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Midnight Madness Blog
South Facing Blog
Sid Adilman Mentorship
Your Blogs
Archival footage
Hollywood History

Biography
Casualties of War
A Writer's Words
Tragic Hero
Pierre Rissient: Influential Cinephile
Painting a Family Portrait

Celebrities
Michael Moore on the road again
Demme & Moore docs in Special Presentations!
Yes, it's THAT Phil Donahue
Wyclef Plays at TIFF Party
Celebrities Exposed at Final Doc Talk

Cinematography
Night is not so dark
Reflections on "A Jihad for Love"
Lawrence Johnston heads deep into "Night"
Blindsight Opens Eyes and Hearts
ON CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ghosts of Cite Soleil

Directors
Herzog takes us to the South Pole
SHOWING DOC THE DOC
Reflections
Madina on Farmer's Requiem
Bill Maher on RELIGULOUS

Distribution
Doc Corner: Exchange of Ideas
Industry survey: W. Wilder Knight II
Industry survey: Cara Mertes, Sundance Doc Film Program
Industry survey: Jan Rofekamp & Diana Holtzberg, Films Transit
Industry survey: Peter Broderick, Paradigm Consulting

Editing
Last Minute Finishes
Another Fragment from Iraq

Free Speech
Read more on "Obscene"
TIFF picks from Renew Media's Brian Newman

Human Rights
Young Girls Speak Out
One trip to Iraq, three Real to Reel films
Pakistani Women’s Activist speaks at TIFF
Unorthodox Shooting on SHAME
Desi Docs: South Asian Sensations at TIFF

Humour
Play on Playa'
Sick Humor Makes Us Well

Memories
Back to Reality
Growing up on the Kibbutz
TIFF memory: US vs John Lennon
Memories of Summercamp! at TIFF 06
From TIFF to Congress race

Music
TIFF memory: US vs John Lennon
Getting Close to Philip in "Glass"
Wyclef Plays at TIFF Party
Kurt Cobain Speaks Out at TIFF
Yoko Sits in at Lennon Peace Film Premiere

Panels
Covering War
Complicated Lives
Living to the Fullest
Let's Talk about Darfur
Sunday School with Bill Maher and Larry Charles

Parties
Time to Relax and Mingle
TIFF picks from True/False's David Wilson
Memories of Summercamp! at TIFF 06
Celebrating Office Tigers
Docs Discussed Over Breakfast

Picks
The race begins!
TIFF picks from Michaelle McLean, Hot Docs Forum
Meet the Press
TIFF picks from Sean Farnel of Hot Docs
TIFF picks from Jonathan Rosenbaum

Politics
Read more on "Body of War"
Collaborating with Ariel Dorfman on "A Promise to the Dead"
From TIFF to Congress race
Yes, it's THAT Phil Donahue
Iranian Cinema Part of the Revolution

War & Conflict
Read more on "Body of War"
Collaborating with Ariel Dorfman on "A Promise to the Dead"
From TIFF to Congress race
Yes, it's THAT Phil Donahue
Former US Soldier Speaks at Premiere of Iraq films

Wavelengths
Wavelengths, part III
I'm writing to you from Kuala Lumpur...
Docs in Wavelengths, Part II
Exploring the world of Schindler's Houses
Docs push boundaries in Wavelengths

Feeds
August 31, 2021
Industry survey: Jan Rofekamp & Diana Holtzberg, Films Transit
Posted By Thom Powers At 9:31 AM
File under: Distribution
When it comes to international documentary sales, Films Transit is one of the most respected names in the business. This year at TIFF they're representing the titles The Dictator Hunter; A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman; and Operation Filmmaker (pictured). The company's main reps Jan Rofekamp and Diana Holtzberg supplied thoughtful answers to our questions below.

Q: What changes do you see in the documentary marketplace?

ROFEKAMP & HOLTZBERG:  The documentary market will see two major changes over the next...

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August 30, 2021
TIFF picks from Sean Farnel of Hot Docs
Posted By Thom Powers At 5:01 PM
File under: Picks
Sean Farnel was my esteemed predecessor as TIFF's doc programmer through the 2005 festival. Since then, he's been programming the Hot Docs festival in the spring. Last year he was out of town for most of TIFF. So this will be his first time enjoying the fest as a civilian. I asked him what he anticipates.

FARNEL: Of course I'm looking forward to seeing much of the doc programme (well, the ones I can squeeze in between Galas), but let me put in a little plug for a few of...

