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Camden International Film Festival Blog.

SILVERDOCS Wrap-Up

Jurying a festival can be a very challenging experience, especially when its at one of the best programmed festivals in the world. As the official program for SILVERDOCS came to a close yesterday and my duty as a jury member came to a close, I’ve had the opportunity to spend the past couple of days letting all the material I had the chance to view in DC soak in. There was a lot.

The shorts at this year’s SILVERDOCS Festival challenged viewers in a number of ways. It was a very strong program with what seemed to be a number of great works coming from Scotland and the UK. Sky and her team did a wonderful job pairing similar themed shorts with features as well as constructing several shorts programs on different subjects. In the end, our jury decided to give 2 special jury mentions to films that have been receiving great attention on the circuit, THE POODLE TRAINER and BETWEEN DREAMS. But it was a new film by UK director Andy Taylor Smith called THIS CHAIR IS NOT ME that resonated the most with our jury. The film follows Alan Martin as he speaks about the turning point in his life, the point where he decides that he will no longer be defined by his cerebral palsy, but as the beautiful and unique individual he is. Our reason for awarding this film?

“The film we are honoring strikes a perfect balance of substance and style. By mimicking the subject’s refusal to limit himself, the filmmaker pushes the boundaries of traditional storytelling techniques. Using an innovative visual language and complex narrative structure, it allows viewers an opportunity to experience the world through the subject’s unique point of view.”

All in all, my first SILVERDOCS experience surpassed my very high expectations. There is a reason why so many people consider this the largest and best doc festival in the US. Sky and her team do an amazing job programming, not just features and shorts but also a number of wonderful sidebars. There is also a great sense of community between filmmakers and industry, despite the festival being so large. I was quite surprised at just how “homey” this festival felt. And then there is the Conference and The Good Pitch which I was only able to make for one afternoon. The pitches were compelling and the entire Good Pitch crew ran one of the tightest events I’ve seen in quite some time. They had a number of industry broadcasters, NGO’s and philanthropists reviewing pitches…and believe it or not, it was a success! Out of the 3 pitches I saw, all walked away with leads to broadcast and one very special filmmaker went home with nearly $60,000 in hand.

So despite the intense heat, SILVERDOCS was an unforgettable experience. We walked away with several shorts and some features that we are very excited about sharing with our audiences next Fall. This will be the last festival I’ll attend before CIFF and it was a pleasure to end on such a high note. We’ve been traveling pretty much non-stop since February searching for little film treasures along the way…there’s lots and they’re out there!

Congrats to Sky Sitney and crew for putting on such a wonderful event. Looking forward to 2011.

-Ben

CIFF Collaborates on ALLELUIA JUNCTION Screening

The Camden International Film Festival is proud to be teaming up with local filmmaker, Dana Rae Warren to premiere her latest work ALLELUIA JUNCTION at the Strand Theatre on July 3rd, 2010. The film follows 80 people ages 10 to 85 sing their way across 15 time zones in 2 weeks. By the time they arrive in the Russian Far East on the 4th of July,
they have a new understanding of what it means to be a citizen of the world.

Reflecting the choir’s magical experience on the Trans-Siberian Railway (portrayed in the film), the day begins with a vintage train ride from Brunswick to Rockland, Maine.
Maine Eastern Railroad will sponsor the romantic Parlor Car, which will serve as an event car for a “sing-along” with choir members. Upon arriving at the train station restaurant, riders will be treated to historical archival train footage provided by Maine-based Northeast Historic Film.

A free reception will follow at the gallery of North Haven artist Eric Hopkins. The film’s musicians will perform four pieces.

This is a free screening! For more information visit The Strand Theatre’s website.

Check out the trailer here.

CIFF Director Will Attend SILVERDOCS 2010 as Jury Member

Last week SILVERDOCS announced an impressive slate of documentary films for their 2010 festival. Camden IFF’s Ben Fowlie has been asked to be on the shorts jury along with Aron Gaudet from THE WAY WE GET BY and Elena Fortes from the amazing doc fest and traveling showcase, AMBULANTE. We are very honored to be able to take part in the festival in such a meaningful way… and we definitely look forward to checking out some of the feature offerings.

Aside from film screenings, SILVERDOCS also hosts THE GOOD PITCH in collaboration with the Sundance Institute and Channel 4. 8 films in production will have a chance “pitch” their projects and associated campaigns in front of a who’s who from the doc community as well as invited NGOs, charities, foundations, campaigners, advertising agencies and media.

Oh, one final note…SILVERDOCS will also be honoring Fred Wiseman this year! They’ll be showing a number of his works, although unfortunately not his 1998 248 minute film called BELFAST, MAINE a portrait of our neighbors to the North. Anyone living in Maine and especially the Midcoast should check this out, you’re bound to recognize someone.

Congrats to Sky Sitney and crew on another wonderful program! And if you are heading to DC in about three weeks for the festival, drop us a line and say hello!

CIFF Sponsors The DocYard

The Camden International Film Festival is honored to announce its participation in The DocYard, a new documentary screening series taking place at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, MA.

The bi-weekly series will kick off on June 7th at 8PM with a screening of the acclaimed doc, CLEANFLIX. Just like we do in Camden, all films will be accompanied by a filmmaker or two for a post-screening Q&A and shenanigans (which will take place at NOIR in the Charles Hotel after the film). There are a few notable CIFF alums who will take part in the inaugural summer series, including P-STAR RISING and last years winner of the Emerging Cinematic Vision Award, Patrick Shen’s PHILOSOPHER KINGS.

The series is brought to you by our good friends, The LEF Foundation and Boston’s very own Principle Pictures (creators of great docs!)

Now you might ask why a film festival in Maine would want anything to do with a screening series in Boston. There are two answers…
1.) Our love for docs knows no boundaries.
2.) It’s a great way to share our mission with the very wonderful filmmaking community in Boston.

So we hope you all enjoy these offerings and when it’s all done on Sept. 13, have no fear the Camden IFF falls just two weeks later (Sept. 30 – Oct. 3)!!!

For more information, visit The DocYard site, or friend us on facebook.

CIFF at Hot Docs

Before I get into a much delayed recap of CIFF’s first experience at North America’s largest documentary film festival, I must apologize on the radio silence over the past month and a half. There’s been much going on here this spring including a new website (which is nearly ready to launch) and of course, lots of time in dark theatres at film fests looking for some quality stories….They ARE certainly out there and Hot Docs had their fair share!

So Hot Docs is one that I’ve been wanting to attend since research and dreaming began for CIFF back in 2004. The great thing about festivals is that they all have their own distinct feel. Sometimes by the end you’re ready to go home, others like Hot Docs you wish could continue on forever. There is something magical about an event the size of Hot Docs and its ability to make you feel completely comfortable. Other fests similar in size seem disjointed and unnavigable. Screenings and sessions are held in gorgeous facilities throughout several universities that even make Harvard Yard look unappealing. Then there is Toronto, one of my favorite cities from my touring days with my old band CONSTANTS.

Most importantly, Hot Docs is an event that allows for some serious networking between key industry leaders from all over the world. Programmers, distributors, filmmakers and broadcasters all come together, carving out conversations between screenings or panels outside in sun filled green spaces or at parties like the British Party thrown by Sheffield with a captivating dj spinning classics from Journey.

So thanks to Sean Farnel and the entire Hot Docs crew for providing one hell of a week…paradise found!

Here are a few trailer from some choice films we previewed…Enjoy and mark your calendar now for Hot Docs 2011. We’ll see you there!

Now Accepting Submissions for CIFF 2010!

The Camden International Film Festival has officially opened its call for entries for 2010 and is now accepting documentary feature and short submissions for the 6th Annual Camden IFF. The deadline for online submissions is August 1st, 2010. The festival emphasizes work that focus on artistry and craft, as well as films that expose important issues of our day. Above all else, the festival is looking for a good stories, BIG and small.

Submissions deadlines are below.

Earlybird deadline: May 15th.
Regular Deadline: June 15th.
Late Deadline: July 15th.
Extended deadline: August 1st.

For more information, or to submit your film visit our submissions page.

A few testimonials from ’09 visiting filmmakers:
“…It’s truly hard to beat finding yourself in this small village on the coast of Maine, welcomed by a crew of staff and volunteers who seem to be taking a page from the old Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney days (let’s put on a show and let’s get all our friends to help out!), who clearly love docs and love their hometown… So congrats to the entire staff of CIFF. You’ve arrived. And – particularly in the current festival environment – not a moment too soon.”
AJ Schnack – Director, Convention

“In the vast sea of nearly impenetrable festival juggernauts and the countless other festivals void of soul and originality, it’s refreshing to know that there are places, like the Camden International Film Festival, where providing audiences with the opportunity to interact with filmmakers and honoring filmmakers isn’t an afterthought but the reason to be gathering in the first place…. Thankfully there are festivals that simply get it – like the brilliantly hip and culturally relevant CIFF.”
Patrick Shen – Director, The Philosopher Kings

“This festival has a sharp young energy, strong programming, and seriously engaged audiences (so engaged that our Q&A got a bit intense – an awesome, if prickly situation.)”
Donal Mosher – Director, October Country

CIFF Selects at SPACE GALLERY

So if you don’t know already, we’re BIG fans of the Space Gallery in Portland, ME. Like us, they’re determined to provide local Maine audiences with fresh, cutting-edge documentary films that might otherwise be inaccessible to the public, or at least in the way films SHOULD be seen….on the big screen. Spearheaded by co-founder Jon Courtney, SPACE programs at least a few films each month, sprinkled in between some pretty amazing bands. And if you read this blog you’ll note that we just got back from T/F with the Maine entourage, several of whom have connections with SPACE. OK, getting to the point of the post. We are very excited to announce that we’ll be co-presenting a screening of one of the most acclaimed documentaries of 2009, OCTOBER COUNTRY on April 8th, 2010. This was one of our spotlighted films from last years CIFF and hosting filmmakers Mike Palmieri and Donal Mosher was a major highlight!

If you missed the films New England premiere in Camden, do yourself a favor and get to Portland’s Space Gallery for this screening. Since screening in Camden last fall the film has gone on to be nominated for a Gotham Award, Independent Spirit Award and several Cinema Eye Nominations. It also took home the BEST DEBUT FEATURE at the Cinema Eye’s this year and has been playing to overwhelming audiences all over the world!

AO Scott from the NYTimes says,

“fascinating… like a Joyce Carol Oates novel rendered as a documentary… at once personal and objective… the filmmakers are as sensitive to visual nuances as they are to details of behavior>”

Below is the trailer. Here are the event details.

CIFF in MovieMaker Magazine!

Patrick Shen, Director of the doc PHILOSOPHER KINGS (winner of the 2009 Cinematic Vision Award at CIFF) reviewed the fest and shared his ’09 CIFF experience with the good folks at MovieMaker Magazine! Check out the review here!

