Blood Brother Wins Top Prize at 2013 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

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A film about a young man who set aside his comfortable life to help children at an AIDS orphanage in India won the top prize at the 2013 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.  The film, “Blood Brother,” a 93-minute film directed by Steve Hoover, was named Best Feature Documentary.

“Not Yet Begun to Fight,” by Sabrina Lee and Shasta Grenier, won the 2013 Big Sky Award, given each year to the best documentary film about the American West. The 60-minute film tells the story of a retired Marine colonel who brings five traumatically wounded military veterans to Montana to learn to fly fish. Notably, that film’s director of photography, Justin Lubke, himself won the Big Sky Award in 2008 for his film, “Class C.”

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in downtown Missoula, Missouri Kicks Off On Friday

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The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival takes place February 15-24, 2013 at the Crystal Theatre and the historic Wilma Theatre in downtown Missoula, Missouri.

This year’s festival kicks off February 15 with a free screening of “First Comes Love” sponsored by HBO Documentary Films. Described as "A wry autobiographical story of a single woman choosing to have a baby on her own," “First Comes Love” premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Announces 2013 Film Lineup, Opens With Nina Davenport’s First Comes Love

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Big Sky Documentary Film Festival announced the official selections for the 10th annual festival, being held February 15-24, 2013 at the Historic Wilma and Crystal Theaters in downtown Missoula, Montana.  The 2013 program was curated from more than 1000 entries from around the globe.  The opening night film, Nina Davenport’s “First Comes Love," will be free and open to the public, courtesy of HBO Documentary Films.

In addition to special programming events and the competitive selections, the 10th Big Sky Documentary Film Festival will celebrate a decade of non-fiction movie programming with a "Best 10 of 10" series, re-screening some of the greatest films ever shown at Big Sky.  This special "Best of" screening series is sponsored by Humanities Montana.  Additionally, the 2013 Retrospective Series will feature MacArthur Fellow, Stanley Nelson.  Nelson’s films have aired on the prestigious PBS series' American Experience, American Masters, and Independent Lens.  In 2006 his film “Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple" was shortlisted for the Academy Awards in the Documentary Feature category.

The Big Sky Doc Shop, an industry-focused four-day event that offers documentary filmmakers opportunities for networking, discussion, and professional development, through workshops, panels, and the annual Big Sky Documentary Pitch session will begin Monday, February 18th. The Documentary Pitch Session panelists include some of the top non-fiction commissioning editors in television representing BBC Storyville, POV/The American Documentary, CNN, ITVS, and the Sundance Documentary Fund.

2013 OFFICAL SELECTIONS

Brian Bolsters film THE LOOKOUT and Jeff Orlowsskis CHASING ICE Win Top Awards at 2012 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

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The 9th annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival announced this year's award winning films in the four competitive categories: Best Feature, Big Sky Award, Best Short Film and Best Mini Doc (under 15 minutes) on Thursday evening at a ceremony at The Loft in downtown Missoula. Each category winner will receive $500, courtesy of The Documentary Channel.

FEATURE FILM COMPETITION  The Best Feature prize was awarded to Jeff Orlowsskis CHASING ICE,  about National Geographic environmental photographer James Blalog.  Jurors Amy Shattsky and Ben Fowlie called the film, an extremely timely and important documentary about one man's journey to demonstrate global warming in action by photographing the recession of the glaciers. Touching, terrifying and informative, we feel the highs, lows, frustrations and joys of the ultimate success of his experiment. Through a patient and thoughtful filmmaking approach, the director vividly captures the power and awe of the glaciers falling apart. As they recede into the ocean, the glaciers cry out, warning us of the peril that our planet is in.

SHORT FILM COMPETITION  Reva Goldberg and Caveh Zahedi awarded the Short Film prize to Matt Leighs BLUE RINSE, a sweet observational film set in a Dublin hair salon.  They also awarded an Artistic Vision Award to KUDZU VINE by Josh Gibson.

MINI-DOC COMPETITION  Yance Ford awarded the Mini Doc awarded to MR SMITHS PEACH SEEDS, Stewart Copelands beautifully realized portrait of Tennessee folk artist Roger Smith.

