The panel:

• Nick Doherty, Managing Editor, Television – SBS Online
• Penny Wright, Internet Broadcasting Program Manager, ABC iView and ABC TV downloads
• Stephanie Salter, Executive Producer of Multiplatform ABC
• Ray Argall, President, ADG
• Raena Lea-Shannon and Michael Frankel, Frankel Lawyers
• Dr Janet Merewether, Producer/director (Screen Culture Pty Ltd), Academic (Macquarie University)

The panel will be moderated by Pat Fiske

WHEN: Wednesday 11 August 2010, 6.00pm arrival for 6.30pm start

WHERE: AFTRS Theatre, Fox Studios, Entertainment Quarter, 130 Bent St, Moore Park NSW.
Map: http://www.aftrs.edu.au/about/contact-us/sydney.aspx

ENTRY: Suggested donation $5

RSVP not required, but be early to ensure your seat.
This event is open to the public. Parking fees discounted after 6pm, or with validated ticket from AFTRS.

The topic

The options for viewing Australian documentaries have recently broadened beyond traditional ‘free-to-air,’ broadcasts to include online and digital delivery of programmes to the public. This session will explore the range of platforms used by the ABC and SBS to screen documentaries, and the shifting nature of their contracts with filmmakers. Online distribution models will also be discussed.

A definition of ‘Online’:

How do we define online rights? (other terms include digital rights, electronic rights, multimedia rights, cross platform rights, ancillary rights).

New viewing platforms

Find out what delivery items the ABC and SBS expect when either commissioning or acquiring programmes. This may include the documentary itself, as well as additional multimedia/digital deliverables.

Proposals & Websites

At what stage should filmmakers present their online ideas and proposals to broadcasters, and can the production of additional multimedia elements such as websites be incorporated as part of the production budget for the film?  Once a project has obtained a presale and goes into production, will the broadcasters host a page or two on their website, or design a full blown web site (and what additional rights may they require to do this?) For how long do these webpages remain on the broadcasters’ sites, what credits appear and how do filmmakers contribute to eg: the SBS Documentary Blog. How are marketing and distribution strategies developed between independents and broadcasters for the online presence?  Is it beneficial for both the broadcasters and producer/directors to design film websites, and to have the right to use segments and film trailers for online viewing and/or promotion? The ABC and SBS will show examples of webpages/sites that work best for them.

Contracts

Contracts are changing. The ABC/SBS now require the licence to screen on their main channels as well as more screenings on their subsidiary digital channels. The traditional 4 runs over 5 years has expanded to included online/catchup viewing rights, which are being requested for digital streaming. For example, SPAA’s recently negotiated terms of trade states that the ABC may request 14 days for online streaming after the initial broadcast. How are the ABC/SBS negotiating contracts with producers for delivery of programmes on the i-view/sbs player platforms?

Recoupment and Marketing

How can filmmakers explore the potential of online marketing tools (eg: Paypal DVD sales) as an alternative to traditional distributors? What rights do the need to retain if they negotiate distribution through educational suppliers such as Clickview? DVD distribution may a limited future if digital downloading continues to rise.  Will Screenrights/asdacs royalties be compromised in the future if there is less off-air educational copying, and more ‘free’ access by schools to programmes available on broadcaster websites? How can directors start to share copyright, IP and royalties with larger SA Enterprise-funded production companies in the exploitation of their films? How do the government funding organisations reconcile the demand to monetise online opportunities and at the same time seek to exploit them?

Future

What do broadcasters predict for the future in terms of online and cross platform rights agreements?  What do filmmakers want in regard to the retention of certain rights?

RSVP and see who else is attending here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=116447138405162

Pitching, campaign management, publicity, sales, festivals, online strategies…

Melbourne – Tuesday 24 August
Sydney – Thursday 26 August

Shop the Doc is designed to assist documentary makers to maximise the audience for their films.

The forum will include practical information, examples, tips and strategies from leading industry professionals. It is designed for emerging through to experienced documentary makers and production personnel.

Topics covered include pitching techniques, creating strong marketing materials, developing clear publicity messages, working with a sales team and making a splash online.

