Category Archives: Film Festivals

In Theatres: TO CATCH A DOLLAR: MUHAMMAD YUNUS BANKS ON AMERICA

Opening in theatres around the US for a special one night only theatrical event this Thursday, March 31: TO CATCH A DOLLAR: MUHAMMAD YUNUS BANKS ON AMERICA

Gayle Ferraro’s documentary had its world premiere at Sundance last year, bringing the story of Nobel Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus and his microloaning Grameen Bank to US audiences. Now, a little more than a year later, Yunus, Ferraro and her team are partnering with Screenvision in an attempt to reach a much wider audience with a special event in theatres in nearly all 50 states.

The compelling TO CATCH A DOLLAR tells the story of Yunus’ development of Grameen Bank, which focused on helping the working poor in Bangladesh by making microloans to poor women. Over the past 30 years, Grameen has changed the lives of millions of borrowers in the developing world. Ferraro’s film focuses on Grameen’s attempt to enter into the first world, beginning in Queens, NY. Ferraro follows Yunus, his staff in Queens, and his new borrowers, showing the real impact that Yunus’ plan can have on what seems like insurmountable poverty.

This special event will include a simulcast panel moderated by CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo with Dr Yunus, Suze Orman, and Kiva.org’s Premal Shah, plus celebrity endorsements from Hugh Jackman, Matt Damon, Russell Simmons, and others.

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In the Works: WALLABOUT FILM FESTIVAL

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I’m in the middle of teaching an undergraduate course at Pratt focused on film festivals to provide foundational information for my students to successfully mount their own festival near the end of the semester: the Wallabout Film Festival. This year’s festival, the third annual edition, will take place at BAM on Wednesday, April 20, and, as noted by its tagline “for students, by students,” will showcase student short films from Pratt and beyond.

The students have launched a Kickstarter campaign to supplement the meager budget the class has been allotted by the university, allowing the students to more fully realize their plans for Wallabout. With less than a month to go, they could use your help. I’d personally appreciate any contributions you are able to make and/or your assistance in spreading the word about this crowdfunding effort to anyone who potentially would be interested in supporting student filmmakers or student organizers.

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Tribeca 2011: Documentary Overview

The 10th anniversary Tribeca Film Festival begins in less than a month in New York City. The festival, founded in the shadow of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, has served as an effective launching pad for many films, both fiction and non-fiction.

While I was running NewFest, which took place in early June, it was difficult to find time to attend Tribeca, but in the last couple of years, I’ve regularly checked out their programming, largely focusing, unsurprisingly, on their documentary slate. At this point, I plan on watching as many films as I’m able to again this year, and this post runs down some of the docs I’m most anticipating which are part of the more than forty presented in the 2011 edition.

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New Directors/New Films 2011: Documentary Overview

The 40th edition of New Directors/New Films, a co-presentation of the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, begins this Wednesday, March 23 and runs through Sunday, April 3.

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Call for Submissions: 2011 Wallabout Film Festival

This semester, I have been teaching an undergraduate course at Pratt which culminates in the 3rd annual Wallabout Film Festival, a student-run student film festival that will take place on Wednesday, April 20 at the landmark BAM Rose Cinemas in Brooklyn. The event should be an interesting bit of counterprogramming to a certain larger Manhattan-based festival that launches the same night…

Technically the submission deadline is today, but for readers of my blog (and anyone to whom you spread the word, which I strongly encourage), I can extend the deadline until the end of this week, Friday, March 25. My students would love to take a look at US or international short films of any genre, 10 minutes or less, provided they are made by students (current or within one year of graduation). Submission is free! For more information on submitting, click here.

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SXSW 2011: Docs in Brief, Part Two: Non-Competition

In this second of two post-SXSW entries, I’m offering some thoughts on docs that screened outside of the main competition, including the Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, 24 Beats Per Second, and SX Global sections. Take a look at part one, on the eight competition titles, here.

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SXSW 2011: Docs in Brief, Part One: Competition

I’m back from Austin TX and another year of SXSW film, which actually continues through this Saturday night. Awards were announced on Tuesday evening, with DRAGONSLAYER (pictured) being the big doc winner with two nods. Other non-fiction features recognized included KUMARÉ, WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM, THE CITY DARK, BECOMING SANTA, and INCENDIARY: THE WILLINGHAM CASE. For a full list of winners, check out indieWIRE‘s coverage here.

As I’ve done in the past after attending other festivals, I’ll offer some brief reactions to docs which screened at SXSW – I managed to view many of the titles I was most anticipating which I wrote about in my pre-fest overview. This post will cover all eight of the world premieres in the Documentary Competition, while tomorrow’s will focus on a selection of offerings from other sections.

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SXSW 2011: Documentary Overview

SXSW begins this Friday. I’ve been fortunate to be able to attend the festival for the past two years – the first as a member of the Documentary Competition Jury, and the second with THE CANAL STREET MADAM premiering in that same category – and am returning for a third year, this time mostly to watch films, though I will be taking meetings with filmmakers as a programming Mentor.

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In the Works: GRANITO Oscar Qualification

Earlier this year, director Pamela Yates brought her sixth documentary to Sundance in the new Documentary Premieres section: GRANITO revisits the story of her award-winning 1982 film, WHEN THE MOUNTAINS TREMBLE, which unexpectedly becomes a key piece of evidence of the genocide perpetrated against the Mayan people by the Guatemalan government. I profiled GRANITO in advance of Sundance here.

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True/False 2011 in Brief

My indieWIRE article covering the just-completed 2011 True/False Film Festival in Columbia, MO is now up here.

As a quick clarification – I didn’t catch every film that screened during the four-day festival, and didn’t write about the films that I’d already seen elsewhere. The eight I wrote about at length generally spoke to the two themes I noticed emerging, and I didn’t mean to suggest that these were the only films worth a look, despite the article’s title. There are a number of other films that are well worth seeing, including titles I profiled in anticipation of their Sundance launch (beginning here, and including, to name just a few, THE INTERRUPTERS, PAGE ONE, THE REDEMPTION OF GENERAL BUTT NAKED, and RESURRECT DEAD), films from Toronto and/or IDFA (ARMADILLO, FAMILY INSTINCT), and others viewed at T/F including THE PRUITT-IGOE MYTH and BLOOD IN THE MOBILE, among others.

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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief, Recommendations, Sundance