MFVA Pitch Session Success!

The March MFVA event was a major success! Thanks to all who helped organize, especially Louise Rosen for putting together such a dynamic group of panelists. The evening consisted of the very first pitching session for Maine based filmmakers. This time around all were docs, we’re not biased….I swear! 5 filmmakers had the opportunity to pitch their film and screen a short clip of their work in progress to an extremely established panel, including Tom Koch, Vice President of PBS International, Cynthia Fennemen, Executive Director for American Public Television, Mary Lampson, editor for numerous docs including Harlan County and Trouble the Water, Sara Archambault, Managing Director for the LEF Foundation and Ben Fowlie, Founder and Director of the Camden IFF.

Well over 100 people gathered in John Seymore’s new Maine Studios for the event. Check out the Maine Film and Video Assoc. page for testimonials from participants and more information on upcoming events. Remember to sign up for a membership to take advantage of all the special membership perks!

Maine represents at T/F

It’s become somewhat of an annual thing for a group of Mainer’s to attend the True / False Film Festival. Spearheaded by Space co-founder, Jon Courtney, this motley crew consists of filmmakers, journalists, programmers and lovers of film. Of course CIFF (Director, Ben Fowlie and Points North Producer, Dominic Musacchio) were there to check up on a few titles for next years festival and once again, documentaries hippest festival did not disappoint. We’ll have much more on a number of films from the festival as CIFF gets closer, but in the meantime check out BAVC’s latest blog post by Maine native, and T/F participant, Carol Varney. She does a wonderful job running down the films that struck gold with the Dirigo Crew. Here is what festival co-director Paul Sturtz had to say: “Somehow the Maine contingent, led by the Space Gallery’s Jon Courtney, gets bigger and bigger with each year. Little known fact: I only wore Space Gallery T-shirts on T/F weekend, a silent homage to our Maine friends, who quite simply “get” the festival as much as anyone.”

Click here to read the entire blog post.

20 Under 40: Film Industry Talent to Watch

Following the heels of the 2010 CINEMA EYE HONORS, Toronto IFF and Stranger Than Fiction’s Thom Powers put together a list of 20 industry leaders worth keeping an eye on.  Listed among the talented and hard-working leaders of the non-fiction frontier is  Camden International Film Festival’s Founder and Director, Ben Fowlie.  Put simply by Power’s, “Ben Fowlie, founding director of the Camden Film Festival, has put a small town on the map of a crowded festival calendar. In order for film culture to flourish, we could use an organizer like Ben in every small town.”

Thanks for the recognition Thom!  Powers and his top-notch programming has been a major influence in our programming over the years.  We’ve been fortunate enough to have Thom’s wife, Raphaela Niehausen (who also made the list!) attend CIFF (MISS GULAG, CIFF ’07) and have also collaborated with his NY based Stranger Than Fiction Screening Series (THE WAY WE GET BY, STF SPRING ’09).

Congrats to everyone else mentioned.  CIFF is in exceptional company!  A special shout out to list-makers and major CIFF alums, David Redmon and Ashley Sabin!  For a complete list of the 20 Under 40: Film Industry Talent to Watch, visit the STF blog.

CIFF Conquers the Big Apple!

A sincere apology for the radio silence this past month.  We’ve been extremely busy this New Year (Happy belated 2010!), holding events in association with the 2010 Cinema Eye Honors in NYC, as well as gearing up for what some are already saying is going to be a very dynamic year for docs!  Although CIFF was unable to attend Sundance this year, we’ve got some choice representatives luring doc filmmakers NorthEast for this years CIFF (Thanks Sean Flynn!).

For those who don’t know, the CINEMA EYE HONORS for NONFICTION FILMMAKING is an annual event recognizing and honoring exemplary craft and innovation in nonfiction film.  The event is the brainchild of doc moguls, AJ Schnack (Convention, CIFF ’09 and ALL THESE WONDERFUL THINGS blog) and Thom Powers (Toronto Intl Film Festival Head Programmer / STF Program Director).  This year AJ asked CIFF Director, Ben Fowile, to take-part as a member of the nominating committee, a group of 11 documentary programmers from the best festivals from all over the world.

The night before the awards, CIFF held a reception for all nominated filmmakers and a number of industry guests.  The event went smashingly, thanks to sponsors Above Allen, Thompsons Hotel LES and of course, Maker’s Mark.  Thanks also to Leah Hurley, CIFF ’09’s producer for helping put this event together.  I think the consensus of the entire CE weekend was just how gracious and supportive the documentary community is.  In a city of over 10 million, somehow it felt like the only people who surrounded you were people who eat, sleep and breath nonfiction.  CINEMA EYE reminds us that there are several reasons why we devote our time and energy to nonfiction filmmaking, whether it’s creation, consumption or exhibition.  Thanks to everyone involved in making this special weekend happen.  It was an honor to have CIFF be a part of an event that recognizes craft and innovation in an art form that is continually pushing its own boundaries.

It should also be mentioned that there were tons of CIFF alum there as nominated filmmakers including the filmmakers from BECAUSE WE WERE BORN, THE WAY WE GET BY, OCTOBER COUNTRY and even a special appearance by CIFF alum, Peter Davis!  Below are a few pictures from the event.  If you are interested in seeing more, join us on facebook here. We’ll also be posting them to our flickr account soon.

Finally, big ups to Mike and Donal from OCTOBER COUNTRY for taking home two awards, BEST DEBUT FEATURE and BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE.  Also, congrats to our good friend Jessica Oreck and her film BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO for taking home the SPOTLIGHT AWARD.  Check out a complete listing of winners here.

CIFF Makes THE List!

AJ Schnack recently posted the second listing of the top 25 film festivals for documentary films and filmmakers.  His first edition was one of the most trafficked posts on his extremely busy blog and an international resource for filmmakers looking for worthy outlets for their film.  This time AJ enlisted the help of several filmmakers and industry folks to finalize this snapshot of the current festival circuit.

When the list came out two years ago we made it our secret goal to make sure that next time we’d make the cut.  It’s recognition like this that keeps us doing what we do….so thanks for the nod!  Here’s to #19!

For the review of CIFF, visit here.  For a complete listing, visit ALL THESE WONDERFUL THINGS. (if you are reading this blog….then you should be reading ATWT everyday anyway, nothing compares!)

Here’s a blurb straight from the source that we’ll surely be totting for quite some time….”If a festival can be cozy and stimulating at the same time, then Camden is creating an exciting event to kick off the insanity that is the fall festival tour and is poised to become the top US doc showcase in the fall” (AJ Schnack).

2010 SPIRIT AWARDS ANNOUNCED

Over on the west coast nominations for the 2010 SPIRIT AWARDS were announced earlier today.  Several of these films we’ve been following for quite some time so it’s a real joy to see them making it to the finals in the awards season.  Congrats to all nominated doc films.  Michael Palmieri’s and Donal Mosher’s OCTOBER COUNTRY (CIFF ’09) scored yet another nomination, this time for BEST DOCUMENTARY proving that it’s the biggest little independent film taking the awards season by storm.  Here’s hoping everyone will have a shot to see this film sometime soon, no matter what corner of the country you are in!

Also congrats to the TRUER THAN FICTION nominations.  We’ve been gushing about these three films since their premieres earlier this year!  All very well deserved.  And if you don’t believe us, check here, here and here.

Jessica Oreck – BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO

Bill and Turner Ross – 45365

Natalia Almada – EL GENERAL (This film had a very quiet festival run but has been making waves during the awards season)

Awards Season Continues with the Gothams and IDA

In what has been considered one of the busiest weeks in nonfiction (See AJ’ excellent Monday briefing for this week – here…) several films emerged as winners in their continued pursuit of the little golden statue.  Last night the IDA announced the winners in 7 of their categories, congrats to Mai Iskander and her film GARBAGE DREAMS for taking home the IDA Humanitas Award.  This award is given to a film that “explores the stories of human beings who are different in culture, race, lifestyle, political loyalties and religious beliefs in order to break down the wall of ignorance and fear that separates us”.   It should be noted that GARBAGE DREAMS was the only Academy Nominated film to win an award.

Last night Robert Kenner’s FOOD, INC took home the award for best documentary at the Gotham Awards and LAST TRAIN HOME is still garnering lots of buzz since being the talk of the festival at the prestigious IDFA.  Could this be the first big documentary film of 2010?  Check out the trailer below.

Finally, amidst all this talk of awards, its easy to forget that while the international festival circuit may be winding down for now….a whole new batch of films will be announced this Wednesday as Sundance announces its 2010 feature docs.  Here we go!

Oscars announce 2010 Documentary Shortlist

15 Feature documentary films were announced as the 2010 Oscar Shortlist on Wednesday evening.  Congrats to all the nominated films and filmmakers!  These 15 films will be whittled down over the next month and a half with one winner emerging on February 2nd.  CIFF’s track record continues as two alums make the cut, UNDER OUR SKIN, which took home our Harrell Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2008 and GARBAGE DREAMS which just screened in 2009.  For more info on previous selected films, check this out:

Like every year there seems to be some confusion as to why some films made the cut and others didn’t.  All nominated films had an incredible year either in the fest circuit or in the box office, but there were some noticeable names left off the list.  Would love to hear your thoughts on the final list!

* “The Beaches of Agnes,” Agnès Varda, director (Cine-Tamaris)
* “Burma VJ,” Anders Østergaard, director (Magic Hour Films)
* “The Cove,” Louie Psihoyos, director (Oceanic Preservation Society)
* “Every Little Step,” James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo, directors (Endgame Entertainment)
* “Facing Ali,” Pete McCormack, director (Network Films Inc.)
* “Food, Inc.,” Robert Kenner, director (Robert Kenner Films)
* “Garbage Dreams,” Mai Iskander, director (Iskander Films, Inc.)
* “Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders,” Mark N. Hopkins, director (Red Floor Pictures LLC)
* “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, directors (Kovno Communications)
* “Mugabe and the White African,” Andrew Thompson and Lucy Bailey, directors (Arturi Films Limited)
* “Sergio,” Greg Barker, director (Passion Pictures and Silverbridge Productions)
* “Soundtrack for a Revolution,” Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman, directors (Freedom Song Productions)
* “Under Our Skin,” Andy Abrahams Wilson, director (Open Eye Pictures)
* “Valentino The Last Emperor,” Matt Tyrnauer, director (Acolyte Films)
* “Which Way Home,” Rebecca Cammisa, director (Mr. Mudd)

Nominees Announced for 2009 IDA Awards

Hosted by Ira Glass and honoring Errol Morris, the IDA  will celebrate its 2009 Awards on December 4th in LA.

Congrats to POV, Natalia Almada, who will be recognized with the 2009 Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award,  (we spotted some major talent back in ’05 with her film, AL OTRO LADO) and all the nominees and finalists.

