Posted by editor@vimooz.com on November 5, 2009 under Ann Arbor Film Festival, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Chicago International Children's Film Festival, Cinequest Film Festival, Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Indie Memphis Film Festival, Los Angeles Film festival, Nashville Film Festival (NaFF), New Orleans Film Festival, Outfest:Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Ozark Foothills FilmFest, Phoenix Film Festival, Provincetown Film Festival, San Diego Latino Film Festival, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, San Francisco Silent Film Festival, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, St. Louis International Film Festival, The, True/False Film Festival, Tucson Jewish Film Festival, Virginia Film Festival, Wild & Scenic® Environmental Film Festival, Women's Film Festival | 
The Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has awarded $450,000 to 24 U.S. film festivals for the 2010 calendar year, Festival Grants Committee Chair Buffy Shutt announced on Wednesday.
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Posted by editor@vimooz.com on April 6, 2009 under Full Frame Documentary Film Festival |
Image from BURMA VJ - REPORTING FROM A CLOSED COUNTRY
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival announced the 2009 Festival award recipients. The 2009 awards were presented to the following films:
- Anne Dellinger Grand Jury Award - “Burma VJ - Reporting from a Closed Country” directed by Andres Østergaard
Special Jury Award - “Unmistaken Child” directed by Nati Baratz
- Full Frame Jury Award for Best Short - “12 Notes Down” directed by Andreas Koefoed
Honorable Mention - “La Chirola” directed by Diego Mondaca
Honorable Mention - “The Flying Shepherd” directed by Catalin Musat
- Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award - “Burma VJ - Reporting from a Closed Country” directed by Andres Østergaard
- The Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award - “Voices from El-Sayed”
Honorable Mention - “Unmistaken Child” directed by Nati Baratz
Honorable Mention - “William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe” directed by Sarah Kunstler and Emily Kunstler
- Full Frame Audience Award - “The Way We Get By” directed by Aron Gaudet
- HBO Emerging Filmmaker Award - “Love on Delivery” directed by Janus Metz
Honorable Mention - “45365″ directed by Bill Ross and Turner Ross
Honorable Mention - “California Company Town” directed by Lee Anne Schmitt
- Full Frame Inspiration Award - “Unmistaken Child” directed by Nati Baratz
- Full Frame President’s Award - “Oil Blue” directed by Elli Rintala
- Full Frame / Working Films Award - “Burma VJ - Reporting from a Closed Country” directed by Andres Østergaard
- The Kathleen Bryan Edwards Award for Human Rights - “Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech” directed by Liz Garbus
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival was held April 2-5 in downtown Durham with Duke University as the presenting sponsor.
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on March 27, 2009 under Full Frame Documentary Film Festival |
- “The September Issue”
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, April 2 - 5, announces Center Frame program special guests, four panel conversations, the Garrett Scott Documentary Development Recipients and the Southern Documentary Fund (SDF) In-the-Works program for the 2009 Festival.
Along with filmmaker R.J. Cutler, Vogue Editor-at-Large André Leon Talley and Creative Director, Grace Coddington will participate in a moderated conversation following the screening of “The September Issue.” Joel Salatin will join director Robert Kenner for a discussion following “Food, Inc.” Director and subject of “The Yes Men Fix the World” Mike Bonanno will attend the festival to take part in a Q&A following the Center Frame program on Friday afternoon.
Other special guests include Executive Producer DA Pennebaker and subject Wavy Gravy of “Saint Misbehavin’: The Wavy Gravy Movie,” Louis Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens of “The Cove,” Courtney Bent and Tony Knight from “Shooting Beauty,” and William Gates, Steve James and Peter Gilbert with “Hoop Dreams.” Sam Pollard, Judy Bourne, Kathe Sandler and Bill Jersey will also participate in the Career Award to St. Clair Bourne.
Filmmaker Laura Poitras (”My Country, My Country,” “Flag Wars”) will lead “Working In Conflict,” a practical guide to working in conflict zones and with repressive governments, including the U.S., that will focus on the steps documentary filmmakers take to protect themselves, their subjects, and the translators, guides, and other people they work with. Filmmakers Andrew Berends, James Longley, and Ian Olds, U.S. filmmakers who have made films in Iraq and are now working in other difficult environments, will share the strategies that they have developed through on-the-ground experience.
As an extension of his essay “Wanted: Documentary Critics,” Programmer Thom Powers, of the Toronto International Film Festival and the Stranger Than Fiction series in New York, will moderate a discussion with reviewers and filmmakers about the need for trenchant documentary film criticism.
