All these wonderful things

Oh No, Not Again: The LA Times Goofs on Young@Heart Sale

We've written previously about the LA Times' sometimes tenuous relationship with writing about nonfiction, so couldn't help but take note of yesterday's story by Paul Brownfield about YOUNG@HEART:

"'Young@Heart,' which was picked up for distribution by Fox Searchlight after it screened at the Sundance Film Festival, is a making-of concert movie; we watch as the singers -- in their 70s, 80s and 90s -- prepare for their latest tour, bending their minds around Sonic Youth's discordant 'Schizophrenia' and the Talking Heads' 'Life During Wartime'."

Of course, the film was not picked up after it screened at Sundance (although maybe that's a better narrative for the folks at Fox Searchlight), it was picked up after it screened at the LA Film Festival, pretty big news at the time, not just for the big sale at LAFF but also because it marked the first doc acquisition for Fox Searchlight in a decade.

Strange that no one at the LA Times, a sometime sponsor of the LA Film Festival, would know that.

IN DEPTH: The 25 Top Film Festivals For Documentaries

You've just completed your film.  Now it's time to decide which festivals to target.  Maybe all along you were planning on Sundance.  Hell, you built your entire post-production schedule around the Sundance deadlines!  Maybe you get in.  Maybe you don't.  Either way, you're about to make your next festival decision, and another and another.  And beyond the big ticket festivals, the ones where acceptance is supposed to be worth its weight in distribution gold, there's an endless stream of festivals to navigate.  Where should your second screening be?  Should you wait to hear from Tribeca?  And what about that random festival that you've never heard of but assures you a great time and a free ride?

As True/False gets underway today in Columbia, Missouri, these questions become even more prevalent.  In the next 60 days, five of the the top 10 festivals for documentary will unspool.  It's the spring nonfiction juggernaut and it must be navigated.

Over the past month, we've been soliciting thoughts on the world's top documentary festivals from a variety of filmmakers and industry figures.  We combined their honest takes (anonymity was assured) and our own research to form what we hope will be an annual survey of the 25 Top Festivals for Documentary Films.

A caveat:  As this blog's POV tends to reflect our own geographic position, this list will necessarily focus more heavily on those films that are most readily available to our North American readers and festivals from this continent will dominate this list. 

With that out of the way, here's part one of our 2008 take on the 25 Top Festivals for Documentary Films. 
Presenting the top 10:

1. Sundance Film Festival

Our take:
No other festival of its scale presents a documentary slate as equal to its narrative films.  Getting accepted at Sundance automatically means that you have entree to buyers and national press attention that far outpaces any other fest.  Also nearly automatic is a healthy festival run, even if things don't go your way, distribution-wise.  Everything else you've heard is true, too - the nonstop parties, the swag, the occasional difficulty getting heard.  But the press and industry folks are here to see movies, which is not always the case elsewhere.  The downside: expectations are super high.  If you can't make a splash at Sundance, you may find that your film's life is as thin as the air in Park City.

Others:
Industry:
"Brutal, hierarchical, difficult to connect.  Sadly essential for US because it's a magnet."

Filmmaker:
"Out of bitterness I'd love to chime in with criticisms of the festival, but let's face it -- it's the best and most visible forum for American documentary film.  There's no better way to sell a film than to be in Sundance, and documentary filmmakers there are treated neck and neck with narrative filmmakers.  Who wouldn't want to be at Sundance?'

Industry:
"Has the best + most consistent doc line up (20 yrs of doc support makes them #1 in my book) + programs a world doc section that's pretty kick ass."

Filmmaker:
"Getting into Sundance is a "dream come true".  It is a historic festival and it makes you proud to be selected. Also a sudden energy comes from mixing fiction and documentaries and here you have the chance to meet A LOT of interesting people. Sundance is really a "market" and here it also becomes clear to you that you have made a "product" to sell. That is not entirely bad, you just need to realize that. The festival is big and you use a lot of time on transportation but it is set in the most beautiful area in Park City. You would like to bring some friends or co-workers. You would feel alone otherwise. GREAT Parties and very well organized in spite of the size of the festival!"

Filmmaker:
"Despite all the political bullshit that everyone whines about (which is usually just sour grapes), and despite the fact that for many years Sundance has hypocritically celebrated lots of films that were anything but "independent" (HBO is indie?), and despite the fact that celebrities suck, Sundance is STILL king. There is simply no better festival to premiere your feature doc at, in terms of press, distributor attention, hype, celebration and long term career benefits. They've put docs right up on par with all the dramatic features ever since the very beginning of this festival and you just have to give them praise for that. (and c'mon, most of those indie dramatic features are horrible anyway).  But beware: don't think just because you were one of the 16 anointed docs that you've "made it."  You still have to get a rep and work the system in the worst way to make it truly beneficial.  At least 90% of all Sundance filmmakers go home after the event and get fantastically depressed because they still have no distribution. It is a myth that you "get distribution" at Sundance.  You have to MAKE that happen, wherever you are.  If nothing else, just by premiering at Sundance, you'll get invited to dozens of other good festivals.  The awards show is stupid, but what one's aren't?"

2.  Toronto International Film Festival

Our take:
The second biggest stage for documentary filmmaking, but caution, getting the attention of press and buyers is not automatic like in Park City.  There are lots of other fish to fry in Toronto, including a raft of Oscar hopefuls in the big narrative premieres, and most critics and film writers are inclined to focus on those films than on the doc lineup, particularly when there's not a competition element to the nonfiction titles.  Still, everyone in indie film (and then some) are in Toronto for the fest, and the industry contingent can actually be bigger than Sundance, particularly in opportunities for foreign sales.  Just know that you're going to have to work double hard for less results.

Others:
Filmmaker:
"Proud to have been there and of course would go again in a heartbeat, but felt overshadowed by bigger films.  The audiences are smart and very respectful of docs.  It would be great if they created a "House of Docs" type of forum to nourish their documentary filmmakers."

Industry:
"Too much of a market to make it worthwhile for a doc premiere unless the only goal is to sell the film to an international distributor."

Filmmaker:
"Obviously, Toronto is a great place to premiere your film because it's just so huge and internationally-prominent. But despite Thom Powers proactive championing of great docs, and his efforts to give them a bigger presence there (like they have always been at Sundance), make no mistake: Toronto is better suited for big dramatic films, stars, press, and red carpets. If you're going into town with a full-power invasion, it's great. If you're just lucky enough to premiere your doc there, but don't have a lot of money backing your arrival, you'll feel neglected. The festival is spread out all over Toronto (great city) but that discourages community. If it weren't for Thom Powers' social skills, I never would have met another filmmaker the whole time. The staff are also too overwhelmed by the sheer number of films to really care about you and yours. Welcome to the big city."

3.  IDFA

Our take:
The 800 lb. gorilla of international documentary festivals.  IDFA is a fantastic place to meet other filmmakers, screen lots of international films that may never make it to the US and potentially meet commissioning editors.  But make no mistake, it's huge.  You may spot HBO's Nancy Abraham in the smoky cocktail hour that the festival hosts each day, but so have more than 200 other filmmakers.  Get in line.  Or maybe don't, since she's already running for the exit.  The pitching forum is legendary and often brutal.  The mandate to focus on films from around the world can lead to some painful viewing experiences.  And the fest tends to leave you alone, which can be good or bad, depending on whether you want the festival to help you make contacts (if so, you'll need to ask).  But there's a comaraderie and bonhomie that is often lacking at other fests.  Plus, it's Amsterdam.

Others:
Filmmaker:
"Pretty fun, great films. Too many though. Excellent for selling to TV. North American theatrical buyers don’t come. They should. Doesn’t take itself to seriously which I like. Most amazing setting for a film festival in the world (in my opinion). They’re tight towards filmmakers and don’t look after them too well."

Industry:
"Big Kahuna of doc fests, very friendly (if smoky), extremely convenient setting, many opportunities to connect, extremely gracious and helpful staff to facilitate connections."

Filmmaker:
"I was very well taken care of when it comes to accommodation. Amsterdam is a fantastic city and lots of opportunities to party! The festival is so big that you will benefit from being a group of people there or else you might feel a little alone. The Audience is fantastic and very passionate. They love documentaries in Amsterdam. All in all do not miss this festival if you want to know what is "going on" in documentary."

Filmmaker:
"The audiences speak better English than the American filmmakers presenting their docs."

4. SXSW Film Festival

Our take:
One could watch the doc lineups from Sundance and SXSW and get a pretty comprehensive idea of what's happening in the world of nonfiction filmmaking.  But whereas Sundance may weigh more heavily on the side of serious topics, SXSW lets its hair down with what is probably the most diverse line-up of all the major full spectrum festivals.  Huge industry presence, but don't necessarily expect them to show up for your film, not when the weather's this nice and the margaritas and queso are so nearby.  The biggest gripe against SXSW is that is by far the most stingy amongst the major fests.  You can expect to pay your own way with little to no support from the fest.  But if you decide to go anyway (and you should), it's one of the most fun of all the festivals and the opportunities to meet other filmmakers and the occasional industry contact are plentiful.