CIFF 09’s Closing Night Film, EARTH DAYS, was nominated for the Pare Lorentz Award.  This is given to a film that “demonstrates one or more of Lorentz’s central concerns—the appropriate use of the natural environment, justice for all and the illumination of pressing social problems—presented as a compelling story by skillful film-making.”

More information can be found here: www.documentary.org

2010 Cinema Eye Nominations Announced

Nominations for the 2010 Cinema Eye Honors were announced today at the Sheffield Doc Fest by AJ Schnack and Esther Robinson.  There were over 98 titles eligible for this years awards and 78 of those nominations were voted on in some capacity by the nominating committee comprised of festival programmers from all over, including Ben Fowlie from the Camden International Film Festival.  The nominations will now go to a larger voting pool and winners will be announced at the Cinema Eye Honors Awards Ceremony on January 15th at the Times Center in NYC.

Congrats to all the filmmakers who were eligible and nominated.  Awards like this put the whole year into perspective…and what a year it was!

 

Here is the full list of nominations:

Outstanding Achievement In Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking
Burma VJ
Directed By Anders Ostergaard
Produced By Lise-Lense Moller
The Cove
Directed By Louie Psihoyos
Produced By Paula Dupre Pesman And Fisher Stevens
Food, Inc.
Directed By Robert Kenner
Produced By Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
Loot
Directed and Produced By Darius Marder
October Country
Directed and Produced By Michael Palmieri And Donal Mosher

Outstanding Achievement In Direction
Agnes Varda
The Beaches Of Agnes
John Maringouin
Big River Man
Anders Ostergaard
Burma Vj
Darius Marder
Loot
Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher
October Country
Terence Davies
Of Time And The City

Outstanding Achievement In Production
Maria Florio, Molly Hassell and Molly Lynch
Big River Man
Richard Parry and Vaughan Smith
Blood Trail
Lise-Lense Moller
Burma Vj
Paula Dupre Pesman and Fisher Stevens
The Cove
RJ Cutler, Eliza Hindmarch and Sadia Shepard
The September Issue

Outstanding Achievement In Cinematography
Bill Ross and Turner Ross
45365
Brook Aitken
The Cove
Michael Palmieri
October Country
Deborah Stratman
O’er The Land
Yaron Orbach
Unmistaken Child

Outstanding Achievement In Editing
Bill Ross
45365
Janus Billeskov-Jansen and Thomas Papapetros
Burma Vj
Geoff Richman
The Cove
Brad Fuller and Fernando Villena
Every Little Step
David Smith
Soul Power
Josh Altman and Ondi Timoner
We Live In Public

Outstanding Achievement In Graphic Design And Animation
Christophe Vallaux
The Beaches Of Agnes
The Team At Bigstar
Food, Inc.
Kate Anderson
It Might Get Loud
Nominees Tbd
Rip – A Remix Manifesto
Patrick Lichty
The Yes Men Fix The World

Outstanding Achievement In Original Music Score
Rich Ragsdale
Big River Man
Joshua Ralph
The Cove
Mark Adler
Food, Inc.
Danny Grody, Donal Mosher, Michael Palmieri and Kenric Taylor
October Country
Joel Goodman
Valentino: The Last Emperor
Ben Decter and Marco D’ambrosio
We Live In Public

Outstanding Achievement In An International Feature Film
Burma VJ
Directed By Anders Ostergaard Produced By Lise-Lense Moller
Mugabe And The White African
Directed By Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson Produced By Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock and David Pearson
Of Time And The City
Directed By Terence Davies Produced By Roy Boulter And Sol Papadopoulos
Old Partner
Directed By Chung-Ryoul Lee Produced By Young-Jae Goh
Rough Aunties
Directed By Kim Longinotto Produced By Teddy Liefer And Paul Taylor
Those Who Remain
Directed By Carlos Hagerman And Juan Carlos Rulfo Produced By Carlos Hagerman, Juan Carlos Rulfo And Nicolas Vale

Outstanding Achievement In A Debut Feature Film
45365
Directed By Bill Ross And Turner Ross
The Cove
Directed By Louie Psihoyos
Loot
Directed By Darius Marder
October Country
Directed By Michael Palmieri And Donal Mosher
The Way We Get By
Directed By Aron Gaudet

Spotlight Award
Because We Were Born
Directed By Jean-Pierre Duret And Andrea Santana
Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo
Directed By Jessica Oreck
Episode 3: Enjoy Poverty
Directed By Renzo Martens
The Sound Of Insects: Record Of A Mummy
Directed By Peter Liechti
Trimpin: The Sound Of Invention
Directed By Peter Esmonde

Audience Choice Prize
Anvil! The Story Of Anvil
Directed By Sascha Gervasi
The Cove
Directed By Louie Psihoyos
Every Little Step
Directed By Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern
Food, Inc.
Directed By Robert Kenner
Good Hair
Directed By Jeff Stilson
The September Issue
Directed By RJ Cutler
Tyson
Directed By James Toback
Valentino: The Last Emperor
Directed By Matt Tyrnauer

Help support and promote the broadcast premiere of THE WAY WE GET BY

This award winning film, and CIFF ’08 Alum, will make its broadcast premiere on Nov. 11 on PBS as part of the POV series.  Mark you calendars now and tell your friends.  For more information on how you can help promote this screening, visit www.pbs.org/pov/waywegetby/promote.php.

Awards Season Ramping Up!

CIFF is over and snow has already fallen so that must mean its time for the award season to begin (despite it only being mid-October).  We expect lots of this years films to be among the many nominated in some form or another for one award or another.  IFP announced the nominations for their GOTHAM AWARDS today and a very special congrats to Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher for their nod.  OCTOBER COUNTRY was nominated for a Gotham Award – Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You.  We were honored to be able to present the New England Premiere of this acclaimed documentary and wish Donal and Michael the best of luck.

Two days ago AJ Schnack announced the 98 features eligible for the prestigious CINEMA EYE HONORS, which will be held in January in NYC ( an earlier date for the Awards’s Ceremony this year).  CIFF Founder and Director, Ben Fowlie has been asked to be on the Nominating Committee for the 2010 Awards.  Features will be whittled down and nominations will be announced in November at the Sheffield Doc Fest.  For more information, and a complete listing of this years films, visit AJ’s blog post here, or the Cinema Eye Honors site.  Going through the list of films reaffirms what an incredible year for nonfiction it was.  Thanks to all the filmmakers for making such incredible works and good luck!  We’ll have much much more on this event, leading up to the big night in January!

And The Winners Are….

The Camden International Film Festival announced its award winning films at the Closing Night Ceremony on Sunday, October 4^th at the Camden Opera House in Camden.  The Closing Reception ended 09 festival activities that included screening 45 films representing numerous countries, the inaugural edition of the POINTS NORTH Documentary Film Forum, live musical performances and video installation exhibits.  Winning filmmakers received $1,000 cash prize and the CIFF Award Winner receives a scholarship to attend courses at the Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine through a sponsorship from Maine Media Workshops.

This year’s Harrell Award for Best Documentary goes to BECAUSE WE WERE BORN directed by Jean Pierre Duret and Andrea Santana.  The film documents two young teenage boys who hang out at a service station in Pernambouc in the poor northeast of Brazil, watching trucks and travelers and hearing stories about a wider world they can only dream of.

The Harrell Award Jury noted: “The jury gives Jean-Pierre Duret and Andrea Santana’s BECAUSE WE WERE BORN the Harrell Award for Best Documentary Feature for its excellence in cinematic craft and for its rigorously pure vérité aesthetic.  The filmmakers have created a work that challenges the viewer on many levels.  Told with a quiet intensity and deep love and respect for their subjects, in our opinion, this piece represents the best of what nonfiction cinema has to offer.”

This years CIFF Award for Emerging Cinematic Vision goes to Patrick Shen’s THE PHILOSOPHER KINGS.  The film documents the search of wisdom in unlikely places. The Philosopher Kings takes us on a journey through the halls of the most prestigious colleges and universities in America to learn from the staff members who see it all and have been through it all: the custodians.

The CIFF Award Jury noted: “The jury is thrilled to present the CIFF Award to Patrick “Die Hard” Shen for his remarkable achievement, PHILOSOPHER KINGS.  The film took a sensitive and humanistic approach to its material, allowing its unconventional yet universal subjects to speak for themselves.  Though they all had experiences that bordered on the extreme – from losing an arm in an accident to being traumatized by war – the subjects were individuals with wisdom and emotion before being victims of any tragedy.  Shen, through his subjects, managed to touch on larger social issues through the eyes of several disparate, and remarkable, characters.  In short, we wanted to marry every single character on screen, or at least, hang out with them in the stairwells or bathrooms of Princeton, Duke, Cornish College of Art, and other higher learned institutions.  So, for an amazing combination of casting, crafting, editing, and thinking outside the box about what makes a compelling film, we are proud to honor Patrick Shen and PHILOSOPHER KINGS.”

Benjamin Fowlie, Festival Director said, “We are honored to have had the opportunity to share such a wonderful nonfiction program with our audiences, and congratulate all of this year’s winners.  We would also like to thank our jury members for their dedication and commitment to this very challenging role.  Congratulations to BECAUSE WE WERE BORN and PHILOSOPHER KINGS.  We are honored to be a part of both films successful festival run.”

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The Camden International Film Festival award winners were chosen by a distinguished jury including:

Harrell Award Jury: Pamela Cohn (PFunk Productions), Ryan Harrington (Gucci Tribeca Fund) and Dana Rae Warren (Moody Mountain Media).

CIFF Award Jury: Sara Archambault (LEF Foundation), Ian Cheney (King Corn, The Greening of Southie), Danielle DiGiacomo (IFP).

Image from Points North Forum

click here to view more images.

Friday Night Images

A few images from Friday night at the Strand Theater and the after party at Gliberts in Camden.

click here for more images.

Opening Night Images!!!

Here are a few images from the opening night at the opera house and the VIP Party.

Click here for more images.

Evidence Show @ CIFF09

Hey there just wanted to share a few images from the opening night of the Evidence Show @CIFF09.

click here for more images.

Asymmetrick Arts and CIFF Present EVIDENCE

This year, The Camden International Film Festival is proud to present Evidence, an exhibition of multimedia art works by local and international artists in collaboration with Asymmetrick Arts in Rockland. Featuring the work of Jared Cowan, Jonathan Laurence, Ethan Kiermaier, Maile Colbert, Raphael Diluzio and Bethany Engstrom, Evidence will give festival goers a glimpse into Maine’s thriving New Media community and beyond. Since 1996, Asymmetrick Arts has been showing and promoting emerging media in Midcoast Maine, working to expand the scope of Maine’s art scene. The show will take place at Asymmetrick’s brand new space at 405 Maine St. in Rockland just steps from the Strand Theater and will also host an information table for festival attendees. Please join us for a very special gallery opening and CIFF pre-party on Wednesday Sept. 30th from 5:30 until 8:00 pm featuring a live video projection by Raphael Diluzio accompanied by local musicians Kelly Hailey, Owen Cartwright and Josh Nagle.