BIG SKY AWARD  Brian Bolsters film THE LOOKOUT received the Big Sky Award, presented by filmmakers Marshall Curry and Beth Harrington. In addition, Audrey Halls film about portrait artist Hugh Wilson was give an Artistic Excellence Award.

All awarded films will re-screen the final weekend of the festival.

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Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Announces Official Selections for 2012 Festival

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Big Sky Documentary Film Festival has announced the official selections for their ninth annual event to be held in Missoula, Montana February 17-26, 2012, at the Historic Wilma Theatre.  The 144 film program, culled from nearly 1000 entries from all over the world will feature a free opening night screening of Matthew Akers's new film Marina Abramovi  The Artist is Present .

The Festival will feature three venues this year - two screens at the Wilma and a third at the Crystal Theater, 515 South Higgins on the Hip Strip.  "This is going to be an incredibly exciting year," said Festival Director, Mike Steinberg. "The energy and joy inherent in this year's line-up is a reflection of the enormous support we have seen from our community and our national and local sponsors".

The Official Selections for the 2012 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival:

OPENING NIGHT FILM
Marina Abramovic The Artist is Present (Director: Matthew Akers)
Free Screening sponsored by HBO Documentary Films
(Filmmakers in Attendance)

CLOSING NIGHT FILM
Under African Skies    (Director: Joe Berlinger)


FEATURE FILM COMPETITION
Andrew Bird: Fever Year (Director: Xan Aranda)
Battle For Brooklyn (Directors: Suki Hawley & Michael Galinsky)
Calvet (Director: Dominic Allan)
The Carrier (Director: Margaret Betts)
Chasing Ice (Director: Jeff Orlowski)
Faceless (Director: Jason Lapeyre)
Laura (Director: Fillipe Gamarona Barbosa) {jathumbnail off}

8th annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Competition Awards

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The judges of the 8th annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival have announced this year's award winning films in the four competitive categories: Best Feature, Big Sky Award, Best Short Film and Best Mini Doc (under 15 minutes). The awards were announced Thursday evening at a ceremony at The Loft in downtown Missoula. The Feature Category winner will receive $1000, while the films in the other three categories will receive a cash prize of $500, courtesy of The Documentary Channel.

This year's jury included Andrew Catauro of POV, Michael Lumpkin of the International Documentary Association, Ian McCluskey from NW Documentary, Kate Pearson of the Documentary Channel, Tracy Rector of Longhouse Media, Oscar-winning filmmaker Chuck Workman and Paco de Onis & Pamela Yates of Skylight Pictures, the makers of GRANITO.

At a reception sponsored by the Documentary Channel, the jury announced the following awards:

FEATURE FILM COMPETITION The Best Feature prize was awarded to Thomas Burstyn's THIS WAY OF LIFE, a story of one family's struggles and success at forging a simple life based around horses, hunting, and being together. Jurors Kate Pearson and Ian McCluskey noted that "despite being evicted from their home, having their horses stolen, and their subsistence lifestyle counter to the forward pressure of modernity, this family demonstrates genuine perseverance and commitment to each other. With candid personal interviews, lots of gorgeous scenery, the filmmakers create an authentic portrait of a marginal, and marginalized, way of life, that has, at its center, areal heartbeat of human love."

FEATURE FILM, ARTISTIC VISION AWARD Judges Kate Pearson and Ian McCluskey chose STEAM OF LIFE for the Feature Film Artistic Vision award. They herald the film as a masterpiece, "from the tender opening scene between husband and wife who have bathed each other in their sauna for 51 years, the audience knows they are in for a very special treat. This documentary, directed by Joonas Berghall and Mika Hotakainen, takes viewers into the small confines of saunas to reveal sad men, old men, fathers and sons. It is a film simple in concept, elegant in execution, and haunting for the emotional depth of raw human experience. With an ebb and flow like the water on the sauna rocks, this film breathes with a life all its own."

SHORT FILM COMPETITION Michael Lumpkin and Chuck Workman awarded the Short Film prize to Goro Toshimas BROKEN DOORS.  The film follows a young, homeless couple, struggling to survive on the streets of Hollywood, as they confront one of the biggest challenges of their lives, an unexpected pregnancy.

MINI-DOC Jurors Paco de Onis and Pamela Yates awarded the prize to Kevin Gordon and Rebekah Meredith's, DREAMS AWAKE, a meditation on immigration through the life and poetry of Doroteo Garcia, a janitor who discovered his artistic and political voice in the United States.