Others:
Filmmaker:
"Great audiences at 10am on Sunday morning.  I seriously thought nobody would show up and then the theater was almost full.  Austin is great, too."

Filmmaker:
"After seeing such mediocrity (and worse) in Park City, my esteem for SXSW has been raised immeasurably."

Industry:
"Has super fun americana + music themed docs but lack of press + industry coverage on a broad scale makes them less enticing for filmmakers to have a world premiere there. They also don't take care of their filmmakers the way other fests do (flights + accomo) which is a problem."

Industry:
"I've been impressed with sxsw's doc line-up. it's brave and bold and fits in well with their narrative programs."

Industry:
"As awesome as it was, I felt it was a little too "nichey", almost as if they went out of their way to exclude certain doc' films and filmmakers. I appreciate their angle of Ameri-specific/ alt-american
docs' though. I think it's a formula that works extremely well but perhaps a little more would go a long way."

Filmmaker:
"SXSW is nice mix of business and pleasure... which I think has bled over from the long-running music festival. The programming here seems to be getting stronger and stronger. My only gripe would be lack of resources from the festival to travel invited filmmakers there (i.e., no airfare or hotel money). And it would be great if the music and film fests were more integrated."

Filmmaker:
"Out of all the festivals this is the one i had the least contact with the organizers, publicists etc... i guess we were lucky that the people responded otherwise i may have been frustrated."

Filmmaker:
"I like the laid back environment of sxsw. Lots of interesting and innovative filmmakers."

Filmmaker:
"Love everything about this festival except for the fact that they don't pay for nuthin'.  No airfare, no hotel, and this is because it's all tied in with the far bigger SXSW convention, so you always feel like the film festival is the little brother to the mega music festival. Whatever you do, don't make the mistake of showing up to promote your film near the end of the film fest, when 30,000 black-n-flannel wearing guitar-wielding alt rockers descend on Austin for the music fest. You'll stand in line for 4 hours for a bag and a badge that might not exist and suddenly nobody's ever even heard of a film festival.  HOWEVER-- I still love the SXSW FILM festival.  Despite the convention-like atmosphere, Matt Dentler is building a great thing. The atmosphere (during the fest itself) is supportive, very laid back (in a good way), and there are plenty of distributors running around and drinking tequila. Best mexican breakfasts of any festival on the planet. Great vibe."

5. AFI Silverdocs

Our take:
Has quickly become the most important US doc-centric festival, particularly in an age that puts a premium on theatrical potential.  Has a wide and diverse line-up, notably shining a spotlight on both social issue films as well as "less serious" topics.  There is a large and important conference that takes place simultaneously with the festival that can appear daunting from a distance and even more baffling up close.  Filmmakers are not necessarily encouraged to know, understand or effectively utilize this aspect of the fest, which can be problematic as although there is a huge industry presence, you may not have any idea on how to find them.  The AFI Silver Theatre, which hosts the fest, is one of the best theatres in the country.  Your film may never look this good again.  Lots of social events at which one can meet and hang out with other filmmakers.  Shockingly convenient to get around.  The hotel is a block from the main venues.  Great opportunities to meet other filmmakers.

Others:
Industry:
"Great connections with industry growing by the year. Good conference (she said objectively, having been on panels there). Love the programmer Sky Sitney. Convenient location, lotsa restaurants around good theaters and conference facilities at Discovery."

Filmmaker:
"It was great.  There's a real respect for documentaries, and it feels like a community, while at the same time there's enough visibility to not feel ghettoized."

Filmmaker:
"A bit boring really. Doesn’t seem to offer anything original. The festival basically has no personality. I was disappointed by it. Good films generally. It’s carefully programmed by people that certainly know about docs by I kind of expect that from a premiere docs fest anyway."

Industry/exec:
"Silverdocs is really taking the charge in nurturing relationships with filmmakers and industry alike. i'm intrigued to see what they will pull out this year for their festival. I think they are poised to really do something special now that (longtime sponsor and next door neighbor) Discovery may be tightening those purse strings."

Industry:
"Although I missed it in '07, '06 was really good. It felt like a true doc festival in the sense that filmmakers arrived from all over the world, industry folks came from all over the nation and it was close to the topical imposing presence of our capital city. The town was big enough to offer some sense of 'getting away from it all' (if required) - unlike Full Frame where you see the same faces around every corner."

Filmmaker:
"Has a huge community built up around it and boasts what has to be the most beautiful theatre in America -- the amazing AFI Silver Theatre.  I think the fact that it takes place in the nation's capitol also adds quite a bit of heft to the proceedings."

Filmmaker
"Not a very good experience. Great hotel though. Not very well organized and not personal at all. I was fortunate to have friends there or else I would have been very bored. The parties where not that great and all in all it is a shame, beacuse it is a big festival and it is set in the capital and that should rub of on the mood of the festival, but it never does."

Filmmaker:
"We premiered at SilverDocs as their Opening Night Film, so they pulled out all the stops and went the extra mile for us. Very, very generous in flying us out, and putting us up for 5/6 days.  Screenings are amazing - theater is top notch, festival staff are great, very convivial, lots of easy hotel partying since most folks are in one place.  Really well organized, well run, well programmed, well funded festival.  Only wish is that their  "industry" stuck around a little more.  Festival programmers and some US tv people stayed a day or three, but the European commissioners were in and out of there in the blink of an eye. Literally flew in for their panels and left straight from the panel venue. Other than that, two thumbs way up."

Filmmaker:
"Wonderful festival, very supportive. Intelligent audiences-- great Q&A sessions, fun parties. The perfect size and number of days to celebrate docs. SO awesome to be with only doc filmmakers (no publicists and famous-actor sightings to suck the life out of you). Programmer Sky Sitney fully gets it. Here docs are allowed to have fun and the filmmakers don't have to be pretentious and self-serious, even if their subject is heavy. The tech factor is big, too: awesome theaters, great sound, and a staff who is friendly and cares about every detail. Highest recommendation."

6. Hot Docs

Our take:
One of the oldest and most respected documentary festivals in the world.  Hot Docs is also a conference and features a pitch session that rivals IDFA, but without the same level of acrimony that you often find in Amsterdam.  Heavy industry presence, particularly on the international front, but as in Amsterdam, if you aren't selected for the pitching forum it can be difficult to connect with commissioning editors.  Being a Canadian festival, Hot Docs has an affirmative action policy as it relates to Canadian nonfiction, which can lead to some disappointing screenings.  As at the Toronto fest, the local audiences support Hot Docs with something bordering on mania and the festival is exceptionally well run and organized with a breadth of topic and style on display. 

Others:
Industry:
"Canadian-centric, not a bad thing! Good forum/pitch session. Friendly, easy, well-managed, nice setting."

Filmmaker:
"Very, very cool.  The Festival literally takes over the entire city (Toronto) and the audiences are fantastic.  They go crazy for documentaries there."

Filmmaker:
"The film lineup is fantastic, and the Toronto audiences are very engaged. I really I liked this festival, the only drawback in my opinion is that it's decentralized, there's no meeting/hangout place for filmmakers."

7.  Los Angeles

Our take:
Like its parent organization, Film Independent (and also like Sundance), LAFF treats the documentary lineup with the same care that it does its narrative strand.  The richest competition prize of any festival - $50K for the winning filmmaker - and a decent amount of attention from LA-based press and national buyers.  Films actually get bought here.  The focus on premieres can make for a somewhat uneven line-up at times, although recent winners like DELIVER US FROM EVIL, TARNATION and BILLY THE KID showcase a range of styles and tastes without losing focus on quality.  The fest is notorious for its hospitality - filmmakers are flown to a pre-festival retreat at Skywalker Ranch - and its 2006 move to Westwood has been a huge success, both in creating a community and in differentiating LAFF from LA's other huge film festival, AFI Fest. 

Others:
Filmmaker:
"I can’t say enough about the The LA Film Festival.  I’m always encouraging people to screen there. It was the most filmmaker-focused festival on our run. They truly wanted to make sure that each filmmaker was having a good time, meeting the right people and getting the most out of the festival.  Even though it's a fairly large festival you don't feel like you get lost in the shuffle. The Filmmaker Retreat before the festival was amazing and sets the tone for the festival. To me, it’s incredible that they even offer it.   The festival also had a great industry presence.  We had distributors at all of our screenings and sold our film out of this festival."

Filmmaker:
"Filmmakers are treated very well, and lots of opportunities to meet other filmmakers at the retreat."

Filmmaker:
"The best treatment towards the directors!!! more then just a film festival but almost like a film retreat. The lucas ranch, directors guild lunch, meeting and spending quality time with the other directors away from the festival, meeting and connecting with established directors/producers in the industry."