“The myriad of decisions you make in marketing your documentary – from its title sequence through to key art, the music on your trailer and positioning your film through social media – all add up to creating a ‘brand’ for your film,” says Kathleen Drumm, Screen Australia’s Head of Marketing. “We want our documentaries to have the best chance possible of local and international success.”

Full details on Screen Australia’s site:

http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/industry_support/Market_Intelligence/Seminars_Forums/ShopDoc.asp

Original article published by Screen Hub:
http://www.screenhub.com.au/news/shownewsarticle.asp?newsID=33806

Introduction

Late in 2008 Canon stole the march on major competitor Nikon and released the EOS 5D MKII DSLR (digital single lens reflex camera). The intended market was the journalist who needed to post stories online with both stills and moving images and sound (see post on YouTube).

The following is a distillation of a lot of posts and blogs online, and the experiences of cinematographers and filmmakers.

Tech specs of the EOS 5D and 7D:

These DSLR stills cameras take 21MPixel photos (5D MKII) or 18MPixel (7D – same size as APS-C format) plus they can record HD (1920 x 1080 pixel) movie files. For anyone taking stills, these are impressive numbers, however for those in the film and video business, the arresting numbers are the sensor dimensions, the physical size of the image capture device or chip.

• 5D sensor (full frame 35mm) – 36mm x 24mm
• 7D sensor – 22.2mm x 14.8mm
• RED Digital camera - 24.4mm x 13.7mm
• Super 35mm film (movie) frame – 24.9mm x 18.7mm
• Super 16mm – 12.35mm x 7.5mm
• 2/3” video – 9.6mm x 5.4mm
• 1/3” video – 5.23mm x 2.94mm

This is a realm where size does matter, and so, whilst the number of MPixels the sensor and camera system can record is important, HD is 1920 x 1080 – only 2 MPixel. Once you have that number of pixels, you have “true” HD capability. After that, the chip size significantly determines image quality and resolution, and, offers the possibility of that elusive and very desirable “cinematic look” or quality, shallow depth of field – also called “background defocus” – a phrase possibly coined by an electronics engineer.

So what’s the buzz?

Judging by the numbers of documentary filmmakers, cinematographers and photographers who turned up at AFTRS in Sydney for the recent OzDox forum on the DSLR “Revolution” and the amount of online traffic about the 5Ds and other DSLRs on Cinematographers Mailing List (CML) and elsewhere, it seems there is something going on.

Further, the fact that Dean Semler ACS ASC used them for some shots on his recent movie SECRETARIAT, about a racehorse, and television series HOUSE is now being produced on them, clearly something is going on, and it’s not only at the “smell of an oily rag” end of the production spectrum.

Strengths of the DSLR as a video camera

• Big chip size = beautiful HD image quality with exceptionally shallow depth of field = “cinematic look” something that has not readily been possible with the prosumer video camera to date
• Exceptional low light capability – 6,400 ISO, 12,800 ISO, even 25,600 ISO – mind you, the noise level at such high ISOs seriously compromises the image quality
• Compact, GREAT to shoot in difficult to access spots, including places where video cameras are not permitted, as it is (just) a stills camera
• Amazing time lapse shots
• Interchangeable lenses, including cine lenses
• Documentary subjects respond to the camera just like they do with other stills cameras, readily making direct eye contact with the lens in a relaxed and easy fashion
• Very cheap for an HD video camera
• Media – CF cards are readily available and inexpensive

Limitations of the DSLR as a video camera

• Contrast, colour saturation, sharpness – natively the Canon 5D MKII cameras record a high contrast and quite saturated image, which tends to “snap” from being just out of focus into super crispness. So the standard settings, particularly contrast, need to be adjusted (down) to capture a more workable image. Reducing the contrast setting increases the effective dynamic range in the recorded files, some say by 2 stops. The cameras perform best in low contrast lighting environments.

• Ergonomics – designed as a stills camera, a DSLR camera requires considerable “work-around” rigs to make it almost as functional to operate as any video camera – e.g. the weight needs to be supported by a rig reaching onto the body (when not on a tripod), the LCD viewfinder needs to be extended and protected from light, the focus controls need expansion. The cost of these rigs can easily eclipse that of the camera.