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Gianvito's "Profit motive and the whispering wind"
Posted By John Gianvito At 12:00 PM
File under: Directors
Director of Profit motive and the whispering wind: I am writing this from my office at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts where I teach film production and history and where, in a few hours time, all power to the building is to be shut off for some major maintenance operation. This only means that I can't further procrastinate or belabor work on this blog entry,(and, that I better not leave anything in the refrigerator over the weekend). As I try to reflect on what I might tell...

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Industry survey: Peter Broderick, Paradigm Consulting
Posted By Thom Powers At 5:34 AM
File under: Distribution
Peter Broderick is a kind of Johnny Appleseed of the idea that independent filmmakers should take more control over their own distribution. He has given lectures at major film festivals all over the world and will be participating in Doc Roundtables at TIFF. Here he weighs in as the ninth participant of our industry survey.

Q: What changes do you see in the documentary marketplace?

BRODERICK: Traditionally, filmmakers have had little or no control of how their films are brought into the world. However independent they were...

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August 29, 2021
Wavelengths, part III
Posted By Andrea Picard At 5:02 PM
File under: Wavelengths
This is the final round-up titles in Wavelengths that have documentary roots. Follow these links to Part I and Part II.

Profit motive and the whispering wind by John Gianvito is an astonishingly elegant and elegiac chronicle of the history of the progressive movement in America told through its cemeteries, plaques and monuments, its symbolic and physical landscape (the one we so often overlook). Propelling us on this journey is a wind of change that summons and gathers the images that lend voice to those who have disappeared...

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Notes on GLASS, Part 2
Posted By Scott Hicks At 12:00 PM
File under: Directors
On the making of GLASS: Philip being Philip, there was never a dull moment. Every day there was something new: a fresh collaboration, renewal of an old friendship, rehearsals for a world premiere of a new work, recordings of film scores (including my own “No Reservations”), sessions with other film directors, time out with his infant sons. Gradually pieces of his rich and varied life revealed themselves as Philip generously opened the doors into his family and friendships, as well as the extraordinary tapestry of his evolution from early days in...

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Industry survey: Dylan Leiner, Sony Pictures Classics
Posted By Thom Powers At 12:05 AM
File under: Distribution
The latest response to Doc Blog's industry survey is Dylan Leiner of Sony Pictures Classics. Their imprint, led by Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, represents a gold standard in taste. Thye have numerous films in TIFF this year, including the documentary My Kid Could Paint That (click the title to watch the trailer). Here are Leiner's reflections on the current theatrical scene for docs.

Q: What changes do you see in the documentary marketplace?

LEINER: Broadly speaking, the "D" word that used to ghettoize the format is...

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August 28, 2021
TIFF picks from Jonathan Rosenbaum
Posted By Thom Powers At 3:10 PM
File under: Picks
Jonathan Rosenbaum is one of the most thoughtful film critics writing today. If want to read a penetrating essay on documentary, look to his pieces on "Crumb" in the book Movies as Politics; or "Fast, Cheap & Out of Control" in  Essential Cinema: On the Necessity of Film Canons, among his other writings. Here he responds to our poll of doc aficianados identifying three titles that he anticipates in TIFF's 07 doc line-up.

1) USELESS (because I'm interested in everything Jia Zhangke does)

2)...

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From Blindsight to Brazil
Posted By Lucy Walker At 12:00 PM
File under: Directors
Oi, Toronto! That nice dream between Everest, where we shot
BLINDSIGHT, and the largest garbage dump in the world, where I am currently working. Just when you get used to the smell they find a human body, or mention a leprosy epidemic, and the sound man passes out. But at least it's at sea level - after the hell of 23,000' for BLINDSIGHT I'm relieved to look across at the ocean at all times.
Across the bay you can see Christ The Redeemer reaching his arms out to...

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Industry survey: Ryan Harrington, A&E; Indie Films
Posted By Thom Powers At 12:32 AM
File under: Distribution
Ryan Harrington of A&E Indie Films joins the Doc Blog industry survey. A&E Indie Films, a branch of the cable TV channel, has gotten behind critically-acclaimed theatrical docs such as Murderball, Jesus Camp, and My Kid Could Paint That (playing in Real to Reel). Here's Ryan in an Indiewire photo with his colleague Molly Thompson (middle) and Docurama's Liz Ogilvie.

Q: What changes do you see in the documentary marketplace?

HARRINGTON: This is a very important time for making and selling docs and I'm excited...

