Michelle Major)
This unprecedented look at the tennis legends’ lives on and off the court is accentuated by the testaments of family, friends, and some of their more famous fans.

We Always Lie to Strangers (Directors: AJ Schnack, David Wilson)
This touching portrayal takes us into the lives of four families who perform for tourists in the “live music capital of the world,” Branson, Missouri.

Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington (Director: Sebastian Junger)
A warm and candid portrait of the extraordinarily brave, empathic photographer, who died in Libya in 2011, by his partner on the film Restrepo.

The World According to Dick Cheney (Directors: R.J. Cutler, Greg Finton)
A wealth of archival material and interviews shape this comprehensive, even-handed portrait of one of America’s most divisive politicians.

NEW DOCS

12 O'Clock Boys (Director: Lotfy Nathan)
A struggling adolescent seeks acceptance from a group of extreme dirt bikers, an illegal gang seen to be terrorizing the streets of Baltimore.

After Tiller (Directors: Martha Shane, Lana Wilson)
After the murder of their friend and colleague Dr. George Tiller, only four physicians continue to perform late-term abortions, risking their lives for women’s right to choose.

AKA Doc Pomus (Directors: Peter Miller, Will Hechter)
This biopic celebrates blues legend Doc Pomus, AKA Jerome Felder, a man who didn’t just write “Lonely Avenue” but lived it.

American Promise (Directors: Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster)
This personal film follows the directors’ son and his best friend from their first day of kindergarten through high school graduation, and how their lives diverge.

Ash (Director: Nathan S. Duncan)
This moody, experimental portrait of Austin State Hospital’s vacated spaces is a ghostly memorial to the patients who once stayed there. World Premiere

The Baby (De Baby) (Director: Deborah van Dam)
As one woman pieces together the fragmented memories of her childhood, she finds herself linked to a photograph of Anne Frank holding an infant girl. North American Premiere

Battery Man (Biba Struja) (Directors: Dusan Cavic, Dusan Saponja)
“Electricity has no friends but me.” The story of a (super)man who can withstand, and control, up to 20,000 volts of electricity.

Black Out (Director: Eva Weber)
With no power at home, Guinean children walk miles to study for exams beneath the humming glow of airport, gas station, and parking lot lights. North American Premiere

Blood Brother (Director: Steve Hoover)
A man's life is changed forever when he travels to India and realizes he cannot leave the children he has met at an orphanage behind.

Buzkashi! (Director: Najeeb Mirza)
A visually stunning film in which a Tajikistani shepherd must confront momentous changes both at home and in his beloved sport of Buzkashi.

By Her Side (Ik stond erbij) (Director: Niels van Koevorden)
Three fathers-to-be share their hopes, dreams, and anxieties as they anticipate the birth of their children. North American Premiere

Camera/Woman (Director: Karima Zoubir)
A Moroccan divorcée supports her family by documenting wedding parties while navigating her own series of heartaches. North American Premiere

Cutie and the Boxer (Director: Zachary Heinzerling)
The tension between an artist and his supportive wife of forty years is further strained when a curator expresses interest in her work.

Dance for Me (Dans for mig) (Director: Katrine Philp)
A teenage Russian dancer relocates to Denmark to live with his adolescent partner so they can prepare for a series of prestigious ballroom championships. North American Premiere

Downloaded (Director: Alex Winter)
The history of Napster, from its humble chatroom beginnings to its takedown at the hands of a music industry that didn’t know what hit it.

The Expedition to the End of the World (Ekspeditionen til verdens ende) (Director: Daniel Dencik)
A motley collection of scientists and artists board a restored three-mast schooner and set out for uncharted territory, engaging in equal measures of exploration and whimsy.

Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story (Director: Brad Bernstein)
Expect the unexpected from this outré graphic artist, erotic illustrator, and revolutionary children’s book author and his unconventional views.

First Comes Love (Director: Nina Davenport)
In this autobiographical portrait, Nina Davenport boldly lays bare the hardships and triumphs of her journey toward single motherhood in a modern age.

God Loves Uganda (Director: Roger Ross Williams)
American Christian evangelists export virulent anti-gay teachings to Sub-Saharan Africa with deadly consequences.

Good Ol’ Freda (Director: Ryan White)
Liverpudlian teenager Freda Kelly was the Beatles secretary and tells “one of the last true stories of the Beatles you’ll ever hear.”