• LCD screen legibility – like all cameras with an LCD screen as the viewfinder, seeing the image in bright light is difficult (the optical viewfinder is disabled in movie mode). A viewfinder adaptor such as the Zacuto Z finder is essential. Given that all focusing in movie mode is judged by viewing the LCD screen, screen legibility is vital. Focus is best judged by viewing the signal on a (larger) on-board monitor.

• Aliasing – when a (digital) sampling system fails to accurately reproduce what it’s attempting to sample, instead of an accurate representation, you get an inaccurate “alias” of it. Aliasing happens when “false data” gets through and is captured as if it was actually accurate information. There is a lot of aliasing in the Canon HD movie files, but mostly it is not readily visible. However, when it is clearly visible it can make a shot unusable.

  It manifests on fine image detail, such as the parallel lines of brickwork, of corrugated iron on a roof or stripes in fabric, and what should be, say, parallel vertical lines, can appear as diverging diagonal lines in the image – completely wrong.

  The BBC has decided that aliasing and other issues are such a problem with these cameras that they will not accept material originated on them. See here for more details on aliasing.

• “Rolling shutter” Jell-O world – because the image is “seen” by the CMOS sensor in a progressive scan (like the way a photocopier light scans an image) not entirely in one instant (like motion picture film), fast movement through the frame can result in a “Jell-O” wobble of the image (bendy propeller blades are a common demonstration of this effect – try it on your iphone sometime). There are plug-ins (AfterFX has one) that correct this.

• Records HD in AVCHD format using the lossy H.264 codec to 4:2:0. Quite a lot of compression, and slow to edit in natively – it’s better to transcode to ProRes 4:2:2 or Avid DNX36.

• Record time is 12 mins maximum at a time – some would say that’s not such a limitation really, it’s like a magazine of film lasting 10 minutes – but a problem for would be “Russian Ark” style filmmakers.

• Overheating on long runs – this shows up as gradually increasing noise in the image.

• Black levels float on long running shots (on 5D), which then need to be adjusted shot by shot in grading – an additional “invisible” expense.

• No way to monitor audio levels being recorded, audio Auto Gain Control is savage, sound needs to be recorded double system (back to the old ways!). If slating is not employed, synchronising can be done using software such as “Pluraleyes” which analyses the signals on the camera guide track and the sound track and matches them up.

So, is it a revolution?

No, it’s inevitable evolution along a path we’ve been travelling on for some time, and we’re nowhere near the end of it yet.

As the RED Digital camera knocked 35mm film from its place as the pinnacle of motion picture imaging systems, by offering a high quality digital cinema camera at a price that persuaded thousands of people in the business they could live with the drop in image quality, so the 5D MKII has made inroads in the same way.

Making beautiful images, with a camera that many thousands more can afford, it’s definitely a democratising influence on the production of stories for the screen. As the image quality increases and it is easier to make those pictures, so the pleasure of making the images also increases. Why wouldn’t you use it?

Well, you wouldn’t use it to make an observational documentary in uncontrolled and difficult conditions which demand skillful camera work to capture powerful images to tell the story – all the normal controls of professional and prosumer video cameras are missing from the DSLR camera.

Unless, that is, the visual style of the film includes a significant proportion of out of focus material with under and over exposure and possibly extensive use of wide angle lenses to compensate for the difficulty of framing up accurately when you can’t see the image on the LCD screen.

And you wouldn’t use it for drama work without spending a significant amount fitting it out with all the necessary work-around hardware to make it operable – e.g. on-board LCD monitor, cine lenses, follow focus control, matte box and shoulder rig. And also allowing additional funds for post fix-ups of the floating black levels and varying noise floors.

You would use it in filming conditions, both drama and documentary, where there’s some control over the subject and light and time to frame up and check focus. And for getting beauty shots, such as timelapse scenes.

So, the bottom line is, the Canon 5D and 7D are great cameras and it’s fun making beautiful pictures with them. And they are being used right now on commercials, dramas and documentaries.