The festival will also present a conversation around the current state of the documentary industry “State of the Doc”, moderated by Nancy Buirski, Full Frame Founder and Independent Producer, and a discussion around this year’s thematic program “This Sporting Life,” moderated by Jason Stallman, Assistant to the Sports Editor, The New York Times. Filmmakers from the series, George Butler “The Good Fight,” Barbara Kopple “Fallen Champ: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson,” and Arturo Cabanas “Man Up,” along with “Hoop Dreams” subject William Gates, will join curator Steve James for this conversation.
For the third year, Full Frame will join Ian Olds, Rachael Rakes and Thom Powers in honoring two first time filmmakers with the Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant. Only thirty-seven at the time of his death, filmmaker Garrett Scott made a distinctive mark in the documentary genre during his brief career. In his honor, the 2009 Garrett Scott Development Grant was awarded to Elinyisia Mosha for her untitled Tanzania documentary and Cameron Yates for “The Canal Street Madam”. Grant recipients will present ten-minute excerpts from their works-in-progress at the festival.
The Southern Documentary Fund (SDF) will present three works-in-progress by North Carolina filmmakers: “The Appropriate Genius,” directed by Rob Hill, “Bunny Estelle Sanders: The Mayor Who Stood Up,” directed by Erick Yates Green, and “Passing It On,” directed by Wil Weldon.
Panel conversations and work-in-progress programs are listed below, along with a list of special guests by program category.
Special Guests:
Center Frame
Robert Kenner, FOOD, INC.
Joel Salatin, FOOD, INC.
R.J. Cutler, THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE
Grace Coddington, THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE
André Leon Talley, THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE
Mike Bonanno, THE YES MEN
Special Programming
Louis Psihoyos, THE COVE
Fisher Stevens, THE COVE
William Gates, HOOP DREAMS
Peter Gilbert, HOOP DREAMS
Steve James, HOOP DREAMS
Courtney Bent, SHOOTING BEAUTY
Tony Knight, SHOOTING BEAUTY
Career Award
Judy Bourne
Sam Pollard
Bill Jersey, A TIME FOR BURNING
Kathe Sandler
This Sporting Life
Barbara Kopple, FALLEN CHAMP
George Butler, THE GOOD FIGHT
Arturo Cabanas, MAN UP
William Gates, HOOP DREAMS
Peter Gilbert, HOOP DREAMS
Steve James, THIS SPORTING LIFE / HOOP DREAMS
NEW DOCS
Wavy Gravy, SAINT MISBEHAVIN’: THE WAVY GRAVY MOVIE
Jahanara Romney, SAINT MISBEHAVIN’: THE WAVY GRAVY MOVIE
DA Pennebaker, SAINT MISBEHAVIN’: THE WAVY GRAVY MOVIE
Chris Hegedus, SAINT MISBEHAVIN’: THE WAVY GRAVY MOVIE
Denise Robinson, THE VISITORS
Panel Conversations:
State of the Doc
Documentaries have had a fragile hold on mass audiences and profits in the best of times. What now that the economy is imploding? Is the closing of specialty production and distribution houses truly a bellwether, or are doc filmmakers, ever resilient and relentless, finding new ways to make and market their films? This conversation will focus on the diverse distribution options available to documentary filmmakers, a realistic projection of their revenue, and what it takes to bring their films to various audiences. Moderated by Nancy Buirski (Full Frame Founder, Independent Producer).
This Sporting Life
Sports films have always been a thriving attraction for filmgoers. The natural dramatic arc of a season or a game has provided the structure for a wide body of entertaining and engaging films, both documentary and fiction. Why have the stories become so captivating? How much of their enduring allure depends on the characters or subjects as opposed to the overall game? In an extension of this year’s curated program, filmmakers and subjects from the series come together to discuss the ways in which documentary film continues to push the sports genre in new directions. Moderated by Jason Stallman (Assistant to the Sports Editor, The New York Times).
Wanted for Review
In November, programmer Thom Powers wrote “Wanted: Documentary Critics,” a critique of the current state of documentary criticism. It began, “Auteurism had Andrew Sarris. Abstract expressionism had Clement Greenberg. Punk rock had Lester Bangs. Where is the equivalent voice for today’s documentary scene?” Powers will address the ever-increasing discrepancy between the number of documentary films and the number of documentary critics in a discussion with reviewers and filmmakers about the need for trenchant documentary film criticism. Moderated by Thom Powers (Documentary Programmer, Toronto International Film Festival, Stranger Than Fiction).