MINI-DOC, ARTISTIC VISION MICHAEL AND HIS DRAGON by Briar March, was described by judges Paco de Onis and Pamela Yates as "a refreshing and poetic insight into the experience of post traumatic disorder, told from the perspective of a contemporary veteran".

BIG SKY AWARD WINNER Director Kevin Gordon (who also garnered this year's Mini Doc Award for his film DREAMS AWAKE) received the award for his film TUNED IN, a documentary that takes us on a sonic journey into the world of Steve McGreevy, one natural radio pioneer and his efforts to capture these mesmerizing sounds.

BIG SKY AWARD, ARTISTIC VISION Judges Andrew Catauro and Tracy Rector noted that "Nick Brandestini's artistic achievement, DARWIN, crafted an honest account of a place. In the inhospitable California desert, Darwin sustains 35 residents--each of whom blazed their own trail into what is ironically a one road town. As Connie and Hank Jones remark in the film 'no one here is interested in who you were, or who you could be; only who you are today.' Their neighbors meet them where they're at, and Nick did the same. To characters who may be considered society's fringe, DARWIN gives voice -- creating a carefully woven quilt of personalities and stories."

The Awards Screenings will take place in the Wilma Theatre, February
19 & 20,  The schedule for this weekend's screenings is as follows:

Saturday, February 19 at 8:00pm
DREAMS AWAKE - 7 mins
MICHAEL AND HIS DRAGON - 6 mins
TUNED IN - 5 mins
DARWIN - 86 mins

Sunday, February 20 at 8:00pm
BROKEN DOORS - 34 mins
THIS WAY OF LIFE - 85 mins
STEAM OF LIFE - 81 mins

[ via Big Sky Documentary Film Festival ]

Big Sky 2011 Opens Friday with Free Screening of How To Die In Oregon

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Big Sky Documentary Film Festival kicks off its 8th year this Friday at the historic Wilma Theatre in downtown Missoula with a FREE screening of Peter D. Richardson's film, HOW TO DIE IN OREGON, sponsored by HBO Documentary Films.

Making its Montana premiere in the festival's American Spectrum strand, HOW TO DIE IN OREGON tells the stories of terminally ill Oregonians as they decide whether to end their life under the state's Death with Dignity Act. What emerges is a complex, poignant, and deeply moving portrait of what it means to die at the time and circumstance of ones choosing. Just last month the film won the prestigious Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Documentary Competition at Sundance Film Festival.

The free HBO screening marks the fifth year the cable network has sponsored an opening night film at Big Sky.  "Its an amazingly generous sponsorship" says Festival Director, Mike Steinberg. "HBO makes it possible for us to start our event with a lot of energy. It's really a wonderful gift to this community."

HOW TO DIE IN OREGON screens Friday, February 11 at 6.30pm,  Q&A with director Peter D. Richardson follows the FREE screening.

[via press release]

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Announces Official Selections for 2011 Festival

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Big Sky Documentary Film Festival has announced the official selections for their eighth annual event to be held in Missoula, Montana February 11-20, at the Historic Wilma Theatre.  The 140 film program, culled from nearly 1000 entries from all over the world will feature a live performance by indy rock band Yo La Tengo, a free opening night screening of Peter D. Richardsons How To Die In Oregon (sponsored by HBO Documentary Films), a retrospective of films by venerable filmmaker Chuck Workman, and more than twenty-five World, North American and US premiers of new non-fiction films.

The Festival will feature three venues this year--two screens at the Wilma and a special screening room at the former Pipestone Mountaineering store at 129 W. Front Street in downtown Missoula.  In every way, the festival continues to grow, said Festival Director, Mike Steinberg. Its a clear reflection of the enormous support we have from our community and our national and local sponsors.

Film info, passes and tickets for Yo La Tengo are available on the festival website. Tickets for Yo La Tengo can also be purchased at Ear Candy Music, 624 South Higgins Avenue.