POINTS NORTH, FRIDAY OCTOBER 2, 2009

Its official – CIFF 09 will present POINTS NORTH Documentary Film Forum as part of its 5th Anniversary Celebration!  This event has been in the works for quite some time and all of us at CIFF are very proud to be able to provide New England based doc filmmakers a chance to connect with and learn from top industry professionals and filmmakers.  While participants are still being finalized, a number have already been confirmed including Patricia Finneran from the Sundance Documentary Institute, Jalyn Henton from PBS, Ryan Harrington from the Gucci Tribeca Fund and Sara Archambault from the New England based funding organization, LEF.

This forum will introduce filmmakers in all stages of their professional career to major funding sources and distribution outlets to help clarify what films get funded and why.  There will also be a filmmaker panel, complete with a number of visiting CIFF filmmakers and CIFF alums who will discuss ways to create a sustainable living as a documentary filmmaker in this climate.  These exciting panels and information sessions will be followed by an intimate reception on the grounds of the Maine Media Workshop campus.

Sponsored in part by the LEF Foundation and Maine Media Workshops, POINTS NORTH is FREE and OPEN to the PUBLIC! Spread the word and let everyone know about this exciting opportunity to connect with some of the industries major players!

For more information, visit the POINTS NORTH page here: camdenfilmfest.org/pointsnorth

CIFF and Maine Fare Collaborate on Outdoor Food Screenings!

Maine Fare and the Camden International Film Festival Screening of Maine Food Shorts and KING CORN Doc

Thursday, September 10, at Camden Public Library’s Camden Harbor Park & Amphitheatre, starting at 7PM. Enjoy a collection of food shorts from Northeast Historic Film followed by KING CORN. KING CORN is a feature documentary about two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation.  This event is presented by Maine Fare and the Camden International Film Festival.

Thursday, September 10, 7 p.m.
$5 suggested donation per adult
Location:Camden Harbor Park & Amphitheatre

PROGRAM:

Lobster Bakes, Blueberries, and Broilers: Collections from Northeast Historic Film

From the fields to the hills and down through the coast, Maine is full of culinary opportunities.  We’ll explore a traditional Maine lobster and clam bake on the shores of an island, the how-to’s of a chicken barbeque, blueberries from start to finish, and how those potatoes are so very handy.

In KING CORN, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, best friends from college on the East Coast, move to the heartland to learn where their food comes from. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, and powerful herbicides, they plant and grow a bumper crop of America’s most-productive, most-subsidized grain on one acre of Iowa soil. But when they try to follow their pile of corn into the food system, what they find raises troubling questions about how we eat – and how we farm.
Features Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and Earl Butz, former US Secretary of Agriculture. Screened at the 2007 Camden International Film Festival, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis have been involved with the festival ever since. CIFF and their production company, WICKED DELICATE are collaborating on WICKED DELICATE FILM SCHOOL, a three day intensive workshop happening September 4 – 7 for aspiring filmmakers to learn the ins and outs of making a documentary film for the first time.

The 5th Annual Camden International Film Festival will take place from October 1st – 4th, 2009, screening the best international documentary film to audiences in venues throughout Midcoast Maine. For more information, visit http://www.camdenfilmfest.org.

The Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) is committed to supporting and generating interest in independent documentary films. The annual festival presents a snapshot of the cultural landscape through the year’s best non-fiction storytelling, connecting audiences with filmmakers and industry representatives to discuss documentary film as an art form, a catalyst for change and as an outlet for the independent voice.

Northeast Historic Film (NHF) At a Glance

NHF collects, preserves, and makes accessible the moving image history of northern New England. The nonprofit organization runs a community cinema in the 1916 Alamo Theatre and stores thousands of hours of videotape and more than 10 million feet of film in cold storage vaults. Our story to date has been one of simultaneously teaching about, advocating for, and creating a resource. We are located along the Penobscot River in Bucksport, Maine, an hour drive up the coast from Camden. For more information, visit us at www.oldfilm.org.

MAINE FARE At a Glance

Maine Fare showcases many events including chef demonstrations, panel discussions, workshops, food and beverage tastings, author signings, and dinners, Maine Fare investigates the history, present and future of Maine’s wonderful food, from farm to table. The goal of the event is to communicate the importance of preserving, protecting, and sharing Maine’s storied culinary history and its rich and developing resources. Maine Fare honors every aspect of our state’s gastronomic profile.

CIFF Announces ’09 Opening and Closing Night Films!

That’s right…October is right around the corner.  With that comes fresh autumn air, colors only leaves could conceive of, a new batch of award winning documentaries and an opportunity for us New Englander’s to experience some decent “summer” weather.

Last Friday we announced our Opening and Closing Night films and honestly, we couldn’t be more excited.  The program is really starting to take shape with a slew of major releases from the past months making the trek to Maine.

The 2009 Camden International Film Festival will open on October 1st with the New England Premiere of CONVENTION, directed by doc mogul, AJ Shnack.  If you’re not familiar, take a trip to his blog and you’ll understand why we are so excited to have him attend.  In the film AJ assembles an all-star crew of documentary filmmakers to tell the story behind the mounting of one of the biggest events of the decade: the 2008 Democratic National Convention.  Director / Producer AJ Schnack,  Producer / Co-Editor Nathan Truesdell and others from the crew will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A moderated by one very special guest!

Closing the 2009 Camden International Film Festival will be acclaimed director Robert Stone’s latest documentary, EARTH DAYS.  Visually stunning, vastly entertaining and awe-inspiring, Earth Days looks back to the dawn and development of the modern environmental movement—from its post-war rustlings in the 1950s and the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson’s incendiary bestseller Silent Spring, to the first wildly successful 1970 Earth Day celebration and the subsequent firestorm of political action.

Sponsored by Unity College, this film will be part of our “Gone Green” Day at CIFF.  As usual, we’ll be highlighting docs on sustainability and environmental issues because, well, they’re still VERY important.  Using an array of archival footage, this film is a must-see for anyone who grew up during the dawn of the environmental movement…and all others who are looking to follow in the footsteps.  Back to the land we go!

Our full lineup will start to be announced starting September 1st.  Expect more then 50 titles at this years Camden International Film Festival!   We’ll also have a forum on documentary filmmaking free and open to the public (much more on that later), loads of doc filmmakers, music, photo exhibits and parties!  Check our website or our facebook page for more info on all our films, including trailers starting in early September.

Stay tuned – T – 5 weeks!

FILMMAKER MAG ANNOUNCES 25 NEW FACES IN FILM

The 09 list is here and we’re VERY happy to see some familiar faces…and several emerging voices in the nonfiction world.  A big congrats to everyone selected, especially to Jessica Oreck, Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher.  We were lucky enough to catch Oreck’s first feature, The Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo last March at SXSW and boy, what a cinematic treat!  Mosher’s and Palmieri’s film, October Country just took home the award of all awards at Silverdocs and continues to garner some serious buzz in the doc blogosphere.  Kudos to the True / False Film Festival for picking that one up early and for giving us the opportunity to see it as a “sneak preview.”  We’ll be talking lots more about these two films in months to come!

Big ups to all the other documentary filmmakers announced in this list including, Ian Olds (Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi  – Acquired by HBO), Nicole Opper (Off and Running) and Jody Lee Lipes (Brock Enright: Good Times Will Never Be the Same)

For a complete list, visit Filmmaker online…

Launching your Documentary Panel at MMW

This industry panel brings New England filmmakers together to discuss the how-tos of getting work into film festivals, onto the theatrical and video distribution circuit, or released in the worldwide television market.

Moderated by Workshops Film Program Director, Mimi Edmunds, the panel includes Louise Rosen, a media executive with over 25 years experience in the international television and film business specializing in project development, production and distribution; Benjamin J. Fowlie, Founding Director of the Camden International Film Festival; award-winning documentary filmmaker Amanda Micheli; and Charles Beck. Programmer for Maine Public Broadcasting Network.

Maine Media Workshops

Saturday, July 18th      2 – 4PM

Union Hall Theatre – 2 Central Street, Rockport, ME

For more information vist http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=125056252552&ref=mf or www.theworkshops.com

“Still Bill” at Silverdocs

I had the chance to see a great new documentary last night from the team at Late Night & Weekends – “Still Bill”, a rare and unique look at Bill Withers – the man behind “Lovely Day”, “Use Me”, “Grandma’s Hands”, “Ain’t No Sunshine”, “Just the Two of Us”. I missed it at SXSW and was curious to get a glimpse into the world of a man whose music is so iconically American – or at least what American used to mean – hopes and dreams grounded on a foundation of reality and hard work.

The film’s Directors Alex Vlack and Damani Baker seem to have slowly and steadily gained the respect and trust of a man who always put his family before his career and often shied from the lime-light. The film returns this respect and trust, offering a profile of Bill Withers as a man, husband and father first, musician second. It is beautifully shot and a pleasure to watch.

“Still Bill” is playing this week at Silverdocs if you are in the area – June 18th at 9PM and June 21st at 12:15PM both at the AFI Theater – visit www.stillbillthemovie.com for full info on screenings.

-Leah

Split / Signal = A Raging Success!

On May 30th nearly 500 people congregated inside the recently renovated, and even more recently opened Somerville Armory for the premiere of a new event in Boston called Split / Signal. Jump down a few posts for more info on the event. The Camden International Film Festival was a proud sponsor of the evening, along with several other amazing Boston based beer brewers! Below are a few photos from Split / Signal taken by photographer, Alex Weber. Lots more in the works for Split / Signal so if you’re in the Boston area, make sure to stay on top of things…and keep your Halloween open!

The Armory

Good Stuff at the Good Pitch

Silverdocs officially begins today with a screening of the new Lebron James doc, More then a Game (after last night, shouldn’t this film be about Kobe?). Besides being the biggest and best programmed documentary film festival in the US, Silverdocs also boasts more panels, workshops and other industry events then just about any other other week long conference in the country. This year they’ll be teaming up with Ch. 4 Britdocs, The Sundance Institute, Working Films and The Fledgling Fund to present THE GOOD PITCH, a forum for selected emerging filmmakers to share and pitch their work in front of a slew of industry reps.

“From over 300 applications, eight filmmaking teams have been selected to pitch their films and outreach campaigns to an invited audience, comprising leading national and international NGOs, foundations, broadcasters, campaigners and media in order to maximise the impact of their social-issue documentary projects”.