Working in Conflict
A practical guide to working in conflict zones and with repressive governments, including the U.S., this panel will focus on the steps documentary filmmakers take to protect themselves, their subjects, and the translators, guides, and other people they work with. Unlike print or broadcast journalists, who often work for organizations that provide support, independent filmmakers often venture into dangerous places with no institutional backup. Andrew Berends, James Longley, and Ian Olds, U.S. filmmakers who have made films in Iraq and are now working in other difficult environments, will share the strategies that they have developed through on-the-ground experience. Moderated by Laura Poitras (”My Country, My Country”; “Flag Wars”).
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Posted by editor@vimooz.com on March 17, 2009 under Full Frame Documentary Film Festival |
- St. Clair Bourne, director courtesy: Full Frame Documentary Festival
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has announced its lineup of films around the 2009 Full Frame Career Award honoring St. Clair Bourne. Sam Pollard has selected six titles for the tribute, incorporating films that Bourne appreciated along with older and more recent titles from Bourne’s own body of work.
“We are very proud of the work Sam Pollard has programmed for this tribute. The fact that he has incorporated films that St. Clair Bourne talked and wrote about seems especially meaningful given Bourne’s role not only as a filmmaker but also as an avid filmgoer, someone who truly valued screening and discussing the films of others,” stated director of programming, Sadie Tillery. “In my own experience with St. Clair, he did not shy away from difficult issues, and I can only hope that if he were still with us he would be satisfied with the work we are screening in his honor.”
Friends and colleagues of St. Clair Bourne will come together to discuss his significant role in the filmmaking community, his immense body of work, and his legacy in the Career Award Ceremony on Saturday, April 4 at 5:00pm. The Ceremony will involve colleagues who Bourne both worked with and mentored over the years.
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has announced its lineup of films around the 2009 Full Frame Career Award honoring St. Clair Bourne. Sam
Pollard has selected six titles for the tribute, incorporating films that Bourne appreciated along with older and more recent titles from Bourne’s own body of work.
“We are very proud of the work Sam Pollard has programmed for this tribute. The fact that he has incorporated films that St. Clair Bourne talked and wrote about seems especially meaningful given Bourne’s role not only as a filmmaker but also as an avid filmgoer, someone who truly valued screening and discussing the films of others,” stated director of programming, Sadie Tillery. “In my own experience with St. Clair, he did not shy away from difficult issues, and I can only hope that if he were still with us he would be satisfied with the work we are screening in his honor.”
Friends and colleagues of St. Clair Bourne will come together to discuss his significant role in the filmmaking community, his immense body of work, and his legacy in the Career Award Ceremony on Saturday, April 4 at 5:00pm. The Ceremony will involve colleagues who Bourne both worked with and mentored over the years.
“Saint was a mentor to many of us young producers who were trying to establish our careers,” said Sam Pollard. “He was always available to look at our films at any stage and always there with fresh insights into how we could make our work better. He will be terribly missed.”
Guests for the Career Award Ceremony will be announced in the coming days. A list of the six films is included below.
Black Journal
Produced by St. Clair Bourne. Executive Producer William Greaves.
Excerpts from Bourne’s work as a producer at Black Journal, the first monthly public affairs program on public television by, for, and about African Americans.
In Motion: Amiri Baraka
Directed by St. Clair Bourne.
This 1983 film follows Amiri Baraka in the weeks leading up to his sentencing trial for “resisting arrest.”
John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk
Directed by St. Clair Bourne.
This film brings to life the visionary scholarship of Africanist John Henrik Clarke.
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
Directed by St. Clair Bourne.
A political coming-of-age story about African American actor, singer, and activist Paul Robeson and the nation that both adored and persecuted him.
Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song
Directed by Melvin Van Peebles.
Melvin Van Peebles’s infamous film in which he stars as a man on the run from the law after murdering two white cops who brutally beat an innocent black man.
A Time for Burning
Directed by Bill Jersey, Barbara Connell.
An earnest glimpse at race relations during the civil rights era, this film chronicles a Midwestern pastor’s attempts to engage his all-white congregation in conversation with members of an African American sister church.
The 2009 Full Frame Documentary Festival will be held April 2 - 5, in Durham, N.C.
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on March 16, 2009 under Full Frame Documentary Film Festival |
- Image from ‘Blind Loves” Courtesy: Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has announced its Special Programming lineup for the 12th annual festival, April 2 - 5, 2009. This section will feature 17 films, including three Center Frame programs and two free screenings, each featuring moderated conversations following the films. A list of special guests will be released in the coming days, along with details on panels and the 2009 Career Award.
The festival is also very proud to announce the 2009 Opening Night Film “Sons of Cuba,” which follows young athletes in the Havana Boxing Academy through months of training as they prepare for Cuba’s National Boxing Championship for Under-12’s.