Homegoings (Director: Christine Turner)
This film explores the mind of a man whose heart and passion for the dead inspires our own appreciation for the human soul.

Irish Folk Furniture (Director: Tony Donoghue)
Spirited animation brings handmade furniture to life in this colorful and delightfully quirky slice of rural Ireland.

Magnetic Reconnection (Director: Kyle Armstrong)
The Canadian Arctic is the terrestrial, and extraterrestrial, setting for a contemplative survey of transience, from generations-old decay to fleeting particles of light.

Maidentrip (Director: Jillian Schlesinger)
Follow teenager Laura Dekker across three oceans and five continents on her journey to become the youngest person to sail around the world—alone.

Medora (Directors: Andrew Cohn, Davy Rothbart)
In Indiana, a high school basketball team on a 44-game losing streak isn’t reaching for the championship—they just want to win a single game.

Menstrual Man (Director: Amit Virmani)
A microenterpreneur has a dream: to reduce gynecological diseases among rural Indian women by teaching them to make, and sell, sanitary pads. World Premiere

Muscle Shoals (Director: Greg 'Freddy' Camalier)
There is more than meets the ear in these vivid and surprising accounts of performance and perseverance in the Muscle Shoals, Alabama, music scene.

Nile Perch (Director: Josh Gibson)
An austere and contemplative observation of Lake Victoria fishermen rendered in arresting chiaroscuro.

Our Nixon (Director: Penny Lane)
Super 8 footage by Oval Office intimates Haldeman, Ehlrichman, and Chapin deliver an astonishingly fresh view of the Nixon White House.

Outlawed in Pakistan (Directors: Habiba Nosheen, Hilke Schellmann)
After a young woman is brutally raped, her family overcomes severe social customs and tribal norms in order to take her case to trial.

Pablo’s Winter (Director: Chico Pereira)
Former Almadén mercury miner Pablo spends his halcyon days cursing, kvetching, and chain-smoking to the chagrin of his wife and his doctor.

The Palace (Director: Tomasz Wolski)
A fascinating and witty cinematic portrait of a gigantic Soviet-era edifice and its denizens in Warsaw, Poland.

The Pleasures of Being Out of Step (Director: David L. Lewis)
This non-linear profile of jazz critic Nat Hentoff is laced with music and illuminates the civil libertarian’s enduring influence. World Premiere

Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin)
The titular band’s controversial performance and subsequent imprisonment are documented in this revealing portrait of the women and their cause.

Reborning (Directors: Yael Bridge, Helen Hood Scheer)
The story of one woman’s calling to create dolls that look exactly like newborn babies.

The Record Breaker (Director: Brian McGinn)
Even though he holds more Guinness Book of World Records than anyone else on the planet, Ashrita Furman is not slowing down.

Remote Area Medical (Directors: Jeff Reichert, Farihah Zaman)
Over the course of one weekend, RAM's dedicated team sets up a “pop-up” clinic at a NASCAR speedway to provide no-cost, accessible healthcare to people in need. World Premiere

A River Changes Course (Director: Kalyanee Mam)
Is convenience progress? A beautiful and heartbreaking vérité look at three families subsisting in (what may be the end of) rural Cambodia.

Slomo (Director: Josh Izenberg)
A wealthy neurologist leaves the rat race behind and gracefully skates his way, on one foot, to spiritual fulfillment.

Spinning Plates (Director: Joseph Levy)
From a small cocina to a mecca for country dining to a three-star restaurant in Chicago, this film celebrates our passion for eating out.

A Story for the Modlins (Director: Sergio Oksman)
After discovering a stranger’s box of family photos on the sidewalk, Oksman pieces together a sketch of the Modlins’ bizarre lives.

Suitcase of Love and Shame (Director: Jane Gillooly)
This experimental film reconstructs a mid-century love affair using erotically charged correspondence left behind on reel-to-reel tape. North American Premiere
Taxidermists (Director: Nicole Triche)
This story of artists who love wildlife culminates in the “Olympics of taxidermy” and presents some of the most breathtaking animal sculptures ever captured on film.

True-Life Adventure (Director: Erin Espelie)
A dramatic four-minute nature documentary chronicling what happens in a tiny area of a Rocky Mountain stream on a lovely June afternoon. North American Premiere

Twenty Feet from Stardom (Director: Morgan Neville)
Backup singers, the unsung heroes of pop music, finally get their moment in the spotlight in this jubilant history and appreciation.