But wait, there’s another high quality digital camera coming your way very soon, a video camera that is, not a DSLR, and its price tag is lower again than the 5D MKII.

Big sensor + adjustable LCD screen + interchangeable lenses with matte box + less compression + correct weight distribution + sound controls with monitoring + does stills as well as HD + lower price tag – take your guess which manufacturer – Panasonic, Nikon, Sony, Canon, JVC? More on this one soon.

But, low cost doesn’t make the hardware the best choice for the job, and the hardware (still) doesn’t make great films, people do.

So keep your eye on the real prize – great characters and powerful stories, photographed with brilliant pictures made by skilled cinematographers*.

*In the sense as used by Robert Bresson.

Erika Addis

Erika Addis is a cinematographer and she doesn’t own a Canon 5D or 7D.

Erika Addis has worked in the film and television industry for over 25 years. Her work as a cinematographer and director of photography includes a broad range of documentaries, feature films and television series’. She has many awards, including AFIs, and an ACS Golden Tripod, and an MA (Hons) in Film and Television specialising in Documentary and Screen Studies from the AFTRS.

http://www.screenhub.com.au/news/shownewsarticle.asp?newsID=33806

The Panelists

Dr Philip Bell – Chair, Adjunct Professor, UTS
Dr Deborah Verhoeven – Associate Professor, RMIT School of Media & Communication
Andy Lloyd-James – Researcher, Outside the Box, TV Futures Research Project
Jennifer Wilson – Director, The Project Factory
Tania Chambers – Chief Executive, Screen NSW
Gabby Shaw – Research & Strategic Lead – ABC Innovation
Marcus Gillezeau – Multiplatform Producer/Director, Firelight Productions

When: 6th July, 5.30 for 6pm- 8pm
Where: UTS, University Hall. Harris Street Ultimo (opposite the ABC)

Price: Waged $10, Unwaged or UTS student and alumni $5

Drinks and light refreshments provided
RSVP to Tanny Por on 9514 9931 or

Book Online:

http://sendstudio.itd.uts.edu.au/sendstudionx/link.php?M=153320&N=1013&L=793&F=H

More Info:

http://datasearch2.uts.edu.au/fass/news-events/event-detail.cfm?ItemId=21155

Explore with us the new lightweight and inexpensive camera that is taking the world filmmaking community by storm.

Panel discussion and demonstration.

WHEN: Wednesday 14 July 2010, 6.00pm arrival for 6.30pm start

WHERE: AFTRS Theatre, Fox Studios
Entertainment Quarter.
130 Bent St, Moore Park NSW.
Map: http://www.aftrs.edu.au/about/contact-us/sydney.aspx

ENTRY: Suggested donation $5

RSVP not required, but be early to ensure your seat.
This event is open to the public. Parking fees discounted after 6pm, or with validated ticket from AFTRS.

Panelists, Erika Addis, Rebecca Barry, Nicola Daley and Dan Miau will explore the technical capabilities of the Canon DSLR Camera both positive & negative and processes employed in using a Canon DSLR Camera successfully in the making of Documentary Film.

Specific areas which will be addressed:

• tech specs for Canon EOS 5D Mkii, 7D, 550D
• file formats
• strengths
• limitations
• accessories available and required
• interchangable lenses
• sound capability
• transfer time
• editing
• grading

Video clips will embellish areas of discussion where we will demonstrate the positives and negatives of using a DSLR camera in making documentaries. Apart from the technical aspects, discussion will also cover the role of the DSLR camera in the creative process. Rebecca Barry and Nicola Daley will have just arrived back from India where they were using a Canon DSLR 7D on a documentary.

Come early as session is guaranteed to be well attended.

More about the panel:

Erika Addis

Cinematography Lecturer AFTRS, has worked in the film and television industry for over 25 years. Her work as a Cinematographer and Director of Photography includes a broad range of documentaries, feature films and television series. Her consistent delivery of high standard work has resulted in a raft of award wins including AFIs, awards from the Sydney Film Festival, an ACS Golden Tripod and a Kodak award from the St Kilda Film Festival.  Erika has an MA (Hons) in Film and Television specialising in Documentary and Screen Studies from AFTRS. She is presently studying all aspects of the Canon DSLR cameras.