“We are honored to feature the World Premiere of Andrew Lang’s ‘Sons of Cuba’ on Opening Night, especially with our focus on sports this year,” said director of programming, Sadie Tillery. “With remarkable access, this film reveals the experiences of young boxers in Cuba, encouraging us to engage with characters and culture through the lens of sports. We cannot imagine a better way to begin the festival.”
Special Programming includes:
OPENING NIGHT FILM: Sons of Cuba (Hijos de Cuba) World Premiere
Directed by Andrew Lang.
A rare behind-the-scenes look at the legendary Havana Boxing Academy, where young boys train to be champions and bring honor to their country.
Sponsored by the American Tobacco Campus and Capitol Broadcasting Company.
CENTER FRAME: Food, Inc.
Directed by Robert Kenner.
From factory farms to patented seeds, this film skillfully untangles the twisted knot of farm policy, lobbying, engineering, and corporate greed that has drastically altered the landscape of American farming since the 1950s.
CENTER FRAME: The September Issue
Directed by R.J. Cutler.
Photographers, models, and haute couture collide in this inside look at the creation of Vogue’s notorious fall edition, product of the collective genius of Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour and Creative Director Grace Coddington.
CENTER FRAME: The Yes Men Fix the World
Directed by Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno.
Join The Yes Men as they battle the free market mentality with their politically charged hijinks in this fastpaced, entertaining look at their unique brand of activism.
FREE STUDENT SCREENING: Shooting Beauty World Premiere
Directed by George Kachadorian.
A photographer works to enable a group of people living with severe disabilities to take their own pictures, revealing the powerful effects of self-expression.
Sponsored by the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation.
FREE COMMUNITY SCREENING: Hoop Dreams
Directed by Steve James.
Steve James’s deeply moving film follows Arthur Agee, Jr., and William Gates as they strive to achieve professional basketball stardom and escape poverty in Chicago.
Sponsored by the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation.
24 City
Directed by Jia Zhang-ke.
In an ode to China’s transforming economy, a factory morphs into an apartment complex while communism gives way to capitalism.
7915 KM US Premiere
Directed by Nikolaus Geyrhalter.
An unflinching look at the landscapes, both human and topographical, along the route of the infamous 7,915-kilometer Dakar Rally.
Anatomy - Skin, Heart, Muscle North American Premiere
Directed by Rhys Graham, Amy Gebhardt, Natasha Gadd.
This triptych of films portrays a tattooed retiree, a painter’s muse, and a trio of acrobats as they reflect on their bodies, their identities, their mortality, and their legacies.
Blind Loves
Directed by Juraj Lehotsky.
Four stories of characters searching for love, and finding it, without the gift of sight.
The Cove
Directed by Louie Psihoyos.
A small inlet in Japan holds an immense secret, with horrifying consequences for the future of dolphins, as well as for our oceans.
Earth Days
Directed by Robert Stone.
This film takes us back to the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970 as it recounts the nearly forty year history of the efforts that continue to shape our world.
Every Little Step
Directed by James D. Stern, Adam Del Deo.
An unprecedented look at the audition and casting process of a major Broadway musical, the 2006 revival of Michael Bennett’s beloved show about casting, “A Chorus Line.”
Miroir Noir US Premiere
Directed by Vincent Morrisett.
Arcade Fire makes beautiful and moody music and Vincent Morrisett has made a beautiful and moody film about the making of their critically acclaimed 2007 album “Neon Bible.”
Objectified
Directed by Gary Hustwit.
From potato peelers to iPhones, Gary Hustwit’s latest project brings us behind the scenes of our manufactured environment and introduces us to those who have created the (material) world we live in.
Out of Focus
Directed by Tomer Heymann.
Renowned choreographer Ohad Naharin of the Batsheva Dance Company demonstrates the ways his unique philosophy of movement, “Gaga,” transforms the bodies and minds of dancers across all forms.
Wounded Knee
Directed by Stanley Nelson.
A gripping account of the dramatic 71-day standoff between federal agents and members of the Oglala Lakota Tribe who seized the village of Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
Along with the Special Programming lineup, the festival has announced six additional films for the NEW DOCS program:
Carmen Meets Borat North American Premiere
Directed by Mercedes Stalenhoef.
Carmen, just 17, dreams of leaving Glod, Romania, for the allure of Spain, but when Sasha Baron Cohen rolls through town to film “Borat,” life at home perks up-and then turns sour when the townspeople discover how they have been portrayed.
Forgetting Dad North American Premiere
Directed by Rick Minnich, Matthew Sweetwood.
In this personal detective story, co-director Rick Minnich retraces the events in the weeks before and after his father’s suspiciously convenient memory loss.