The Undocumented (Director: Marco Williams)
An unvarnished account of the repatriation of the remains of immigrants who died crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in the Arizona desert. World Premiere

A Will for the Woods (Directors: Amy Browne, Jeremy Kaplan, Tony Hale, Brian Wilson)
This film explores the green burial movement by focusing on one man’s quest for a final resting place that will do no harm to the earth. World Premiere

Wolf Mountain (Directors: Dan Duran, Brendan Nahmias, Sam Price-Waldman)
At Wolf Mountain Sanctuary in the Mojave Desert, Tonya Littlewolf literally runs with the wolves, those that were born in captivity and are unsuited for life as pets or in the wild.

Wrong Time Wrong Place (Director: John Appel)
Survivors of the 2011 bombing and mass shooting in Norway recount the day’s tragic events in this look at how chance circumstances can have profound consequences. North American Premiere

You Can’t Always Get What You Want (Director: Scott Calonico)
Diplomacy, arm-twisting, and gastronomy as lifted from LBJ’s daily diaries and recorded phone conversations and animated by archival photographs.

Yucca Mtn Tally (Director: Phoebe Brush)
An artful reflection on a nuclear waste repository in the Nevada desert is filmed against a backdrop of boundless horizon and thoughts about deep time.

First Look At The 16th Annual Full Frame Festival Lineup & Opening Night Selection, 'Gideon's Army'

Cristina A. Gonzalez — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 19:52:39 GMT

Full frame announced their complete program lineup today with Dawn Porter's critically-acclaimed "Gideon's Army" set as the Opening Night Film on Thursday, April 4th.

The opening night selection, "Gideon's Army", is an HBO Documentary Film. The film follows the personal stories of Travis Williams, Brandy Alexander and June Hardwick, three young public defenders who are part of a small group of idealistic lawyers in the Deep South challenging the assumptions that drive a criminal justice system strained to the breaking point.

Director Dawn Porter said: "We are thrilled and honored to be the Opening Night selection of this celebrated and beloved festival. This is the 50th anniversary of the Gideon decision guaranteeing the right to counsel, and we are grateful to be able to share this film at such a prestigious event during the anniversary year."

Expect competition to increase as this year's festival marks that first time that Full Frame will be a qualifying event for consideration for nominations for both the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject and The Producers Guild of America Awards.

Festival Passes are on sale now and can be purchased online here.

Full lineup below. The festival runs April 4-7, 2013, in Durham, NC.

Full Frame 2013:

Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me (Directors: Drew DeNicola, Olivia Mori)
Myth and music collide in this story of the influence and impact of revered power-pop band Big Star, featuring never-before-seen footage, photos, and interviews.

Citizen Koch (Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin)
A multilayered dissection of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United campaign finance decision as seen through the lens of Wisconsin’s 2011 election standoff.

The Crash Reel (Director: Lucy Walker)
After a training accident leaves Kevin Pearce with a traumatic brain injury, the intrepid snowboarder undertakes a remarkable recovery.

DaVinci (Director: Yuri Ancarani)
This surreal portrait of a fantastic voyage features visuals from a camera-based surgical computer controlled by a single joystick.

The Editor and the Dragon: Horace Carter Fights the Klan (Directors: Martin M. Clark, Walter E. Campbell)
A smalltown newspaper editor in North Carolina stands up to the KKK and is awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for his courageous and tireless dissent.

Fight Like Soldiers, Die Like Children (Director: Patrick Reed)
If you’ve been to hell and back, how do you exorcise the memories? Former U.N. commander Roméo Dallaire’s new mission: end the use of child soldiers. North American Premiere

First Cousin Once Removed (Director: Alan Berliner)
In this stirring tribute, Alan Berliner traces the tenacious lines of connection between him and his cousin Edwin Honig as Edwin slowly succumbs to Alzheimer’s disease.

Free Angela & All Political Prisoners (Director: Shola Lynch)
Activist Angela Davis recounts her 1970 arrest and trial, which helped define her life as a revolutionary icon and champion of free speech.

The Fruit Hunters (Director: Yung Chang)
Extremely dedicated connoisseurs seek to devour, yet also sustain, the world’s most intoxicating and elusive produce.