We’ve been keeping a close eye on several of these films and are extremely excited to hear how the inaugural event goes. A special congrats must go out to Robbie Gemmel and Daniel Coffin and their new project, Cape Wind: The Fight for Future Power in America. The film illuminates the divisive controversy surrounding the Cape Wind Project – a proposal to build 130 wind turbines off the coast of Cape Cod – translating the furor which exploded on the Cape Cod community into a story of transcendent national importance for the future of sustainability in America.

Gemmel will be in DC to pitch his film and we’ll hopefully be interviewing him on his experiences at the GOOD PITCH for this blog. Until then, take a moment to check out their films site at www.capewindmovie.com. I’m predicting this film to be one of the most anticipated nonfiction premieres of 2010, so much much more on this film in the coming months!

Wicked Delicate Film School comes to Maine!

If you’re a visitor of this blog you probably already know how much we love everyone involved with Wicked Delicate. Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis are two of the hardest working folks in the biz, and chances are you’ve seen King Corn or The Greening of Southie by now. But there’s another reason why we like these guys so much….they LOVE Maine! And so do we! So when we heard that Ian and Curt would be bringing their WD crew to the Midcoast for the inaugural WD Film School this September, we just had to get involved!

Below is a bit of information…if you’re an established or aspiring doc filmmaker, don’t miss this the chance to learn from this talented DIY crew! CIFF’s Director will be speaking about the role of the “film festival” and will hopefully knock in a few RBI’s at the weekends closing baseball game! If there’s a better way to spend your Labor Day Weekend, please do tell! Space is limited so sign up quick.

For more information on the WD Film School, or to sign up, visit www.wickeddelicate.com

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When Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis graduated from college seven years ago, they decided to make a documentary. The only problem was, they’d never picked up a video camera. If
you’re in the same position, join Ian and Curt––and a team of accomplished filmmakers and distribution experts––for a 3-day crash course designed to give first-time documentarians the knowledge they need to get off to a great start.

Wicked Delicate Film School is offered in partnership with Maine’s leading indie documentary showcase, the Camden International Film Festival.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:

Friday, September 4, 2009:
12-3pm: Arrival and lunch at Swallow’s Rise Farm
3-4pm: Session 1: Who We Are and Why We’re Here
4-6pm: Session 2: Honing Your Topic, Narrowing Your Approach
6-8pm: Wine from Oyster River Vineyard
8-10pm: Dinner from local ingredients
Night: Rustic accomodations

Saturday, September 5, 2009:
8-9am: Wild woodstove blueberry pancakes, local syrup and coffee
9am-11pm: Session 3: Fundraising for Your First Documentary
11am-1pm: Session 4: Planning, Crewing, and Organizing Production
1-2pm: Lunch
2-4pm: Session 5: Equipment that Won’t Break the Bank
4-6pm: Session 6: Introduction to Shooting, with Taylor Gentry
6-7pm: Sunset hike through woods and farms
7-9pm: Local lobster dinner
Night: Rustic accommodations

Sunday, September 6, 2009:
8-9am: Free-range eggs and coffee
9am-11am: Session 7: Approaches to Editing
11am-1pm: Session 8: Introduction to Distribution, with Caitlin Boyle
1-2pm: Lunch
2-3pm: Session 9: What you Haven’t Thought Of: Legal Issues, Music and Licenses
3-5pm: Wow Mom World Series (baseball in the back pasture)
5-7pm: Local foods barbecue
7-9pm: Field Trip: Film Screening with Q&A at Rockland’s Strand Theatre
9-11pm: Session 10: The Festival Circuit, with Ben Fowlie, CIFF director
Night: Rustic accommodations

Monday, September 7, 2009:
8-9am: Breakfast and coffee
9am-11am: Session 11: Where Do We Go From Here? Resources for Filmmakers
11-2: Pond swim, graduation ceremony, picnic lunch and departure

LOCATION:
Wicked Delicate Film School will be held at Swallow’s Rise Farm in Waldoboro, Maine. Besides being the repository for Ian’s childhood soccer trophies, Swallow’s Rise features
a handsome yellow farmhouse, a fire pit, and plenty of open space. Attendees will have campy accommodations (beds, pillows and towels but no scented shower caps). Meals will be provided and, whenever possible, local or organic.

CIFF SPONSORS SPLIT / SIGNAL EVENT in Boston!

CIFF is very proud to be a sponsor for SPLIT / SIGNAL, the upcoming event that connects local filmmakers with local musicians for one very special night. Details below. Get your tickets early….this WILL sell out!

SPLIT / SIGNAL
Silent Film / Scored Live

Film without music. Music without film. Ripped apart at birth and cultivated in non-neighboring states. Only to be Frankensteined together with fishing wire and a searing-hot needle. Oh yes. It. Is. Alive. And now, all the striking incarnations come together in one place. One night. For your eyes and ears only.

The Center for the Arts at the Armory
191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA 02143
(P) 617.718.2191 | http://www.ArtsattheArmory.org

Saturday, May 30th, 2009
Show 7:00pm (Doors 6:00pm) Admission: 21+

TICKETS: $25 (BrownPaperTickets.com, The Somerville Armory and other venues TBA)
WEBSITE: http://www.SPLIT-SIGNAL.com
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/applications/#/group.php?gid=99677412200

SPLIT / SIGNAL is a unique audio-visual experience bringing together filmmakers and musicians for live collaborations, featuring THE BOOKS, ROGER MILLER (of Mission of Burma), CUL DE SAC, and CASPIAN. Held in the beautiful, newly-opened Center for the Arts at the Armory (Somerville, MA), an exceptional line-up of musicians will provide the live score for original film projected on the big screen. This is not only an opportunity for artists from a range of backgrounds to explore a new, collective medium, but also a chance for the audience to engage with the never before seen or heard.

ARTISTS PREMIERING WORK CREATED EXCLUSIVELY FOR SPLIT / SIGNAL:
THE BOOKS (recently featured on the Red Hot compilation Dark Was The Night)
CASPIAN (“one of Boston’s brightest new hopes” –Boston Globe)
CUL DE SAC (the band that inspired the term “Post Rock”)
ROGER MILLER (of legendary Boston band Mission of Burma and the Alloy Orchestra)

Also featuring music by Black Yodel, Arms & Sleepers, Devil Music, Mike Dunkley & Todd
Brozman and featuring original film by Handcranked Productions, Rich Remsberg, VJ Dziga,
Bryan Deblasio, Michael Maraden, Dado Ramadani, Barrett Films, Jon Cianfrani

ALSO FEATURING:
Complimentary craft beer provided by Pretty Things and Cambridge Brewing Company (CBC) Food and wine provided by local distributors
Signalette Girl Tray Service inspired by the “Cigarette-Girl” era

SPONSORED BY:
Modernista!
VDA Productions
Northern Light Productions
Camden International Film Festival (CIFF)

AFTER-PARTY TO FOLLOW AT PRECINCT:
70 Union Square, Somerville, MA – http://www.precinctbar.com
11:00pm (immediately following SPLIT / SIGNAL)
Previously home to the Somerville Police Department, Precinct is a unique basement-venue that features an outdoor beer garden/patio.

FOOD, INC at SPACE

Good friend and fellow doc programmer, Jon Courtney has managed to scoop up one of the most anticipated docs of the year thus far. FOOD, INC. will be playing at the SPACE GALLERY in Portland, ME for one night only as part of its FOOD & FARM Series that kicks off this Thursday and continues throughout the weekend. The film will screen on Friday, May 8 at 7PM. For all foodies out there…don’t miss this one!

While I’m talking about SPACE..mark your calendars now for the weekend run of the award winning documentary film, THE WAY WE GET BY. Tickets are going fast so make sure to get them early! FMI on showtimes and tickets visit the SPACE website.

CIFF in NYC

While there might not be any tickets available for next Tuesdays NYC Premiere of THE WAY WE GET BY at the Stranger Then Fiction Screening Series, (co-presented by CIFF and PBS POV!) there is still one option to party with the CIFF crew and meet the filmmakers of one of this years biggest documentaries.

Join us at Santos from 11:30 – on…and by on I mean really late….for some dance music and mingling with some fresh new faces in the documentary world. Flyer below. Hope to see you there!

– CIFF

T – 1 Day for IFFBoston

Aside from having the sickest posters around, the Independent Film Festival of Boston (IFFB) continues to bring some serious titles to nearly every corner of Boston. Now in its 7th year the festival continues to provide a wonderful outlet for documentary filmmakers. This year will be no exception. Adam Roffman has once again delivered a serious lineup of some of the biggest docs this year thus far. The only thing that excites me more then the schedule is the fact that its the ONLY film festival all year that I can walk to from my house…so with a potential heatwave hitting New England this weekend I can’t think of a better place to escape that unfamiliar feeling of the suns rays then at one of the many venues IFFB will be taking hostage starting tomorrow.

Below are a few films and filmmakers that are worth your dime and your time….and if you are in the area, make sure to catch a screening. Any choice is a winner!

Make sure to catch MINE, the Audience Award Winner from SXSW, a great film from one of the nicest Directors in the biz!

Also, don’t miss David Redmon’s and Ashley Sabin’s new film INVISIBLE GIRLFRIEND. These two pump out more films in a year then most do in their entire life. For a lot of people in the doc world, new work from Carnivelsque Films is expected…and it never disappoints!

A new doc called KIMJONGILIA has intrigue written all over it…and one of the best trailers i’ve seen all year!

But its first time director Amy Grills documentary, SPEAKING IN CODE that seems to be taking top spot as the most anticipated doc of the fest this year. Could be a bit of hometown pride, I’m looking forward to see how the audience reacts!

Don’t forget…that documentary we’re always talking about, THE WAY WE GET BY will also be making its Boston Premiere on Sunday, April 26 at the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square. Straight off of winning nearly every award at every other festival thus far, its proving to be a force to reckon with on the non-fiction circuit this year…We should also point out that our screening of THE WAY WE GET BY next week at Stranger Then Fiction is SOLD OUT!

Way more on IFFBoston 2009 including more great picks on some seriously wonderful docs tomorrow and hopefully some interviews with attending directors in the days to come.

CIFF ALUMS WIN PEABODY!

Big ups to Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis for their 2008 Peabody Award. Their film, King Corn continues to garner serious attention two years after completion. For all aspiring filmmakers out there…the path they’ve forged is a serious model to study and learn from, and for those of you wondering what the Peabody is, its administered by the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and is the oldest, and one of the most prestigious honors in electronic media given out each year.

Not to shabby! For a list of other winners, check it here.

If you don’t know much about the film…or are just obsessed with corn, check out this sweet little video blog from POV shot last month at SXSW.