Filmmaker:
"I don't think LAFF gets enough PROPS! Even though I like NYC better then LA as a place to live i would choose LAFF way before TRIBECA film festival."

Filmmaker:
"Didn't think the selection of films was so great. At least in my category but i guess that's what happens when you are more concerned with world premieres then quality films."

8.  Full Frame

Our take:
Normally, the granddaddy of US documentary festivals would rank higher on this list, but there's a huge wait and see attitude in 2008 with many wondering how the fest will survive this year's departure of Full Frame founder Nancy Buirski.  One veteran filmmaker wrote that the fest was one of his favorites, "though I'm afraid with Nancy gone".  There's no denying that since the fest is no longer "the only game in town", it's lost some of its luster.  Still, it's hard to argue with success.  An essential spring weekend for nearly everyone in the NYC documentary community (and an easy hop down to Durham) and a huge line-up of many of the best docs of the year.  The proximity of Duke (and a selection board littered with academics) focuses Full Frame on serious social issue films and has an awards line-up that almost exclusively focuses on topic, but it still finds room for a movie like HELVETICA.  Plus, it's an easy place to meet lots of folks, from first timers to legends, and it has a strong, doc-centric industry presence.

Others:
Industry:
"Gorgeous location, good films, gracious living, good celebs, not so much industry."

Filmmaker:
"Out of all the festivals I attended, I made more new friends and had more face-to-face contact with the other filmmakers at Full Frame."

Industry/exec:
"It seems the the power and prestige that full frame once had is evaporating. they've lost their gusto. critical support seems to be vacant as well. they seem more concerned with promoting their brands and nancy b's projects than helping doc filmmakers and filmmaking."

Industry:
"Perhaps due to the weather, perhaps due to over exposure in the market, the whole time I was there it felt like the festival was trying too hard to be something. I guess they had to match the previous years' successes. And in the end is too much success the downfall of a potentially great festival? Filmmakers, industry, writers all appeared to be waiting for something more. And all it did was rain some more."

9.  Tribeca Film Festival

Our take:
After a much-needed staff shake-up, new initiatives like the Gucci Doc Fund and enhanced web presence and the promotion of doc programmer David Kwok, Tribeca is looking to right a wayward ship in its 6th incarnation.  Last year's fest was much derided, what with increased ticket prices, far flung screening venues, lackluster titles and lack of communication with press, but Tribeca seems to be trying to right past wrongs, including lowering prices, scaling back venues and reaching out to bloggers.  This year could prove key.  While it gives a documentary competition prize, the prize money (25K) is half that of the narrative competition.  Still, it can boast this year's Oscar winner - TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE - and that's not nothing. 

Others:
Filmmaker:
"We premiered at Tribeca and they did a lot during the fest to get us exposure, but since the festival ended they’ve pretty much fallen off the map. I (get) the impression that other programmers do a lot more to promote the films they like and refer them to other fests."

Filmmaker:
"Big, bold, too many films really. Not a great market place and all spread out like a nightmare. If you’ve got a high profile film and A-list celebrities to work with, it’s incredible. Otherwise, don’t bother."

Filmmaker:
"Our experience was fantastic, but I do see how documentary filmmakers get lost in the big schedule, multiple venues, etc."

Industry/exec:
"OK but their enormous line up + confusing sections relegate docs to "red headed step child" status."

Filmmaker:
"Loved playing at Tribeca and were blown away by the sheer mass of humanity that come out for docs (our first screening there played to over 700 people)."

Industry:
"2007 sucked for docs IMHO. 2006 was a much better year. With industry wide general backlash against the festival in '07 I hope they pull their socks up and get back to grass roots. Tickets were over priced, the festival screenings were all over town, there was nowhere for filmmakers to mingle and relax, it felt like an American Express elitist event."

10.  True/False Film Festival

Our take:
The most convivial and intimate of the big US documentary festivals.  Puts a premium on quality and diversity over premiere status.  Most of its films have played elsewhere (although primarily films have come from Sundance or Toronto or IDFA) or are about to play SXSW or Tribeca and screen here as secret screenings.  The community (Columbia, MO) supports the fest in a way that shocks newcomers - this may be the biggest audience you'll ever have.  This year is a transitional one for the fest as it experiements with new venues and copes with the temporary closing of its largest theatre, but already the fest is on pace to shatter previous attendance records.  One of the most generous of all major festivals - everything, including food, is paid for.  An incredible opportunity for meeting other filmmakers but not much of an industry presence (although that may be changing).

Others:
Filmmaker:
"Great films, a tight little program of unusually high quality stuff. Great parties. Fantastic atmosphere and they really take care of all their filmmakers."

Filmmaker:
"Only been once but they have the most interesting line up of docs  often it seems that the same stuff swirls around the same handful of festivals - thats not the case at true / false  plus its a manageable size and feels much like family."

Industry:
"Loved it. But I don't want to tell everyone how great it was(!) for fear of it turning into another Full Frame. There is every reason why it will remain the boutique festival that it is. As an 'industry' person I felt guilty just being there last year. All the filmmakers spent so much time together I felt like a gooseberry intruding on artists and visionaries talking!"

Filmmaker:
"My personal favorite. This is a very small and intimate festival compared to IDFA and Sundance. Paul and David take you by the hand and leads you through the most amazing days. Parties every noght and thetres filled with enthusiastic audiences. It is truely amazing to have you film screening it the Missouri theatre infront of 1200 clapping people from the town. And the whole town really backs up this festival and you can feel that very much. You become the local celebraty within days. This festival is personal and intimate. It is the best festival I have been on thhis year. Do this for your own sake - and the food is free.  I love True/False!"

Next up: Numbers 11-20.

Update: Check out our unsolicited festival advice guide for filmmakers.

The Docs of Sundance 2008: Triumphs For Margaret Brown and James Marsh (Conclusion)

Festival coverage sponsored by IndiePix.

The page has almost turned from Sundance 2008, what with the announcement of line-ups for SXSW and True/False coming this week, but the films of Sundance will remain, particularly two films that struck me as the best that I saw, Margaret Brown's THE ORDER OF MYTHS and James Marsh's MAN ON WIRE.

Many in Park City were looking forward to Margaret Brown's second feature after her well-regarded music doc BE HERE TO LOVE ME: A FILM ABOUT TOWNES VAN ZANDT, but Brown exceeded expectations with her remarkably assured THE ORDER OF MYTHS.  Beautifully shot by Lee Daniel and Michael Simmonds and expertly edited by Brown, Michael Taylor and Geoffrey Richman, the film examines the time-honored tradition of Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama, where celebrations remain segregated between white and black residents.

With a deft, observant touch, Brown does what several recent acclaimed nonfiction films have done (STREET FIGHT and CAN MR. SMITH GET TO WASHINGTON ANYMORE? among them) by approaching issues of race from a side angle.  But Brown surpasses her predecessors with a level of craft that stuns. And it's clear from screenings here that THE ORDER OF MYTHS has the potential to spur conversations about race relationships that are simmering beneath the surface.

At a Q&A following the film's second public screening, a spirited debate broke out when one of the film's white subjects -- Brittain Youngblood -- described growing up in Mobile with two families, her immediate family and the black caretakers who helped raise her. Filmmaker Michelange Quay, whose EAT, FOR THIS IS MY BODY, is screening in Sundance's New Frontier Section, spoke up and argued that Youngblood's black family were, in fact, subordinates. As Youngblood got emotional, Joseph Roberson, the king of the African-American Mardi Gras, rose to her defense.

Speaking after the screening, Brown agreed that the film gave audience members a forum to discuss issues of race. "One of the purposes of the film is to open it up to talk, not to provide an answer, because I wouldn't know what that is," Brown said. "The open nature of the film allows you to bring your own experiences, your own feelings and thoughts to it."

Brown's film had particular resonance for me.  When I was attending college at the University of Missouri, there was a big debate over the fact that there was an official Missouri Homecoming and there was also a "black homecoming".  The events, even though there was some effort to integrate them, were almost entirely segregated.  The issues were no where near as simple as they initially seemed.  African-American students didn't want to give up their traditions, nor did they want necessarily for their events to be a side dish to the main entree of "white homecoming".  For many people - white and black - this didn't seem incredibly controversial until it was decided by a few that such an imbalance was troubling.  It's this kind of world that Brown turns her nonjudgmental and observant camera on, and the results are illuminating.

Surprisingly, Brown's film did not pick up any prizes at Sundance (it was assumed by most to be in the running for the Grand Jury Prize with TROUBLE THE WATER, which won, and a certain contender for the editing prize, which went to ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED).  In the World Cinema Documentary Competition, however, the main talk as the festival hit mid-week was about James Marsh's triumphant MAN ON WIRE, which went on to sweep both the Grand Jury and Audience prizes.

