Following yesterday’s announcement of the 2011 Sundance Competition slates, today sees the release of the remaining non-Competition lineup. Sections include Premieres (world premiere narratives and docs), NEXT (innovative low- and no-budget narrative world premieres), Spotlight (cinema we love, regardless of premiere status), Park City at Midnight (genre films), New Frontier (boundary-pushing films), Native Showcase (celebrating indigenous filmmaking), and From the Collection (past favorite). The Shorts lineup will be announced next week.
Author Archives: basiltsiokos
Sundance 2011: Non-Competition Lineups Announced
Filed under Film, Film Festivals, Sundance
IDFA 2010: Additional Docs in Brief
While I’ve already posted links to my indieWIRE coverage of a number of IDFA films (DONOR UNKNOWN, BURMA SOLDIER, FAMILY INSTINCT, AGNUS DEI, KANO, THE OTHER CHELSEA, MY BAREFOOT FRIEND, iTHEMBA, DIVINE PIG, and THERE ONCE WAS AN ISLAND) as well as some thoughts on the FORUM, I thought I’d briefly cover a few other titles which also screened in Amsterdam.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief, Recommendations
SXSW Submissions Reminder
Filmmakers: The late deadline for South By Southwest is tomorrow, December 2 – but if you can’t make that, there’s one final, last minute deadline next Thursday, December 9 – note that the entry fee makes a significant jump in that week, so if you can submit by tomorrow, you should. Increasingly well-attended by industry, filmmakers, and fans, the 2011 fest will take place March 11-19.
I really enjoy SXSW – for years, I jealously watched friends and colleagues attend while I couldn’t due to programming deadlines for NewFest, but finally was able to start going last year, when I also was honored to serve on the Documentary Jury (we awarded 45365 and THE WAY WE GET BY). This past year, I was thrilled to world premiere THE CANAL STREET MADAM as part of the SXSW Documentary Competition.
So, hey, I’m biased, but SXSW is an amazing festival. Austin is a fun city, the weather is beautiful in March, and the event draws people from all over representing the three parts of the festival – interactive, film, and music. Janet Pierson and her staff on the film side have done a great job carrying on from and expanding the work Matt Dentler did at the festival for years. It’s truly grown into a can’t-miss discovery festival, and is a must to submit to especially if your film has anything to do with music, though the programming is certainly not limited just to that. Even if you don’t have a film in the fest, it’s a great event to attend, with a low-key, casual atmosphere that can often be lacking at other festivals.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Submission Deadlines
Sundance 2011: Competition Lineups Announced
Just a quick pointer to the initial lineup announcement for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The US and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions are here. Check back tomorrow for the non-Competition lineups (Premieres – including the new Documentary Premieres, NEXT, Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, and New Frontier). Shorts will follow next week.
Filed under Film, Film Festivals, Sundance
Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Exhaustiveness
Dear Documentary Filmmakers: If you need to put an intermission in your doc, you could probably use more time w an editor.
No, I’m not joking. It may not happen often, but I can remember at least three recent docs that I’ve watched that have literally included an intermission because the bloody thing was so long.
Filed under Dear Documentary Filmmakers, Documentary, Film
Hot Docs Submissions Reminder
Filmmakers: The early deadline for the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is this Friday, December 3 – the final deadline is January 14, but submit by Friday for a reduced entry fee. The 2011 fest will take place April 28-May 8, so mark your calendars now.
I’ve been able to attend Hot Docs since 2009 – covering the festival and its concurrent Forum for indieWIRE both years, and holding the international premiere of THE CANAL STREET MADAM there earlier this year.
The event, held in Toronto, ON, is fantastically managed, comprehensively and smartly programmed, and attracts a huge audience (our second screening of CSM was on a weekday morning and we had to turn away more than 50 people!). It’s the largest festival of non-fiction film in North America, and, as a result, also draws a significant industry presence – so it’s a must for documentary filmmakers to submit their work to. Among the Hot Docs coverage I’ve done are recent articles from 2010’s edition: here and here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Submission Deadlines
Special Screening: NO DINOSAURS IN HEAVEN
Special sneak preview, coming this Thursday, December 2: NO DINOSAURS IN HEAVEN
Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Greta Schiller (BEFORE STONEWALL, PARIS WAS A WOMAN, THE MAN WHO DROVE WITH MANDELA) returns with her first new feature-length project in more than a decade, drawing from her intervening experiences as a science educator in NYC schools.
Schiller’s new doc addresses the encroachment of creationism in US public schools, inspired by the filmmaker’s own experience with a fellow teacher, a Christian fundamentalist who sought to undermine evolution in favor of the creationist point of view. While exploring this incident and its potential impact on scientific literacy in American classrooms, the film also uses a river rafting trip through the Grand Canyon to debunk the arbitrary psuedo-science through real-world examples and to expose the tactics that fundamentalists have been employing to break down the vital separation of Church and State.
NO DINOSAURS IN HEAVEN will have its premiere screening where the project began, at The City College of New York. The CCNY and the general public can attend the special free sneak preview and panel discussion, followed by a reception, on Thursday. There are plans for distribution which will be announced at the event.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
On DVD/TV: RESTREPO
Premiering on TV Monday, November 29 at 9PM EST on National Geographic and coming to DVD on Tuesday, December 7: RESTREPO
Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington debuted their film at this year’s Sundance, where it claimed the US Documentary Grand Jury Prize. It was released theatrically in the Summer, and now has its TV and DVD premiere less than two weeks after the film has been shortlisted for the Academy Awards.
Junger and Hetherington gain remarkable access to the men of the US Army’s Second Platoon in this harrowing look at the Afghanistan War. Set in an outpost in the dangerous Korengal Valley named after a lost soldier, RESTREPO documents one year in the trenches, as the soldiers fight al Qaeda and the Taliban, intensely bond like only people in their position can, and deal with the uncertainty of life and death in wartime. The result is a powerful, affecting portrait, no matter one’s politics.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases, Sundance
IDFA 2010: The FORUM in Brief
My second of two articles out of IDFA (the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam), focusing on the international co-production financing market, the FORUM, is now up at indieWIRE here. Doubling as an entry in iW‘s Filmmakers Toolkit, it’s also intended for filmmakers interested in learning about what makes for an effective pitch.
Filed under Dear Documentary Filmmakers, Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief, Recommendations
indieWIRE @ Hulu Docs: Thanksgiving Special
My latest curation of Hulu Documentaries page for indieWIRE sort of “celebrates” Thanksgiving with a series of docs about food – but be warned, some of these will make you rethink what and how you eat…
For more information about the selections, take a look at my iW article.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Indiewire @ Hulu Docs, Recommendations