Gideon’s Army (Director: Dawn Porter)
This remarkable film—a powerful testament to what it means to dedicate one’s life to the service of others—follows three young public defenders as they wrestle with massive caseloads and overwhelming student loans in order to ensure the rights of the accused.

If You Build It (Director:Patrick Creadon)
Innovative teachers, striving students, and a radical curriculum in Bertie County, N.C., are chronicled over the course of one transformative year.
World Premiere

In So Many Words (Director: Elisabeth Haviland James)
This intensely revealing biography of writer Lucy Daniels expands the documentary form with its imaginative visualization of the stresses of her early life. World Premiere

The Last Shepherd (L’ultimo pastore) (Director: Marco Bonfanti)
This beautifully shot story of the last travelling shepherd shows that pastoral bliss may be sustained even in industrial northern Italy.

Leviathan (Directors: Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel)
This gripping multi-perspective account takes us deep within the shadows of a commercial fishing vessel.

Manhunt (Director: Greg Barker)
This spellbinding film dissects the painstaking search for Osama bin Laden, which originated with the “Sisterhood,” a remarkable team of CIA analysts.

Mussels in Love (L’Amour des Moules) (Director: Willemiek Kluijfhout)
In this magnificently photographed and playful ode, a variety of characters profess their devotion to the briny mollusk. US Premiere

Open Heart (Director: Kief Davidson)Rwandan six-year-old Angelique must have heart surgery, but her dad isn’t allowed to go with her to the hospital in Sudan, or to recover her body if she dies.

Pandora's Promise (Director: Robert Stone)
Environmentalists and former anti-nuclear activists on three continents reflect upon their changes-of-heart about the safety and tremendous potential of nuclear energy.

Running from Crazy (Director: Barbara Kopple)
In light of her family’s history of suicide, Mariel Hemingway refuses to let mental illness overwhelm her own life: “control is everything.”

Sofia’s Last Ambulance (Director: Ilian Metev)Krassi, Mila, and Plamen staunchly navigate the potholes that pepper Bulgaria’s capital, Sofia, in one of the city’s few remaining ambulances.

Venus and Serena (Directors: Maiken Baird, Michelle Major)
This unprecedented look at the tennis legends’ lives on and off the court is accentuated by the testaments of family, friends, and some of their more famous fans.

We Always Lie to Strangers (Directors: AJ Schnack, David Wilson)
This touching portrayal takes us into the lives of four families who perform for tourists in the “live music capital of the world,” Branson, Missouri.

Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington (Director: Sebastian Junger)
A warm and candid portrait of the extraordinarily brave, empathic photographer, who died in Libya in 2011, by his partner on the film Restrepo.

The World According to Dick Cheney (Directors: R.J. Cutler, Greg Finton)
A wealth of archival material and interviews shape this comprehensive, even-handed portrait of one of America’s most divisive politicians.

NEW DOCS

12 O'Clock Boys (Director: Lotfy Nathan)
A struggling adolescent seeks acceptance from a group of extreme dirt bikers, an illegal gang seen to be terrorizing the streets of Baltimore.

After Tiller (Directors: Martha Shane, Lana Wilson)
After the murder of their friend and colleague Dr. George Tiller, only four physicians continue to perform late-term abortions, risking their lives for women’s right to choose.

AKA Doc Pomus (Directors: Peter Miller, Will Hechter)
This biopic celebrates blues legend Doc Pomus, AKA Jerome Felder, a man who didn’t just write “Lonely Avenue” but lived it.

American Promise (Directors: Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster)
This personal film follows the directors’ son and his best friend from their first day of kindergarten through high school graduation, and how their lives diverge.

Ash (Director: Nathan S. Duncan)
This moody, experimental portrait of Austin State Hospital’s vacated spaces is a ghostly memorial to the patients who once stayed there. World Premiere

The Baby (De Baby) (Director: Deborah van Dam)
As one woman pieces together the fragmented memories of her childhood, she finds herself linked to a photograph of Anne Frank holding an infant girl. North American Premiere

Battery Man (Biba Struja) (Directors: Dusan Cavic, Dusan Saponja)
“Electricity has no friends but me.” The story of a (super)man who can withstand, and control, up to 20,000 volts of electricity.