The Official Selections for the 2011 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival:

OPENING NIGHT FILM
How to Die in Oregon (Director: Peter D. Richardson)
Free Screening sponsored by HBO Documentary Films


FEATURE FILM COMPETITION
Corner Store (Director: Katherine Bruens)
Feathered Cocaine (Director: rn Marino Arnarson & Thorkell S. Hardarson)
Granito (Director: Pamela Yates)
Holy Wars (Director: Stephen Marshall)
Kati With An I  (Director: Robert Greene)
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth (Director: Chad Friedricks)
Steam of Life (Directors: Joonas Berghall, Mika Hotakainen)
Summer Pasture (Directors: Nelson Walker, Lynn True)
This Way of Life (Director: Thomas Burstyn)
Troubadours (Director: Morgan Neville)
The Two Escobars (Directors: Jeff Zimbalist, Michael Zimbalist)
We Still Live Here (Director: Anne Makepeace)


SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Albert's Winter (Director: Andreas Koefoed)
Broken Doors (Director: Goro Toshims)
Indelible Mark (Director: David Alvarado)
Sin Pais (Without Country), (Director: Theo Rigby)
This Chair Is Not Me (Director: Andy Taylor Smith)
Yizkor (Remembrance) (Director: Ruth Fertig)


MINI-DOC COMPETITION
Bye (Director: Anthony Morrison)
Dreams Awake (Directors: Kevin Gordon, Rebekah Meredith)
Bathing Micky  (Director: Frida Kempff)
Mrs. Birks' Sunday Roast (Director: Kyoko Miyake)
Tarkio Balloon (Director: Torben Bernhard)
Top Spin (Directors: Sara Newens, Mina T. Son)


BIG SKY AWARD COMPETITION
Columbus Day Legacy (Director: Bennie Klain)
Darwin (Director: Nick Brandestini)
Hood to Coast (Directors: Christoph Baaden, Marcie Hume)
Play Again (Director: Tonje Hessen Schei)
Roll Out Cowboy (Director: Elizabeth Lawrence)
Tuned In (Director: Kevin Gordon)


YO LA TENGO Presents The Sounds Of Science
Hoboken's legendary Indie rock trio performs LIVE musical
accompaniment to the extraordinary underwater films of Jean Painleve


CHUCK WORKMAN RETROSPECTIVE
Words (1988)
Pieces of Silver  (1989)
Precious Images  (1989)
Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol (1990)
The Source (1999)
Visionaries (2010)


WRITERS BLOCKS - Films About Language & Literacy
And Everything Is Going Fine (Director: Steven Soderbergh)
The Art of Jihad (Director: Alaa Eldin el Dajani)
Chekov for Children (Director: Sasha Waters Freyer)
Doc (Director: Immy Humes)
Henry Miller: Asleep & Awake (Director: Tom Schiller)
Hey Boo: Harper Lee & To Kill A Mockingbird (Director: Mary Murphy)
In the Wake Of The Flood (Director: Ron Mann)
King in Milwaukee (Director: Nicole Brown)
Radiografia dun Autor de Tebeos (Director: Marcos Nine)
Richard Hugo: Kicking The Loose Gravel Home (Directors: Annick Smith,
Beth Chadwick Ferris)
Sayed Kashua: Forever Scared (Director: Dorit Zimbalist)
Scent of Strawberries (Director: Guy Natanel)
Unearthing the Pen (Director: Carol Salter)
William S Burroughs: A Man Within (Director: Yony Leyser)


INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY CHALLENGE  The finalists from the 2010 film
contest. Death Goes Green  (Director: Gabe Franz)
Grounded By Reality     (Director: Phoebe Brown & Elizabeth Strickler)
Hanging Out (Director: Ben Campbell & Veena Rao)
I SAW U (Director: Maile Martinez & Lane Stroud)
Legend: A Film About Greg Garing  (Director: Emily Branham)
Life is but a dream...  (Director: Kelly Saxberg)
Lynching, America's Nightmare (Director: Christian Appleby)
Old Radicals (Director: Matthew Leahy)
Oneironauts     (Director: Dafni Kalafati & Kiriakos Stilianopoulos)
Tami Tushie's Toys (Director: Melody Gilbert)
The Four Dreams (Director: Chris Sinclair)
Walk Across America     (Director: Jon Ward)


