A previous post summarizing the various Grants and Labs of the Sundance Institute proved popular, so here’s a similar, though more concise, look at the filmmaker support offerings of the Tribeca Film Institute. All of these programs appear to have the same deadlines: November 8 (early, reduced application fee) & December 8 (final postmark), but make sure to check out their site for updates – descriptions and information have been taken from there.
Category Archives: Film
Tribeca Film Institute Filmmaker Grants & Programs
Filed under Film, Funding Deadlines
Toronto 2010: Docs in Brief, Part 2
Here’s the second of two posts with my brief considerations of the documentaries I watched at TIFF last week (for part one, covering ANPO, COOL IT, CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS, and ARMADILLO, click here): Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations
indieWIRE @ Hulu Docs: Reel Jews & IFP Alums
My second round of curated docs for Hulu’s Documentaries page for indieWIRE is now live, focused this week on a selection of Jewish films and IFP alums. For more information, take a look at my iW article.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Indiewire @ Hulu Docs, Recommendations
Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Presentation
Dear Documentary Filmmakers: On-screen titled chapters can make your doc look like an educational film- be careful.
This might seem like more of a pet peeve than past DDFs but this really is a question of presentation – how you communicate not only your film’s creative/informational content, but also how you demonstrate your own filmmaking skill.
Filed under Dear Documentary Filmmakers, Documentary, Film
In Theatres: WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN”
Opening this Friday, September 24: WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN”
Davis Guggenheim scored a triple coup at Sundance: his newest film was pre-emptively bought by Paramount on the opening day of the festival before its world premiere, Bill Gates made a visit to Park City to support the project, and the film won the Audience Award for Best US Documentary. Since then, much support has been put behind the film, including a smart campaign gathering pledges from audience members to see the film, which have translated into real benefits for public schools.
Like his most notable previous project, Guggenheim’s film looks at a very inconvenient truth: America’s public education system is broken. He comprehensively dissects the reasons why – including an insular and powerful teachers union that protects terrible educators, reshuffling them from one school to the next, rather than showing them the door – and profiles a number of students and the efforts of their parents to secure for them a decent education. This is the kind of non-fiction project that should incite public outrage and lead to real and lasting reform, and one hopes that with the support of its powerful advocates, it can have the “super” power to school the education system.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases, Sundance
Toronto 2010: Docs in Brief, Part 1
I’m not a reviewer, but just as I write about documentaries I like that are coming to theatres/TV/DVD, I’ll occasionally post some thoughts on documentaries I catch at the festivals I attend.
I returned from the Toronto International Film Festival a few days ago after a shorter than usual trip, but was fortunate to see a number of films in doc programmer Thom Powers’ Real to Reel lineup, though sadly not all. Some brief thoughts: Continue reading
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, In Brief, Recommendations
Panel: Independent Film Week
If you’re a member of IFP, this is a quick reminder that I’ll be moderating a panel this Wednesday at Noon for Independent Film Week entitled “Ask An Expert: Positioning Your Film For Festivals and Buyers.” Panelists from distributors Paramount Pictures and ATO Pictures, production company Sidetrack Films, and the Sarasota and Woodstock film festivals will weigh in on what you should (and shouldn’t) be doing with regards to festival and distribution strategy.
For those of you who won’t be in NYC this week, IFP has announced a partnership with Ustream to provide a live stream of this and other panels at their website, so I hope you’ll take a look.
Filed under Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations
Workshop: Postponement
Just a quick note that Raindance NY‘s Documentary Production Certificate workshops, scheduled to begin next week and go through October, have been postponed, and will be rescheduled for early 2011. I’ll still be leading the workshop on “Documentaries & Film Festivals: What You Should Know” at that time and will post here then as a reminder.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations
On TV: THE OATH
Coming to POV on September 21: THE OATH
Laura Poitras’ latest film premiered in competition at Sundance this year, where it picked up the Documentary Cinematography Award. It made the festival rounds the rest of the year, appearing at Berlin, SXSW, and in New Directors/New Films, and continued to pick up awards at True/False, Full Frame, Hot Docs, and elsewhere, before it began a theatrical run.
Focused on two brother-in-law protagonists, one seen, the other a “ghost,” represented through letters he writes from prison in Guantanamo Bay, THE OATH reveals an unseen side of Al Qaeda. The stories of Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard and driver intertwine to provide a context through which to understand the development of political ideology and the origins and aftermath of 9/11. Attaining unprecedented access into a forbidden world, moreso as a female filmmaker in a gender-segregated culture, Poitras manages to develop a surprisingly natural ease with her subject, resulting in a complex portrait of an organization that’s often over-simplified.
To find out more about the POV screening on PBS, click here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases, Sundance
Sundance Submissions Reminder
Filmmakers: Final Deadlines for both Shorts and Features for Sundance 2011 are coming up next week! US & International Shorts are due in Sundance’s office by this Monday, September 20, while US & International Narrative and Documentary Features are due in the office by next Friday, September 24. More info here.
Take a look at an earlier post about things to keep in mind re: submitting to Sundance.
Filed under Film, Film Festivals, Submission Deadlines, Sundance
