Doc/Fest Blog
Watch Me Disappear
By Charlie Phillips 26 August, 2008
So, for those of us in England and Wales, the bank holiday has passed, and with it, the Edinburgh TV Festival and also a superb and affecting doc shown on Friday night about dying alone.
More on that in a second (well, below) but to keep you up on the TV Festival news, there was a hefty debate about whether there too many documentaries on British TV, and whether those that are there aren't serious enough. Top of the firing line was Channel 4, whose head of docs, Hamish Mykura, was called to defend a showreel of C4's documentary clips, by the eminent doc-maker Peter Taylor.
Peter Taylor is someone I really admire, not just an excellent filmmaker, but also a fine writer and an interesting thinker. I think that the fact he got commissioned to do The Age of Terror, exception to the rule as it is, shows that there is a place on British TV for the serious meat. I know that sounds a bit trite, but to me it's crazy to suggest there's nothing serious on British TV, whether Channel 4 or otherwise. I suppose the real problem is scheduling, with people like Taylor no doubt fearing that their more serious docs are pushed to the margins, whether digital channels or late-night zones for documentary night owls and drunkards.
It always amazes me how these kind of discussions only seem to come out in face-offs at festivals and conventions, and then disappear into the ether. We obviously encourage that to some extent at Doc/Fest and we want to set the documentary agenda for the coming year, but we also want the debates we stimulate to continue until the next festival as well. Because there's only a limited depth you can reach in an hour-long session. And for that matter, in a few minutes of clip reel. Anyone who's been to documentary panels has seen these reels repeatedly, and they rarely show the slow and considered documentary bits, so personally I think you can ignore them and get to the talk as soon as possible.
Anyway, anyone who doubts the seriousness of TV should have watched Lucy Cohen's remarkable Watch Me Disappear in Channel 4's First Cut slot on Friday night. This was a half-hour documentary at 7.30pm on a Friday about those who die alone and are buried alone. I don't want to make your day a bummer but as soon as you even think about that idea, it's heartbreaking. And this was a disturbing and deeply sad film which felt a million miles from everything around it in the schedules. There was no hope or redeeming thoughts, just deep sadness about those who live and die without friends or family and who, in an age of constant contact with anyone, have no-one meaningful in their lives. And whose lives, being honest, had no significance to anyone, even to themselves, and who are forgotten in history.
It's an amazing subject to tackle, and it was a beautiful restrained film. There's an interview with the director Lucy Cohen on the 4Talent website which is really interesting, even if it doesn't (and couldn't) convey the joyless and depressing experience of watching the doc.
And I mean that as a compliment by the way. This doc does exactly what the First Cut strand is there to do, and is a great showcase for a superb new documentary talent. And y'know, just to reiterate, this was pretty serious and it was on in prime-time.
Back to Edinburgh briefly, if you can handle it. The Broadcast website has some very good reports and opinions, plus I'd draw your attention to the collection of commissioning wishlists arising from the festival if you want to know what most of the major UK channels revealed (or didn't reveal) there.
Paper Cinema
By Charlie Phillips 22 August, 2008
So bearing in mind that the song-and-dance of the Edinburgh TV fest is on at the moment, with all the big people of the British TV whirl, and also in the spirit of Hoos' drawing of your attentions to lovely Mark and Tilda's cupcake cacophonies in Nairn (oh why must I be chained to my desk and not to a cushion in deepest Scotland?), let me direct you towards The Paper Cinema, about as low-tech as film showing can get in these high-end times.
Now I saw these people do their show at Glastonbury last year, huddling for warmth at 3am in the cinema tent. It was amazing, the only quiet time of the festival, and they created an oasis of prettiness and storytelling, only broken by a drunken klezmer band falling on top of their intricate paper models during the show.
They're true mavericks and they understand the heart of cinema lies in storytelling and brief but elaborate mises-en-scene. It's a bit like cinema never progressed past the silent era (which certainly plays well to my nostalgic tendencies) but they also bring a very modern darkness and apocalyptic fear to the set. It's all a bit scary.
But don't just take my word for it - Lyn Gardner, the UK's most adventurous theatre writer (in my opinion) thinks so too and she knows her onions. They don't do documentary but they do do good narrative and that's why it's cinema, theatre, art and performance all at once in a fragile melange.
Now, actually, if you're in Edinburgh for the TV festival...you've missed it because the show's finished. But never fear, it's coming to London in a few weeks. Get yourselves there, and make sure you don't invite a drunken klezmer band.
The school of life
By Charlie Phillips 19 August, 2008
Last night, me and a couple of other documentary-related people went to a sneak preview of the courses at The School of Life, a new institution, shop and building that's all about lessons in life. If you feel like you need some intellectual and practical inspiration then this is the place for you. There's courses in play, work, family, love and more, and it's an inspiring place to be with clever ideas for living a more fulfilled life flying around the room.
The idea is that the information absorbed at the School of Life will fill a hole we feel in our lives if we haven't got religion or faith in leaders that gives us a design for living. But I was sitting there, and it sounds a bit corny, but I do feel like watching films already does that for me - documentaries in particular. Not that they tell me how to live or what to think but they give me a sense of self-sufficiency and make me clearer on what I feel about things. I love reading books, listening to m usic, going on walks, and many other things that also take me to an 'ecstatic' state (this is partly what it was about last night) but not like documentaries can.
And then funnily enough, I saw today that a friend of Doc/Fest, Ingrid Kopp, wrote a similar thing on her blog recently too.
They did mention last night that the School of Life will include films somehow in some way as well as all the book-reading and talking, but it seems to be more of an afterthought, as if films couldn't be considered as psychologically- or therapeutically-stimulating as reading books, and will offer light relief. I don't think that's true at all - admittedly, the ratio of ecstasy to mundaneness is probably more favourable with books than films generally. But with documentary, that's not so true - it's rare I see a documentary and don't feel some kind of mental revelation or reassessment. It's rare I see a documentary which is just about me passing some time in the dark.
So what I'm saying is that documentaries are my School of Life, and they often come for free or good-as-free, and arrive when I want them, something that paid-for weekly courses never could. But that's not to do down the School of Life, which has a lot going for it - they've got a beautiful mural going across one wall, for one thing.
Hot Youth and Ballet
By Charlie Phillips 14 August, 2008
This week we've been down with the youth, as part of our Youth Jury 'Hothouse' week at Channel 4, which is part of the whole Youth Jury programme we've organised this year with the great people at the Grierson Trust and 4Talent.
This year the Youth Jury is about way more than just giving awards, although that's one of the really exciting bits. The people have been attracted from all across the UK, from all kinds of backgrounds (cartoonists, physicists, comedians - and yes, they're all under 23. Scary.) and they'll be doing everything they want at the festival - some marketing, some interviewing, some information-gathering and probably some teaching too by the looks of it. Whatever they want to do to make the festival a good place for their fellow young documentary experts we're going to let them do.
And we can trust them to do that because this week so far has proved that they're astute in analysing factual films, they're opinionated and they're not scared of an intelligent discussion. Sitting listening to their debates today over some key new international documentaries, it was as good, and even a lot fresher, than you get in a lot of late-night festival bars, I can tell you.
They're a special bunch and a reason in themselves for you to come to the festival - documentary is darn exciting when you're first immersed in it and we all need a reminder of that. Honestly, I feel reinvigorated by listening to them talk documentary with such enthusiasm, and it's a shame really that (as some of them said) most of the docs they've been watching would be inaccessible to their peers who don't get the chance to be on the Doc/Fest youth jury - even if a few of the docs get cinema releases, they ain't coming to Ayrshire.
But then, that's their task, isn't it? To get their fellow youngs to come to Doc/Fest in droves and watch these films there. We're looking forward to hearing their sparky documentary discussion in the Showroom bar...well, the ones old enough to drink anyway.
And why do I mention ballet in the blog title? Because one of last year's MeetMarketeers, Vida Ballet, has been given a Gucci Tribeca Grant. Well done to Beadie Finzi, Giorgia Lo Savio and all the team at Tigerlily
Finally, and irrelevantly, do you think frolleagues are a problem? I think in documentary, and especially at docs festivals, you get a lot of frolleaguing. There's nowt wrong wrong with it in my eyes.
