During Toronto, indieWIRE is presenting a series of interviews at the TIFF Filmmakers Lounge on films featured in this year’s lineup. This Monday, September 13 at 1pm, I’ll be moderating a discussion on the film COOL IT with director Ondi Timoner and her film’s subject, Bjorn Lomborg, the controversial economist and political scientist whose book, Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming inspired the documentary. The outspoken Timoner’s previous docs, DIG! and WE LIVE IN PUBLIC, both claimed the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, so I’m looking forward to the film and to the talk. Come by if you’re attending the festival – the series is free for badgeholders.
Category Archives: Film
Live at the Lounge with indieWIRE: COOL IT
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations
Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Subjects
Dear Documentary Filmmakers: I don’t have to like your main subject, but you need to engage me enough to care what happens next.
Viewers don’t necessarily have to like your protagonist (I actively dislike a lot of them…) but s/he has to inspire some emotion or at least have a story that’s intriguing enough to keep an audience watching. This is character fundamentals 101 – as a documentarian, at some point, you became convinced that this subject was worth filming for some reason – most filmmakers don’t select bland, boring protagonists. Over the long process that it often takes to get your film made, don’t get too close to your film and lose sight of that initial spark, and, especially, don’t forget to convey it to the viewers – otherwise, we may fail to connect with your subject the way you did, and we may ultimately give up on your larger story.
Filed under Dear Documentary Filmmakers, Documentary, Film
In Theatres: KINGS OF PASTRY
Opening next Wednesday, September 15: KINGS OF PASTRY
The latest film from the legendary documentary duo Chris Hegedus & DA Pennebaker screened at Sheffield Doc/Fest, IDFA, and Berlin, among other notable fests, documentary specific and otherwise.
With the tag line “16 chefs. 3 days. 1 chance.” KINGS OF PASTRY goes behind-the-scenes of the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France competition, arguably the most prestigious pastry competition in the world, held every four years – a sort of Olympics for pastry chefs established in 1924. Never before filmed, the competition (literally “Best Craftsmen of France”) takes place over three days after years of training and preparation. Hegedus and Pennebaker, craftspersons themselves, follow three of the competitors and the delectable creations they concoct for the challenge. Even though audiences may have gotten used to food competition shows like TOP CHEF or FOOD NETWORK CHALLENGE, there’s a palpable sense imparted by the filmmakers of what’s at stake for these chefs, elevating KINGS OF PASTRY from simple entertainment.
The New York Times recently featured the film here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
On TV: IN THE MATTER OF CHA JUNG HEE
Coming to POV on September 14: IN THE MATTER OF CHA JUNG HEE
Deann Borshay Liem premiered her sophomore film at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival ten years after her first documentary, FIRST PERSON PLURAL, debuted at Sundance. Like the latter film, which addressed Korean-born Borshay Liem’s adoption by an American family, her new project deals with the ghosts of her past.
When Borshay Liem came to the US, she was identified as Cha Jung Hee – but that wasn’t really her Korean name. While she played along, she’s always wondered why she had to assume a different identity and what happened to the real Cha Jung Hee. This film details her illuminating search, and emerges as an intriguing, involving, multi-layered story. While some personal films can easily slip off the edge into self-indulgence, that’s thankfully not the case here. Yes, this is very much the filmmaker’s story, but, at the same time, it will certainly resonate with other cross-cultural adoptees, as well as with anyone who likes a good mystery.
Jennifer Merin at About.com reviews the film here.
To find out more about the POV screening on PBS, click here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
On DVD: VIDEOCRACY
Now on DVD: VIDEOCRACY
Erik Gandini’s compelling exposé of Berlusconi’a Italy topped indieWIRE‘s critics poll after last year’s Toronto Film Festival, beating out COLLAPSE and THE ART OF THE STEAL to claim the Best Documentary spot. While it’s not exactly a film about the Prime Minister, it is about his media empire and its transformative, and detrimental, impact on Italian society, culture, and politics.
Described by some critics as a tragicomic “horror film,” VIDEOCRACY is a smartly constructed critique of Berlusconi, arguing that he exploited his media power to seize power, largely by training Italians to aspire to nothing more than to be or to gawk at celebrities. The viewer wants Gandini’s subjects – a clueless would be singing martial artist, a creepy agent to the stars, and a sleazy but beloved paparazzo/blackmailer/embezzler – to be satirical, Borat-like characters, but, disturbingly, they’re very much genuine. While I’ll admit to having a few guilty pleasure reality TV shows myself, seeing the depths ordinary people sink to for a taste of fame makes me think twice before watching that next show.