Rebecca Barry

Is an award-winning director, writer and producer of documentary and drama films. She has been the recipient of many awards including winning the Best Student Documentary Prize at the Australian Documentary Conference 2003, the AFTRS Film Australia Award 2003 and the recipient of the AFTRS Screen Critics Circle Award for Best Director and Best Film. Her works as Director or Producer include, Footy Chicks, The Surgeon, Beats across Borders, The Space In Between, The McDonagh Sisters and “Overture. On her present documentary being shot in India she is shooting with a Canon DSLR 7D for the first time.

Nicola Daley

Is an award-winning Cinematographer, experienced with film, video and HD, and in all areas from music videos to drama to documentary. Recently she has shot her first feature film Girl Clock and is working alongside some of Australia’s most renowned documentarians, including Rebecca Barry with whom she is presently collaborating with on a documentary using a Canon DSLR 7D camera.

Dan Miau

Dan Miau graduated from AFTRS in 2003 in Location Sound Recording. He has recorded documentaries and factual TV series such as Miracles, Bomb Harvest, Bondi Rescue, My Family Feast, Australia’s Greatest Albums, and The Art of Walking. This year he has noticed a change in cameras. “A lot of productions are shooting on the 5D and 7D”.

Other specialists may be added to panel.

BRAN NUE DAE, the documentary

at PETERSHAM BOWLING CLUB
Tuesday June 29th, 7.30 pm

BRAN NUE DAE is a documentary, directed and produced by TOM ZUBRYCKI, of the original stage production of the musical in 1989

The film interweaves the original production of the musical and the life of its creator Jimmy Chi. The film follows the early rehearsals of Bran Nue Dae in Broome through to the stage production in Perth by the Black Swan Company. Included are excerpts from the show, interviews with the actors (including Ernie Dingo and Maroochy Baranbah), as well as Jimmy Chi himself and others who were key figures in his life. We go on a road journey with Jimmy to the north of Broome to find the true source of his inspiration for the show blending in unique archival footage from the region.

More info:

http://www.tomzubrycki.com/resources_bran.html

The submission deadlines are:

• Early Bird: 15 Jun 2010
• Regular: 31 Aug 2010
• Late: 15 Sept 2010
• WAB Extended: 1 Oct 2010

All submission must be made on Withoutabox:
https://www.withoutabox.com/login/4140

http://documentaryedge.org.nz/

Sydney Film Festival announced the finalists of the 2010 FOXTEL Australian Documentary Prize the biggest cash prize for a documentary in Australia.

Now in its second year, first-time filmmakers and established documentarians are among the nine selected finalists to be shortlisted for this prestigious prize. Entrants are invited to submit Australian-produced documentaries of any length and one winner will be awarded $10,000. This year’s line-up of films looks at our home, our neighbours and our history.

The competing films will screen over ten days at the festival, paired with finalists from the Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films, and feature guest introductions and question and answer sessions following each screening.

The finalists are:

Cane Toads: The Conquest

Dir-Prod-Scr Mark Lewis| Australia | 84 mins | Radio Pictures
Twenty-five years after his successful film about Australia’s greatest environmental catastrophe, Mark Lewis revisits the cane toad story as they continue their journey across Australia.

Drive

Dir-Prod Bronwyn Purvis, Telen Rodwell | Australia | 55 mins | Big hART Inc.
Drive looks at young men and the impact of their love of speed on family and community. The film was produced in collaboration with young men from the northwest coast of Tasmania.

Eye

Dir Andy Canny, Donna McCrum | Prod Polly Staniford, Tony Ayres, Michael McMahon | Australia | 54 mins | Big and Little Films
Award-winning indigenous photographer Bindi Cole travels from Melbourne to the far north of Australia to document the beautiful transgender ‘Sistagirls’ of the Tiwi Islands.