The Lower Ninth Ward World Premiere
Directed by Lucia Small.
Drifting images underscored by an atmospheric soundtrack capture a brief but distinctively haunting representation of the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The Queen and I
Directed by Nahid Persson Sarvestani.
An exiled Iranian filmmaker and one-time revolutionary interviews the wife of the former Shah of Iran, Queen Farah Diba Pahlavi, over the course of two years and forges an unexpectedly warm-if wary-connection.
Salt North American Premiere
Directed by Michael Angus, Murray Fredericks.
Every year Murray Fredericks pitches camp in the middle of a desolate salt flat in South Australia to photograph a kaleidoscopic array of brilliant color and subtle movement.
War Against the Weak
Directed by Justin Strawhand.
A cinematic adaptation of Edwin Black’s book of the same name, this film unveils chilling examples of American eugenics, presenting a disquieting analysis of an obscured history.
The 2009 Full Frame Documentary Festival will be held April 2 - 5, in Durham, N.C., with Duke University as a presenting sponsor. Full Frame’s film schedule will be announced March 19, and advanced tickets go on sale March 23.
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on March 15, 2009 under Full Frame Documentary Film Festival |
With less than a month before the 12th annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, The New York Times has stepped down as a presenting sponsor, citing financial reasons. The New York Times has been a presenting sponsor through a media trade agreement since 2001.
“This is extremely disappointing news” said Peg Palmer, Executive Director of the Festival. “However, I certainly understand how newspapers are faring in the current economic climate. We are grateful to the Times for their past support of the Festival and will look forward to working with them, perhaps in a different way, in the future. We are very thankful for the continued support this year of our many sponsors including Duke University, The City of Durham, A&E IndieFilms, HBO Documentary Films, Quince Imaging, American Tobacco Campus and Capitol Broadcasting, among others.”
The 2009 Full Frame Documentary Festival will be held April 2 - 5, in Durham, N.C., with Duke University as a presenting sponsor. Festival passes can be purchased until March 15, online at www.fullframefest.org or by calling Etix, the festival’s ticketing partner at 1-800- 514-3849. Full Frame’s film schedule will be announced March 19, and advanced tickets go on sale March 23.
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on March 12, 2009 under Full Frame Documentary Film Festival |
- Maletilla. Directed by Victoria Clay-Mendoza. (Courtesy Full Frame Documentary Film Festival)
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has announced 10 titles as part of the 2009 Thematic Program - This Sporting Life. Steve James, director of the acclaimed “Hoop Dreams” has curated this series of fiction and non-fiction films, including work that has contributed to the evolution of the contemporary sports film as well as more recent titles that continue to push the genre in new directions.
“After considering so many fine films for the series, I am really happy with the selections we’ve made. They demonstrate the range and vibrancy of filmmaking that’s going on within the genre of sports,” comments Steve James. “And it was particularly fun to put together a program that includes films from the worlds of documentary and fiction. I mean, what could be better than having a special Full Frame screening of ‘Slap Shot?’”
Support for Full Frame’s This Sporting Life thematic series was provided by the Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Film titles include:
Fallen Champ: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson
Directed by Barbara Kopple.
Academy Award-winner Barbara Kopple portrays the swift rise and precipitous fall of one of boxing’s most complicated figures.
The Good Fight Work-in-Progress
Directed by George Butler.
One of the winningest coaches in college football, Bobby Bowden leads the Florida State team through the 2006 season-one of the toughest they ever faced-on a regimen of hard-core training and Baptist devotion.
Maletilla
Directed by Victoria Clay-Mendoza.
Three up-and-coming bullfighters introduce us to the existential mysteries of the revered, violent, and intoxicatingly graceful relationship between man and bull.
Man Up
Directed by Arturo Cabanas.
A young boy and his well-intentioned soldier father, who dreams of training his son to be a champion wrestler, grapple with the chasm growing between them.
Paper Lion
Directed by Alex March.
Alan Alda stars as George Plimpton, the famous reporter who went undercover as a Detroit Lion quarterback to get an inside look at the 1963 NFL season.
RANK
Directed by John Hyams.
Welcome to the saddle-busting, bone-breaking world of bull riding, where only the toughest cowboys can make it through a season to the final competition and its purse of one million dollars.
The Red Race
Directed by Chao Gan.
Young Chinese children, many of them from poor and rural areas, train relentlessly for Olympic glory, in part out of a crushing sense of obligation to their families, their coaches, and their nation.
Slap Shot
Directed by George Roy Hill.
Paul Newman has the time of his life playing an aging hockey player-coach concocting outrageous schemes to save his team from the economic collapse afflicting their hometown.
This Sporting Life
Directed by Lindsay Anderson.