The Ballerina Ballroom Cinema of Dreams
By Hussain Currimbhoy 14 August, 2008
Tilda Swinton, Joel Cohen and Doc/Fest brother Mark Cousins have their own film festival coming up this month.
From August 15, in the coastal town of Nairn, a little town hall has been rented, some hi-end projectors have been set up, and some classics of cinema, in all forms and ages, have been hand selected to screen.
Its £3. Or free if you bring a try of cakes.
The list of films will be impressive but expect some silent Ozu titles (something from the 20s or 30s phase when Ozu was with Shochiku like I WAS BORN BUT… or PASSING FANCY), a bit of SINGING IN THE RAIN, some animation by none other than one of the best Canadian filmmakers to live and breathe, Norman McLaren, the video Spike Jones directed for Bjork’s ITS OH SO QUIET and other family oriented favorites.
Joel Cohen will have two slots reserved for his personal picks. What’s the bet he throws on some long lost Orson Wells audition tapes?
There is a young and family audience in mind here to foster an interest in classic cinema beyond the YouTube cube. I would normally see of these films in cinematheques, so its good to see micr-cinema being used to bring it back to the old school as opposed to lo-budget shakey-visions and the otherwise unscreenable. Some bean bags, some cakes, some camping – this is the way micro-cinema should be! They said micro-cinema was going to take off any day now several years ago then on the 8th day YouTube was created.
I’m considering a trip up to this beautiful micro-cinema retreat. Micro-cinema keeps people together. As opposed to YouTube. I tend to crowd around the computer screen over the Saturday night film on tele when the story is starting to lag and suddenly pops out “ has any one seen this?!”
Will keep you posted on any classic documentaries that Cinema of Dreams releases.
The new wave of British feature docs celebrated
By Charlie Phillips 11 August, 2008
Hopefully you've all seen Man on Wire now - it's a remarkable feature documentary that's been given a welcome wide cinema release. It's all very exciting, especially seeing the column inches it's had in newspaper and magazine film sections.
And those columns have also busied themselves with hailing a new wave of feature documentaries, which those of us working in British documentaries do tend to always hear when a doc gets a cinema release, but actually I think it's pretty relevant right now. There's some really special documentaries getting themselves out there, and that article is quite right to point out that this something to be proud of and to build on.
And despite the worry that documentaries tend to do badly at the box office, I can report from the frontline that I went to see Man on Wire at the cinema on Saturday evening and it was packed. As it should be. And if you haven't gone to see it yet, you should, not just because it's a special film but also because docs at the cinema need cherishing so that there'll be more of them as a matter of course year-round.
Halonen denied visa
By Hussain Currimbhoy 08 August, 2008
Finnish documentarian Arto Halonen won't be attending the opening ceremony for the Beijing games, everyone. His visa was denied by China because of his late 90s doc "Karmapa – Two Ways of Divinity".
Check out a few links to it:
Arto will be attending Sheffield Doc/Fest this year to present the UK premiere of his film SHADOW OF THE HOLY BOOK.
We can ask him all about it then!
Getting funds from Nike and Amnesty
By Charlie Phillips 07 August, 2008
So the big news in documentary is that the wonderful DIY art doc Beautiful Losers has revealed they're going into partnership with Nike to release their film.
It kind of fits because there was already a relationship going on between Nike and some of the artists in the film, so thought it might immediately seem disturbing to some, actually it's not that surprising. If you've seen the film you'll know that none of the artists have a particular problem with taking corporate money to work with as long as it doesn't affect their visions, and they all make work which is informed by brand-saturated urban landscapes. I don't want to speak of them as a seamless unit because they're not, but they did (and do still in some cases) all make art that's about immediate reactions to their daily lives and if you're a young American artist in a big city your daily life is substantially about encounters with brands every minute of the day everywhere you go. So, it might be a bit annoying as a viewer to have Nike surrounding this doc, but as a creator, I can see that it isn't really an ethical dilemma.
Plus I really like the sound of the workshops (mentioned in that above article) they're organising for people. You come out of that film wondering where the next generation of DIY artists will come from, bearing in mind it's really hard to live on your artist wits in London, New York, and the like anymore - a single tube ticket is £4 and that's not helping your bohemian lifestyle. So if these workshops in any way help to foster new art talent, and indeed new documentary talent, then I'm OK with that.
But obviously this Nike-ing of documentary distribution has caused some forelock-tugging as you'd expect. For me, it's just often a bit annoying when you can see all too blatantly who from any background has funded a film if they insist on too great a presence in the doc, whether it's Nike, Nestlé or New Labour. I was reading this report about the Good Pitch at Britdoc and the idea of NGOs and diverse funders supporting documentary, and whilst the question of whether collaborating with charities 'can be trusted' is a bit melodramatic, it did make me wonder whether getting any cash from a source not used to funding documentaries might mean that you have unwelcome fingers in your editorial pie. Although it could also mean that you get more open-minded funders who are willing to defer to you as the creative person with the expertise, as opposed to their ignorance of filmmaking (that'd be nice wouldn't it?).
I think it shows the ever-greater need with any funder from anywhere (traditional or new) to really state a claim for your independence as a documentary-maker and to be confident in negotiations. That there's new sources of documentary funds is really exciting, it just means that if you're a lone wolf filmmaker you either need to be a really good businessperson as well or if you're not, you need to get a really good producer to do that for you.
Plus even more important you need to be aware of your own ethics too and think now about who you'd be happy to accept funding from and why. Arguably, documentary-makers have always had a need for greater awareness of political and moral events than other filmmakers and that's ever more the case now. So if it's a fact that Nike or Amnesty are willing to give you money for your film, then you should get reading up on them and decide what your view is towards them in case they come knocking at the door...
One minute to win it
By Charlie Phillips 06 August, 2008
The submissions for MeetMarket are coming in like hot cakes - thanks to those of you that have either submitted projects or enquired about submission so far, we're really excited.
But a word on trailer length in anticipation of more project submissions coming in now - your trailer really does have to be one-minute long and it has to be on a video site that generates an embed code. You can see our submission guidelines for the full run-down on what we need from you, plus check our Marketplace Overview page for some information on embedding video.
We're not being fussy here, you see, it's that we genuinely believe that you can sell your documentary visually in one minute and that it's really inspiring for a funder to see you doing so. Your trailer is your visual elevator pitch and we ask for a minute so that we know that the whole of that time will be scrutinised in detail rather than a longer trailer which will just be skimmed over.
At the workshops recently, we talked a lot about trailers and always cut through peoples' cynicism about the possibilities of one minute by showing some of the best from last year. And there were 6 that we showed every time, all of which went on to get funding of some sort, which communicated open-ended stories and skilled filmmaking technique in moving and amusing one minutes. So it can be done, trust me.
Obviously, we're human and we understand you're busy people, so we have some room for flexibility, but you need to speak to me far in advance of the September 12th deadline date if you're not sure about the one-minute trailer and you and we can find a solution, honest.
The Genius of Charles Darwin
By Charlie Phillips 05 August, 2008
I was really pleased last night to catch The Genius of Charles Darwin on Channel 4, hosted by the formidable science machine, Richard Dawkins.
For me, quality science programming on TV always needs celebrating, and this was a pleasure to watch, with some hardcore biology and physics mixed in with some human interest to watch the knowledge pill down. We saw Dawkins pleading with a group of teenagers on a beach to think about evolution, and I actually found it really moving, such was Dawkins' fervour whilst a strong sea breeze blew his hair in multiple directions. Some of them still seemed dubious afterwards, claiming that they still didn't totally 'believe' in evolution (when it's proven fact, it's not something you 'believe' in surely?) and yet he'd really got them thinking in the most direct way, and it was very exciting. No messing, just a man and some teenagers on a beach talking science.
Presenter-led documentaries often get sneering reviews, but when you have a presenter like Dawkins you know you're getting informed and charismatic presenting which actually helps you to understand a subject better. Yes, he's obviously got a certain agenda, but it's a science programme, and surely it's important for those to have an 'agenda' that's about transmitting facts and knowledge, not speculation and random opinion?
Toronto blogs
By Charlie Phillips 04 August, 2008
We're not the only festival with a blog you know - Toronto have relaunched some very swish ones too in advance of their festival. Especially like the Midnight Madness one. I like film blogs with a jaunty tone.
