As Matt Dentler put it so nicely over on his blog, this week in Los Angeles "feels like Mardi Gras for Hollywood and Indiewood, the long Super Bowl weekend of events and screenings and parties and awards."
Last night was the kickoff for five days of celebratory gatherings, as the IDA hosted its annual Oscar Nominee Reception at the Motion Picture Academy. A few observations: Lily Tomlin was a terrific host. It was clear that she's a admirer of documentaries and documentary filmmakers and considers herself part of the extended community. She was funny and charming, perhaps only outdone by MAN ON WIRE subject Phillipe Petit, who inspired the only thing that came close to a standing ovation from the assembled crowd.
The crowd itself was younger than I'd ever seen at an IDA event, prompting me to wonder if the youth contigent had been "bused in". New IDA Executive Director Michael Lumpkin confirmed some of this in his short introductory speech, noting that students of the IDA's Docs Rock program were in attendance. No matter the origin, the vastly lowered average age of attendees gave the whole evening a energy boost.
Also in attendance, for the first time that I can remember (but maybe I wasn't paying attention in the past) was nearly the entire Sundance programming team, bravely stepping out in public in the face of nonstop questions about the surprising departure of Geoffrey Gilmore for Tribeca.
A highlight for me of the night was IDA President Eddie Schmidt's acknowledgement of Spirit Award nominees Margaret Brown (ORDER OF MYTHS) and Yung Chang (UP THE YANGTZE), as well as Foreign Language Oscar nominee Ari Folman (WALTZ WITH BASHIR). While I'd love to for the IDA to find a way to incorporate the Spirit Award nominees into the program as a whole, making the event a celebration of all the nonfiction nominees of this weekend, Schmidt's tip of the hat was a nice first step.
Amongst the nominees, particularly the shorts filmmakers, there was a chorus of thanks to HBO, reminding of their annual, strong support of short nonfiction (they are also the future home of nominated film TROUBLE THE WATER and Spirit Award nominee LOOT). Not lost, however, was Eddie Schmidt's dig at HBO filmmaker-in-residence Alexandra Pelosi, whom he criticized for her recent New York Times comments that documentaries "are boring". Although Schmidt didn't name Pelosi, he did encourage the audience to look on google to see who he was talking about.
If one is to try to guage Sunday's winners from the audience reaction in the theater, you'd have to give the enthusiasm edge to MAN ON WIRE, perhaps narrowly over TROUBLE THE WATER, which certainly had strong support in the Beverly Hills auditorium. Of the clips themselves, the audience laughed uproariously at the scene from Werner Herzog's (who was not in attendance) ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD. The audience also had a huge response (gasping, oohs and ahs) to the still photographs of Petit walking on the wire between the Twin Towers, prompting some of us to wonder whether there were really that many folks in the audience who hadn't seen that film yet.
Tonight, the Spirit Awards nominees gather in Santa Monica for their kickoff celebration. More on that event tomorrow.
Here are pictures from last night's gala at the Motion Picture Academy (lots more after the break):
From left, TROUBLE THE WATER co-cinematographer PJ Raval, Oscar nominated director/producers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin and co-producer Amir Bar-Lev.
Oscar nominated filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy (THE GARDEN).
James Marsh, nominated for an Oscar and a Spirit Award for MAN ON WIRE, does an interview in the press area.
Sundance Grand Jury winner Ondi Timoner (WE LIVE IN PUBLIC) and filmmaker Chris Paine (WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?)
A reunion from last October's AmFest in Moscow, Oscar nominated filmmaker Irene Taylor Brodsky (THE FINAL INCH), yours truly, two-time Spirit Award nominee Margaret Brown (ORDER OF MYTHS) and Amir Bar-Lev.
There were hugs all around for Oscar and Spirit Award nominee Ellen Kuras (THE BETRAYAL), here with former IDA Executive Director Sandra Ruch, who was talking about her new DocAngeles initiative, set for its debut in 2010.
LAFF Interim Co-Director (and Programming guru) Rachel Rosen with filmmaker Fenton Bailey at the IDA reception.
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