P.O.V. annouces 2009 Lineup

Last week P.O.V. Executive Director, Simon Kilmurry announced the 2009 lineup for the renowned PBS documentary series. The diverse and award winning slew of films will surely satisfy the hunger of all nonfiction fans. Among the award-winning films and festival favorites we had to mention the addition of two of CIFF 08 favorites, Eric Daniel Metzgars Life.Support.Music and Aron Guadet and Gita Pullapilly’s The Way We Get By which will be featured this year as the November Special. For the complete list click here. From June 23rd on your Tuesday evenings should now be tied up!

SXSW Film Awards

Big big congratulations to Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly. The Way Way We Get By took home the special jury award for feature docs! It’s been a long road since their first screening with us last fall and we couldn’t be more happy! Something tells me this won’t be their last award on the circuit.

The audience award went to MINE, another very moving and emotional piece. The film chronicles Katrina survivors who go to extraordinary lengths to be reunited with there rescued pets..a very complex tale, and one I hope you all will have the opportunity to see soon. Dir. Geralyn Pezanoski has crafted a wonderful story. More info on this film in the coming months.

Finally, 45365 takes home the Grand Jury Award. This is the first film I saw at SXSW and it didn’t dissappoint. A very good start for three brothers who love to make films.

Much more on SX in the coming days. So far, all around a stellar experience!

Ben

SXSW Premieres

As if we needed more reasons to head south – another round of films on the radar at SXSW:

Still Bill – an unseen profile of Bill Withers from the team at Late Night & Weekends.

Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo

-Leah

SXSW Countdown Begins III

Here are a few more documentary films premiering next week at SXSW in Texas. Unfortunately, most of the SX Global films only screen once at the fest.
Films below come from the SX Global and Lone Star State Categories.

Over the Hills and Far Away (missed this one at True / False and have regretted it ever since! Hopefully they’ll be a way to make up for it in Texas.)

Calling E.T. (very excited, despite my lifelong fear of “the greys”)

Roadsworth: Crossing The Line (recent headlines in Boston regarding the arrest of Sheperd Fairey before his ICA Retrospective make this a very timely story. Art vs. Vandalism, the saga continues).

Labrador Calls

Eric Daniel Metzgar, documentary filmmaker and CIFF alum (Chances of the World Changing, Life.Support.Music) is on a new adventure snowshoeing across 150 miles in Labrador with the Innu Nation. I had a chance to speak with him a few nights before he set out on the venture at True/False a week ago after a screening of his latest film, Reporter. This project is going to have a very unique web presence, and is hopefully something that will be done more and more as a way of archiving traditional storytelling. See what he’s up to and where he’s headed next on the projects website, Bed of Branches.
For more info on the project, check out this nice little summary at the PBS POV Blog.

SXSW Countdown Begins II

As promised, more info on some films that will be premiering at SXSW next week that we are VERY excited about catching. Films below come from the Feature Documentary Showcase where our good friends Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly will be premiering their film, THE WAY WE GET BY. All films are up for some serious awards and I’m sure you’ll be hearing tons more about them all over the next few months.

MINE: Taken by Katrina(Could possibly be one of the most moving films of the year. Nothing pulls on the heart strings like a family and their dog. Very interesting take on the lasting effects of the Katrina disaster.)

Sons of a Gun(been hearing tons about this film since its work in progress screening last year at T/F!!)

45365(Two brothers, one film. A meditative look at middle America. I’m a sap for anything minimalist so this seems like it will be right up my alley.)

Garbage Dreams(this film seems to be popping up on several festival schedules over the next few months. Beautiful cinematography for such a “dirty” subject. Looking forward to hearing more of the score as well)

SXSW Countdown Begins

Waking up this morning to new snow and more cold weather confirmed my readiness to head to the Lone Star State for SXSW. Besides dozens of films, musical acts and friends I’m looking to see, 80 degree weather is also a perk that tops on my list. Trying to see everything is going to be a challenge especially since it involves sitting in a theatre during the best weather I’ve seen in over six months. Thankfully there are several films that look extremely captivating. Below are a few trailers that I’m planning on catching and hoping to connect with the filmmakers. This first batch is from the Emerging Visions Program.

The Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo

Pulling John

Crude Independence

Died Young, Stayed Pretty

Also looking forward to Wake Up, and Trust Us, This is All Made Up (Produced by IFF Boston Programmer Extraordinaire, Adam Roffman!) More tomorrow on Documentary Feature Films and Spotlight Premieres! – Ben

CIFF and The Way We Get By in NYC

That’s right, we’re hitting the road and heading to the Big Apple. CIFF will be co-presenting the NYC Premiere of the acclaimed documentary, The Way We Get By along with POV as part of the super fabulous Stranger Than Fiction Series at the IFC Center in Manhattan at 8PM on April 28, 2009.

The event is programmed by Thom Powers, a leading voice in the documentary world, and co-creator of the Cinema Eye Honors (which has a great new website if you have not checked it out lately), and produced by Raphaela Niehausen. You might remember her and her film, Miss Gulag from CIFF 07. Since then we’ve been wanting to collaborate on a screening and this film seems like the perfect fit. Interested in tickets? Get em here, and get em soon. This will sell out very fast!

We’ll have more info on the screening and an interview with Aron and Gita from The Way We Get By after their NYC Premiere!

Social Service Message from King Corn

Check out these great little messages from CIFF alums Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis. Their film King Corn made you think, these will make you laugh!
Great stuff and lets all hope there’s more in the works.

So Wat’cha Wat’cha Wat’cha Want?

More of the award wining, Oscar nominated 2009 documentary film THE GARDEN? Well you got it. Oscilloscope Pictures just negotiated a deal with Scott Kennedy and his film. The company, founded by Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys will have the film out in theatres this spring and on dvd this summer. Here’s what the Beastie himself had to say about the film, “I’m honored to be a part of getting this powerful film out in front people. Hopefully it will bring attention to the issue and seed more urban gardening in our cities.”

Make sure to check the film out as it rolls into a city near you sometime soon. Big ups to Adam and Oscilloscope for picking up this film…we’re big fans, and the company is doing wonderful things for documentary film distribution.

TWWGB in Spout

The excitement continues to grow for the World Premiere screening of The Way We Get By at SXSW 09. Blogger extraordinaire Karina Longworth interviews Aron Gaudet in this hilarious interview for Spout. Check it here.

The Sky’s the Limit for Red Gold

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival just announced the award winning films for 2009, and it looks like a CIFF alum will be taking home the prestigious Big Sky Award.  Judges included Chris White from POV and Anna Rau from Montana Public Television.  Congrats go out to Travis Rummell and Ben Knight for yet another award!  Red Gold wasn’t the only CIFF alum present, the festival screened a number of CIFF 08 films including The Greening of Southie, The Garden, Carny, We are Wizards, Life.Support.Music and The Way We Get By.

The Way We Get By in eFilmCritic

Check out the conversation here between Director Aron Gaudet and David Cornelius for eFilmCritic.  Its a great little piece about the evolution of the project and its World Premiere at SXSW this March.

New 360 campaign from Isaac Mizrahi

"A Fashionable Lift for the Everywoman" Photo credit: New York Times

Having lived and breathed non-traditional advertising for the past 3 years I’ve been finding that old habits die hard – my attention instantly gravitating toward the Media & Advertising section of the NYT – but useful threads can carry over into new areas of interest. Marketing is marketing after-all, and lots can be learned from the techniques brands are using to to drive awareness and action.

Wednesday’s New York Times has an article on Issac Mizrahi’s new role at Liz Claiborne. Sometimes replicating a tried and true model can end nothing short of disaster, but Isaac Mizrahi seems to have approached his new challenge at Liz Claiborne with a fresh take – building on past experience rather than using it as a crutch. He has proven extremely talented at reaching mass market consumers by not dumbing-down his content – reigniting hope that there is a smarter America out there than the one we see reflected back to us in main stream advertising and media.

Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/business/media/12adco.html

-Leah

NEW WORLD ORDER

Finally found a trailer for the upcoming documentary NEW WORLD ORDER directed by the creators of Darkon….better get some tickets to SXSW pronto.  It’ll be making its premiere this March in the Lone Star State!  ENJOY.

T/F ’09

One of the hippest and best programmed documentary film festivals just unleashed their 09 Program (last Tuesday actually).  And once again the folks over at True / False don’t disappoint.  They’ve managed to secure several films fresh from Sundance and last years IDFA, as well as a slew of other very enticing pieces of nonfiction film.

If you haven’t checked out their schedule yet, do so here.  There’s more to be added soon and I can say for sure there are still some BIG announcements that they’re going to drop before the middle of the country becomes the center of documentary film.

Looking for something to do in NYC?

Check out CIFF favorite Life.Support.Music. as it starts its theatrical run in NYC.  Eric’s one of our faves!  Details below…and if you go, ask him about REPORTER!

Cinema Village (New York City)
Life. Support. Music. will begin a theatrical run in New York City at Cinema Village starting on Friday, February 6th, 2009. Director Eric Daniel Metzgar and subject Jason Crigler (with other Criglers, depending on the night) will be at Cinema Village after the screenings to participate in Q&A sessions. Please visit cinemavillage.com to purchase tickets and see the showtimes.

6 More Weeks of Winter…but there is SOME good news!

If you live in New England you know just how trying this winter has been on us all.  More snow has accumulated by the end of January then our average annual snowfall…and there are no signs of it letting up anytime soon.  This morning our hopes for an early spring were dashed when the Punxsutawney Groundhog saw its own shadow and predicted  6 more weeks of winter.  But there is some good news…

I can’t think of a better way to alleviate the concerns of continued hibernation then to look forward to a nice long trip to Austin, TX and the annual SXSW conference in Mid-March.  Thankfully the festival announced their Official Program late last night giving us New England film lovers something to think about other then melting snow, re-freezing and more snow on the way.  We’ll be studying all the lists over the next few weeks but first want to start out by congratulating The Way We Get By for its acceptance into the Feature Documentary Competition.  The film was 1 of 8 to be accepted into the prestigious festival, and we couldn’t be more excited for the CIFF alum.  Screened as a “work-in-progress,” and the Official Opening Night Film of the 2008 Camden International Film Festival, the sold-out show was an emotionally charged experience, complete with the film’s three stars on-hand to view the documentary alongside audience members for the first time.  Since then nearly 15 minutes have been cut.

Hours before the "Work-In-Progress" Screening of The Way We Get By at the 2008 Camden International Film Festival

Inside the beautiful Strand Theatre for the post-screening Q&A of The Way We Get By

SXSW will mark the Official World Premier of the film, and its in great company.  “”We couldn’t be more delighted with the SXSW 2009 lineup,” film conference and festival producer Janet Pierson said. “It’s a great continuation of the quality SXSW is known for: plenty of compelling, new filmmaking talent across all budget lines, engaging documentaries ranging from the socially conscious to the hilarious, electrifying music films, prominent Texas themes, cutting-edge and smart Hollywood films, and an even greater exploration into global cinema,” says newly appointed Program Director, Janet Pierson.

Full lineups can be found here.