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August 27, 2021
TIFF memory: US vs John Lennon
Posted By John Scheinfeld At 11:03 AM
File under: Directors, Memories, Music
Nothing could beat the first screening of THE U.S. vs. JOHN LENNON at TIFF 06. Starting with the line outside The Ryerson Theatre snaking around three city blocks...to crossing the red carpet bordered by dozens of TV cameras, lights, reporters and microphones...to the SRO crowd responding in all the right places (hearing laughter ripple through that large an audience was an indescribable feeling)...from sitting next to Yoko and experiencing her powerful response to what she saw on screen...to the standing ovations at film's end and as the credits rolled...the Toronto experience is something...

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Meeting Luise Rainer: The Moment
Posted By Arthur Dong At 9:43 AM
File under: Directors
San Francisco Chinatown movie houses were my early childhood film schools. They offered up a steady stream of Chinese language films from overseas and seeing Chinese on the big screen was no big deal. But then I started venturing outside the neighborhood and haunted now-defunct repertory theaters, and I remember seeing Luise Rainer in the 1937 MGM Epic, The Good Earth. It was something else to watch this German actress portray a self-sacrificing Chinese peasant in yellow-face, leading a cast of thousands of real-life Chinese extras and bit players, not...

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Industry survey: Josh Braun, Submarine Entertainment
Posted By Thom Powers At 12:05 AM
File under: Distribution
Continuing our industry survey of sage advice on documentary distribution, we begin this week with Josh Braun of Submarine Entertainment. Braun has been an active player behind the scenes at TIFF over the years, helping to broker the distribution deals for Spellbound, Gunner Palace, Three of Hearts and many more. This year his slate includes the doc Obscene  about the legendary publisher Barny Rosset (pictured). Not to mention that Braun played a role as executive producer shepherding the comic book A History of Violence to the screen for David...

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August 24, 2021
Complete list of TIFF doc events
Posted By Thom Powers At 2:00 PM
Ladies and gentlemen, here you have a meticulously compiled listing of everything documentary at TIFF (or as close as we could come) - including exclusive new images. Bookmark this posting as we'll continue to update it with new links.

The offerings range from live conversations with filmmakers at Doc Talks and Mavericks to the massive Real to Reel section to a sprinkling of docs in the sections Masters, Special Presentations, Visions and Wavelengths to the Canadian Retrospective of classic films by Michel Brault. TIFF's official programme guide and schedule will be available...

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REBELLION explores Litvinenko case
Posted By Andrei Nekrasov At 12:42 PM
File under: Directors
On the making of REBELLION: THE LITVINENKO CASE -
In Russia some people call me a traitor because of my “positive” portrayal of the ex-spy Litvinenko who was subjected to an incredible three week long execution in London last November. I made a point of not replying to such accusations. Others, among them friends and colleagues, are wondering why my producer Olga Konskaya and I took the risk and trouble of infuriating our government if we used to make films about artists, composers and poets,about love and other beautiful things,and could have...

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Industry survey: Nancy Gerstman, Zeitgeist Films
Posted By Thom Powers At 9:05 AM
File under: Distribution
The fifth participant in our doc industry survey is Nancy Gerstman, co-founder and partner with Emily Russo in the New York-based distributor Zeitgeist Films Ltd. They have released numerous features, including the Academy Award-winning Nowhere In Africa and the Academy Award-nominated Sophie Scholl: The Final Days and My Country, My Country; as well as numerous documentaries that played at TIFF such as The Corporation, Ballets Russes and Into Great Silence (pictured).  Their new releases include last year's TIFF doc Manufactured Landscapes and the 2007 Camera d'Or winner Jellyfish.

Q: What...

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August 23, 2021
I'm writing to you from Kuala Lumpur...
Posted By Chris Chong Chan Fui At 2:38 PM
File under: Directors, Wavelengths
On the making of  POOL - I'm writing to you from Kuala Lumpur, within the autocratic state of Malaysia, currently celebrating it's 50 years of on-again off-again independence.  While in my time in the big city, I was fortunate enough to have been able to join a researcher on her trip to the province of Aceh, one of the hardest hit areas during the 2004 tsunami that devasted parts of South and South-East Asia. Eighteen months after tragedy, we took a plane from Kuala Lumpur to Medan, Indonesia, and was taken...

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Docs in Wavelengths, Part II
Posted By Andrea Picard At 1:48 PM
File under: Wavelengths
We began to note the crossover of docs into TIFF's Wavelengths section in a post two days ago; and we heard from one of these filmmakers Heinz Emigholz, the director of Schindler's Houses. Here's the second of three installments, highlighting other Wavelengths titles with a documentary impulse:

(Picture: The Butterfly in Winter)

ERZHÄLUNG, which translates as “tale”, by the Swiss artist Hannes Schüpbach, is a silent portrait of 80 year-old Italian sculptor Cesare Ferronato whose life we see, is devoted to artistic process. He seemingly lives sequestered...