Indonesia Calling: Joris Ivens in Australia

Dir-Prod-Scr John Hughes | Prod Andrea Foxworthy| Australia | 90 mins | Early Works
Director John Hughes’ latestwork recalls the founding of the nation of Indonesia and the impact of a small film on Australia’s relations with its northern neighbour, as well as on Australia’s documentary filmmaking culture.

Mind

Dir Emma Crimmings | Prod Polly Staniford, Tony Ayres, Michael McMahon | Australia | 27 mins | Big and Little Films
An exploration of the nature of identity: from an early age, award-winning writer Tom Cho thought he was different and knew he didn’t match his mother’s expectations of a good daughter.

New Beijing: Reinventing a City

Dir-Prod Georgia Wallace-Crabbe| Prod Gregory Miller | Australia | 52 mins | Film Projects
A fascinating record of the changing face of Beijing – the demolition of the old and the construction of the new; the shift from hutongs to Birds Nest.

The Snowman

Dir Juliet Lamont | Prod Rachel Landers, Dylan Blowen | Australia | 79 Mins | Pony Films
A poignant story about the filmmaker’s search for the truth behind her father’s mental collapse; thirty years ago he took a job in Antarctica and returned home a changed man.

Strange Birds in Paradise – A West Papuan Story

Dir Charlie Hill-Smith| Prod Jamie Nicolai, John Cherry | Australia | 75 mins | The House of Red Monkey
Director Charlie Hill-Smith takes a journey through the culture and complex history of West Papua, jamming with exiled musicians in musicologist Dave Bridie’s Melbourne studio.

Three Boys Dreaming

Dir- Prod Michael Cordell | Australia | 80 mins | Cordell Jigsaw Productions
In 2005, Australia’s best young indigenous AFL players attended a Melbourne talent camp. Filmmaker Michael Cordell follows three boys over three years, as they struggle to keep their dreams alive.

The 57th Sydney Film Festival runs from Wednesday 2 June – Monday 14 June 2010.

For more information visit sff.org.au

Taken from the NY Times

Crude

MIKE BONFIGLIO: A few weeks ago, Joe Berlinger and I, as well as the “Crude” production companies, were served with subpoenas by Chevron, demanding that we hand over our 600 hours of outtakes, speculating that somewhere in our dailies they would find material that would help them in their lawsuit in Ecuador. We opposed the subpoena, and on May 6th, a judge ruled against us. We are appealing the decision, and many in the documentary community as well as other journalists have rallied to support us. The IDA issued an open letter which has been signed by an extraordinary number of heavy-hitters of the doc world, from Michael Moore to Bill Moyers, Alex Gibney to Morgan Spurlock:

http://www.documentary.org/content/crude-filmmaker-gets-support-open-letter-film-community

We would greatly appreciate it if you could circulate this petition to your list, and urge people to follow our story, which has the potential to adversely affect the landscape for our fellow documentary filmmakers for many years to come. We’ll be updating our blog about the case as it happens.

Here’s a quick guide to what’s on offer:

Award Winners

Audience Award winner Berlinale 2010, Budrus, also selected for Tribeca and Hot Docs; winner First Appearance Award at IDFA, Colony; César winner for Best Documentary Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno; winner Best Feature-length Documentary at IDFA, Last Train Home; Academy Award nominated The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, directed by festival guest Judith Ehrlich; Grand Jury Prize winner at Sundance, Restrepo; Special Mention Berlinale 2010 for New Zealand doco, This Way of Life screening with Sundance winner Quadrangle; Waste Land – winner Amnesty Int. Prize, Panorama Award award at Berlin and Audience Award at Sundance.

Leading Documentarians

Frederick Wiseman (now in his 80^th year) continues his focus on cultural institutions in La Danse – The Paris Opera Ballet; Nicolas Philibert’s Nenette, a fascinating spin on the notion of watching and being watched; Julien Temple’s blistering doco on cult R&B band, Dr Feelgood, Oil City Confidential; Christian (War Photographer) Frei’s Sundance winner (Best Director, Documentary) Space Tourists.