Stay tuned for much, much more on SXSW!

Other notable premieres we’re VERY excited about:

Pulling John – Emerging Visions (we’ve blogged about the film here)

New World Order – Spotlight Premiere (new film from the creators of DARKON)

Objectified – Spotlight Premiere (new film from the creator of HELVETICA)

We Live in Public – Special Screenings (Best Documentary at 2009 Sundance Film Festival)

Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo – Emerging Visions

– Ben

CIFF ’08 Podcasts

Rants and Raves from Dan and Jake on the 2008 CIFF here.

A Site in a Widget

A Site in a Widget

Posted using ShareThis

The Cobra

Great article in the New Yorker a couple weeks ago, “The Cobra: Inside a movie marketer’s playbook” by Tad Friend, giving an glimpse into the mindset of mainstream film marketing, typical allocation budgets and the history of the craft. An interesting read and leaves one with the thought that some of the tools being used to drive the crowds into vacuous films could be adapted to encourage an ever growing interest in docs.

-Leah

Vessel and Dr. Gomperts at Half King

This Wednesday at Half  King at 23rd and 10th ave in nyc filmmaker Diana Whitten is joined by the subject of her upcoming film “Vessel”, Dr. Rebecca Gomperts. Whitten is a dynamic emerging filmmaker who has been working with Dr. Gomperts for the past 2 years – traveling the word capturing her story, the stories of the women and men who work with her, and the stories of the lives they change. “Vessel” presents a new breed of social activism – finding creative ways to achieve the goal while still playing by the rules.

From the invite:

“Dr. Gomperts founded  Women on Waves after serving as a doctor on the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior, where she traveled and heard many stories about the dire consequences of keeping abortion illegal. Women on Waves sails around the world to countries where abortion is illegal, offering abortions on the high seas to women with no other choice.  Their actions inflame the Church, infuriate the local governments, exhilarate the media, and provoke mass controversy and debate onshore, but they break no law. They might, they hope, instead serve to change law.”

Wed Jan 28th, 8:30PM at Half King, 505 W 23rd Street at 10th Ave.

rsvp to: rsvpgomperts@gmail.com

Sundance Review – Docs New Role in Activism

Check out this nice little piece from Clairborne Smith, reporting on some of the most “buzzed” docs at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival here.

Oscar Nominations Announced

With all that’s happened this week in Washington D.C. Official Oscar Nominations may have gone under the radar for some.  But at 8:38 ET Forest Whitaker and the Academy announced their top picks for the 2009 Academy Awards.   Chances are whatever brief bit you hear or see on television will only talk about Brad Pitt and Heath Ledger, so we’d like to take this time to congratulate the final nominations for documentary feature.

The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) – Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath

Encounters at the End of the World – Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser

The Garden – Scott Hamilton Kennedy

Man on Wire – James Marsh and Simon Chinn

Trouble the Water -Tia Lessin and Carl Deal

A very special congratulations to Scott Hamilton Kennedy and his film THE GARDEN for the nod.  His  film took home our inaugural Harrell Award for Best Documentary at the 2008 CIFF and it was our pleasure to host Kennedy.  His connection to our audience during the films post-screening Q&A is something that even the Oscars can’t measure.

More on Metzgar’s “Reporter”

Premiering at Sundance this week, Eric Daniel Metzgar’s new film is attracting quite a bit of attention in Park City and online.  Already acquired by HBO, it could be because at this point with two acclaimed works under his belt, Metzgars work is highly anticipated.  As a filmmaker he continues to push the boundaries of nonfiction filmmaking as an art form, using stunning cinematography and single person narration as an opportunity to share his ability as a poet.

It could aslo be the subject matter.  Metzgar follows two-time Pulitzer Prize winning renowned NYT journalist Nicholas Kristof through the Congo, covering the genocide AND the current state of journalism.

It could also be the fact that the film has acquired quite a well-known Exec. Producer, Ben Affleck.  Affleck has long been an advocate for ceasing the genocide in Eastern Congo and his star power will no doubt help with publicity.

And its most likely a combination of all three.  But we couldn’t be more excited.  This film will shed new light on a intense subject and I for one am very excited to hear what Metzgar has to say.

Trailer below.  Nice interview with Eric Metzgar at Sundance here.   Review from IndieWire here.

This is going to be great and I look forward to catching it somewhere on the circuit soon.

It also gets me thinking about celebs’ roles in nonfiction filmmaking.  With Joaquin Phoenix supposedly switching gears to a career in hip hop and his brother-in-law, Casey Affleck directing a documentary about his switch from film to music and Casey’s brother Ben working on docs….whose working on fictional narratives??  The formula does seem to work…Remember last years acclaimed doc Crawford?  The film had an Advisory Board consisting of such A-list celebs as Ted Danson  and Jake Gyllenhaal, and had quite a run ending with an exclamation point on Hulu.com.   More on the rise of A-list celebs getting behind non-fiction here.

Red Gold NYC Premier

’09 is going to be a good year for independent documentary film. Travis Rummel and Ben Knight from Felt Soul Media started it off with a bang last night with the New York premiere of their film, Red Gold at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center presented by Green Screens and Independents Night.

About 200 movie-goers braved the january “wintry-mix” and came out to see the film which presents a  captivating portrait of the sustenance, commercial and sport fisherman in Bristol Bay, Alaska – a region about the size of Ohio that is also home to arguably the world’s largest copper and gold deposit.  

A panel about the film, updates on the status of the fight to keep mining out of Bristol Bay, and a look at what’s going on locally in NY State followed the screening and it seemed like the audience could have kept the conversation going for hours. Conversation continued at a reception afterwards with Bristol Bay Salmon prepared by chef Peter Hoffman (Savoy/Back Forty).

Red Gold won CIFF 08’s Cinematic Vision award and is exactly the type of work we hope to see more of on the independent doc circuit.

Who’s in your Top Ten?

As the year winds down, critics ramp up their “best of the year” film lists.  This can be one of the most outrageously frustrating times of year for anyone dedicated to independent filmmaking.  Year after year some of the best films get overlooked by critics and journalists alike who decide that Hollywood blockbusters are STILL the be-all, end-all of moving pictures.  Big Up to Laremy Legal from FILM.COM on his top 10.  And congrats to CIFF ’08 alums, Josh Koury and Myles Kane!  Their film, We Are Wizards made it all the way to #3!

Here’s what Laremy had to say….”I loved this film. I loved it so much I want to help them sell some DVDs.   The film is an amazing, touching, and hilarious look at the world of Harry Potter fandom.”

For the complete list, click here.

CIFF Best of Fest Screenings | December 27 & 28, 2008

We hear it all the time around this time of year….people who’ve heard about a film or two from last falls CIFF who couldn’t make it for one reason or another.  So we decided to act.  Our passion for nonfiction filmmaking is only matched by our desire to do our part to help films reach their largest audience possible.  So if you’re around the Midcoast for the Holidays and are looking for something truly independent come check out two of CIFF ’08’s award winning films! Stay tuned for more film screenings in the next couple months.

The Garden – Harrell Award for Best Documentary, CIFF 08

Saturday, December 27 | Bayview Street Cinema | 7:00PM and Sunday, December 28 | Colonial Theatre, Belfast, ME | 5:00PM

Winner, Sterling U.S. Competition, Silverdocs
Official Selection, Los Angeles Film Fest
Nominee, Intl Documentary Association Pare Lorentz Award
Short-list – 2009 Academy Awards

“The fourteen-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles is the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, the South Central Farmers have since created a miracle in one of the country’s most blighted neighborhoods. Growing their own food. Feeding their families. Creating a community. But now, bulldozers are poised to level their 14-acre oasis… This film is an unflinching look at backroom deals, green politics, racial discord, money, poverty, and power.”

Red Gold – CIFF ’08 Award for Cinematic Vision

Sunday, December 28 | Colonial Theatre, Belfast ME | 3:30PM

2008 Mountainfilm in Telluride, Best Director, Audience Choice Award
2008 Banff Mountain Film Festival, Audience Choice Award for Best Film

“At the headwaters of the Kvichak and Nushagak rivers in Bristol Bay, Alaska — the two largest remaining sockeye salmon runs on the planet — mining companies have proposed to extract what may be the richest deposit of gold and copper in the world. This film documents the growing unrest among native, commercial, and sport fishermen who oppose the proposed Pebble Mine, as well as giving mine officials a chance to argue their case. Red Gold is a portrait of a unique way of life that would not exist if the salmon didn’t return with Bristol Bay’s tide.”

Tickets are $8.00 and can be purchased at the appropriate venues the day of the show.  If you have any further questions about these events, send us an email.

Sundance ’09

Big up’s to CIFF alum Eric Metzgar (CIFF ’06 – Chances of the World Changing / CIFF ’08 – Life.Support.Music.) for his acceptance to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Eric’s films are both truly beautiful and groundbreaking and we look forward to screening his latest work next Fall.
Here’s the films description direct from Sundance…

REPORTER
Directed by Eric Daniel Metzgar
Set in Africa, this documentary chronicles, in verite fashion, the haunting, physically grueling and shocking voyage of Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, Nicholas Kristof. World Premiere

Oh yeah, if you happen to be in Park City in January, you should also check out Natalia Almada’s latest doc about her grandfather president Plutarco Elias Calles, one of Mexico’s most controversial revolutionary figures. Looks as if it’s going to be another great year for docs!

CIFF Alums Represent at the 2008 CINEMA EYE HONORS

On December 1st, the 2009 nominees for the CINEMA EYE HONORS Awards were announced and we’re happy to say that several CIFF ’08 films made the cut! Created last year in response to the abysmal Oscar nominations for documentary film by Indiepix and a whose who from the independent documentary community, including blogger extraordinaire, AJ Schnack, the Cinema Eye Honors honors nonfiction films and filmmakers, recognizing the breadth of the genre and including the crafts of cinematography, editing, producing, directing, etc.
A big congrats and good luck to Full Battle Rattle, Secrecy, Life.Support.Music., and The Garden. Nominations will be whittled down by Sundance with awards in late March in New York.

Nerakhoon (The Betrayal)

Nerakhoon (The Betrayal), opened in NY this weekend at the IFC and is a film worth seeing if there are screenings near you.

The piece follows the life of Thavisouk Phrasavath as he grows up in Laos during the Vietnam war, escapes to Bangkok after his father is picked up in the night to go to “re-education camp”, reunites with his mother and siblings at a refugee camp when they escape the country, and then moves to the United States of America – the supposed promised land that turns out to be nothing more than hell on earth for Thavi and his family. With his father gone, and Thavi the eldest son, the film chronicles his journey of moving into this role while seeking to find an identity for himself in their new home.