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One trip to Iraq, three Real to Reel films
Posted By David Schisgall At 11:59 AM
File under: Human Rights, Directors
By my count there are three films in this year's Real to Reel that have their roots in my trip to Iraq after the invasion in 2003. At the time, I had basically given up trying to make feature docs and   was focussing on making socially positive doc episodes for television. I went to Iraq to make two shows for MTV:  True Life: I'm in Iraq, a verite and interview hour about American and Iraqi young people in the post-war period, and Gideon's Diary in Iraq, a half...

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Getting Close to Philip in "Glass"
Posted By Scott Hicks At 11:16 AM
File under: Music, Directors
I wanted to create a story where the participants were the narrators with
the sense that the audience was invited into the room to share in these
lives of Philip, his friends and family. I always felt the film would be a
kind of “mosaic portrait”, like a Chuck Close portrait, where an arrangement
of fragments form an overall picture.

Picture: Director Scott Hicks (center) films artist Chuck Close (left) in
conversation with Philip Glass (right) in New York, as part of "GLASS : a
portrait of Philip in twelve parts" (photo by L. Skutch)
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Industry survey: Ira Deutchman, Emerging Pictures
Posted By Thom Powers At 9:02 AM
File under: Distribution
The fourth participant in our Industry Survey is Ira Deutchman, the CEO of Emerging Pictures, an innovative distributor pioneering new spaces for theatrical exhibition. He has a long career marked by notable docs, including his days at Fine Line Features when he worked on the release of the record-breaking Hoop Dreams.

Q: What changes do you see in the documentary marketplace?

DEUTCHMAN: Theatrical is getting harder and harder. Audiences and critics seem to be getting numb from all the serious subject matter on the screen, and it now takes much...

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August 22, 2021
Carter! Cheadle! Maher! live on stage for Mavericks
Posted By Thom Powers At 1:49 PM
Toronto- The 32nd Toronto International Film Festival announces today the powerful, socially and politically engaged lineup for this year's Mavericks programme, a series of sessions that will explore how the world at large intersects with the world of cinema.  Mavericks provides Festival audiences with in-depth access to leading world figures and major filmmakers as they share their personal stories and discuss their most recent and upcoming projects.  Four enlightening Mavericks presentations will feature appearances by Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Bill Maher, Larry Charles, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Don Cheadle, Mira Nair, Santosh Sivan and more. 

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Demme & Moore docs in Special Presentations!
Posted By Thom Powers At 10:44 AM
File under: Celebrities
Two filmmaking heavy hitters bring high profile docs to TIFF's Special Presentations section, annnounced today. Keep an eye on Doc Blog for further updates.

CAPTAIN MIKE ACROSS AMERICA  Michael Moore, USA  Special Presentation
CAPTAIN MIKE ACROSS AMERICA takes us back to the 2004 election, when the margin of polling difference between candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry could have tipped either way. The film is made in the feisty spirit of independent media at a fraction of the budget of Moore's recent films. It captures Moore's activities as he set out...

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Final Real to Reel Titles Announced!
Posted By Thom Powers At 10:25 AM
Today TIFF announced eight more titles for the Real to Reel section, including a strong representation of music docs and an international spectrum of views from Russia, China and Israel. Watch Doc Blog today for further announcements of special programming around documentaries. The final titles are:
 
AMAZING JOURNEY: THE STORY OF THE WHO, Paul Crowder/Murray Lerner, USA
Director/Editor Paul Crowder and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Murray  Lerner explore the ingenious bravado and continuing evolution of the legendary rock group The Who in this definitive, authorized documentary about  the band. The film moves from...

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Industry survey: Liz Ogilvie, Docurama
Posted By Thom Powers At 9:06 AM
File under: Distribution
The third in our series of industry voices is Liz Ogilvie, Head of Programming for Docurama Films. After releasing over 200 documentaries on DVD, Docurama Films expanded its reach to the theatrical market with Air Guitar Nation in early 2007. Pictured is Docurama's DVD from Parallel Lines, the previous film from director Nina Davenport who appears this year in Real to Reel with Operation Filmmaker. Take it away, Liz...

Q: What changes do you see in the documentary marketplace?

OGILVIE: With more and more docs...

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August 21, 2021
Exploring the world of Schindler's Houses
Posted By Heinz Emigholz At 3:59 PM
File under: Directors, Wavelengths
A Conversation about "Schindlers Houses" as featured in Wavelengths

Marc Ries: What was your first encounter with Schindler like?