Speaking of relaunched things, I'd be in trouble if I didn't alert you to the rebirth of FourDocs, which is now totally bloggified and all web 2.0-fied too. It's weird when something you worked on every day becomes something different, like seeing your child grow up and leave home. But to force that simile further, it's a positive process, and it shows that you made something with a mind of its own that always wants to change and do new things...anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I like its new look and I think it's brilliant that it's a genuine opportunity for DIY filmmakers working in the ether to get noticed by Kate Vogel, who arguably commissions the most innovative docs strand on the telly. And you might even see the odd guest spot from me on FourDocs occasionally.
On a totally unrelated note, I was also having a look today at Filmmaker magazine's guide to the top 25 new faces in independent film, most of whom I only know a little about (which is perhaps how it should be to make these lists have any purpose), and I was thinking about who would be in a UK documentary equivalent. I'm not going to tell you now who I started jotting down, but wouldn't it be a good idea if someone compiled that list and put it up for discussion? I'd love to see that.
Oscilloscope Laboratories: not just a great soundtrack
By Hussain Currimbhoy 04 August, 2008
Many congrats to Caroline Suh , director of doc FRONTRUNNERS, and Irena Salina's FLOW FOR THE LOVE OF WATER that has just been picked up by Oscilloscope Laboratories - get to know this name: its the new distribution arm of the 'lab' ignited by Beastie Boy Ad Rock ( Adam Yauch to the now quivering documentary world) and former Think Film executive David Fenkel.
Oscilloscope Laboratories has a recording studio, produces films, helps artists, distributes indie film - namely docs - and pretty much aides the production of anything else artistic in the world that we are in short supply of:
http://www.oscilloscope.net/
FRONTRUNNERS will have its EU premiere with us at Doc/Fest. But if you're dropping through the USA be sure to catch them:
15-Oct
New York, Film Forum
24-Oct
Boston, Brattle Theatre
Los Angeles, Nuart
Berkeley, Shattuck
San Francisco, Lumiere
Philadelphia, Ritz at Bourse
Denver, Starz Film Center
FLOW: FOR THE LOVE OF WATER will also feature in the Doc/Fest programme.
Oscilloscope Laboratories could be an important development for documentary. I'm as excited as I am interested to see what a star name with street credibility combined with ex-high end indie film experience does to docs in the USA.
Yauch directed and is now distributing GUNNIN’ FOR THAT #1 SPOT, the basketball doc that surprisingly not a heck of a lot people are talking about. But hopefully the 'Lab' will actually engage in constructive experiments in documentary making and production, keep them as independent as possible and not just rely on a great soundtrack.
Pitching Cross Platform Projects
By Heather Croall 02 August, 2008
We recently completed the series of Pitch Training workshops around the UK - the aim of the workshops is to help producers make the most of the marketplace opportunities at Doc/Fest. As Charlie said in his blog post, the workshops were a great success and we will be doing lots of them again next year. In Charlie's post he pointed out that a cross platform project had been pitched at one of the workshops and it highlighted the need for producers to be trained in pitching cross platform projects, not just film and TV projects.
In that area at the moment we do run the amazing 5 day residential Crossover Labs www.crossoverlabs.org and they are completely aimed at getting producers from film, TV, games, animation, new media and other disciplines to work together to create innovative cross platform projects as well as new production methods and production models. An aim of Crossover is to spark multidisciplinary teams that bring the best of interactivity and the best of storytelling to create new projects for new audiences. So far, we have run Crossover in Australia and the UK - the next one is in Scandinavia then a back in the UK and others to be announced.
The Crossover Lab process is an intense journey and has the potential to be a truly life-changing experience for responsive individuals who are open to exploring completely new ways of working and developing projects. It's a massive challenge to convince producers to put aside their tried, tested (and successful) ways of developing projects and instead explore something completely new with others who work in different fields and different ways. Its an ambitious goal but it has really worked for so many of the Crossover Lab participants so far - on the website you can see what people have said about their Crossover experience. The labs are held in remote country hotels so that people are truly get away from their daily routines and immerse themselves in the process, but they are also held in those stunning locations because we realise that when we are about to take people so far out of their working comfort zones its better if we put them in a very comfy environment first! Beautiful landscape, good food and great hotel - all these things stop them from running away when the lab methodologies becomes too much of a challenge for them!
On the final day we bring in lots of commissioners and decision makers and the participants pitch them the ideas that have come out of the lab. When we first did Crossover about 5 years ago, there were very few commissioners with any money for cross platform projects but the situation is really changing and with new initiatives such as 4IP just around the corner, it is hopefully about to get a whole lot better. So when the digital wave hits (again(!).. only this time with funding) we hope that producers who have been through Crossover will have the right kinda surfboard to get on it.
The numbers on each lab are limited and selection is by application (online). Submissions now open www.crossoverlabs.org
XO XO XO
Friday documentary news
By Charlie Phillips 01 August, 2008
This is the first, and maybe only, of a Friday documentary news bulletin I'm initiating for the Doc/Fest blog. Enjoy.
First up, a plug for the Branchage Festival in Jersey at the end of September. They've having a London Launch Party on Monday where you can find me, and it's being organised by Xanthe Hamilton, an excellent documentary-maker in her own right, and a native of the strange and wonderful little island of Jersey. I think it's amazing they're doing a film festival there, and we wish them the best of luck. Good design work too.
Nearly as cool as Jersey is Andy Warhol and to celebrate that, the ICA are having a Shoot Yr Idols art documentaries season featuring some new and rare screenings of films about the fluffy haired man's circle. I'll be there for as much of it as I can, being of the delusion that I am myself in part a little bit Warholian.
Sticking to extremes, a word to say that you can now apply for Cinema Extreme, the flagship UK film council shorts scheme for directors with directorial flair and original visions. They are very much open to documentary directors, and would indeed like more documentary applications, so if you're a rare talent (and I know you all are), then explore the opportunity. Mind though, the deadline for applications is September 12th, like The MeetMarket, so pace yourself and get both applications in on time.
Further bits - you can see who got Sundance support recently, and it's a fine selection ; The Guardian has described documentary pitching in good layman's terms, and the Docsider blog continues to be great, including a reference to Julian Schnabel's new film about Lou Reed as "a horrifically lyrical rendition of children's screams for several minutes" - which is my kind of documentary.
Toronto Film Fest in the Blue corner, Venice in the red corner
By Hussain Currimbhoy 30 July, 2008
Couldn’t resist the boxing analogy since boxing docs are coming back with a vengence.
Except at Toronto and Venice Film Festivals.
Both film festivals have both released their documentary programmes. After cross examinations I was at once proud to be Canadian but also kinda wished I could be Italian for one day.
Both programmes will promote salivation. In this corner with a 65 year heritage and a lean 17 documentaries on show is Venice. Some docs to cancel dinner plans about are definitely Pasolini’s La Rabbia from 1963, Les Plages d’Agnes by Agnes Varda, Avi Mograbi’s Z32 and a new one by this new chap called Ross McElwee: In Paraguay. ;)
Mograbi has always been a favourite; playing both sides of the fence to get raise the ire of friends and enemies alike. Always makes for great street scenes – and that’s reason enough to love him.
There’s a strong Italian focus – of both old and new - in Venice’s documentary line up and rightly so. Can’t know the present without understanding the past.
Doc/Fest has two very distinctive independent Italian productions lined up so I’m starting to think Italy’s investment in getting cinema out beyond The Boot is starting to pay off.
Check out the doc list:
Les Plages d’Agnes/ Agnes Varda
Bajo el Signo de las Sombras (1984) / Ferran Alberich (Spain)
La Rabbia (1963) / Pier Paolo Pasolini (Italy)
Pusique nous sommes nes / Jean-Pierre Duret, Andrea Santana (France, Brazil)
Women / Huang Wenhai / (China, Switzerland)
In Paraguay/Ross McElwee (U.S.)
Z32 /Avi Mograbi (France. Israel)
Below Sea Level / Gianfranco Rosi (Italy, U.S.)