To order the DVD, click here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Here We Go Again
I’ve taken a long break from tweeting/posting new entries in my “Dear Documentary Filmmakers” series, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been idle. Over the past several months, I’ve been busy watching a lot of documentaries, for various purposes, and a fair amount of these films have inspired a new cycle of DDFs which I’ll be expanding upon here. I should note once again that I never identify what films inspire my DDFs, nor for which entity I was considering them. I take pains to make them general because, more often than not, the issues I have with one doc show up in other films as well, so I’m not interested in singling out the shortcomings of a specific film or filmmaker.
As I’ve explained in the past, while there’s bound to be a certain amount of snark in these tips on occasion, ultimately, they’re meant to be instructive or at least to provide a much-needed reality check.
That brings us to today’s:
Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Your collection of random YouTube videos is not a doc. At least not a good one. Stop it.
I mean, really, this almost says it all, but let me briefly expand. In its five years of existence, YouTube has emerged primarily as a place for short form content. Some users have been successful at building followers by posting series – confessional or diary-like vlogs and the like. Yes, it’s in the realm of possibility that some talented filmmaker out there might be able to craft an intelligible documentary out of a series of shorter pieces originally posted to YouTube or a site like it. However, that’s not what I’ve been seeing – instead, neophyte (at least I hope so) filmmakers have simply burned a series of unconnected or loosely connected pieces together with absolutely no rhyme or reason (or maybe the reasoning is that if it’s feature length, it must be a feature?) on a DVD and submitted it as a “feature.” Doing something like this neither results in a feature, nor in a documentary, that is well-crafted or is likely to be seen outside the confines of YouTube. It betrays a lack of filmmaking skill and a lack of understanding of the kinds of projects that are typically considered by festivals or broadcasters. Plus, while it might be mildly amusing to watch Charlie biting my finger on YouTube for a minute, it would become incredibly tedious once expanded to feature length…
Filed under Dear Documentary Filmmakers, Documentary, Film
Workshop: Documentaries & Film Festivals
On Wednesday, October 6, 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.
As the title of this post suggests, I’m covering 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 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.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations
On DVD: WHEN WE WERE BOYS
Being released on DVD September 7: WHEN WE WERE BOYS
Sarah Goodman’s verité portrait of adolescence had its world premiere in its hometown at Hot Docs last year, and also screened in Beijing and at True/False. The film focuses on two friends in an elite private boys’ school and the quiet, subtle changes that happen between boys and their friendships as they transition into young men.
Writing about the film after its Hot Docs premiere, I noted that Goodman’s protagonists, Noah and Colin, become indelible. While they treat the camera as if it’s not even there, they’ve already been taught to suppress their emotions – there’s an entire world going on behind these boys’ public faces, revealed in small expressions and in the complex codes of junior high school cliques. Audiences are rarely provided with such a window into the mores of male adolescence, at least not with such subtlety.
To order the DVD, click here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Funding: ITVS’ Diversity Development Fund
For nearly 20 years, The Independent Television Service (ITVS) has supported independently-produced programming for public television broadcast, focused on high-quality, challenging and though-provoking work that serves underrepresented communities. ITVS’ Diversity Development Fund is now accepting applications through November 12.
The DDF “provides up to $15,000 in research and development funding to producers of color to develop single documentary programs for public television.” Only half-hour or hour long programs are typically considered, not feature-lengths or series. Projects cannot have begun production.
Filmmakers should review their website for more information about the kinds of projects that they support, but these include CITY OF BORDERS, PROJECT KASHMIR, and OUR DISAPPEARED.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Funding Deadlines
Funding: Chicken & Egg Pictures’ Which Came First Fund
Chicken & Egg Pictures, a female filmmaker focused film fund and production company, is accepting applications for their Which Came First Fund through September 30.
Established last year, the fund “provides dedicated financial and creative support to women filmmakers who are taking on challenging, time-sensitive and complex environmental justice issues with innovative, creative and cutting-edge storytelling.”
Filmmakers should review their website for more information about the kinds of projects that they support, but these include DEEP DOWN, WHAT’S ON YOUR PLATE?, LAND OF OPPORTUNITY, and GARBAGE DREAMS.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Funding Deadlines
