We’re nearing the end of Awards Season this month, so I thought a fitting way to bid adieu to the “For Your Consideration” ads would be to revisit past Oscar nominees and winners in my latest curation for Hulu’s Documentaries page for indieWIRE.
For more information about the selections, take a look at my iW article. Enjoy these films for free – part two will follow in about two weeks.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Indiewire @ Hulu Docs, Recommendations
As an addendum to my previous post about this year’s Oscar nominees for Best Documentary Feature, here are some brief thoughts about the fifth nominee, INSIDE JOB.
Charles Ferguson, who gained acclaim for his previous film, NO END IN SIGHT, debuted his searing analysis of the causes of the worldwide financial crisis of 2008 at Cannes last year, with additional festival exposure at Telluride, Toronto, and the New York Film Festival before its theatrical release in the fall.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Next Wednesday, February 9, Raindance New York presents a workshop focusing on the legal needs of documentary producers, the second part of their five-part Documentary Production Certificate. Workshop leader Innes Smolansky, a veteran entertainment attorney, will cover legal information relevant to deals with funders, production partners, broadcasters, and sales agents, among others.
Sign up for Basic Legal Contracts for Documentaries.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Opening in NYC today, February 2: INTO ETERNITY
This stylized meditation on time as it relates to radioactive waste and human existence, directed by conceptual artist Michael Madsen, has screened at a number of international film festivals and made its official US debut at last year’s Tribeca. I wrote about the film in one of my posts about IDFA, saying:
INTO ETERNITY explores the monumental construction of Finland’s Onkalo, a humongous underground depository for nuclear waste that won’t be completed until the 22nd Century. Dealing with spans of time in the hundreds, and even hundreds of thousands, of years, the film offers plenty of food for thought about the limits of our ability to communicate with and plan for a future far beyond our typical musings. If there’s one aspect to Madsen’s approach that I take issue with is his too frequent appearances on camera, interludes in which he tells a cautionary tale. A little of this goes a long way, and what might be viewed as a welcome bit of showmanship in the earliest section becomes a bit wearisome by the end. Despite this quibble, the film is smart and thought-provoking, and worth seeking out.
INTO ETERNITY opens today exclusively at NYC’s Film Forum for a week run.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
On Wednesday, February 23, I’ll be leading a workshop for Raindance New York as part of their five course Documentary Production Certificate, covering funding, legal contracts, post-production, festivals, and marketing/self-distribution.
My workshop covers film festivals. While the workshop description says it’s “about how to get your documentary into festivals,” that’s slightly overstating it – ultimately, your work gets your film into a festival, not some secret tricks. Instead, I’ll be trying to impart advice that can help documentarians make better decisions about positioning their projects for consideration – from selecting the right and wrong fests to which to apply, to demystifying the programming process so that you know what to spend your time and resources on, and, just as importantly, what not to. In addition, I’ll offer some practical information about how to get the most out of attending a festival in which your film is screening.
Sign up for Documentaries & Film Festivals: What You Should Know.
Please Note: The Documentary Production Certificate, including this workshop, have been rescheduled since the last time I posted about them – this entry reflects the latest updates.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
Coming to DVD tomorrow, February 1: THE TILLMAN STORY
Check out what I had to say about Amir Bar-Lev’s 2010 Sundance doc here.
Buy the DVD here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases, Sundance
Raindance New York’s Documentary Production Certificate begins next Wednesday, February 2, with Cinereach‘s Reva Goldberg providing “an overview of the landscape for funding documentaries, a sense of what to expect from the process, and practical advice for starting and sustaining your efforts.”
Sign up for Funding Fundamentals: Intro to Raising Money For Your Documentary.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
I’m breaking my Sundance silence briefly since the Oscar nominations were announced today. Of course, I’m thrilled that four of the five documentary feature nominees are Sundance alumni. I’ve previously written about them here and am linking to those posts below. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to write about the fifth, Charles Ferguson’s INSIDE JOB, but hope to find time post-Sundance. The remaining nominees, with my thoughts, here:
Filed under Documentary, Film, Sundance
With the 2011 Sundance Film Festival opening tonight, my role as Programming Associate for the festival will make it difficult to post here with the regularity I’ve established since the beginning of this blog. I’ll post when I can, but realistically, I’ll have to wait until after the festival wraps on January 30 before I can resume normal frequency.
In the meantime, you can catch up on my film-by-film profiling of all 42 docs in our line-up this year, beginning here, and get quicker and shorter updates and impressions from Park City by following me on Twitter.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Sundance
Sundance 2011 begins this week! My film-by-film profiling of each of this year’s docs wrapped up today as I arrived in Park City in my role of Programming Associate for the festival. If you’ll be at the fest, you’ll have plenty of great new films to watch, but if you can’t make it out there this year, I’ve curated a new batch of past Sundance films for Hulu’s Documentaries page for indieWIRE – and they’re all free.
For more information about the selections, take a look at my iW article.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Indiewire @ Hulu Docs, Recommendations, Sundance