Los Herederos / Eugenio Polgovsky (Mexico)
L’Exil et le royaume / Andrei Schtakleff, Jonathan Le Fourn
Verso Est / Laura Angiulli (Italy, Bosnia)
ThyssenKrupp Blues / Pietro Balla, Monica Repetto (Italy)
La Fabbrica dei Tedeschi / Mimmo Calopresti (Italy)
Soltanto un nome nei titoli di testa / Daniele Di Biasio (Italy)
Antonioni su Antonioni / Carlo di Carlo (Italy)
Venezia ’68 / Antonello Sarno (Italy)
Valentino: The Last Emperor / Matt Tyrnauer (Italy)
I’m also itching to see Abbas Kiarostami’s Shirin - especially since I last heard he was taking a hiatus from cinema to direct opera. (sigh of relief heard from here-)
Jia Zhangke’s new co-production Cry Me A River is an eager piece – if anything because you don’t hear of directors dancing between feature and short forms so readily as Jia. Venice is in love with Jia like America is with Obama so stay tuned for a couple of critic’s awards.
In this corner, weighing in with 33 docs in the programme, (with a few more up the sleeve yet to be released) and coached by none other than Thom Powers, you have manifold choices from Thailand to the UK that are def going to see some packed houses.
Canadian feature, Examined Life is worth the admission if you’re into Zizek spouting and spitting and making an initially outlandish arguments about anything seem totally logical. It’s a rare doc because it discusses philosophy in a way that actually gives some kind of defined application to life. No easy feat.
World premiere of Weijun Chen’s The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World will again be a bit of revolution for Chinese documentary judging by his last one Please Vote For Me. At last, not another doc about a Chinese river. He’s also a very sweet guy, should you get the chance to meet him don’t hesitate to say hello.
Blind Love is an interesting one because the whole time you are asking: ‘Is this a documentary??’ so well choreographed and designed it makes a life that would appear hard to bear to most of us rather beautiful. Be on the look out for it at London Film Festival no doubt.
The right hook in the arsenal is clearly Waltz With Bashir. This was the talk of Cannes and was suspected of winning but clearly it’s doing incredibly well without the main prize. I would not be surprised if it appeared in the top five box office earners for documentaries in 2009. In fact, it will be in cinematheques and retros for years to come. Just check out the last scene to know what I mean!
I prefer the programme layout to Venice because it would attract non-documentary audience a bit easier I feel.
Documentary list is below, but remember there are a few more yet to be announced:
A Time to Stir / Paul Cronin (USA)
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love / Chai Vasarhelyi (USA)
Valentino: The Last Emperor / Matt Tyrnauer (USA)
Les Plages d'Agnès / Agnès Varda (France)
After the Race / Nikolaus Geyrhalter (Austria)
American Swing / Matthew Kaufman (USA)
At the Edge of the World/ Dan Stone (USA)
The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World / Weijun Chen (China)
Blood Trail / Richard Parry (UK) <- Hooray for the UK
Citizen Juling Ing K, Kraisak Choonhavan and Manit Sriwanichpoom; (Thailand)
The Dungeon Master / Keven McAlester (USA)
Food, Inc. / Robert Kenner (USA)
From Mother to Daughter / Andrea Zambelli (Italy)
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 / Kevin Rafferty (USA)
It Might Get Loud / Davis Guggenheim (USA)
Killing Kasztner/ Gaylen Ross (USA)
More Than a Game / Kristopher Belman (USA)
The Real Shaolin / Alexander Sebastien Lee, (China/USA)
Sea Point Days / François Verster, (S Africa)
Soul Power / Jeffrey Levy-Hinte (USA)
Unmistaken Child / Nati Baratz (Israel)
Witch Hunt/ Dana Nachman and Don Hardy (USA)
Yes Madam, Sir / Megan Doneman (Australia/India)
Peace Mission Dorothee Wenner (Germany)
Shakespeare and Victor Hugo's Intimacies / Yulene Olaizola (Mexico)
Upstream Battle / Ben Kempas (Germany)
Previously announced:
Religulous (Larry Charles, USA)
Every Little Step (James Stern and Adam Del Deo, USA)
Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, Israel/France/Germany)
Blind Loves (Juraj Lehotský, Slovakia)
Examined Life (Astra Taylor, Canada),
La Mémoire des anges (Luc Bourdon, Canada)
Under Rich Earth (Malcolm Rogge, Canada)
Toronto FF wins with TKO!
Sheffield great, regional workshops done
By Charlie Phillips 30 July, 2008
So the Sheffield workshop is now done and very successfully dusted, and our marketplace pitching workshops are for the time being put to bed. There will of course be two more with Christina for some of those of you selected for the MeetMarket, but for now, we bid farewell to the regional tour.
As is probably obvious from my blogs, I've enjoyed these workshops. And been inspired by them - the feedback from attendees has been continuously positive and we've got to hear about strong documentary projects on budgies, rats, body modification, Elvis and more more more. We'll be back next year with them bigger, better, and longer. And we want to come to all your regions, so tell your local screen agency!
Back to Sheffield though - our homecoming you might say, although I haven't been home much recently as you can tell so the idea's a bit redundant with me. Another great bunch of produces and directors, and despite a sweltering room in the Showroom, we had some fascinating pitches, including one from Jeannie Finlay, of whom I'm a great admirer, and who I'm sure won't mind me saying went from red-faced nerves to a confident textbook public pitcher in a matter of hours.
And I'm especially glad we were treated to a pitch from one of our board members Grant Keir (it was coincidence he came out the hat, I promise), along with Virginia Heath from Vita Nova. They were pitching a cross-platform project, leading to a great discussion between us all about whether it was possible to pitch a crossover project in the allotted 5 minutes, bearing in mind you may also have to explain to some decision-makers what that there t'internet is.
Back from Britdoc
By Charlie Phillips 28 July, 2008
Well done to our chums at Britdoc for a great festival in the sun last week. What is with their festival that attracts extremes of weather, whether good or bad?
Highlight for me was probably the Alternative Distribution panel, which turned into a bit of argy-bargey between Jamie King and the audience. What started as informative rundown from various good people on the video sites they like soon became a moral debate on what some peoples' unwillingness to pay for video means for us all. I've heard this many times before, but I think what was unique here was the frisson between these four people with very good (albeit unproven) money-making models and this one person with a model of voluntary donation, and the eventual conclusion that no-one was right or wrong, just that some things work best for some people watching some films.
It seems obvious that no size fits all when all film niches are served, but in the continuing uncertainty of whether 'free' film and video is taking us en route to media anarchy, it was impressive to see a lack of 'I have the ultimate solution" attitude from anyone on the panel. Except perhaps Jamie K at times, with his correct fear that all this technology could be used for nefarious purposes if we don't have these debates. He's a brave man to keep taking the flak.
That was the the second event I went to at Britdoc and it set the tone for some excellent panel sessions - the one on interviewing technique was a brave and fascinating one, featuring sparkling and wry monologues from panelist Kate Adie, who I now wish even more got on our screens and radios a lot more. She was joined by a policeman (with a voice exactly like all the other policemen I've ever spoken to, spookily), a barrister (who was also very barrister-like), a psychiatrist (ditto) and an ex-policeman who advises on police TV shows. This was a great sideways look at an aspect of doc-making often forgotten in conversations about craft, and crossed the areas of ethics and style with great wit and rigour.
I also thought the Good Pitch was a brilliant innovation, inviting not-for-profits, charities and campaign groups around a table to discuss changing the world through documentary outreach. Leila Sansour's Bethlehem project was especially special and very humbling indeed. More projects to change the world please! And it all made for a cracking atmosphere of goodwill in the room.
As for films, I am ashamed to say I only saw one - Jerry Rothwell's Heavy Load, which was fun and heartwarming, and spun an ace yarn.
So finally, check the winners, and someone else's views, including those of legend of comedy Larry Charles, on indiewire and I say again to the Britdoc team, thanks for a good time!
Snag Films and new distribution
By Charlie Phillips 22 July, 2008
There's a new launch in the US to distribute documentaries online, called Snag Films, and it's committing itself especially to docs that have a link to the not-for-profit sector, and are being nice to people. They've got a very impressive mission statement and lots of impressive faces involved.