Black Out (Director: Eva Weber)
With no power at home, Guinean children walk miles to study for exams beneath the humming glow of airport, gas station, and parking lot lights. North American Premiere

Blood Brother (Director: Steve Hoover)
A man's life is changed forever when he travels to India and realizes he cannot leave the children he has met at an orphanage behind.

Buzkashi! (Director: Najeeb Mirza)
A visually stunning film in which a Tajikistani shepherd must confront momentous changes both at home and in his beloved sport of Buzkashi.

By Her Side (Ik stond erbij) (Director: Niels van Koevorden)
Three fathers-to-be share their hopes, dreams, and anxieties as they anticipate the birth of their children. North American Premiere

Camera/Woman (Director: Karima Zoubir)
A Moroccan divorcée supports her family by documenting wedding parties while navigating her own series of heartaches. North American Premiere

Cutie and the Boxer (Director: Zachary Heinzerling)
The tension between an artist and his supportive wife of forty years is further strained when a curator expresses interest in her work.

Dance for Me (Dans for mig) (Director: Katrine Philp)
A teenage Russian dancer relocates to Denmark to live with his adolescent partner so they can prepare for a series of prestigious ballroom championships. North American Premiere

Downloaded (Director: Alex Winter)
The history of Napster, from its humble chatroom beginnings to its takedown at the hands of a music industry that didn’t know what hit it.

The Expedition to the End of the World (Ekspeditionen til verdens ende) (Director: Daniel Dencik)
A motley collection of scientists and artists board a restored three-mast schooner and set out for uncharted territory, engaging in equal measures of exploration and whimsy.

Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story (Director: Brad Bernstein)
Expect the unexpected from this outré graphic artist, erotic illustrator, and revolutionary children’s book author and his unconventional views.

First Comes Love (Director: Nina Davenport)
In this autobiographical portrait, Nina Davenport boldly lays bare the hardships and triumphs of her journey toward single motherhood in a modern age.

God Loves Uganda (Director: Roger Ross Williams)
American Christian evangelists export virulent anti-gay teachings to Sub-Saharan Africa with deadly consequences.

Good Ol’ Freda (Director: Ryan White)
Liverpudlian teenager Freda Kelly was the Beatles secretary and tells “one of the last true stories of the Beatles you’ll ever hear.”

Homegoings (Director: Christine Turner)
This film explores the mind of a man whose heart and passion for the dead inspires our own appreciation for the human soul.

Irish Folk Furniture (Director: Tony Donoghue)
Spirited animation brings handmade furniture to life in this colorful and delightfully quirky slice of rural Ireland.

Magnetic Reconnection (Director: Kyle Armstrong)
The Canadian Arctic is the terrestrial, and extraterrestrial, setting for a contemplative survey of transience, from generations-old decay to fleeting particles of light.

Maidentrip (Director: Jillian Schlesinger)
Follow teenager Laura Dekker across three oceans and five continents on her journey to become the youngest person to sail around the world—alone.

Medora (Directors: Andrew Cohn, Davy Rothbart)
In Indiana, a high school basketball team on a 44-game losing streak isn’t reaching for the championship—they just want to win a single game.

Menstrual Man (Director: Amit Virmani)
A microenterpreneur has a dream: to reduce gynecological diseases among rural Indian women by teaching them to make, and sell, sanitary pads. World Premiere

Muscle Shoals (Director: Greg 'Freddy' Camalier)
There is more than meets the ear in these vivid and surprising accounts of performance and perseverance in the Muscle Shoals, Alabama, music scene.

Nile Perch (Director: Josh Gibson)
An austere and contemplative observation of Lake Victoria fishermen rendered in arresting chiaroscuro.

Our Nixon (Director: Penny Lane)
Super 8 footage by Oval Office intimates Haldeman, Ehlrichman, and Chapin deliver an astonishingly fresh view of the Nixon White House.

Outlawed in Pakistan (Directors: Habiba Nosheen, Hilke Schellmann)
After a young woman is brutally raped, her family overcomes severe social customs and tribal norms in order to take her case to trial.

Pablo’s Winter (Director: Chico Pereira)
Former Almadén mercury miner Pablo spends his halcyon days cursing, kvetching, and chain-smoking to the chagrin of his wife and his doctor.

The Palace (Director: Tomasz Wolski)
A fascinating and witty cinematic portrait of a gigantic Soviet-era edifice and its denizens in Warsaw, Poland.