NATURAL FACTS  - Films About Nature, Wildlife & the Environment
Bag It (Director: Suzan Beraza)
Broad Channel  (Director: Sarah J. Christman)
The Comfort of Cold  (Director: Sara Newens)
Corner Plot  (Directors: Ian Cook, Andre Dahlman)
Fireline  (Director: Sara Newens)
Learning To Love The Gun  (Director: Joseph Matthews)
Nenette (Director: Nicolas Philibert)
On Coal River (Director: Francine Cavanaugh)
One Lucky Elephant (Director: Lisa Leeman)
Queen of the Sun (Directors: Taggart Siegel, Jon Betz)
Rushland Ridge (Director: Kyle Repka)
Sea Is a Harsh Mistress, The  (Director: Jason Sussberg)
Second Nature (Director: Guy Leiberman)
Snake Fever  (Director: Wendy Greene)

Dust To Digital Program with Lance Ledbetter
Desperate Man Blues (Director: Edward Gillan)
Dust To Digital Picture Show (Various Artists)
Ten Thousan Poiints Of Light (Director: George King)


SIGHTS & SOUNDS - Films About Art & Music
The Anatomy of Vince Guaraldi (Director: Andrew Thomas)
Black Dog Running (Director: Scott Ray Becker)
Black February  (Director: Vipal Monga)
David Bailey, Four Beats to the Bar and No Cheating (Director: Jrme de Missolz)
Do It Again (Director: Robert Patton-Spruill)
Everyday Sunshine: The Story Of Fishbone (Directors: Lev Anderson,
Chris Metzler)
Ghost Noise (Director: Marcia Connolly)
Keep Dancing (Director: Greg Vander Veer)
Marwencol (Director: Jeff Malmberg)
Portrait to America (Director: Peter Kovacik)
Sacred Transformations (Director: Justine Nagan)
Sand Mountain (Director: Kathryn McCool)
Sound It Out (Director: Jeanie Finlay)
The Secret to a Happy Ending: A Documentary About the DriveBy
Truckers (Director: Barr Weissman)
The Tao of Blake (Director: Kathy Corley)
Waste Land (Director: Lucy Walker)
A Weaverly Path (Director: Kenny Dalsheimer)


BIG SKY/BIG WORLD  New Films from Around the Globe
Armadillo (Director: Janus Metz)
Bastards Of Utopia (Director: Maple Razsa)
Bye Bye Now     (Director: Aideen O'Sullivan)
Cultures of Resistance (Director: Iara Lee)
Disappearance of McKinley Nolan (Director: Henry Corra)
Farewell (Director: Ditteke Mensink)
Into Eternity (Director: Michael Madsen)
If These Walls Could Talk (Director: Anna Rogers)
Keepers of the Art (Directors: Gabriela Weeks, Karen Sztajnberg)
Kings of Pastry (Directors: Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker)
Kinshasa Symphony (Director: Claus Wischmann)
Irma (Director: Charles Fairbanks)
My Playground (Director: Kaspar Astrup Schrder)
The Sound of Insects: Record of A Mummy (Director: Peter Liechti)
To Catch a Dollar: Muhammad Yunus Banks on America (Director: Gayle Ferraro)



AMERICAN SPECTRUM 1
Boxing Gym (Director: Frederick Wiseman)
Breaking & Entering (Director: Benjamin Fingerhut)
Brutal Beauty (Director: Chip Mabry)
Don't Bury Me in Trona (Directors: Vicky Wetherill, Jason Skriniar)
Eat the Sun (Director: Peter Sorcher)
Final Chapter, The (Director: Mina T. Son)
Food Stamped (Directors: Shira, Yoav Potash)
Git Along, Little Dogies (Director: Kate Lain)
Like a Lion (Directors: Shane Nelson, Eric Iberg)
Lines (Director: Joselito Seldera)
Lost Angels (Director: Thomas Napper)
Love, Etc. (Director: Jill Andresevic)
Michael & His Dragon (Director: Briar March)
Missoulaquatsi (Director: Andy Smetanka)
Night Awake (Director: Jenni Nelson)
Plasticity (Director: Ryan Malloy)
Quadrangle (Director: Amy Grappell)
Skydancer (Director: Katja Esson)
Summer Snapshot (Director: Ian McCluskey)
Two Worlds Inside Out (Directors: Moeko Crider, Dana Johnson)
Voyagers, The (Director: Penny Lane)
Wana Dubie's War (Directors: Jerod Welker, Andrew Sheeley)