And at least one of the people involved is going to be at Britdoc where I head tomorrow, where I suspect they'll be one of the talks of the town. I can tell you what I find. At the moment, I love the idea, and I also respect their DIY credentials for having bought Indiewire, which is basically my quick medicinal daily dose of all documentary information, and I respect a lot.
So they're committed to showcasing new creativity and ingenuity and financing it through what's annoyingly called 'filmanthropy' and I think that's a brilliant idealistic aim, if only because it will bring some of the more shy and obscure documentary directors to a more mainstream audience. I say that with some comments in mind that have come out of the workshops we've done - that there's some filmmakers with a great community of documentary and cross-media people around them who win trust through a long period of developing a good idea with like-minded people. But they're not so good at the wham-bam of year-round pitching to a single person. Because the kind of thing Snag are doing is more about gradual accumulative respect and communal niches, it's a real democratiser I hope. And it doesn't require filmmakers to feel like they're being someone entirely not themselves, fitting a personal formula for the sake of it.
Well that's the theory. For it to work, it'll need to stay high-profile, which it definitely is at the moment...well, it is on some important blogs anyway, and I've read some beautifully-written comments about it. I don't know if that's really high-profile though but generally, it's best anyway if these things wash into public consciousness over time rather than explode excitingly and then crash and burn. As I say, I'll see if Britdoc is abuzz about it or something else. Probably the main buzz will be the weather, which is forecast to be hot and lovely.
One good thing that's come of Snag already is that I have a new blog called Docsider to read, written by a Rabbi. You can't have too many sources of information can you?
Doc/Fest hearts the Highlands
By Charlie Phillips 21 July, 2008
I'm back from Inverness now, in a bit of a daze after an all-night ride on the sleeper train back to London. The ride was absolutely humbling, seeing hundreds of red deer going about their business on the wild landscape in the dusk as we left Inverness behind.
Don't you think train windows are just totally like cinema screens? You get this kind of vivid reality but in carefully-cut segments and rapid new and evermore-engaging scenes. When you travel on the sleeper, it's absolutely like a documentary all-nighter, with the natural world seemingly directed as a cleverly-edited verite classic. Like a long, hypnotic and gripping nature film as directed by Albert Maysles, and all for free. Train windows as the new documentary medium anyone? Perhaps I'll submit it as a festival session...
Leaving my poetic thoughts aside though (phew), the workshop was great. We had the most participants yet for a single workshop - 35 - and also the most widespread. I may be proud of my journeying but the Shetlanders we had got to Inverness after about 24 hours traveling and even those up from Glasgow and Edinburgh had made the trip equivalent to London to Newcastle.
This meant that for me there was a very special atmosphere, and you really saw that when we tried a new ice-breaking game on the evening before the main workshop. I won't spoil it for those coming to the final workshop in Sheffield, but I can say that it's about appreciating yourself as a documentary-making human. Because remember when you pitch to the docs market, you sell yourself as much as your project, and that goes for the biggest doc-makers too.
We had some impressive project ideas in the room, and we were particularly enamoured with the pitch given by Sonja Henrici about sustainable living, which had an almost-surreal dreamlike atmosphere of a world gone strange. Sonja is well-known to us as the main lady behind the Scottish Documentary Institute and she did an impressive and very well-prepared pitch with a stunning trailer.
Thanks to Amanda at the Highlands and Islands Enterprise for making this happen - I really feel we got to some superb talent way up North and I hope that we're going to see a Scottish revolution at Doc/Fest this year - and see Hussain's blog too.
Session curating: bottom up style
By Heather Croall 19 July, 2008
Next week we have our board and advisory meeting that will decide most of the session programme for this year's festival. Before I had ever been to Sheffield I'd heard lots about the fabulous and lively level of debate in the Doc/Fest industry panels, so when I came to work here I was keen to see how the session programme got created.
I discovered it involves a whole lota people from all over the place having an input. The festival is run by a tiny tiny team but it is the input of the amazing Advisory Committee that I think has helped deliver many great sessions at Sheffield.
When I took the role as festival director, quite a few people said to me that the first thing I should do is "get rid of the Advisory Committee" because it was too big, a shambles! But the more I looked into what the advisory committee had been doing for the past 15 years, the more I came to think that it was one of the best things the festival had going... even if it was unwieldy and chaotic. The thing that stands out about the Doc/Fest Advisory Committee is its size - it's big, like, massive! ...its got about 50 members. Its a mix of film directors, producers, EP's, film lecturers, commissioning editors and more. you can see who they are here And while it is a big group to wrangle, I just thought it was great that so many people got involved in the festival - a chance for lots of voices from all sides of the industry to have a say in the festival programme and actually, rather than make the committee smaller since I took the job, more people have joined it! (in general I am known for my approach of "The More The Merrier", so why not take it over to the committee too?) - the new members are mainly young filmmakers and people representing more diverse sectors of the industry... including interactive sector, community sector and regional based people. All sorts. We love it!
The festival advisory meet about every 6 weeks in London to discuss the range of topics they'd like to see addressed at the festival; lots of suggestions for speakers and session are captured at each meeting and this list grows and grows until the selections are made (right about now).
Sometimes 40 people turn up to the meeting, sometimes it is only 15 - which makes the process fairly unpredictable and mildly chaotic, but people give whatever time they can and that's fine. Many of the committee members also donate their time to be session producers for the festival. Its all hugely appreciated by the Doc/Fest team and me and, ultimately, by the delegates who get to attend sessions that have been put together with lots of love well in advance.
Last year we introduced an online submit-a-session-idea process that allowed people beyond the Advisory Committee to put forward ideas for the festival. Some fabulous panels last year came through that online system so we've continued it this year and dozens of top ideas have come in. Next week, the advisory will meet and, over much tea, coffee and biscuits, we will thrash out all the ideas on the table and make the selection of the sessions for this years festival.
The year round process with the advisory means that the ownership of Sheffield Doc/Fest is shared widely in the industry ... and it's truly a heartfelt ownership for many people - they know they have really helped shape the festival sessions over the years. It offers a Bottom-Up style to programming rather than Top-Down- a bit of a facebook approach to it all ... and because of all that, Sheffield Doc/Fest belongs to many, not just the small team that put it together.
After we select the sessions at the meeting next week, the hard work of actually making the panels begins...and in advance, here is a 'thanks!' for all those contributions from everyone. There's still time to help by being a session producer, please let us know if you are keen... the other thing the sessions need is insightful and challenging questions from the audience at the festival. Hopefully you'll want to involved in it all.
Wonderland/Awesome/Doxwise
By Charlie Phillips 15 July, 2008
Just been having a browse around two of the 'new generation' film and video websites, Wonderland, and From Here To Awesome, both of which are intimately tied to things going on in the 'real' world, trying to use the web to generate interest and money (hurrah) for making more films, and create a real community whilst doing it.
Wonderland is really interesting - you have to prove yourself to a panel in order to be part of the club, making it the antithesis of the 'anyone can do it' attitude of most internet screening. This is good but it also means that in terms of documentary there's not a lot on there at the moment - I always feel like documentary-makers are generally more cautious about where they submit their films than fiction-makers, although it could just be there's less of them. Anyway, it's good to see MeetMarket alumnus Jes Benstock's Holocaust Tourist on there, and these are still early days. It's a really good name for a website as well.
The bit I really like is the Stream magazine, which is a guide to how to use new distribution channels for your film, and is well-written and nicely barnstorming. And it has a link to an article about a new UK film site "aimed at the lads market" that I didn't know about, the Film Lounge. Probably not my cup of tea.
From Here To Awesome is from everybody hip in the world and has been bubbling along for a while. They've just selected their showcase of top features to support in offline screenings, including a good doc called Meditate and Destroy. And they're doing a conference too called DIY Days which looks fun.
And before I forget, was also checking out Doxwise from Denmark, which is a documentary series on Myspace and has some really raw and interesting moments. And it's unique in being a progressive web documentary project that isn't American. It's made by Michael Noer, who made Vesterbro last year, which was an intense documentary which felt entirely honest and showed how flawed people in love are.
Guess these are all the tips of icebergs, which is pretty exciting. What's particularly good about Doxwise is that it plays with the form of documentary and responds to how the film is being watched with a personal short sharp shock.