The Pleasures of Being Out of Step (Director: David L. Lewis)
This non-linear profile of jazz critic Nat Hentoff is laced with music and illuminates the civil libertarian’s enduring influence. World Premiere

Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) The titular band’s controversial performance and subsequent imprisonment are documented in this revealing portrait of the women and their cause.

Reborning (Directors: Yael Bridge, Helen Hood Scheer)
The story of one woman’s calling to create dolls that look exactly like newborn babies.

The Record Breaker (Director: Brian McGinn)
Even though he holds more Guinness Book of World Records than anyone else on the planet, Ashrita Furman is not slowing down.

Remote Area Medical (Directors: Jeff Reichert, Farihah Zaman)
Over the course of one weekend, RAM's dedicated team sets up a “pop-up” clinic at a NASCAR speedway to provide no-cost, accessible healthcare to people in need. World Premiere

A River Changes Course (Director: Kalyanee Mam)
Is convenience progress? A beautiful and heartbreaking vérité look at three families subsisting in (what may be the end of) rural Cambodia.

Slomo (Director: Josh Izenberg)
A wealthy neurologist leaves the rat race behind and gracefully skates his way, on one foot, to spiritual fulfillment.

Spinning Plates (Director: Joseph Levy)
From a small cocina to a mecca for country dining to a three-star restaurant in Chicago, this film celebrates our passion for eating out.

A Story for the Modlins (Director: Sergio Oksman)
After discovering a stranger’s box of family photos on the sidewalk, Oksman pieces together a sketch of the Modlins’ bizarre lives.

Suitcase of Love and Shame (Director: Jane Gillooly)
This experimental film reconstructs a mid-century love affair using erotically charged correspondence left behind on reel-to-reel tape. North American Premiere

Taxidermists (Director: Nicole Triche)
This story of artists who love wildlife culminates in the “Olympics of taxidermy” and presents some of the most breathtaking animal sculptures ever captured on film.

True-Life Adventure (Director: Erin Espelie)
A dramatic four-minute nature documentary chronicling what happens in a tiny area of a Rocky Mountain stream on a lovely June afternoon. North American Premiere

Twenty Feet from Stardom (Director: Morgan Neville)
Backup singers, the unsung heroes of pop music, finally get their moment in the spotlight in this jubilant history and appreciation.

The Undocumented (Director: Marco Williams)
An unvarnished account of the repatriation of the remains of immigrants who died crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in the Arizona desert. World Premiere

A Will for the Woods (Directors: Amy Browne, Jeremy Kaplan, Tony Hale, Brian Wilson)This film explores the green burial movement by focusing on one man’s quest for a final resting place that will do no harm to the earth. World Premiere

Wolf Mountain (Directors: Dan Duran, Brendan Nahmias, Sam Price-Waldman)
At Wolf Mountain Sanctuary in the Mojave Desert, Tonya Littlewolf literally runs with the wolves, those that were born in captivity and are unsuited for life as pets or in the wild.

Wrong Time Wrong Place (Director: John Appel)
Survivors of the 2011 bombing and mass shooting in Norway recount the day’s tragic events in this look at how chance circumstances can have profound consequences. North American Premiere

You Can’t Always Get What You Want (Director: Scott Calonico)
Diplomacy, arm-twisting, and gastronomy as lifted from LBJ’s daily diaries and recorded phone conversations and animated by archival photographs.

Yucca Mtn Tally (Director: Phoebe Brush)
An artful reflection on a nuclear waste repository in the Nevada desert is filmed against a backdrop of boundless horizon and thoughts about deep time.

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Chosen as Oscar-Qualifying in Documentary Short Category

Beth Hanna — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 17:24:33 GMT

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has been selected as an Academy Award-qualifying festival in the Documentary Short Subject category. This decision follows a recent similar decision by the Producers Guild.

This means that a short documentary film of 40 minutes or less that receives the fest's Jury Award for Best Short will automatically qualify for consideration in the Docuementary Short category of the Oscars, without a standard theatrical run.

The winner of this year's fest, running April 4-7, will qualify for the concurrent season, from September 1, 2012 to August 21, 2013.

Full Frame, celebrating its 16th anniversary, screened many of the nominated films in this year's documentary feature category, including "How to Survive a Plague" and "The Invisible War." "Searching for Sugarman" screened during Full Frame's year-round programming.