The film’s plot is structured around Thavi’s first visit back to Laos as an adult to see his grandmother and two sisters who were left behind. The story uses the technique of memory to take the viewer through time and space seamlessly – following a plot that is far from linear without “losing the thread” creates an engaging and dynamic experience for the viewer. It is perhaps this element of time that gives the film such depth – over 20 years of filming with Thavi and cinematographer Ellen Kuras.

Though there is plenty of historical data about the Vietnam War presented in the film – Thavi says in a Q&A afterwards, “we don’t want this to be a historical film, based on this, so we dedicate just a very small part to it.” Truthfully this is done very well, and the most powerful elements of the film pull on timeless threads of the effect of war on people’s lives. He goes on to say of the film, “this is the new face of history, of American history – written by the people, not the government.”

Though this film on its face is a story of hurt and tragedy, it holds within it the light of the uncanny ability of the human spirit to overcome. Despite the destruction the United States has been responsible for in his life, Thavi exudes pride in the ideals that America stands for, and he gives no indication of desiring to abandon the place he has come to know as home – he just wishes to some day fully fit in. He realizes much must evolve before this is to happen and it seems that Nerakhoon is his way of helping to effect this change. He says, “We hope that this film will reach out to as many people’s heart and soul as possible, and help bridge the gap for future victim’s of war.”

Review numbah 1 for “The Way We Get By”

Check out this sweet review here for The Way We Get By. We were lucky enough to hold the very first work-in-progress screening as our official Opening Night Screening at CIFF ’08.

The review is from the Bostonist and was written after the films second screening as part of the Rough Cut Screening Series that takes place at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline, MA.

Turn The Lights Down Low…

Check out this great op-ed piece, IN THE DARK, by CIFF Alum (’07,’08), and one of the most talented filmmakers we know out there, Ian Cheney. Its a great little piece with stunning cinematography, something we’ve grown to expect from Wicked Delicate Films!
And ties in quite nicely with his latest piece, THE CITY DARK…

Can you tell we’re excited about it!!!!

“The Garden” shortlisted for an Oscar!

Yes folks, it’s that time of year again.  Whether you love ’em or hate ’em we have now officially entered the 2009 Oscar Season.  The documentary shortlist came out yesterday, and despite a few surprises the list seems to be a pretty solid representation of this years achievements in nonfiction filmmaking.  Former SXSW programmer and indie film GOD, Matt Dentler had this to say, “It’s a pretty strong list…perhaps the strongest one the Academy has revealed in the three years since they started unveiling this primer to the final five nominations.”

All of us at CIFF are happy to announce that our Closing Night Film, and Winner of the Harrell Award for Best Documentary, The Garden was 1 of 15 who made the list, despite a VERY strong year for documentaries.  Only time will tell if The Garden will get the final nod, but a big congratulations to Scott Kennedy for his work with the film.  This is quite an honor.

Each year we seem to have one film that goes on to at least a shortlist nomination, 4 for 4 ain’t so bad. Looking back, here are the trailers for CIFF screened, Oscar nominated films…
2005 – Darwin’s Nightmare OFFICIAL NOMINATION

2006 – Iraq in Fragments OFFICIAL NOMINATION

2007 – The Price of Sugar SHORTLISTED

2008 – The Garden OFFICIAL NOMINATION

Time for Change

Well here we are a week after Obama took California and then the country, and only time will tell whether he will be able to deliver on his promises – the bigger the ship the slower it turns. Immediately though there is strength and momentum in the knowledge that there will soon be someone as our Commander in Chief who is at least trying to right the path we are on as a country and a world.

Congratulations, we have made it to the starting line. Now the real work begins. Today a friend said to me, the power for the most significant change exists within each one of us.  If we hang onto this momentum – we may just have the makings for a perfect storm of change in these next 4 years.

Over a month after the festival has wrapped and I finally got around to looking up the short film Scott Hamilton-Kennedy recommended called The Story of Stuff. A totally depressing but great piece articulating the ridiculousness of everything we are chasing after – and the impact of that chase.

Edward Burtynsky  (Manufactured Landscapes) has traveled the world capturing the impact we are having on our physical environment in images that have the power to communicate the vastness of it all. They chronicle the life-cycle of the products we use every day – mining the land for oil and metals, driving slave-like conditions in manufacturing facilities, prepping new cars lined up as far as the eye can see to be shipped out for sale, constructing a web of highways and interstates in our major cities throughout theworld, and then eventually throwing everything away.

PHOTO CREDIT: EDWARD BURTYNSKY

Burtynsky has done a lot of work with mines and quarries – sites where we are essentially raping the land for our own purposes. Every mine has waste-product – tailings, or rivers, of melted unused metals that are in the rock but are not the desired end product.

 

Imagine tailings like this near Bristol Bay Alaska on the proposed site of the world’s 2^nd largest open pit copper mine as captured in the doc Red Gold.

PHOTO CREDIT: FELT SOUL MEDIA

It doesn’t take much of an imagination to see that an environment this fragile will not survive the impact of a mine. Not to mention that the proposed site is at the headwaters of the two most prolific salmon producing rivers in the world.

You never know where the inspiration to make a change will come from; sometimes it just takes one last image or perspective to give you the courage to make a jump. For me it was realizing that my life was on the same type of ridiculous cycle – chasing the wrong dream and slowly knocking down all that really mattered to me in the process. Change does not come easy but it is in our hands here for the taking if we so chose – if there ever was a time it is now.

-Leah

Shadow Dist. picks up “Under Our Skin”

It’s official, our good friends and documentary aficionado’s at Shadow Distribution have signed on to theatrically release Under Our Skin starting in March of ’09.  In case you don’t know, Shadow Distribution is a small film distribution company located in Waterville, Maine, dedicated to releasing unusual, specialized films. The company is run by exhibitors, the co-directors of Railroad Square, which has been bringing unique film programming to central Maine since 1978.

Under Our Skin has been filling the seats at film festivals all over the county since its premiere at Tribeca last April, making quite a stir in the doc and healthcare worlds.  It won The Harrell Award for Best Documentary at CIFF this past year, and we couldn’t be more honored!  The film sold out its screening, and was one of our all-time most anticipated films.

Congrats to both for this wonderful union, it ensures that Under Our Skin will be screened to the widest audience possible…And as for Shadow, I’m constantly amazed at what two film lovers can accomplish in a small town in Central, Maine.  Their dedication to independent cinema is truy inspiring.

Roll Call!

A brand-spankin’ new video from the CIFF inspired UMaine course.  Some great quotes from a few of the visiting filmmakers at CIFF ’08.  Hope to get some more vids up here soon!

GOBAMA

Danielle Bernstein (When Clouds Clear, CIFF 08) recently traveled to Alaska to capture Governor Palin’s real stance on some core political issues. Check out these two pieces on children’s health and foster care issues:

There is only one day left to go in this heated campaign, and Danielle adds an important voice to the discussion. Whether you lean left or right, take some time to research the candidates and get out and VOTE!

-Leah

A New Theatre? How are we ever going to save the Art House?

Rumors are abound that the old 5 and 10 store in Camden will once again act as a movie theatre.  For people that can remember, this once thriving cinema held the premier of such films as Peyton’s Place.  Now, as a business closes its doors a group of community members are banding together to create a non-profit organization that will run the theatre.  All of us here at CIFF are all for this and completely understand what a new cinema can do to revitalize a town.  (I also have some fond memories growing up there, running around the aisles and playing in the old projector booths.  My grandfather ran the 5 & 10 there for many years.)

The old theatre in Camden

Seems as if there are more and more towns just like Camden doing this same thing.  Nantucket has been working on getting their non-profit Dreamland up and running for quite some time now, but progress is being made. No doubt the new Dreamland will be state of the art, and a great addition to the island.

So the real question is can a theatre compete in this day and age as a non-profit community organization? One would have to look no further then Brookline, MA very own Coolidge Corner Theatre to see that this is a viable option.

For those attending Sundance this year, there will be an Art House Convergence where a new world of film exhibition will be discussed. Our good friends at Railroad Square are 1 of 14 cinemas that have been selected to represent the Sundance Film Fest Art House Mission.

Will this model work? Seems like people are getting sick and tired of spending quality movie time in rundown theatres. Good luck to the Camden Cinema Committee, it’s going to be a long road but one that looks like its well worth it.

Apple Insomnia Film Festival

The Green Label Artlog had a great post last week about an upcoming 24-hour film contest sponsored by Apple. 24-hours to make and upload your 3-minute movie. Check out the post and the Insomnia Film Festival’s page for more details. – Leah

Pulling John

The uncanny ability of documentary film to dive deep into unique sub-cultures of our world at the same time as they offer broad understanding of human nature and the way elements relate to one another is something that never ceases to amaze me. On the surface, it doesn’t seem logical – audiences and sales agents may shy away from films with such a singular focus but in doing so they are missing the point. Sometimes only by looking at those very narrow slices can we understand the bigger picture.

Taking a deep dive into a strange world is the new film Pulling John – bringing the sport and athletes of armwrestling into the light. Check out the trailer:

-Leah

Hidden gem

If you haven’t heard of the Museum of the Moving Image it is definitely worth a visit if you are lucky enough to have your weekdays free or decide to call in sick. They have the nation’s largest collection of artifacts related to the art, technology and history of film. If the lure of films and greek food isn’t enough to get you onto the N train and out to Astoria, Queens – keep an eye out for their events all over the city. -Leah

 

Opening Night Film CIFF ’08 – The Way We Get By

Standing Ovation!

A photo from the emotionally charged 2008 Opening Night work-in-progress screening of “The Way We Get By.”  Audience members were able to discuss the film with the directors, Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, as well as the film stars.

This screening was somewhat of a first for us at CIFF, being that it was a “work in progress.” While we are always trying to program for premiers there is truly something to be said for being a part of an unfinished screening. It really lets the audience be a part of the whole process. Producer extraordinaire, Gita Pullapilly approached us last summer with a trailer. We were immediately floored by the emotion that oozes out of every shot in the film and quickly began planning for a special CIFF screening. It was also somewhat of a homecoming as the film focuses on the lives of three elderly people living in Bangor, Maine.

Cast and Crew, The Way We Get By

In all my years programming film I have never seen so much emotional release from an audience. The connection was instant and lasted throughout the whole 87 min. premier. This film will be making the fest run in ’09 and I urge any lover of film to check it out. A ton of our posts will be about the filmmakers process to get the film out to the largest audience possible and we wish Aron and Gita all the success in the world! Check the film out here
Trailer below.

Hello Doc Lovers!

Welcome to the official Camden International Film Festival blog.  Here you can keep up with all things documentary, discuss themes and issues from former CIFF alums or just rant about how you’re going to fill that void in your heart now that CIFF 08 has passed.  You can also check here for info about off-season screenings and other art/cultural events from the CIFF community.  Check back often.

The  09 Festival Season is right around the corner, stay on top of the industry’s emerging talent right here!