Down-and-out coal miner Frank Machin, masterfully played by Richard Harris, rises to rugby league glory but fails at love in Lindsay Anderson’s first narrative film.
Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait
Directed by Philippe Parreno, Douglas Gordon.
Part experimental film, part subversive biography, part installation piece, and part sporting event, this film transports the viewer into the mythical zone that elite athletes at the top of their game inhabit.
In addition to the This Sporting Life thematic series, and in honor of Steve James’s involvement with this year’s festival, Full Frame has programmed a free community screening of “Hoop Dreams.” Steve James’s deeply moving film follows Arthur Agee, Jr., and William Gates as they strive to achieve professional basketball stardom and escape poverty in Chicago. The screening will take place in Fletcher Hall at the Carolina Theater on Saturday, April 4, at 10:00am. Following the screening, Steve James and William Gates will participate in a moderated conversation. Special support for the free screening was provided by the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation.
“Modestly, Steve James did not choose to include one of his own films, the seminal sports classic “Hoop Dreams,” in the thematic program. However, as one of the single most influential sports films ever made, we could not miss the opportunity to offer our audiences the chance to see this classic on the big screen,” said Sadie Tillery, Full Frame’s director of programming. “We are thrilled to present this event as a free screening for our community and are especially honored that Steve James and William Gates will be in attendance.”
The 2009 Full Frame Documentary Festival will be held April 2 - 5, in Durham, N.C., with Duke University and The New York Times as presenting sponsors. Festival passes can be purchased until March 15, online at www.fullframefest.org or by calling Etix, the festival’s ticketing partner at 1-800- 514-3849. Full Frame’s film schedule will be announced March 19, and advanced tickets go on sale March 23.
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on March 5, 2009 under Full Frame Documentary Film Festival |
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, April 2-5, has announced the 2009 film selections for the NEW DOCS program. After considering over 1,200 submissions, the festival has released 55 NEW DOCS titles, included below.
In the coming weeks, Full Frame will announce additions to the NEW DOCS program, along with film listings for the festival’s other sections; the 2009 Career Award honoring St. Clair Bourne, the 2009 Thematic Program “This Sporting Life,” and Special Programming.
Peg Palmer, Full Frame’s executive director comments, “We are excited about this year’s Festival and the NEW DOCS program. In a year where the reality of our economy is sobering and we’re all examining priorities, a documentary program can evoke memories of fundamental truths and patterns in human nature. We’re honored to host the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in a time when nothing can be taken for granted, and we are immensely proud of the work we are presenting.”
The 2009 Full Frame Documentary Festival will be held April 2 - 5, in Durham, N.C., with Duke University and The New York Times as presenting sponsors. Festival passes can be purchased until March 15, online at www.fullframefest.org or by calling Etix, the festival’s ticketing partner at 1-800- 514-3849. Full Frame’s film schedule will be announced March 19, and advanced tickets go on sale March 23.
45365
Directed by Bill Ross, Turner Ross. Produced by Bill Ross. USA. 93 min.
Deftly captured and assembled vignettes of life in Sidney, Ohio provide an enduring depiction of American existence.
12 Notes Down (12 Toner ned) North American Premiere
Directed by Andreas Koefoed. Produced by Caroline Blanco. Denmark. 26 min.
This touching portrayal of transition follows a talented adolescent as he is forced to abandon his longstanding role in the Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir when his youthful voice begins to drop.
Adjust Your Color: The Truth of Petey Greene
Directed by Loren Mendell. Produced by Bob DeMars. USA. 52 min.
Ralph Petey Greene was Washington, DC’s incendiary voice of the people from the sixties to the eighties. What a voice and what style!
Art & Copy
Directed by Doug Pray. Produced by Michael Nadeau, Jimmy Greenway. USA. 86 min.
Where’s the Beef? Got Milk? Just Do It. Here are the creative people behind our most iconic ads.
Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo
Directed by Jessica Oreck. Produced by Jessica Oreck, Akito Kawahara, Maiko Endo. USA/Japan. 90 min.
A look at how steadfastly the Japanese revere insects, from celebrating their place in history and literature to collecting them as pets.
Between Dreams North American Premiere
Directed by Iris Olsson. Produced by Nisi Masa, Mirumir, Moviement. Finland/Russia/France. 10 min.
Traveling by train across the Trans-Siberian landscape, passengers in a third-class sleeping car share their dreams, both hopeful and haunting. Which ones will come true?
Bitch Academy
Directed by Alina Rudnitskaya. Produced by Vyacheslav Telnov. Russia. 29 min.