Bar-doc-necchia
By Charlie Phillips 14 July, 2008
I bet that pun has never been made before...anyway, I've left Bardonecchia now and I have to say it was one of the best festivals/workshops/pitching sessions (cos it's all of those) I've been to. Useful, inspiring and very fun - it's how a film festival should be.
I was thinking last night in the bath about why it was so good, and yes, it's partly that it's a stunning location under mountains, sun and occasionally apocalyptic rain. But it's mainly that the numbers are small and the people are young, whether young in age or young at heart. So there's a real community feel, and crucially, new and exciting ideas flowing everywhere. The pitch sessions I attended were almost all 100% original and visibly passion projects of the producers. The whole event feels fresh, and the talk between events buzzes with interest in exchanging ideas and freely-offered tips for project development and contacts. There's no pretension, just good people with great creations to offer to the world.
It also has a great party in a chalet on the mountains, although I had the horrifying realisation that I'm now so soaked in London snobbyness that I can't dance to bad pop music anymore. And I mean bad pop music here, really bad.
But that's a small and totally irrelevant point. A big public thanks from me to Stefano from Doc in Europe and also EDN who organise it with him. On which note, a quick plug from me on their behalf to say that they are a vital organisation to join if you really want to immerse yourself in the European co-production scene, and the money is well spent. And they've got a special offer on at the moment so take it up.
So that's my final Eurotrip for a bit, but I will of course be in Inverness this Wednesday and Thursday for the next workshop - this one is going to be really special - those of you going are in for a right treat. You'll see what I mean...
Paradise
By Charlie Phillips 11 July, 2008
Saw a new stange and wonderful doc called Paradise this afternoon - what a doc! It made me laugh out loud, and there aren't many documentaries that do that. It's about an old couple, married for 65 years, deciding on wallpaper. Yes, it is literally about watching paste dry, but it's gripping, beautiful and funny.
And strangely political too, like a testament to living just however you want to, and being totally independent. Brilliant film!
Doc in Europe update
By Charlie Phillips 10 July, 2008
This is a good place to be - small enough so that you get to talk to everyone, big enough that there's the quality that impresses.
I was very impressed by the Matchmaking this morning - good casual collaborative format, and some real standout doc ideas from Marina Delvecchio and also the trio behing "Kubat's Triangle", both of which in their way are looking at how utopias rise, fall and possibly rise again in our imaginations. And a beautiful vignette of a project about a strawberry seller in Italy which reminded me of ten things at once yet was all its own. And it was pitched bloody remarkably for someone speaking in their 2nd language (English always wins the day at doc events!)
And then a great masterclass from Alexandru Soloman, a Romanian doc filmmaker who has a brilliant eye for the ironies of post-Communist Eastern Europe - and great enthusiasm and love for filmmaking, a real joy to see. In fact, this place seems to be full of people with love for making films, and I will never complain about that.
Being more workshop than festival, this place is a true melting-pot of ideas, and everyone is totally on the ball. I've had some inspiring conversations and even got to wax lyrical myself on the merits of veganism (don't encourage me). Maybe it's the drama of the looming mountains above, but I feel like we're all in a crucible of working on everyones' ideas together, and there's no pride, just devotion to working out to how best get good ideas on screen. Admittedly, we could do with a few more commissioners and buyers here, but actually the low number means that those here are more relaxed and more able to get into the detail of projects one-on-one, gladly with enthusiasm, like human beings.
Which of course they, and we, all are.
Apparently it's going to rain tomorrow, so you may get a less thoughtful and more moaning post tomorrow from me. Sorry in advance.
Edinburgh International Film Fest comes and goes
By Hussain Currimbhoy 09 July, 2008
Came back from Edinburgh International Film Festival last week and I gotta say that I think I want to move there. This was my first time past Manchester and I was totally taken by the place. There is a very specific light, attitude and film festival there that has to be seen to be believed.
The festival changed its dates to get away from the throng of other festivals that engulf the city in august (like the Fringe) but I had no complaints. No one I talked to had a bad word to say about the date shift and I thought it could only make the festival stand out and be its own without other events to compromise its impact.
The cinemas were close enough together and even though I was there only for the tail end people still had a smile on their face and were helpful.
Of course I was smiling the most after Shirley Clarke’s masterpiece, Portrait of Jason, which is on my top three films of all time list (after Close Up by Abbas Kiarostami and Tsai Ming Liang’s The River). I thought because I missed the retro at Cinema du Reel earlier this year I would have missed it forever. Thank god for EIFF.
For those who haven’t seen it check out the DVD if you can:
It was Clarke at the height of her career; it was America in the prime of its independent filmmaking life. The film will break you up!
The best thing I saw that was new was THE NEW TEN COMMANDMENTS guided by Nick Higgins. I say guided because it’s an omnibus collection with Irvine Welsh, Mark Cousins (Doc/Fest Japanese strand curator no less), Douglas Gordon (director of the brilliant ZIDANE), Kenny Glenaan, Nick Higgins, Sana Bilgrami, Alice Nelson, Tilda Swinton, Doug Aubrey, David Graham Scott and Anna Jones.
What do they all have in common? They are some of Scotland’s best filmmakers, visual artists and writers. With the 60th anniversary of the UN Bill of Human Rights celebrated this year each film takes one ‘right’ and interprets it through the prism of Scotland. Most everyone I spoke to loved Douglas Gordon’s segment – not a word spoken yet the tension in the room was palpable – and Alice Nelson’s ‘Right to Privacy’ about a guy who was arrested in Scotland for getting intimate with his bicycle was hysterical. They were not just a look at rights that effect everyone in the UK and really, the world, but – and not to say they were patriotic – they were also a very Scottish look at what it means to be a Scot in contemporary Scotland.
Doc/Fest is assembling a special celebration on Scottish docs this year with a Scottish party (judging by the parties I attended at EIFF our will be crazy), a collection of short and feature films, Scottish speakers on some panels and a Scottish delegation.
BYO Whiskey.
Doc/Fest already has a handful of shorts from the Scottish Documentary Institute that are some of the best short docs I’ve seen in ages. But when I asked around for an explanation of this phenomenon everyone said: ‘we’ve always made brill’ docs just no one has paid attention!’
I sat down with Finlay Pretsell from the Scottish Documentary Institute and picked his brain. Stay tuned to read the transcript this week!
hussain
I'm going to Docs in the Alps
By Charlie Phillips 08 July, 2008
Quick note to say that I'm going to Doc in Europe tomorrow in what sounds like a mountain idyll in Northern Italy. I'll give you full reports back as I go. And if you're going, let me know
Documentaries, amazing people and the Alps - this festival malarkey ain't bad sometimes, you know...
Greenwald speaks to the world and other good onlining
By Charlie Phillips 07 July, 2008
Robert Greenwald does interesting things with his Brave New Films whether you agree with his politics or not and indeed, whether you like his documentaries or not. And I enjoyed reading this mini-profile of the agitator, mainly for a small insight into how we works and thinks. I know a lot about his films but not so much about him. And he makes it sound so easy to do new things - good man.
And speaking of people with revolutionary agendas, do you know the Centre for Social Media? Despite being a mine of intelligent information about the legalities of online video, fair use, democratic media, and other buzzwords, etc, their articles are satisyfingly and unfashionably very long indeed. When you're used to skimming blogs like me, these kind of things feel like War and Peace. But boy are they good - there's a brilliant essay on The Rise And Fall of the British Public Service Publisher which they linked to in the newsletter today but ummm, I can't find it on the website so you'll have to have a little dig.
By the way, in my own contribution to increasing the wordiness of the internet, I'll be responding to requests from out there for notes from all the pitch workshops for those of you who can't make it to them physically. There'll be a summary of all the pointers from them in August, when they're all done and dusted.
That Old Chestnut!
By Heather Croall 03 July, 2008
At Sunny Side I spoke in a session about festivals – the panel had reps from Leipzig, Hot Docs, Sheffield, CPH Docs, IDFA, Silverdocs, Jihlava and Nyon. We outlined the different elements and focuses of our events - the marketplace activities, the film programmes, the industry panels, the videotheque libraries and so on.
Questions were invited from the audience, and the topic immediately turned to premiere rules. The elephant in the room that noone had talked about. Why not get down to it?