Heinz Emigholz: In 1975, I happened to pass the Lovell  House in Newport Beach. At first sight, the building struck me as simultaneously  strange and well-conceived.  But at that time, as a filmmaker I was working on extremely  time-analytical compositions with no ideas on architecture outside the medium of time. Only later did my film work expand to issues and depictions of space. And I had  forgotten my encounter...

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Docs push boundaries in Wavelengths
Posted By Andrea Picard At 2:25 PM
File under: Wavelengths
TIFF’s Wavelengths section is a curated presentation of artist-made film and video from around the world. The term “artist-made” is increasingly replacing the more slippery and elusive idiom “avant-garde” and the somewhat aloof-sounding “experimental”. They’re just labels, equally expendable, elastic and appropriated at will. Unlike some of my international colleagues, I actually like the terms, but recognize nonetheless that what counts is the ethos: the mode of expression, the personal means of production, the risk-taking.

This year’s Wavelengths demonstrates a remarkable surge in filmmaking, longform and on celluloid, with...

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Doc Corner Moves Into Match Club
Posted By Thom Powers At 12:27 PM
File under: , Distribution, Panels
Last year saw the debut of Doc Corner, a designated space for registered pass holders to hang out and network. This year the Doc Corner will be moving into the popular Match Club space, located at the 5th Elementt restaurant (1033 Bay Street). We'll be enlivening Doc Corner with a series called Doc Roundtables - held from Sept 9 to 12 during the hours of 2-4 pm  - where filmmakers can meet with influential industry players, including distributors, sales agents, festival programmers and others.

Companies participating this year include A&E Indie...

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Industry survey: Mark Urman, THINKFiilm
Posted By Thom Powers At 9:09 AM
File under: Distribution
Mark Urman, head of U.S. theatrical distribution for THINKFilm, has been an active buyer of past TIFF docs including Spellbound, The Story of Weeping Camel, and last year's Ghosts of Cite Soleil and Lake of Fire (pictured). Here he shares his outlook on the current scene:

Q: What changes do you see in the documentary marketplace?

URMAN: There are more outlets than ever for non-fiction films, and an increased acceptance from a more general audience. That said, there are also more documentary features...

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August 20, 2021
Reflections on "A Jihad for Love"
Posted By Parvez Sharma At 2:33 PM
File under: Cinematography, Directors
It has been almost seven years since I landed on the shores of "the free world" in my rickety boat and now we all find that the torch the lady on the Hudson holds has never burnt more feebly. As a Muslim filmmaker from India I have been honored to have the current US regime re-classify me “an alien with extraordinary abilities.” This is a real Department of Homeland Security category also known as the O-1 visa.

Interestingly, I was entering fairest Halifax in Canada on the day that Toronto...

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Industry survey: Liesl Copland, Red Envelope
Posted By Thom Powers At 9:30 AM
File under: Distribution
Today we kick off an on-going survey of documentary insiders about new opportunities and challenges in distribution. Our first correspondent is Liesl Copland from Red Envelope Entertainment (the original content division of Netflix). Last year at TIFF, Red Envelope emerged as an important player acquiring titles like The Prisoner Or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair (pictured). Liesl previously worked for Cinetic Media on funding and sales of independent films, including many documentaries.

Liesl generously gave expansive answers to three questions below, touching on the latest developments...

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August 18, 2021
Read more on "Obscene"
Posted By Thom Powers At 9:50 AM
File under: , Free Speech
The Real to Reel doc Obscene has a brand new web site that includes a fascinating career history written by its subject publisher Barney Rosset:

While still taking courses at the New School in New York (1951), I took over three abandoned reprints from a stillborn press called Grove and slowly embarked on a legal and literary trench war - from the campaigns for Lady Chatterley's Lover, Tropic of Cancer, and Naked Lunch all the way to putting the iconographic ...

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August 17, 2021
Read more on "Body of War"
Posted By Thom Powers At 4:16 PM
File under: , War & Conflict, Politics, Directors
Continuing our links to Real to Reel docs, Body of War has an impressive web site that includes a trailer and lots of background information. Here's an excerpt from the director's statemet by co-director Ellen Spiro (pictured here filming on location). Spiro writes:

It's June 2005. George Bush is on the radio. He's saying "My greatest responsibility as President is to protect the American people." I think, "Why do I feel more unsafe than ever?" The phone rings. It's Phil Donahue.

"Phil WHO?" I say. "Phil Donahue, I'm calling about...