A hybrid doc of the highest order, MAN ON WIRE reflects on the 1974 attempt by high wire artist Philippe Petit to covertly and illegally rig a 450 lb wire between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and then traverse the 250 from the top of one tower to the other (at 1,350 feet above the ground).  Utilizing modern day interviews with the participants, highly-stylized re-enactments, well-placed archival footage and a rich trove of film of Petit and his team preparing for the "coup", Marsh constructs a suspenseful thriller that acknowledges the audience's awareness of the fate of the Twin Towers without ever mentioning it or exploiting it.  That in itself is its own high wire act and Marsh executes it flawlessly.

The use of re-enactments in the film is extensive - the quantity calls to mind the great TOUCHING THE VOID - but Marsh gives them a stylistic verve that seems to homage French filmmakers as varied as Georges Méliès and Jean Pierre Jeunet, both of whom are appropriate given the adventurous, yet playful nature of the protagonist.  The opening sequence, which describes the arrival of the teams at the Twin Towers (after which they must get inside with all of their equipment) plays like a classic cinematic heist set-up, both thrilling and ominous, particularly when the participants are sneaking into buildings that are now better known as targets.  To its great credit, the film allows the viewer to set aside the destruction of the buildings that lie at the heart of the story, and in doing so, gives them back their grandeur and their mystery.

Returning to and completing his documentary series NEW YORK in 2003, Ric Burns told the story of the towers and in doing so, introduced many to Petit's famous walk, a 45-minute act of grace and art.  It was stunning and haunting within the context of that film, particularly with our feelings about the collective loss so raw and fresh.  The distance of 4 1/2 more years allows Marsh to tell a story that truly captures the ragtag nature of Petit's team (including the American musician who admits that he was most likely stoned when he arrived for duty, since he got high every day for 35 years) and the wonderment of its achievement.

The Docs of Sundance 2008: Veterans Return and AMERICAN TEEN Leads the Way (Part 3)

Festival coverage sponsored by IndiePix.

This year's Sundance Film Festival was marked by new films by a who's-who of Sundance nonfiction veterans from this decade: the aforementioned sophomore effort from Morgan Spurlock, along with new films from Nanette Burstein (last at Sundance with 2002's THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE), Edet Belzberg (2001's CHILDREN UNDERGROUND), Patrick Creadon (2006's WORDPLAY), Alex Gibney (2005's ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM) and Stacy Peralta (2001's DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS and 2004's RIDING GIANTS).  Of these, all but Peralta and Spurlock were in competition, with Burstein garnering the jury prize for the directing as well as the distributor prize, as AMERICAN TEEN was the subject of a fierce bidding war between a number of suitors.

What happens to AMERICAN TEEN, once Paramount Vantage releases it in theaters later this year, is anyone's guess.  But it my estimation, the reaction - both from public and from critics - to AMERICAN TEEN will say a great deal about where we stand in nonfiction circa 2008.

Burstein spent a year immersed in Warsaw, Indiana, gaining the trust of a group of high school seniors.  What she has created was often referred to as a "real-life John Hughes film" and indeed, Burstein, in casting her film, created a PRETTY IN PINK-like dynamic.  There's the moody, artistic girl (who even comes complete with a Duckie-like sidekick who clearly seems madly in love with her) who ends up dating the popular prom king, who may or may not have the guts to stand up to his friends and stick it out with her.  Add to that the popular, often vindictive girl; the basketball-playing jock; and the awkward loner and you understand the BREAKFAST CLUB comparisons.

The film also was compared to high concept reality TV fare like MTV's "The Hills", which makes the film's acquisition by Viacom family member Vantage particularly intriguing.  It also raised questions over audience - just who is going to turn out for AMERICAN TEEN in theaters?  Will the traditional art house/documentary audience be interested in a teen movie even if it is a high profile Sundance film from a known director?  Will PV attempt to bypass the fickle documentary crowd and target (a perhaps even more fickle) high school and college students looking to see their reflection?  David Poland has already weighed in - "a terrific little movie... but not very commercial".

There's another issue and that is the question of critical response to the constructed elements in the film, most visible during a series of phone calls, text messages and emails where the camera is always on both sides of the exchange.  It is clear that many, if not most (if not all) of these have been staged or re-created for the camera - clear not because it's indicated by the film but because it's a physical impossibility for the camera to have been present for all of these communications.

Regular readers of this blog know that I have no problem whatsoever with construction (hell, I'm practically the team caption, or at least the founder of the construction pep squad), but not so our friends in the critical press.  Already, Glenn Kenny has weighed in (see my previous post on construction at this year's festival), as has Variety's Dennis Harvey, who, in citing the film's "credibility issues" wrote:

"It's early yet, but Nanette Burstein's ultra-slick "American Teen" just may win the "Frat House" award this year for a documentary so highly worked, so packed with high dramatic incidents among classic character types that a skeptical viewer may well wonder just how freely direction and editing sculpted real life into something more like ... well, 'The Real World.'"

More in this vein from the Hollywood Reporter's James Greenberg:

"One wonders if events are ever the same when the camera watches them. Intimate scenes, like when Gordy's father explains to him that either he excels on the basketball court and gets a college scholarship or else he's going into the Army, seem more staged than spontaneous....You may have a good time, but you'll hate yourself in the morning."

Meanwhile, Cinematical's James Rocchi takes note as well, but reaches a different conclusion:

"(W)hile documentary purists while wail and gnash their teeth over the artistic enhancements Burstein provides -- computer-animated sequences where the kids articulate their hopes, their fears, their worries and more -- and the generally stylized look of the film, neither damage the seriousness and scope of Burstein's film."

It will surprise no one if a critical split is looming, which brings me back to my earlier thought that response to AMERICAN TEEN will be a bellwether for nonfiction.  And for those who are prepared to champion the film and its use of construction - as I am and as the Sundance jury clearly was - we should be prepared to stand against another round of critical tsk-tsks. 

Burstein does something marvelous in AMERICAN TEEN, she draws us in with the cliches and stereotypes of high school life that we are all familiar with (cue the John Hughes references).   But through her access - as well as her excellent craftsmanship - Burstein creates a incredibly winning and surprising layered look at high school life, both the new (oh the misguided self-portrait sent by email) and the old (heartbreaks and future plans).  And those animations you've heard so much about?  In a year where every film seemed to have some kind of animated or advanced graphic element, the pieces in AMERICAN TEEN were my favorite, varied and extremely well-rendered.  Burstein pushes the nonfiction genre in exciting ways.  It's a true accomplishment.

While we at least know that AMERICAN TEEN is going to have a major theatrical release, we're still waiting for word on Patrick Creadon's I.O.U.S.A., his well-studied and thorough investigation of America's debt crisis.  This matters because I.O.U.S.A. is the kind of film that is so timely, so immediate in its concerns, that it should air on network television tonight, rather than go through a lengthy festival and theatrical run.

For much of the last year - and particularly at last year's Toronto Film Festival - we've been hearing about Iraq fatigue, how audiences were not interested in turning out for films about the war.  And lately, it seems that Iraq has diminished as a campaign issue as well, replaced by economic concerns.  And as the nation stands on the verge of (or the beginning of) recession, I.O.U.S.A. does an good job of breaking down the complicated issues that surround  America's growing national debt. 

Further, Creadon has fashioned a non-partisan piece without losing the sense of urgency.  In fact, one gets the sense that neither party is treating the debt issue with the appropriate amount of concern.  Nor is the media doing its job.  You'd think that in the midst of their panic over bird flu, questionable terror plots and missing American girls in Aruba, there'd be a moment to mention that America is essentially a subsidiary of China.

Beyond its timely concerns, it's a pleasure to see Creadon's pop culture sensibilities in action, applied here to a more serious, wonky topic.  And as in WORDPLAY - which featured a wonderful cameo by former President Clinton - Creadon gets great material from his interviewees.  This is likely to be the only doc this year to feature heroic supporting turns from Warren Buffet (in full storytelling mode) and former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.

If Creadon is the pop documentary equivalent of the New York Times Sunday Magazine (and I think he is), Stacy Peralta is something of a 21st century Joan Didion, a California native exploring his home state's lifestyle culture with a unique pop perspective.

After examining Southern California skateboarders and Northern California surfers, Peralta treads (slightly) inland to look at South Central LA gang life in MADE IN AMERICA.  Ostensibly a history of the Bloods and the Crips, it is also a history of South Central itself, and in that, the film may have its greatest success.  The lengthy (nearly a half hour) intro sets the scene and the history of the community with incredible precision and great style.  Even for someone like me who has lived in Los Angeles for the better part of two decades, the way Peralta uses satellite maps to delineate his locale and the rival gangs' turf is quite illuminating.  Also fascinating is the history of the communities that make up South Central - from the LAPD-enforced line that separate white from black neighborhoods (which the film argues was at least a root cause of the Watts Riots of the late 1960s) to the jazz mecca of Central Avenue in the 1940s.

