Documentary
-
New Documentaries Use Animation to Bring Nonfiction Stories to Life
In recent decades, some of the best documentary films — including Oscar-winners such as Bowling for Columbine and Searching for Sugar Man, and, more recently, festival favorites Point and Shoot and Meet the Patels — have have relied on animation to tell compelling nonfiction stories in nontraditional ways. It’s a technique audiences have grown accustomed to and nonfiction filmmakers have learned to adopt with varying degrees of success. While in the past, documentary purists might have posited that animation had no place in non-fiction storytelling, it’s now largely accepted that even observational documentaries involve some degree of manipulation. If anything, by using animation in a documentary, the manipulation is more […]
by Paula Bernstein on Jun 23, 2016 -
DOC NYC Expands Industry Program for 7th Edition
DOC NYC, billed as America’s largest documentary film festival, will expand its industry-focused programs for the seventh edition of the film festival. The New York-based festival will run from November 10-17, with the Visionaries Tribute luncheon taking place on November 10. “For six years, we’ve carefully nurtured our industry offerings to establish a must-attend gathering,” said DOC NYC artistic director Thom Powers in a statement. “Last year saw major growth under the new banner of DOC NYC PRO, the new conference location at Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas and its new lounge. This is a vital networking hub for doc makers to get their future films […]
by Paula Bernstein on Jun 10, 2016 -
Five Questions with The Witness Director James Solomon
More than 50 years ago, the murder of Kitty Genovese stunned the nation when 38 witnesses in nearby apartments witnessed her brutal stabbing and did nothing. The incident came to represent urban apathy and spawned the “bystander effect” theory. But The Witness, a gripping new documentary about Genovese’s murder, challenges our long-held beliefs about the case. The directorial debut of screenwriter James Solomon, The Witness had its world premiere at the 2015 New York Film Festival and will open theatrically at New York’s IFC Center on June 3, with a national rollout to follow. The multi-layered documentary investigates what actually happened on that fateful […]
by Paula Bernstein on Jun 2, 2016 -
How to Build Your Documentary’s Distribution Strategy
Gone are the days when if you were lucky enough to sell your documentary to a single distributor, they would take care of the rest. Though a select group of established documentary filmmakers still operate along those traditional lines, the majority of independent filmmakers working in documentaries today rely on a hybrid distribution plan in which theatrical, festivals, broadcast, educational, non-theatrical, and VOD rights are split. The upsides of a hybrid plan are that it potentially enables filmmakers to earn more revenue and also to develop a long-term audience. The downside? It means more work for filmmakers. A workshop at the recent Oregon […]
by Paula Bernstein on May 24, 2016 -
Directors Frida and Lasse Barkfors on Their Complex Portrait of a Sex Offender Community, Pervert Park
When first-time filmmakers Frida and Lasse Barkfors read an article in a Danish newspaper about a community of sex offenders living in Florida they immediately wanted to go there. Traveling from Scandinavia to Florida they were surprised by the place they found. Without any outside funding, the couple soon embarked on the four-year process of making their first documentary about the Florida Justice Transitions Park — commonly referred to as “Pervert Park,” telegraphing the opinions held by the rest of society. Pervert Park, which won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Impact at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, […]
by Alix Lambert on May 20, 2016 -
POV’s 2016 Calls for Entries is Now Open
POV, television’s longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films, has opened the doors for entries for the 2017 PBS broadcast season and beyond. The deadline for submission is Wednesday, June 15, 2016. Each year POV premieres 14-16 of the most memorable nonfiction stories to public television audiences around the country. Since 1988, POV has presented over 400 films, including some of our all-time favorite documentaries such as Roger & Me (Michael Moore) Street Fight (Marshall Curry), American Revolutionary (Grace Lee) and The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer), among many others. For submission details and requirements, check out POV’s Call For Entries Guidelines and to get a […]
by Paula Bernstein on May 12, 2016 -
Hulu Dives into Documentaries with Beatles Doc from Ron Howard
Looking to compete with Netflix in the documentary arena, Hulu announced this morning at its upfront presentation for advertisers in New York that it has launched Hulu Documentary Films, a destination for original and exclusive documentary film titles. Hulu Documentary Films’ first acquisition is The Beatles: Eight Days a Week (working title), a feature documentary directed by Ron Howard. Hulu has acquired U.S. streaming rights to the documentary, which will premiere in theaters in the fall before heading to Hulu. The documentary, which will explore the early years of The Beatles’ career, is produced with the full cooperation of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko […]
by Paula Bernstein on May 4, 2016 -
The Refugee Crisis: How to Help With a $9,000 Budget, a Canon 5-D Mark III and One Woman’s Incredible Story
Hamsa, a short film on the Syrian refugee crisis by first-time documentary filmmakers Caroline Spearpoint and Miriam Thom, is the focus of an event next Monday, May 2 at the IFP’s Made in New York Media Center. Hamsa: A Documentary and Educational Platform features the two filmmakers along with Benjamin Lowe (US Senior Campaigner at Change.Org), Rebecca Heller (Director at the International Refugee Assistance Project) and will focus on not only the making of the film but the collaboration with IRAP and Change.org as well as the use of film in social impact campaigns. In the guest post below, Spearpoint […]
by Caroline Spearpoint and Miriam Thom on Apr 28, 2016 -
How Who the F*@% is Frank Zappa Broke Crowdfunding Records
Raising over $1.1 million on Kickstarter, Who the F*@% is Frank Zappa (working title) recently shattered the crowdfunding record for a documentary project, previously held by the Bill Nye film. Directed by Alex Winter (Deep Web), the film is an authorized exploration of the iconic musician’s life and work. Of course, the project benefited from Zappa’s name recognition and hardcore fan base. But that alone isn’t enough to carry a crowdfunding campaign. In order to drive engagement, the filmmakers extended the campaign far beyond Kickstarter itself with coordinated benefit screening events of Zappa’s concert film Roxy: The Movie around the world, additional “Add On Rewards” including […]
by Paula Bernstein on Apr 27, 2016 -
Frederick Wiseman on His Banned Classic Titicut Follies
Straight from its premiere at New York City’s Metrograph theater, the new 35mm print of Titicut Follies screened at Portland’s Northwest Film Center on April 21 with director Frederick Wiseman in attendance. The controversial film portrays the wretched conditions at The Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane in Bridgewater, Massachusetts circa 1967. In unflinching cinema verite-style, Ttticut Follies presents a stark portrayal of the hospital’s predominantly naked inmates as they are mishandled, force-fed, taunted by guards, and locked in empty cells. Titicut Follies was famously banned prior to its planned premiere at the 1967 New York Film Festival. Though Wiseman had gotten the requisite permissions, the state of […]
by Paula Bernstein on Apr 22, 2016