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TIFF picks from Renew Media's Brian Newman
Posted By Thom Powers At 12:17 PM
File under: Free Speech, Picks
Brian Newman is a shrewd observer of the documentary scene from his position as a funder at Renew Media and on his personal blog Spring Board Media . Here he shares his picks from this year's Real to Reel:

I always feel that the best thing about attending the Toronto International Film Festival is that I really can’t go wrong with the films I see. You can literally walk into any screening randomly (perhaps because another film sold out)...

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Read more on "Terror's Advocate"
Posted By Thom Powers At 10:24 AM
In the coming days on Doc Blog, I'm going to highlight some of the web sites that are already popping up in support of docs in Real to Reel. The first is for Terror's Advocate, the new work by Barbet Schroeder (pictured) who has a long track record with both docs and feature films.

Terror's Advocate explores the world of the controversial lawyer Jacques Verges. It has already received  accolades (New York Times critic A.O. Scott called it "jaw-dropping") from its appearance at...

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August 16, 2021
Lawrence Johnston heads deep into "Night"
Posted By Thom Powers At 3:04 PM
File under: Cinematography
Most docs at TIFF play in Real to Reel. But a few turn up in other sections. The Festival's recent announcement of its Visions line-up includes the doc Night from the acclaimed Australian director Lawrence Johnston. He's attended TIFF before with the doc Eternity (1994) and the fiction feature Life (1996) which won the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize. In Night, he combines dazzling imagery with interviews reflecting on the wonder and mystery that occurs between sunset and sunrise.
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Eyes on Africa
Posted By Thom Powers At 11:12 AM
My programming colleague Cameron Bailey has started making regular posts to the South Facing Blog, bringing his wealth of knowledge about filmmaking in the world's hotter regions. In a recent entry, he writes about the cluster of documentaries on Africa at this year's Festival. Besides the films he highlights, the Real to Reel programme is also presenting The Dictator Hunter, a gripping doc about Human Rights Watch lawyer Reed Brody (pictured) and his legal pursuit of Hissene Habre, the former dicator of Chad. The film plays...

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August 15, 2021
Collaborating with Ariel Dorfman on "A Promise to the Dead"
Posted By Peter Raymont At 4:00 PM
File under: , War & Conflict, Politics, Directors


In October of last year, I brought my dear wife and filmmaking partner, Lindalee Tracey to hospital. She was suffering through the last, painful stages of cancer. During each of Lindalee’s final days in palliative care, Ariel Dorfman sent me a poem which I read to her. Poems by the Persian poet, Rumi and by Ariel himself. So Lindalee slipped away with Ariel’s and Rumi’s lovely words swimming in her mind.

Ariel was traveling to Chile just a few weeks after Lindalee’s passing....

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TIFF picks from Full Frame's Phoebe Brush
Posted By Thom Powers At 10:45 AM
File under: Picks
Phoebe Brush, a programmer for the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, chimes in with her Real to Reel picks below. In the past year, I've enjoyed two collaborations with Full Frame. Last fall, they co-presented an evening with documentary pioneer Richard Leacock at the Stranger Than Fiction series I host in New York City. Then at their festival in April, I presented the first annual Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant to first time filmmakers Robin Hessman and Lee Lynch. The award is in memory of...

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August 14, 2021
TIFF picks from True/False's David Wilson
Posted By Thom Powers At 4:22 PM
File under: Parties, Picks
David Wilson, who collaborates with Paul Sturtz to program the plucky True/False Film Festival in Columbia, MO, weighs in with three picks from the Real to Reel titles announced so far. In this photo from TIFF 06, he appears with Blindsight director Lucy Walker at the aforementioned Summercamp! party (snapped by Indiewire). David says:

One of the great things about seeing the film lineup from a fest like Toronto is knowing that, as a viewer, you're...

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51 Birch Street now on DVD
Posted By Thom Powers At 11:00 AM
Two years ago, TIFF was proud to present the world premiere of Doug Block's remarkable 51 Birch Street, a documentary about the secrets he uncovered about his parents' marriage after his mother's death. He came back last year for a News & Views panel about the film's long road to distribution. Today the film comes out on DVD. Among the extras, I'm told, is a video of Doug's first Q&A with his father at TIFF 05, very memorable to me as I was the unsteady hand behind the camera. See (more...)
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August 13, 2021
Memories of Summercamp! at TIFF 06
Posted By Sarah Price At 3:46 PM
File under: , Memories, Parties, Directors
Last year's TIFF was a blast for us--we literally tried to bring summercamp to the festival. As if dressing up like camp dorks and whipping the audiences into a frenzied round of Baby Shark (a camp song favorite) wasn't enough, we had a party where they served camp food, had an illegal bonfire in the parking lot of the bar, and the Flaming Lips did an acoustic sing-a-long.  All with blinking disco visors and whistles (pictured). Summercamp! is currently being released theatrically through Argot Pictures (we opened in NYC...