In St. Petersburg, bitch really is the new black as attractive and accomplished young women enroll in the Vixen Academy to learn how to “turn off their heads” around men and dance like strippers for imaginary sugar daddies.
Boy Interrupted
Directed and Produced by Dana Perry. USA. 92 min.
Filmmaker Dana Perry reveals an extraordinarily personal document of her son’s mental illness and the grief and questions surrounding his eventual suicide at the age of 15.
Burma VJ
Directed by Anders Østergaard. Produced by Lise Lense-Møller. Denmark. 85 min.
This riveting film shows how activists in Myanmar use camcorders to document the brutality of the military regime, smuggling the footage out of the country in the hopes of an international outcry.
California Company Town
Directed and produced by Lee Anne Schmitt. USA. 77 min.
Combining contemporary and archival footage, this haunting film unfolds as a series of portraits of abandoned company towns, where the mishmash of kitsch, cultural detritus, and natural majesty reveals the lost promise of the United States’ frontier.
Camp Diaries World Premiere
Directed and produced by William Noland. USA. 15 min.
A chilling reminder of what fear can do to democracy, this film juxtaposes World War II-era US propaganda films with Dorothea Lange’s subtly subversive photographs of the puzzled and demoralized inmates of the Japanese internment camps.
China’s Wild West
Directed by Urszula Pontikos. Produced by Michael Riley. United Kingdom. 10 min.
This mesmerizing short captures the relentless and often unfulfilling quest for jade - a gem 40 times more valuable than gold - in the dried beds of China’s Yurungkash River.
La Chirola North American Premiere
Directed and produced by Diego Mondaca. Bolivia. 26 min.
A lyrical meditation on what really constitutes imprisonment, this film follows the rueful recollections of an ex-con who finds life on the outside more lonely than in la chirola (jail).
Eden End North American Premiere
Directed and produced by Enrique R. Baixeras. Spain. 10 min.
This hypnotic compilation film pairs a lush Chopin score with archival footage from mid-century travel films to stage a cinematic fall from grace: here, fossil-fuel-powered machines and the desire to encounter the exotic, rather than apples and demon reptiles, conspire to destroy the Garden.
The Flying Shepherd US Premiere
Directed by Catalin Musat. Produced by Roxana Comes. Romania. 26 min.
Romanian shepherds and their sheep find a way to get along with “the German,” owner of a hang-gliding business, and his airstrip in this meditative study of lifestyles in collision.
Hair India North American Premiere
Directed by Raffaele Brunetti, Marco Leopardi. Produced by Raffaele Brunetti. Italy. 75 min.
A story about beauty in our globalized world, this film follows the journey of a young Indian girl’s hair as it transforms from a religious offering to a movie star’s accessory.
The Kinda Sutra
Directed by Jessica Yu. Produced by Patrick Degan, Anne Clements. USA. 8 min.
A whimsical mix of interview and animation shows the childhood confusion about where babies come from.
Lady Kul el-Arab
Directed by Ibtisam Mara’ana. Produced by Barak Heymann, Timna Goldstein-Hattav. Israel. 56 min.
A Druze Arab girl from Jerusalem is caught in a bitter struggle between tradition and ambition as she moves on from the local “Lady of the Arabs” beauty pageant to the Miss Israel competition, which demands a swimsuit round that violates the standards of her religion and community.
Leavenworth, WA North American Premiere
Directed and produced by Hannes Lang. Germany/USA. 30 min.
Germans observe Americans who dress as Germans in an American town made to look like a Bavarian village.
Love on Delivery (Fra Thailand til Thy)
Directed by Janus Metz. Produced by Jesper Jack, Henrik Veileborg. Denmark. 59 min.
A beautifully photographed document of the awkwardly sweet courtship between Kae, a Thai woman visiting her aunt in Denmark, and Kjeld, the young Dane who answered her personal ad.
Luber Aloft (Lüber in der Luft) US Premiere
Directed by Anna-Lydia Florin. Produced by Stella Händler. Switzerland. 81 min.
A cinematic portrait of the works of Swiss performance artist Heinrich Lüber, who defies gravity, proportion and comfort with his human installations.
Ma Bar
Directed and produced by Finlay Pretsell, Adrian McDowall. United Kingdom. 12 min.
Bench-pressing over 350 pounds at the age of 74, competitive powerlifter Bill McFadyen defies our ideas of what it is to be a senior citizen.
Mechanical Love
Directed by Phie Ambo. Produced by Sigrid Helene Dyekjaer. Denmark. 79 min.
Exploring the possibility of love between humans and robots, Mechanical Love challenges conceptions of companionship and loneliness in the modern age.