In fact, I think that, in the end, I wish the film was even more of a history of the neighborhood and concerned itself less with the gang rivalries of the past two decades.  I'm not sure how people who live in regions not affected by gangs might respond to this dominant element of the film, but for me, a lot of the information related to the gangs was treading familiar turf.

Next: The triumphs of Sundance 2008 - THE ORDER OF MYTHS and MAN ON WIRE.

The Docs of Sundance 2008: ANVIL Meets PATTI SMITH (Part Two)

Festival coverage sponsored by IndiePix.

As a student and practitioner of the sub-genre known as the music documentary, I was very interested in two titles at this year's Sundance Film Festival - the competition doc PATTI SMITH DREAM OF LIFE and the Spectrum doc ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL. What I didn't quite expect was that the two films would remind me of the themes and styles of my own films, so apologies in advance for a post that will be more self-referential than I normally allow.

There was good word-of-mouth coming into the festival for Sacha Gervasi’s ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL, and the film did not disappoint, providing a welcome relief from some of the more serious nonfiction films at the festival.

Telling the tale of a Canadian heavy metal band that apparently rivaled Megadeth, Anthrax and Metallica in the burgeoning days of metal, the film is a hilarious and surprisingly touching story of how two musicians – friends since high school – have fought to keep making music even as they reach 50 and as they’ve watched their contemporaries reach stratospheric levels of fame and fortune.

Right off the bat, this story plays right to my personal preferences. GIGANTIC, after all, is also a story of two boyhood friends who are two decades into a career that has been filled with ups and downs, yet who are still looking for ways to make music. At the time of its making, They Might Be Giants had reached a kind of sweet spot in their careers - able to record and tour and still have a decent, comfortable (if not opulent) lifestyle. The two leaders of Anvil find themselves at 50 still searching for the audience they glimpsed in the metal '80s.

ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL has frequently been referred to as “a real-life Spinal Tap” and, in fact, there are several deliberate references to the 1984 mockumentary classic (not the least of which is the fact that Anvil’s drummer is named Robb Reiner). A couple of these spot-on homages straddle the line between brilliant and contrived, such as a visit to the real Stonehenge, but the film is so fun that it seems petty to complain.

More unexpected are the emotional touches that come later in the film as Reiner and lead singer Steve “Lips” Kudlow nearly separate (for what the film leads us to believe may be the umpteenth time) after a nasty fight, only to reconcile in an impromptu therapy sessionthat rivals anything in METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER.

The music documentary sub-genre is a difficult field for filmmakers as distributors AND critics (and truth be told, some in the potential audience) often make pains to wonder how said film will play to fans or nonfans of the artist in question. Already we've seen writers bending over backwards to explain that they loved ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL even though they aren't metal fans. I'm not sure that anything can be done to break that vicious cycle, but a committed distributor would do right to gamble on ANVIL. Three nights after we saw it, a group of us, walking up Main Street, were giddy upon seeing Robb and Lips heading our direction. And immediately upon arriving at our makeshift late night gathering, we rigged up the stereo so that we could listen to the band's "Metal on Metal".

Anvil may still be searching for its big break, but ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL has already arrived in a very big way.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the music spectrum, we find the legendary Patti Smith, the subject of Steven Sebring's PATTI SMITH DREAM OF LIFE, an artistic and gorgeously shot portrait of the artist as sole survivor.

In DREAM OF LIFE, death hangs over the proceedings from the opening frames. As Smith herself recounts in voice over, she has lost lovers, collaborators and confidants, from the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and the poet Allen Ginsburg to her husband Robert "Sonic" Smith. After the death of her husband, Smith loses her brother and the film is explicitly about her own survival and her decision to return to music and touring.

But this summary makes the film sound more linear than it is. In fact, the film is meandering and non-chronological. Her return to touring (with Bob Dylan) which came in the mid-90s is seen in the film near a piece of fierce anti-Bush performance art. Her children, seen at various points throughout the film, are of undetermined and constantly changing age (often becoming younger than we last saw them). For most of the film, this plays to the film's strengths as a piece of art, a collage of memory, a dreamscape.

For those of you who've seen my second film, KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON, you can understand why I'd be drawn to this approach. But whereas I viewed ABOUT A SON as both death poem and a film about absence, DREAM OF LIFE - a film about continuing in the face of absence- is almost its mirror image. Whereas in ABOUT A SON, the faces of nameless individuals on the streets of Washington state are those who remain, DREAM OF LIFE centers on the one who chooses to carry on. The comparisons reminded me of Smith's song "About a Boy", written for Cobain after his suicide, which appeared on her 1996 return to recording Gone Again. Smith famously told Rolling Stone about Cobain, "When you watch someone you care for fight so hard to hold onto their life, then see another person just throw their life away, I guess I had less patience for that."

While some have wished for more performance footage in DREAM OF LIFE, I found the balance between the offstage and onstage Patti Smith to be fairly deft. Of particular credit to the film is a visit to Smith's parents house, which reveals a side to Smith that one doesn't expect.

While the first hour of the film was a complete success for me, it felt to me as if the film goes off the rails in the third act. There are a series of quick and unexplained cameos by celebrities - look, there's Susan Sarandon, hey, there's Thom Yorke - that threaten to turn the proceedings into a high art TRUTH OR DARE (not entirely a bad thing, but not really in keeping with what we've seen thus far). There's also those extensive anti-Bush performance pieces that - while obviously an emotive part of Smith's stage show and emblematic of her well-known political activism - feel less special in the context of the film. (If you're gonna rage on Bush, it better be some grade A rage that we've never heard before).

Yet, despite some misgivings on my part, images and moments of DREAM OF LIFE continue to sear. Whether it's Patti Smith on the couch with her parents, strumming guitar with a weathered Sam Shepherd or raging onstage with "Gloria", DREAM OF LIFE offers an unusual, relective and up-close view of the legend as survivor.

Next: Three films from Sundance veterans - Nanette Burstein's AMERICAN TEEN, Patrick Creadon's I.O.U.S.A. and Stacy Peralta's MADE IN AMERICA.

One Day Nanette Burstein Would Like to Direct a Feature Film (and Other Insanities Courtesy of Premiere.com)

Every once and a while (far too often for my tastes), there's a press piece on the state of documentary filmmaking that is written as if the author is examining the unknown tribes of New Guinea.

Such it is with the jaw-dropping, eye-rolling profile of the genre now at Premiere.com by John Clark headlined "The Plight of the Documentary Filmmaker", which boggles. Read with mouth agape as Clark treats the reader to the following bromides:

"With the possible exception of Spurlock, who is very much a part of his films (see Super Size Me), these filmmakers' faces are generally not well known, which, with the possible exception of the Oscars, makes Sundance the only time they get to be in the spotlight. (But even Oscar nominees in the documentary category are often quickly forgotten.)"

"To really make it as a doc filmmaker you have to be a Michael Moore or Ken Burns — that is, a brand name peddling a familiar product."

"A Burns film takes on a Big Subject — like, say, America — by tackling a slightly lesser one (The Civil War, Baseball)."

"(L)ike most of these filmmakers, Burstein has had to do other things in the meantime. She's exec produced TV shows (Film School), directed commercials, and is part owner of a New York City literary watering hole, the Half King, along with writer Sebastian Junger and others. And while she'd love to direct feature films, she doesn't seem the least bit bothered by the sort of scattershot life she leads as a documentary filmmaker."

"The bottom line, of course, is that these films are cheap to produce."

"Alas, once the festival is over, these filmmakers are thrown out into the cold, cruel world of audience indifference."

It's now up to you to vote for most asinine. Personally, I go for the thought that one day, Burstein may get to tackle a feature! Boy, howdy, wouldn't that be great! But I don't want to influence the voting.

(h/t MCN)

Under Construction: The Docs of Sundance 2008 and the Nonfiction New Wave (Part One)

Festival coverage sponsored by IndiePix.

At the end of a recent blog posting, Premiere film critic Glenn Kenny wondered aloud about some of the documentaries he’d seen at the Sundance Film Festival. Summing up his thoughts on Nanette Burstein’s hit AMERICAN TEEN, Kenny wrote:

“Burstein’s trim, fast-moving film utilizes tricks and techniques that would give old-schoolers such as Wiseman and the Maysles Brothers rage attacks. The pop soundtrack, the voiceovers, the graphic collages, the ANIMATION SEQUENCES illustrating the dreams and desires of some of its subjects…none of it’s a surprise, coming as it does from the co-director of the Bob Evans fantasia The Kid Stays in the Picture, but all of it does raise the question of just how documentary is defining itself these days.”

Kenny’s questioning reflects a decades-old discussion, often fueled by film critics (and sometimes by journalists or by some within the documentary community) over the use of construction – created or recreated content - within the context of nonfiction filmmaking. Often this is accompanied with a similar name check of a veteran filmmaker, with the implicit understanding that construction represents a shift in tradition within the genre.