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TIFF picks from Tom Hall
Posted By Thom Powers At 11:30 AM
File under: , Picks

We're back after a weekend break with a fresh answer to our survey of doc aficianados picking their three most anticipated titles from the TIFF list announced so far. (Remember more announcements coming on August 21). Today, we hear from Tom Hall, programmer for the Sarasota Film Festival and scribe of the well-written blog Back Row Manifesto. Tom says:

Thanks for the...

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August 10, 2021
TIFF picks from Anthony Kaufman
Posted By Thom Powers At 11:00 AM
File under: Picks
Anthony Kaufman writes with great commitment and insight about docs - and film in general - for the Wall Street Journal on-line, Indiewire, and his own blog. Last year he moderated one of TIFF's Doc Talks. Here he picks three doc titles that jump off the 2007 TIFF list. Make no mistake: cineastes love their Herzog (pictured).

ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD Werner Herzog's resurgence in the annals of filmmaking -- and documentary-making -- is a wonder to behold....

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Spouting off on Doc Blog
Posted By Thom Powers At 12:12 AM
File under: Picks
Hey, Karina Longworth, I'm an avid reader of Spout blog and was just looking up your email address to ask your opinion of the 2007 Real to Reel line-up, when I saw that you beat me to it. Karina wrote a thoughtful posting about Doc Blog, including this comment:

No one’s asked me what I think, so of course I’m going to chime in anyway: the film on the Real to Reel program that I’m most looking forward to is probably Obscene, Neil Ortenberg and Daniel...

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August 9, 2021
From TIFF to Congress race
Posted By Michael Tucker At 2:56 PM
File under: , Memories, War & Conflict, Politics, Directors
When GUNNER PALACE premiered at TIFF in 2004 we asked two soldiers from the unit featured in the film to come up to Toronto for a casual Q&A. One of them, Captain Jon Powers, later became involved with the publicity for the release of the film and spent six weeks on the road doing press, meeting audiences and attending events. Through that exposure, Jon decided to start an NGO to help Iraqi children and actually returned to Baghdad in 2005.

Last week I was in Chicago for the second annual Yearly Kos...

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TIFF picks from Agnes Varnum
Posted By Thom Powers At 10:49 AM
File under: Picks
Agnes Varnum writes with such enthusiasm and insight about documentaries on her blog "doc it out" that I asked her to identify the three TIFF docs she's most eager to see. Her picks:

HOLLYWOOD CHINESE by Arthur Dong (pictured)
Dong reminds me of Les Blank in some ways--he's out there doing his own thing, and while he has lots of awards, his fabulous body of work isn't that well known. This subject sounds intriguing and perhaps...

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August 8, 2021
TIFF picks from Sky Sitney
Posted By Thom Powers At 4:32 PM
File under: Picks
More documentaries will be announced for Festival's line-up at the August 21 press conference. Meanwhile, we continue to survey opinions on the first announcement. Sky Sitney, programmer for the Silverdocs Film Festival, submitted this list of three titles that she most anticipates:
 
SURFWISE (pictured)
We recently presented Doug Pray's BIG RIG at SILVERDOCS, where it was a huge hit. No matter what the subject - whether it be the Seattle grunge scene (HYPE!), hip-hop DJs (SCRATCH), or big rig truckers - Pray finds the unexpected in the material, reveals...

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TIFF picks from David Nugent
Posted By Thom Powers At 10:13 AM
File under: Picks
I asked other fest programmers to pick three docs they were most anticipating at TIFF this year. We already heard from Matt Dentler of SXSW. Now comes David Nugent (aka "the Nuge"), the handsome over-achiever (pictured here) who programs for two festivals: Newport International Film Festival and the Hamptons International Film Festival. And David's picks are:

ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD Werner Herzog, USA
I echo what Matt said about this one. I can't wait to see it

OPERATION FILMMAKER Nina Davenport, USA
This is one that...

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August 7, 2021
Borat Behind the Scenes
Posted By Thom Powers At 8:42 PM
File under: Memories
I'm back in Toronto after a working vacation in my home state of Michigan. My final report on Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival is now available on Indiewire, including coverage of a presentation by Borat director Larry Charles divulging behind the scenes details of his film. Charles said he set out to prove that "five guys in a van could make a hit movie" that was "intense, urgent and can connect with an audience." Certainly I will never forget Borat's official world premiere in TIFF's Midnight Madness section last year....