Kids Docs

The festival’s first babes in arms screening and the opening film of the recent Hot Docs festival, Babies; for ages five and over, the beautifully shot story of a tiny loggerhead’s voyage across the oceans, Turtle: The Incredible Journey.

Debut

Banksy makes his documentary debut with Exit Through the Gift Shop (selling fast); standup comedian and festival guest, Ahmed Ahmed, takes a group of US comedians to the Middle East in Just Like Us; actor (Entourage) Adrian Grenier’s documentary debut Teenage Paparazzo follows a 13 year-old photographer.

Portraits

Beautiful Darling, focussing on 60s NY celeb Candy Darling, packed with clips and interviews (screens with Ira Sach’s short doc Last Address); octagenarian photojournalist Bill Cunningham still peddling the streets of the Big Apple in Bill Cunningham New York; from the director of festival hit Screaming Men (Mika Ronkainen), comes Freetime Machos; Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould directed by Peter Raymont and Michelle Hozer, features never-before-seen archive footage; Jean-Michael Basquiat: The Radiant Child directed by his close friend Tamra Davis; Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work directed by Ricky Stern and Anne Sundberg (The Devil Came on Horseback); Lemmy, a funny and revealing portrait of the legendary frontman of Motorhead; also, screening at the Playhouse, Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae; Truffaut and Godard’s relationship and its impact on French cinema in Two in the Wave.

FOXTEL Australian Documentary Prize

Nine films compete for the $10,000 prize: Cane Toads: The Conquest directed by Mark Lewis; Drive, directed by Bronwyn Purvis and Telen Rodwell for Big hART; two from producers Polly Staniford, Tony Ayres and Michael McMahon at Big and Little Films, Eye (directed by Andy Conny and Donna McCrum) and Mind (directed by Emma Crimmings); John Hughes’ Indonesia Calling: Joris Ivens in Australia; New Beijing: Reinventing a City directed by Georgia Wallace-Crabbe and produced by Gregory Miller; Juliet Lamont’s The Snowman, produced by Rachel Landers and Dylan Blowen; Strange Birds in Paradise directed by Charlie Hill-Smith and produced by Jamie Nicolai and John Cherry; director-producer Michael Cordell’s Three Boys Dreaming.

Doco-Polemic

Christophe Nick’s documentary which stirred up the French press, The Game of Life; GasLand, winner of Special Jury Prize at Sundance, screens with IDFA competitor The Shutdown ; Mugabe and the White African, winner of the British Independent Film Award for Best Documentary; The Oath, cinematography award winners at Sundance, directed by Laura Poitras (My Country My Country) – screens with Hot Docs short doco winner Tussilago; Hot Docs and IDFA selection, The RainbowWarriors of Waiheke Island – 25 years after the sinking of the Greenpeace vessel ­ – screens with Plastic Bag, narrated by Werner Herzog.

Daily Doc Pick

Wed 2 June: Beautiful Darling 6pm Event Cinemas George St

Thu 3 June: Gasland 6.30pm Event Cinemas George St

Fri 4 June: The Rainbow Warriors of Waiheke Island 2.30pm State Theatre

Sat 5 June: La Danse 1.35pm State Theatre

Sun 6 June: The Oath 2.15pm Dendy OQ followed by 4.30pm Last Train Home

Mon 7 June: Space Tourists 4.45pm Dendy OQ

Tue 8 June: Colony 5.00pm State Theatre

Wed 9 June: This Way of Life 12pm State Theatre

Thu 10 June: The Most Dangerous Man in America 2.05pm State Theatre

Fri 11 June: Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould 2.30pm Dendy OQ

Sat 12 June: Bill Cunningham New York 12pm Event Cinemas George St

Sun 13 June: The Game of Death 5pm Event Cinemas George St

Sun 14 June: Mugabe and the White African 12pm Dendy OQ

Tickets are now on sale for all sessions at this year’s festival. Tickets can be purchased online at www.sff.org.au, via the SFF2010 iPhone App or by phone on (02) 9690 5390. To keep up-to-date with all the latest news from the festival sign up to our eNews (via the website) or visit our blog at www.sydneyfilmfestivalblog.blogspot.com.