In fact, you can travel back to the earliest days of documentary filmmaking to find construction - from Flaherty’s staging of scenes in NANOOK OF THE NORTH to Vertov’s use of enhanced techniques such as fast-cuts, split screens and, yes, animations. Despite the existence of construction from the earliest days of nonfiction cinema, some - more recently - have come to think of documentary as an offshoot of journalism, in which the camera, the director and the editor serve as invisible observers (and reflectors) of real events.

And as Frederick Wiseman himself has noted, “There are lots of different ways to make film. I don’t believe there has to be any orthodox way to making movies., or any rules. It’s what works for the filmmaker, and, theoretically, the audience.” Rage attacks, indeed.

Where once this debate was seemingly contained between the two dominant schools of nonfiction in the mid-1900s – direct cinema (where invisibility is the goal and the ideal) and cinema verite (which implicitly recognizes that the camera’s very presence alters the reality), over the past few years we have seen a Nonfiction New Wave that rejects dogmatic strictures of form and that is, ironically, a return to the genre’s roots.

This Nonfiction New Wave not only embraces every kind of stylistic tool (and is especially fond of animation and graphic design), it also seems not to fear that space between truth and fiction, between documentary and narrative. And it was on full display at this week’s Sundance Film Festival, which, over the past several years (as seen in 2007's MANDA BALA (SEND A BULLET), ZOO and CHICAGO 10, among others) has been a leading proponent of the movement.

This year in Park City, animation was nearly universal – seen in the dreamscapes of the AMERICAN TEENs, in recreations of the Watts riots in MADE IN AMERICA, in the moody, artistic transitions of SECRECY and in the graphic illustrations of I.O.U.S.A. and BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER*. Voice-over narration of the Michael Moore school (wherein our director takes us on a wry journey from small, personal story to large, encompassing investigation) was on display both in Morgan Spurlock’s WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN? and the aforementioned BIGGER, STRONGER. Whole scenes were created (from scratch? as composites?) in the world competition doc A COMPLETE OF MY SEXUAL FAILURES. And a number of scenes in AMERICAN TEEN, wherein the subjects send and receive emails, texts and phone calls are clearly staged for cameras that likely were elsewhere when the event in question occurred.

For critics who tied themselves into knots over the limited construction in BILLY THE KID, the films of Sundance 2008 may seem sacrilegious, but they are really just the solidifying of a trend that reaches back several years. Even the Motion Picture Academy, which isn’t exactly on the front lines of innovation, recognizes that construction is a viable part of documentary – 3 of this year’s 5 nominees use extensive construction – from the traditional Moore approach to SICKO (complete with pop music soundtrack and boat trips to Guantanamo) to the re-enactments and portraiture of WAR/DANCE to the actors who supply the voice-overs to the animations of OPERATION HOMECOMING.

That’s not to say that more traditional (yet no less artistic) visions weren’t on display – witness the rapturous response to Margaret Brown’s THE ORDER OF MYTHS, the Grand Jury winner TROUBLE THE WATER and the double Jury/Audience winner MAN ON WIRE – nor that all of the aforementioned tricks of construction were entirely successful. Yet one would be hard pressed to watch the bulk of this year’s documentary competition without acknowledging that the line between traditional ideas of narrative and nonfiction is becoming ever more blurred. Whether one thinks that’s for the good or the bad may be a debate as old as the genre itself, yet it’s a debate that shows no sign of ending any time soon.

We'll be reviewing a number of the films of 2008 this week here on the blog, starting with two films with some surprising things in common - BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER* and WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN?

Few films were as anticipated at this year’s Sundance as WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN?, Morgan Spurlock’s follow-up to his breakthrough hit SUPER SIZE ME. So much of the project has been shrouded in buzz and mystery – from its initial screening of footage for distributors in Berlin (complete with confidentiality agreement) to the rampant internet speculation that Spurlock succeeded in tracking down the “most wanted man in the world” – that it seems nearly impossible to judge the film on the merits. If Spurlock doesn’t meet or interview or personally take revenge on bin Laden, are we supposed to feel cheated?

Viewed without the baggage of expectations, one can see WHERE IN THE WORLD for what it is, another step on the personal filmmaking journey that began with SUPER SIZE ME and continued with the television series 30 DAYS. The pop culture sensibility that informs much of Spurlock’s work is on high display in the film’s initial moments – a quick-moving introduction that’s as entertaining as anything we’ve seen from him thus far. Once Spurlock moves into more serious territory, trekking in the steps of bin Laden, the balance of tone becomes more tricky, not to mention the balance of the personal (the impending birth of Spurlock’s child) with the professional - both the cinematic hunt for elusive prey as well as the tacit acknowledgement that said hunt is a gimmick that forms the basis of the film.

Interestingly, Christopher Bell’s BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER*, an exceptional and often hilarious look at steroid use in America, comes from the same school of filmmaking as Spurlock, and Bell’s film feels like the breakthrough SUPER SIZE ME was several years ago.

Starting with the small, personal story of anabolic steroid use within his own family (his two brothers have used steroids for years, Bell tried them once and felt so guilty that he stopped taking them), Bell expertly expands the tale to indict an American culture obsessed with winning at all costs. Like Spurlock and Michael Moore, Bell leads us on this journey and proves to be an excellent guide, equally at home quizzing his family as he is questioning U.S. congressmen and sports heroes. But Bell (aided by strong editing from Brian Singbiel) does something more and equally unexpected – he challenges our preconceived notions about steroids. What if, he wonders, much of what we’ve heard about steroids is a lie or an exaggeration? The best nonfiction films get us to see the world in new ways and on this point, BIGGER, STRONGER is an unqualified success.

Next: A look at two very different films about musicians - PATTI SMITH DREAM OF LIFE and ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL.

Recapping the Week That Was (or Stuff to Read While You Recover From Your Sundance Cold)

For those of you who were away from the blog during much of the past week, a refresher course on a week's worth of news and posts:

On Sunday, January 20, nominees for the inaugural CINEMA EYE HONORS FOR NONFICTION FILMMAKING were announced. You can find the full list here. A sampler: INTO GREAT SILENCE and MANDA BALA (SEND A BULLET) lead all films with six nominations each. LAKE OF FIRE had five. More information can be found over on the IndiePix website.

From Sundance, a series of reports:

Saturday, January 19 - Arriving in Park City and a first round of distribution deals.

Sunday, January 20 - More deals and falling for THE ORDER OF MYTHS.

Monday, January 21 - Thoughts on ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL and AMERICAN TEEN.

Tuesday, January 22 - Briefly noted before seeing WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN?.

Wednesday, January 23 - Summing up at the airport and affection for BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER*.

And a recap of thoughts from around the film blogging community posted on Saturday, January 26.

Plus, you can find the two pieces I wrote for indieWIRE here and here (I'll be reposting content from each here in the coming days).

Finally, a bit on the Oscars. My fearless predictions (I went 4 for 5) as well as reaction to the nominations.

Lots more in the coming days, including reviews of the Docs of Sundance 2008 as well as announcements on titles for SXSW and True/False.

The Doc Oscar 2009: And the Nominee is... Nanette Burstein?

Here's a little something to mull over with your evening cocktail or your morning coffee...

Are the Sundance juried awards for documentary predictors of the following year's Oscar nominees? And if so, does this herald good news for AMERICAN TEEN director Nanette Burstein but sad tidings for the filmmakers of TROUBLE THE WATER?

For each of the past four years, the winner of the Documentary Directing prize has been shortlisted for the Oscar - and for three of those years, the winner was nominated.

Surprisingly, for each of those past four years, the winner of the Grand Jury Prize was not shortlisted (and thus also not nominated.

Here's the list:

2007
Grand Jury Prize: MANDA BALA (SEND A BULLET)
Directing Prize: WAR/DANCE - nominated for 2008 Oscars

2006
Grand Jury Prize: GOD GREW TIRED OF US
Directing Prize: IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS - nominated for 2007 Oscars

2005
Grand Jury Prize: WHY WE FIGHT
Directing Prize: THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON - shortlisted for 2006 Oscars

2004
Grand Jury Prize: DIG!
Directing Prize: SUPER SIZE ME - nominated for 2005 Oscars

(FYI - in 2003, the Jury prize went to the Oscar nominated CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS while the directing prize went to the non-nominated MY FLESH AND BLOOD.)

TROUBLE THE WATER and MAN ON WIRE are the Grand Jury Winners at Sundance 2008

Tia Lessen and Carl Deal's TROUBLE THE WATER, the story of Hurricane Katrina survivors, and James Marsh's MAN ON WIRE, which recalls Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the Twin Towers, were the top nonfiction prize winners at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, with TROUBLE winning the Documentary Competition Grand Jury Prize and MAN ON WIRE taking the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the closing award ceremony Saturday night.

MAN ON WIRE also won the Audience Award in the World Cinema Documentary category, while FIELDS OF FUEL took the Documentary Audience Award.