In general, the festivals on the panel all had fairly specific not-too-demanding premiere rules (if they had any at all) – a Toronto premiere is required at HotDocs, a German premiere at Leipzig, etc. IDFA had the widest reaching premiere rules on the panel and "very strict rules" for the films in competition.
This is something we all know and I can't count the number of times I have been in this very discussion with filmmakers, distributors and commissioners. It is always cropping up. So what's new? what's the solution? how do we make it easier for the filmmakers to navigate?
One issue is making sure filmmakers understand all the different rules and how they relate to their own situation. For example – you can screen in your own country (maximum 2 fests) and still be invited to competition at IDFA, and there's similar caveats at many festivals - someone else has probably drawn up a road map to festival rules on their blog to help make sense of all this… I don't want to get into the details here.
The problem is not so much the IDFA rules in isolation. Partly the problem is the bottle neck of so many Euro based doc festivals all together in the Autumn (Leipzig, Sheffield, CPH and IDFA all in about 6 weeks) and on top of that, the chronological order of those Autumn festivals– unfortunately the festival with the strictest premiere rules, IDFA, comes last in the calendar. So other Autumn doc fests (like CPH Docs, Sheffield and Leipzig) feel the impact of the IDFA prem rules without actually making similar style asks on filmmakers. If we came immediately after IDFA, life might be easier for the filmmaker, but unfortunately that's not how it is. So what to do? All flip dates? So IDFA would be the first in the Autumn?...then CPH, Leipzig, Sheffield follow? Well, it could make life easier… But its not as simple as it sounds to just move dates of long established festivals when they have existing relationships with local authorities, funders, sponsors, venues, etc. And then there's Christmas.
Ultimately, filmmakers have to make the choice – each festival does things differently and you choose where you want to go. If filmmakers want to go for Leipzig, CPH Docs and Sheffield as a triangle of festivals in the Autumn, rather than wait for IDFA, that's an option. But it's still a choice of one OR the other - unfortunately that's just the way it is.
One of the sad things that often happens is that filmmakers call us in late September to say they didn't get selected for IDFA so they want their film in Sheffield afterall– but our programme at that point is already locked and at the printer (so is CPHdocs and Leipzig) and they miss out.
So, the premiere rules present a dilemma with many layers and there's no quick fix on it - I think the more we all discuss it, the better. Filmmakers in the end have to make the call; mapping a festival strategy can be a massively confusing process and in the words of a classic 70's sitcom theme tune "The world don't move to the beat of just one drum.
What might be right for you, may not be…" You know the rest… "It takes, Diff'rent Strokes to move the world."
There are many filmmakers who waited for that big premiere and got the bang they wanted, some filmmakers wait for the one big fest and feel disappointed when they are lost in the sea of films. Other filmmakers take a long burn approach and watch their profile build and build at many festivals… Last year, The English Surgeon was voted best doc at Sheffield and 6 months later won at Hot Docs and then won at Silverdocs and is still going strong.
So, there is no one golden rule that fits all films, and the different premiere rules aren't going away soon – so talk about it out loud and find out what worked for others and what might work best for you.
Back at our festivals session in La Rochelle, I don't think the Q and A even moved on from the Premiere questions at all for questions on any other issue - so it's obviously a hot topic for filmmakers.
Changing technologies and the growing number of distribution platforms will be another key issue in the development of this debate.
It's a regular question in the film festival exam. Premiere Rules. Discuss.
By the way, thanks to everyone who came to our Sheffield Doc/Fest Tea Party at Sunny Side - I smuggled 150 Bakewell Tarts into France in my suitcase and lashings of Yorkshire Tea (did I break any EU laws?)And what a lovely time we had! I have a feeling Tea Parties might be The New Cocktail, and Sheffield Doc/Fest will be having more of them… we'll let you know when the next one is.
Documentaries - in crisis? Doing well? Getting 5 stars?
By Charlie Phillips 03 July, 2008
Wow, now 2gether has a posh polar explorer talking about blogging from the snow! Best thing ever.
Anyway, wanted to draw your attention to 3 ends of the documentary distribution wagon, partly because they're darn interesting and partly because they show that no matter how many words you devote to the good/bad/middling health of documentary, something will always contradict you.
So, here's the bad news - Docs aren't making enough at the box office and all the American distributors are dying or being absorbed. And if you think that's just an American thing, then have you heard that Tartan in the UK has also closed down? This is undoubtedly a bit rubbish, but as that Newsweek article says, documentaries are still well-watched on TV and that's particularly important considering the reliance UK documentarists have always had to place on television.
And for me, that's kind of the point - we've never had very good cinema distribution of documentaries so this isn't a shocker. Although, that doesn't mean we shouldn't, and that's where the importance of decent use of the Film Council's Digital Screen Network is so important. So look to initiatives like Joiningthedots working with Picturehouse to bring documentaries to the big screen and support them because the pressures on independent cinemas to just keep the doors open mean they can't be charitable to documentaries for the sake of it.
But like with joiningthedots, there is a future for filmmakers for new ways of distributing documentaries without placing yourself totally at the mercy of the credit crunch (etc, etc). This is the good-er news - I was really interested to see that a Sundance winner is self-distributing. It's not a documentary, but it is a model that could work especially well with the fleet-footed self-marketing that documentary producers are particularly good at (right?). I'll be interested to see how well it works, and whether it changes the rights models of the indie and not-so-indie parts of the docs market.
And so getting more maverick, and even more good-est, I was really pleased to see that one of the most maverick, Guy Maddin got 5 stars in Time Out for his new docu-fantasia, My Winnipeg. It's beautiful and it's a whole new strange version of documentary for you. It's an autobiography in black and white, obsessed with Mothers and the cold. And it looks like it was shot in the 1940s but it wasn't . So if you really want to support docs on the big screen, this is your chance. Just don't think too much about the obituary for Tartan that I just spotted is also on the Time Out site.
Let's get 2gether - Doc/Fest news round-up
By Charlie Phillips 02 July, 2008
Well, it's my newsround anyway so it'll have to do.
I'm more than a bit tetchy that I'm not at 2gether today, especially since it's happening (at most) 30 seconds from the Doc/Fest London home. Although check out that website - you don't need to be there with reliable live streaming like that and, best of all, a beautiful young Twitter Feed full of observations on the day.
I think with this sort of brave new ideas thing, you either get excited about it or you need someone to make you excited. I don't have the space here to properly say why it matters just so much that as we speak people are pushing the boundaries of factual film, text, art and redefining what documentary means, but I will elaborate another time. Quickly and bluntly though, it's Channel 4 sponsoring a "festival of ideas, popular technologies and progress" and if you work in broadcasting and don't think that's really important, then...you're wrong my friend.
Anyway, other stuff - there's more from Sunnyside like the crisis in world public service broadcasting, and the hope that it's not dying, it's just being redefined...which is probably true. Great stuff from Paulo Markun, from Brazil's Fundação Padre Anchieta, who totally laid bare why PSB matters to us all, and not just if you're in an allegedly more unstable country like Brazil.
Plus over the last 2 days, we had the two London Pitch Workshops which were a real inspiration - such great ideas out there and such devotion to quality creative documentary. I have to gush - we have some great documentary-makers in London, and it's a crying shame that not everyone gets a fair crack of the ship. I mean, we find it hard enough to find space for more than a few attendees to pitch, and devote time to their ideas and presentations, so how enough time can ever be given by UK commissioners to talented people is bewildering to me and a bit sad too.
And by the way, Yorkshire people, get signed up for the Sheffield workshop on July 29th - I want an extra-special workshop in our back garden!
Well, time to go back to the 2gether web feed...and by the way, wondering why I'm not actually there if I love it so much? It's 9 days since I was last in the office,
I think I need to be here. Sometimes even in the digital age, you need to be in an uncomfortable chair with backache.
Greenwashing documentaries
By Charlie Phillips 27 June, 2008
Yesterday at Sunnyside, I went to the panel on "green programmes" and it was a case of high hopes and good intentions, but muddled outcomes. I don't mean that to criticise any of the people on the panel, all of whom I think are great, but I think we need to look at two key issues which were not the focus of this panel - firstly, ask more from documentaries than to just point out the issues we already know and advocate assuming a non-life-changing solution will just come ; and second, countering the dispassionate stance of standing aside as if the mechanics of the documentary industry itself played no role in climate chaos.