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August 6, 2021
Blogging on Britdoc
Posted By Thom Powers At 10:40 AM
AJ Schnack, who premiered his doc Kurt Cobain  About a Son at TIFF 06, has been steadily making the festival rounds in anticipation of a US theatrical release this fall. He also maintains a marvelous blog All These Wonderful Things that goes much further than the usual promotional duties to provide incisive reporting on the international documentary scene. In a recent posting, he writes about the  Britdoc Festival, held in Oxford, England, where one of the highlights is a meal inside the setting of Harry Potter's dining...

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August 4, 2021
Summer lovin', had me a blast
Posted By Thom Powers At 9:38 AM
Here at the Traverse City Film Festival, host Michael Moore serves up plenty of the politically-engaged docs you'd expect from him. The section called "Dangerous Docs" includes 9 Star Hotel on Palestinian workers, Maxed Out on rapacious credit lenders and Our Daily Bread on mechanized agriculture. But those fiberous dishes are balanced with a good helping of dessert. For four nights, in an outdoor field near the bay, the festival presents a crowd-pleaser - from E.T. to North by Northwest - projected on a 65-foot inflatable screen for audiences estimated at...

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Reeler sets sites on TIFF
Posted By Thom Powers At 12:24 AM
TheReeler.com is a blog that covers New York City film like ESPN covers sports - only with less manpower and fewer beer commercials. Founder Stu VanAirsdale - a name I always fear to mis-capitalize - seems to put himself several places at once, from red carpet premieres to fringe art house happenings. As a New Yorker, if you want to know what great thing you missed last night, Stu's your man.

This year he's making his first ever trip to TIFF to report on the NY migration to the festival. Here's an...

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August 3, 2021
Michael Moore plays host to filmmakers
Posted By Thom Powers At 5:51 PM
Doc Blog is visiting the third annual Traverse City Film Festival, founded by Michael Moore, located a few hours northwest from his beloved Flint, MI. The festival, lasting through Sunday, upholds its slogan "just great movies" by ignoring premiere status to show a rich sampling of this year in film, mixed with some classics. As I wrote last year in Indiewire, Moore frequently introduces the screenings himself. On Thursday he took the stage to introduce D.A. Pennebaker's 1960's Bob Dylan doc Dont Look Back (the apostrophe was intentionally left...

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August 2, 2021
Matt Dentler's TIFF picks
Posted By Thom Powers At 4:06 PM
File under: Picks
After announcing the Real to Reel line-up on Tuesday, I asked programmers from other film festivals to name three docs they were anticipating and why. The first response comes from Matt Dentler, an active blogger and programmer of the wonderful SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX:

1. ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Werner Herzog
I'll see anything Herzog does. But when it's his first big  
documentary after the brilliant GRIZZLY MAN, consider me first in line.

2. MY ENEMY'S ENEMY by Kevin Macdonald
Ditto what I said...

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D-Word hosts broadband forum
Posted By Thom Powers At 1:43 AM
File under: Distribution
D-Word.com is an international chat room for documentary filmmakers, founded by Doug Block. This week the site is holding a focused discussion called Reaching a Wider Audience: Broadcasters Go Broadband for filmmakers and broadcasters to discuss the impact of on-line social networks and self-distribution. Even if you're not a D-Word member you can still read this Forum; and if you become a member (available to working filmmakers) you can also contribute.
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August 1, 2021
Storyville needs your help!
Posted By Thom Powers At 1:34 PM
Word came in today that BBC's esteemed documentary series Storyville, programmed by Nick Fraser, is potentially facing severe budget cuts. That reduction would be a big blow to doc financing, since Storyville is a key pillar of support for filmmakers worldwide. Fraser was a key commissioning editor behind the Why Democracy? project that's being showcased this year at TIFF with three films including the crowd pleaser, PLEASE VOTE FOR ME (pictured).

You can sign an on-line petition that reads in part:

The BBC is conducting an...

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Yes, it's THAT Phil Donahue
Posted By Thom Powers At 12:07 PM
File under: , Celebrities, War & Conflict, Politics
As I talked to reporters yesterday about the Real to Reel line-up, I heard a recurring sense of surprise that the co-director of BODY OF WAR was the same Phil Donahue well-known as the venerable talk show host. Indeed it is. He teamed up with veteran doc maker Ellen Spiro to tell the story of Tomas Young, an Iraq war veteran who became a vocal opponent of the Bush administration. In the film, Donahue stays strictly behind the camera. But here he's pictured with Young, Spiro...

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