Nanette Burstein received the Documentary Directing prize for AMERICAN TEEN. In the World Cinema competition, the winner was Nino Kirtadze for DURAKOVO: VILLAGE OF FOOLS.

indieWIRE has the full winners (including those in the narrative categories). Here are the rest of the winners for documentary:

Documentary Editing Award
Joe Bini for ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED

World Cinema Documentary Editing Award
Irena Dol for THE ART STAR AND THE SUDANESE TWINS

Documentary Cinematography Award
Phillip Hunt and Steven Sebring for PATTI SMITH DREAM OF LIFE

World Cinema Documentary Cinematography Award
al Massad for RECYCLE

Special Jury Prize: Documentary
GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO directed by Lisa F. Jackson

Sundance in the Rear View Mirror

Festival coverage sponsored by IndiePix.

It's nearly midday on Saturday and most, if certainly not all, have departed Park City, even as tonight's award ceremonies loom large. I will have a full recap of the films I saw here on the blog, but if you want a sneak preview, you can check out the two pieces I wrote for indieWIRE - here (where I talk about THE ORDER OF MYTHS and ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL) and here (where I write about the burgeoning Nonfiction New Wave, as well as BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER* and WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN?). More on those films and others here next week.

Meanwhile, if you want to survey the reactions to this year's crop of nonfictions, here are some important links:

GreenCine has review recaps for ANVIL, ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED, U23D, STRANDED, AMERICAN TEEN, TROUBLE THE WATER, I.O.U.S.A., PATTI SMITH DREAM OF LIFE, SECRECY, WHERE IN THE WORLD, ORDER OF MYTHS, and THE ART STAR AND THE SUDANESE TWINS.

Tom Hall writes about POLANSKI as well as BALLAST - one of the few acclaimed American narratives - here, he covers Alex Gibney's GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF HUNTER S. THOMPSON here and wraps up with thoughts on ANVIL and MAN ON WIRE.

Anne Thompson talks with Tia Lessen and Carl Deal, the co-directors of TROUBLE THE WATER.

A whole lotta Karina: on POLANSKI, on STRANDED, on BIGGER, STRONGER, and on A COMPLETE HISTORY OF MY SEXUAL FAILURES.

David Poland takes on POLANSKI and falls for ANVIL.

Manohla Dargis recaps her week, with special mention for THE ORDER OF MYTHS.

Cinematical reviews TRACES OF THE TRADE, U23D, UP THE YANGTZE, THE BLACK LIST and SLINGSHOT HIP HOP.

Anthony Kaufman joins in the ANVIL love and predicts BALLAST and SUGAR as front-runners for the narrative Grand Jury Prize.

Matt Dentler talks up YOUNG@HEART.

We'll have the 2008 award winners after they are announced tonight, plus our own recaps in the days to come.

Wednesday Afternoon at the SLC Airport

Festival coverage sponsored by IndiePix.

Another Sundance Film Festival has come to a close for me and it was great to see so many friends and colleagues and meet so many new people.

Yesterday was the first day that I really took time out to go to a few parties, as the Sundance Channel, the International Documentary Association and Film Independent held their annual get-togethers. Ended the evening with an impromptu BritDocs condo party, blasting Anvil's "Metal on Metal" and toasting the soon-to-be-announced AMERICAN TEEN deal with Paramount Vantage.

Saw two films yesterday - Stacy Peralta's MADE IN AMERICA and Morgan Spurlock's WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN - and like the PATTI SMITH film I saw the night before, I felt the films had strong openings but then they began to lose me as they went along. MADE IN AMERICA has a particularly great start - introducing South Central LA with graphic maps and a nearly 30 minute history lesson that I really loved. Peralta is truly an expert chronicler of Southern California life.

Today, I saw what is, along with Margaret Brown's THE ORDER OF MYTHS, one of my favorite films of the festival - Christopher Bell's BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER*. I was not at all prepared for how this film would start with a small, first-person family story of steroid use in one family of three boys and gradually expand into a comprehensive look at how performance-enhancing drugs fit squarely within the American cultural myths of the past few decades. It's exceptional.

More on all the films I saw at Sundance in the coming days. For more on THE ORDER OF MYTHS and ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL, check out the piece I wrote for indieWIRE.

Tuesday Afternoon in Park City: Blogging Before Spurlock's Latest

Festival coverage sponsored by IndiePix.

Sitting in the theater waiting for the last stragglers to be let inside the screening of Morgan Spurlock's WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN?

In the past 24 hours, I've seen a bunch of competition doc titles, including Irene Salina's FLOW: FOR LOVE OF WATER, Patrick Creadon's I.O.U.S.A. and Steven Sebring's PATTI SMITH DREAM OF LIFE. The best of these by far is I.O.U.S.A., an extremely timely piece of work about America's current economic crisis.

Screening is about to start. Much more to come later.

Monday Morning in Park City

Festival coverage sponsored by IndiePix.

Snow fell all night last night to welcome the arrival of my favorite day at Sundance - Monday, when the weekend crowds dissipate and the whole town takes on an ever-so-slightly more mellow state.

Today is a big doc watching day for me. Started the morning with ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL, a very funny film that is as much about rock and roll as it is about pursuit of a dream (and when, if ever, to call it a day).

Yesterday, I saw Nanette Burstein's AMERICAN TEEN, a very winning and layered look at a midwestern high school. Response to the film has been ecstatic and there is talk of a bidding war with six and seven figure offers from major players. It will be interesting to see what the critical response to the film is since a great deal of the film is highly structured and some scenes are clearly staged, particularly considering the response to another film about American teen life - BILLY THE KID. I'm all for blurring the lines so you'll find no ethical finger wagging from here, but TEEN makes BILLY look like direct cinema.

On a less enthusiastic note, I also saw the UK film THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF MY SEXUAL FAILURES, which seemed to split the audience between raucous laughter and those looking at their watch (or for an exit). Mark me in the latter group.

A nice afternoon yesterday announcing the Cinema Eye Honors nominations. Will have a round-up of reactions in the next couple days.

Sunday Morning at Sundance: Docs are Hot Again!

Festival coverage sponsored by IndiePix.

As morning breaks in Park City, the talk is all docs and the almost nonstop rumors of pending theatrical deals. indieWIRE has a piece this AM that talks about possible deals for ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED, AMERICAN TEEN, SECRECY and THE RECRUIT. Anne Thompson is reporting that the POLANSKI doc went to HBO. While there is talk of pending deals for narrative films (and stories that Cha Cha - the new festival text messaging service - is sending out breaking news of deals that haven't been done), it's striking that even in the aftermath of a down year at the box office for documentary, nearly all talk of acquisitions is in the nonfiction realm.

I took in SECRECY and Margaret Brown's THE ORDER OF MYTHS yesterday, and while I wasn't a fan of SECRECY, I thought that THE ORDER OF MYTHS was truly great. More on both films later. (Full disclosure: Margaret will be a presenter at the nominations announcement this afternoon.)

Speaking of the new awards for nonfiction - we will have a full list of nominees later tonight after the announcement here in Park City.

Arriving in Park City: There Goes a Fanning

Festival coverage sponsored by IndiePix.

Just arrived in Park City and picked up my press credentials. I usually get up to Sundance on Saturday (only once – 2 years ago – did I get in on Friday) and each year I make the same internal supposition about arriving on Saturday – that I’m avoiding planes packed with Sundancers - only to see that each year I am quite wrong. This particular Delta flight from LAX must be at least ¾ festival folks. You can see the jet trail of self-importance for miles (I’m not letting myself off the hook with that, by the way).

Just as we deplaned and entered the terminal, I heard the words that will haunt the beginning hours of Sundance 2008: "There goes a Fanning." Although it was said with excitement, I'd like to appropriate the phrase and use it to express disappointment or, even, dejection. Like one might say, "don't we have any milk?" or "that's the way the cookie crumbles". There goes a Fanning.

Word has filtered out from Park City, via friends and fellow bloggers that two nonfictions that screened on Day One (Friday) are receiving some very healthy buzz – the competition doc ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED - which Anne Thompson and indieWIRE report has just been acquired by the Weinstein Co. (who will actually distribute it is another matter entirely) and the IDFA winner STRANDED, the latter in spite of an 2 hour+ running time. STRANDED, in particular, seems like a film that we’ll be seeing a lot of in fests that loom on the horizon and its sensational themes – Pane crashes! Cannibalism! Soccer! – seem to make the film an attractive pickup for distribution, even in these troubled box office times.

In addition to the sale of POLANSKI and the healthy buzz for STRANDED, there were two other doc acquistions announced on opening day, perhaps suggesting that the down market is not scaring away distributor. Zeitgeist, the company that had big success in 2007 with INTO GREAT SILENCE and MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES, grabbed UP THE YANGTZE, which, like STRANDED, premiered in Amsterdam.