So the first - much was talked about regarding people tiring of images of withered plants, deserts and dead birds. Now that's true, but it's no improvement to replace them with happy animals and delighted multinational energy company executives telling us they're spearheading a solution. People, we're genuinely in crisis and any environmental documentary or series that tells you that we need anything other than a immediate change in lifestyle, and advocates anything other than an extremely depressed attitude to (Western?) humanity, is for me suspicious. And dangerously time-wasting.
I'm not saying there aren't many ways to approach this, but this happy-clappy attitude to 'green' docs serves to do little beyond offering easy 'awareness'. We don't need 'awareness' - if you're not aware already, then you need to get up to speed fast, turn off the telly and look out the window, and then take action. And two more things - a. just cos your documentary has lots of the colour green in it doesn't make it Green and b. if your doc is sponsored by a car company, I think you've been duped.
Second point - as the Green Code Project are leading on, the documentary world itself needs to take decisions on its own contribution to climate change. The infrastructure of going from development to screen, with all the travel and power therein, needs assessing - just like in every other industry. That's the real green revolution that, for me, documentary people can spearhead. We're doing something ourselves with our Carbon Neutrality here at Doc/Fest but it's no more than a start and I certainly think there's way more we can do...so we will - hold me to it, I've got plans, all of your ideas welcome.
PS Totally irrelevant, but on a less hectoring and more fun note, I'm sitting in a session here, above where the headphone man translates from French to English. I can only see his hands waving and gesticulating madly, emerging from the darkness, and it's kind of amazing, and really quite bizarre
Getting docs info online - where to go
By Charlie Phillips 26 June, 2008
So I'm really into this blogging malarkey. Yes, partly because I like writing and I have opinions so I write, but also because blogs are pretty much my major source of information about what's happening in documentary.
My Firefox bookmarks toolbar is taken up with a massive array of dropdown blog feeds, some of which I scan speedily (a photographic memory helps with being an avid blog reader) and some of which I treasure like fine informational wine. It's kind of amazing how you can spend ten minutes blog-checking and suddenly feel like you've participated in hours of gossiping and knowledge-gathering. It's also amazing how much obscure new film information you can amass, so that when you come to places like this (sorry, I'm still at Sunnyside), someone can mention a small Puerto Rican film to you and you genuinely know exactly what they're talking about.
Anyway blogs are also about finding the nuggets of gold in the sludge, it has to be said, so here's my regular 'fine wine' blogs of choice:
Spout Blog, where Karina Longworth blogs a billion times a day with funny and intelligent slices of coolness.
GreenCine Daily, which is my major source of world film information, with a report on seemingly every single festival in the world however small and links to, well, every news and magazine article about film too. Honestly. Amazing.
All These Wonderful Things by AJ Schnack, which is at the longer-form end of things and more considered and occasional, but always very in-the-know.
The Guardian's film blogs which are for me the best British film bloggings you can get (although to be fair there isn't a lot of competition) and react really quickly to breaking news.
And finally The Lipster, which is a sort of feminist culture blog with some of the cleverest and most entertaining writing you see anywhere on or offline, always making you nod fervently in agreement, and being brilliant at recontextualising old bits of film culture with modern-day developments. And they also seem to write particularly well on documentary from a UK perspective, which is a rare find in the land of blogs as you may have noticed.
Sunnysiders
By Charlie Phillips 25 June, 2008
As Heather said yesterday, we're at Sunnyside this week, soaking up the sunny weather and having strong coffee. Lots of coffee.
Ignoring the weirdness of my prison-like hotel, it's a fascinating place to be. All the factions of the international docs world have their stands (or in our case, squashed-in table) and use their charms to allure passing trade. We call MeetMarket speed-dating or match-making for documentary people but this is one step further - personal sales booths for your documentary credentials. It's a bit like a Moroccan Bazaar for factual people's wares.
One tip if you happen to be here, or just like to have your finger on the pulse - go see The Age of Stupid, the new movie from uber-doctivist (documentary activist - get it?) Franny Armstrong. I banged on about it for ages in my last place and having now seen the final piece, I can tell you that you will cry, you will feel like you need to change the world and you will feel really very depressed and hopeless at the end.
It's a total slap in the face, I love it. Anyway, back to the coffee...
Workshopping
By Charlie Phillips 24 June, 2008
As you may have seen, we've launched a series of regional Marketplace workshops for this year's Doc/Fest Marketplace events. I started writing this late at night after our first one, in Belfast, and we've now done Cardiff as well.
And I can say for sure it was a success - we had 8 participants in Belfast all with great ideas on a massive range of subjects. Special mention goes to Derville Quigley, whose budgie documentary was pitched to me and Karolina in an almost anti-pitch relaxed style which we really adored.
So why are we doing these 6 workshops? It's for lots of reasons, but it's also for the simple reason that we want more people from outside London to apply to the MeetMarket and take part in the wonders of the Doc/Fest Marketplace. Last year we had more projects submitted from Holland than from Hull and though all selected are there on merit, in terms of applications we can make a better drive for non-London UK project submissions.
Look, I'm a Yorkshireman born and bred, so you can let me be firm about this sort of thing. So there's still time to apply for our Inverness and Sheffield workshops - check out the regional pitch workshops page for how to be at these workshops, and I'll keep updating you on how they've gone (more on Cardiff soon too)
By the way welcome from me to the Doc/Fest blog. Hope you'll keep checking in on all of us writing here - some of it will be Doc/Fest related and some of it really won't be, but hopefully it'll all be interesting if you follow the world of documentary. Let us know what you think...
Packing for Sunny Side
By Heather Croall 23 June, 2008
Just packing for Sunny Side of the Doc - if you are going please come see us in the UK village.
I'll be talking on the festivals panel and we are putting on a brunch at the Sheffield stand on Thursday morning at 10am. Definitely serving coffee and croissants, if your lucky we might even have Yorkshire Tea and Bakewell Tart.
I should be getting to la Rochelle Tuesday evening if all goes well - this year I have
been evacuated from an airport due to fire, evacuated due to discovery of an unexploded WWII bomb in the area, grounded in an icestorm and delayed by 5 hours due to a man running across the tarmac at Heathrow 'wearing a backpack'. Hopefully no delays this time. See you there.
Tips to submitting your film to a film festival
By Hussain Currimbhoy 20 June, 2008
This is my first time as programmer of Sheffield Doc/Fest. It’s also my first blog – welcome!
This is the year we hit Hotdocs in Toronto, Visions du Reel in Nyon, Cannes, Thessaloniki Documentary film festival in Greece and the London Romanian Film Festival. So many amazing documentaries, I’ll start thinking of the films as stray pets – I want to take them all home with me.
I’m getting the sensation that we’ll have enough. It’s right in the middle of the viewing season now and we have 10 people, some as far away as Australia, viewing scores of documentaries on our behalf. The number of entrants are higher than average. I think we’ll break a record or two with the number of films received. The quality of the filmmaking is higher than I expected too – great, but it makes the choices a lot harder...
In an attempt to stand out from the crowd some one sent in their documentary with a brand new syringe, needle and swab kit inside the DVD case. I dropped the package like a hot potato. I realised the film was about heroin abuse, and this was some kind of themed marketing gimmick for us to take a closer look at the film. I started to imagine what it would be like if I left that on my desk and a visitor dropped by the programmer’s desk.
Tips to submitting your film to a film festival:
1) Don’t put anything inside film packaging that makes the addressee drop it like a hot potato.
2) Make sure you put the name of the film on the front of our DVD in ink.
3) Try not to leave the DVD blank.
4) Make sure the ink dries before you put it in the case and post it.
5) Ensure you send it to the right festival
6) For your entry fee try not to send cash to accompany your film
There are some of course that are challenging viewing. So much on the war on terror and the ‘constantly changing social landscape of China’. Can you imagine what will happen if Obama wins? We’ll have to start a new festival called ‘Regime Change’ to handle the number of films coming in.
So many docs have a great character or a setting but no way to bring it out. Or the reverse is true. But just when I’m getting a bit despondent, something pops out that is unassuming and forthright and humble. The enthusiasm levels jump up again. I can almost rely on it.