The Memories of Angels (La mémoire des anges) US Premiere
Directed by Luc Bourdon. Produced by Christian Medawar. Canada. 80 min.
A sweeping portrait of Montreal comprised of excerpts from 120 different films made in the 1950s and ’60s.
Merely a Smell (Moujarad Raiha)
Directed by Maher Abi Samra. Produced by Maher Abi Samra. Lebanon. 10 min.
The haunting, infernal beauty of this depiction of rescue workers digging through rubble and of empty coffins being loaded onto a truck makes the horror of the 2006 bombing of Beirut all the more palpable.
Milking the Rhino
Directed and produced by David E. Simpson. USA. 83 min.
Environmentalists struggling to protect the wildlife on the African continent run into resistance from local residents who see game management as a remnant of Western colonialism at odds with their need to make a living ranching and farming.
O’er the Land
Directed and produced by Deborah Stratman. USA. 52 min.
An experimental filmmaker weaves emblematic images of patriotism and of the American experience into an evocative essay on freedom as defined by The American Way.
Objectified
Directed and produced by Gary Hustwit. USA/United Kingdom. 75 min.
From potato peelers to iPhones, Gary Hustwit’s latest project brings us behind the scenes of our manufactured environment and introduces us to those who have created the (material) world we live in.
Oblivion
Directed by Heddy Honigmann. Produced by Carmen Cobos. The Netherlands. 93 min.
A portrait of modern Peru, as told by the bartenders, vendors, craftsmen, and street performers who struggle, with great resilience, to survive in the midst of the political corruption.
Oil Blue (VÄYLÄ) North American Premiere
Directed by Elli Rintala. Produced by Arttu Nurmi. Finland. 25 min.
An oil tanker travels the Baltic Sea as humans, technology, and nature converge in unexpected ways in this quiet, lyrical film. Read more of this article »
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on January 9, 2009 under Full Frame Documentary Film Festival |
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has announced that filmmaker Steve James, director of the critically acclaimed “Hoop Dreams,” will curate a series of sports films for the festival’s 2009 thematic program. In recent years, Full Frame has screened James’ “Stevie,” “Reel Paradise,” and “At the Death House Door,” which received the 2008 Full Frame Inspiration Award.
“When Full Frame approached me about curating a series of sports films, it took me two seconds to say yes,” James said. “Maybe it has something to do with a lifelong fascination with sports and film. And I’ve been a fan of how Full Frame selects a topic each year to do a series of films around. It challenges the viewer to engage with documentaries both thematically and historically, something that doesn’t happen enough in the festival world.”
According to James, many talented directors over the decades have been attracted to sports as a setting for their films because of the powerful potential for drama, high stakes of personal failure, success, and possible redemption.
Featuring documentary and fiction films, the 2009 thematic series entitled “This Sporting Life” will include some of the lesser-seen dramatic films that take place in the world of sports. Selections will include those that specifically anticipated the emergence of the sports genre in documentary filmmaking, which continues to be honest, vibrant, and original. Support for the thematic series was provided by the Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Additionally, this year’s Festival will honor eminent documentary filmmaker St. Clair Bourne with the 2009 Career Award. Bourne died suddenly in December 2007 at the age of 64. In his 36-year career, he produced or directed more than 40 films including “Making ‘Do the Right Thing,’” “Paul Robeson: Here I Stand,” and “John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk”. Filmmaker Sam Pollard will curate a selection of Bourne’s films to be exhibited at the Festival, incorporating Bourne’s early work, his more prominent titles, and films that influenced his career.
“Saint was a mentor to many of us young producers who were trying to establish our careers,” said Pollard. “He was always available to look at our films at any stage and always there with fresh insights into how we could make our work better. He will be terribly missed.”
A great friend of Full Frame and a regular presence at the Durham festival, Bourne curated the 2006 thematic series “Class in America” and was a curator in the 2007 10th Anniversary program “The Power of Ten.” Full Frame is honored to celebrate Bourne’s extensive body of work and his significant role in the filmmaking community at this year’s festival.
In other program news, Full Frame is considering more than 1,200 films for the NEW DOCS program to be presented at this year’s festival. NEW DOCS will feature 60 selected documentaries and is the largest program of films at the Festival. Official selections will be announced March 5, 2009.
The 2009 Full Frame Documentary Festival will be held April 2 - 5, in Durham, N.C., with Duke University and The New York Times as presenting sponsors.
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on December 11, 2008 under Full Frame Documentary Film Festival |
Just in time for the holiday gift-buying season, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has announced that passes for the 2009 festival are now available. The 12th annual four-day film festival, slated for April 2 - 5, will bring filmmakers and film lovers together from around the world to enjoy documentary films and fascinating discussions.