HBO acquired US television rights for THE BLACK LIST, a doc by photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and film critic Elvis Mitchell.

I dive into everything shortly. Tomorrow we reveal the inaugural nominees (and the name!) for the new honors for nonfiction. Much more on that topic soon.

Current Temperature in Park City: -3

Feels like -17.

And here's your 10 Day Forecast.

IN DEPTH: The Competition Docs of Sundance 2008

Festival coverage sponsored by IndiePix.

With just days before the independent film world makes their annual pilgrimage to Park City, a crop of 15 nonfiction films are set to be unveiled as part of this year's Sundance Documentary Competition Line-up.

The films are mix of styles and subject matter, with fresh looks at the effects of Hurricane Katrina, the energy crisis, steroids, Iraq, debt and a trio of looks at famous figures - Patti Smith, Roman Polanski and the late Hunter S. Thompson.

Here are the festival's descriptions of each film, with current screening times and links to interviews when available:

AN AMERICAN SOLDIER
Directed by Edet Belzberg

Five years into the war in Iraq, with no mandatory draft to fill its depleting ranks, the United States Army is more dependent than ever on persuasive recruiters to lure young would-be soldiers to the front lines. Enter Sergeant First Class Clay Usie--one of the most successful Army recruiters in America today. Filmmaker Edet Belzberg travels to Usie’s hometown of Houma, Louisiana, to track his day-to-day life over a nine-month period. What emerges is a double-edged portrait of a man entirely dedicated to his mission. Usie succeeds because he believes in what he is doing, he genuinely cares about the young people in his charge, and he is a hell of a salesman.

Belzberg focuses on four of Usie’s new recruits. To these high-schoolers, Sergeant Usie is a true role model. He becomes their personal trainer, motivator, shrink, and surrogate father. After graduation, the recruits head off to basic training, where they transition to soldiers, awaiting deployment to Iraq. A new squad of innocents face their mortality.

Sundance veteran Belzberg (Children Underground) brings the unflinching immediacy of her vérité style to the phenomenon of military recruitment sweeping the nation. An American Soldier brilliantly defies partisanship, allowing audiences to draw their own conclusions. Uncle Sam wants you; An American Soldier shows us how much.

Screenings:
Fri. January 18, 2:30pm, Prospector Square Theatre, Park City
Sat. January 19, 10:00am, Holiday Village Cinema IV, Park City
Sun. January 20, 6:45pm, Broadway Centre Cinemas V, SLC
Wed. January 23, 3:15pm, Holiday Village Cinema III, Park City
Fri. January 25, 11:30am, Holiday Village Cinema II, Park City

AMERICAN TEEN
Directed by Nanette Burstein
American Teen intimately follows the lives of four teenagers in one small town in Indiana through their senior year of high school. Using cinema vérité footage, interviews, and animation, it presents a candid portrait of being 17 and all that goes with it. We see the insecurities, the cliques, the jealousies, the first loves and heartbreaks, the experimentation with sex and alcohol, the parental pressures, and the struggle to make profound decisions about the future.

Nanette Burstein returns to Sundance (On the Ropes won a Special Jury Prize at the 1999 Festival) with a film that is an incredible window into a time of development almost everyone can relate to. She filmed daily for 10 months, developing a remarkably close rapport with these students and their families. The kids open up in her presence and lay bare their lives. That exemplifies her incredible talent for storytelling and uncovering the many layers of truth in her subjects, creating a film that is astonishing from shooting to editing.

In American Teen, the stories coalesce into a narrative so engrossing that it resembles fiction more than documentary. The end result is a film that goes beyond the stereotypes of high school--the nerd and the jock, the homecoming queen and the arty misfit--to capture the complexity of young people trying to make their way into adulthood.

Screenings:
Sat. January 19, 2:30pm, Library Center Theatre, Park City
Sun. January 20, 9:15pm, Holiday Village Cinema III, Park City
Mon. January 21, 9:00pm, Broadway Centre Cinemas IV, SLC
Wed. January 23, 8:30am, Holiday Village Cinema II, Park City
Thu. January 24, Noon, Screening Room, Sundance Resort
Fri. January 25, 1:00pm, Holiday Village Cinema IV, Park City

BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER*
Directed by Christopher Bell

In America, we define ourselves in the superlative: we are the biggest, strongest, fastest country in the world. Is it any wonder that so many of our athletes take performance-enhancing drugs? Director Christopher Bell explores America’s win-at-all-cost philosophy by examining the way his two brothers became members of the steroid subculture in an effort to realize their American dream.

Ingeniously beginning the film by harkening back to the mentality of the 1980s, where the heroes were Rambo, Conan, and Hulk Hogan, Bell recounts how these role models led him and his brothers into power lifting and dreams of becoming all-star wrestlers. Those dreams were soon shattered by the realization that success in those fields required the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Bell uses his personal story as an entree into analyzing the bigger issues that surround these drugs: ethics in sports; the health ramifications, both physical and psychological; as well as the mentality that fuels it all.

Bigger, Stronger, Faster* combines crisp editing of hilarious archival footage with priceless family revelations, as well as interviews with congressmen, professional athletes, medical experts, and everyday gym rats. The power of the film is the way Bell stays away from preconceptions and stereotypes and digs deeper to find the truth and concoct a fascinating, humorous, and poignant profile of one of the side effects of being American.

indieWIRE interview with director Christopher Bell.

Screenings:
Sat. January 19, 8:30pm, Holiday Village Cinema II, Park City
Sun. January 20, 10:30pm, Broadway Centre Cinemas VI, SLC
Tue. January 22, 2:30pm, Library Center Theatre, Park City
Wed. January 23, 12:15pm, Holiday Village Cinema III, Park City
Fri. January 25, 11:45pm, Holiday Village Cinema III, Park City

FIELDS OF FUEL
Directed by Josh Tickell

Most Americans know we’ve got a problem: an addiction to oil that taxes the environment, entangles us in costly foreign policies, and threatens the nation’s long-term stability. But few are informed or empowered enough to do much about it. Enter Josh Tickell, an expert young activist who, driven by his own emotionally charged motives, shuttles us on a revelatory, whirlwind journey to unravel this addiction—from its historical origins to political constructs that support it, to alternatives available now and the steps we can take to change things.

Tickell tracks the rising domination of the petrochemical industry—from Rockefeller’s strategy to halt ethanol use in Ford’s first cars to the mysterious death of Rudolph Diesel at the height of his biodiesel engine’s popularization, to our government’s choice to declare war after 9/11, rather than wean the country from fossil fuel. Never minimizing the complexities of ending oil dependence, Tickell uncovers a hopeful reality pointing toward a decentralized, sustainable energy infrastructure—like big rigs tanking up on biofuel at Carl’s Corner Texas truck stop, a new Brooklyn biodiesel plant serving three states, a miraculous Arizona algae-based fuel farm, and the Swedish public voting to be petroleum free by 2020.

Sweeping and exhilarating, Tickell’s passionate film goes beyond great storytelling; it rings out like a bell that stirs consciousness and makes individual action suddenly seem consequential.

Screenings:
Mon. January 21, 11:30am, Prospector Square Theatre, Park City
Tue. January 22, 9:30pm, Holiday Village Cinema IV, Park City
Thu. January 24, 3:15pm, Holiday Village Cinema III, Park City
Fri. January 25, 6:45pm, Broadway Centre Cinemas V, SLC
Sat. January 26, 10:00am, Holiday Village Cinema IV, Park City

FLOW: FOR LOVE OF WATER

Irena Salina’s cautionary documentary is determined to stir things up. Water, the quintessence of life, sustains every creature on Earth. The time has come when we can no longer take this precious resource for granted. Unless we effect global change, impoverished nations could be wiped from the planet. Roused by a thirst for survival, people around the world are fighting for their birthright.

Under the cover of darkness, African plumbers secretly reconnect shantytown water pipes to ensure a community’s survival. A California scientist exposes toxic public water supplies. A “water guru” promotes community-based initiatives to provide water throughout India. The CEO of a billion-dollar water company argues for privatization as the wave of the future. A Canadian author pops the cork on bottled water, unveiling the disturbing realities that drive profits in the global water business.

Flow: For Love of Water is an inspired, yet disturbingly provocative, wake-up call. The future of our planet is drying up rapidly. Focusing on pollution, human rights, politics, and corruption, filmmaker Salina constructs an exceptionally articulate profile of the precarious relationship uniting human beings and water. While each community’s challenges are unique, the message is universal--the time to turn the tide is now.

Screenings:
Sun. January 20, 8:30pm, Holiday Village Cinema II, Park City
Mon. January 21, 12:15pm, Holiday Village Cinema III, Park City
Tue. January 22, 9:45pm, Broadway Centre Cinemas V, SLC
Thu. January 24, 2:30pm, Library Center Theatre, Park City
Fri. January 25, 11:30pm, Holiday Village Cinema II, Park City

GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON
Directed by Alex Gibney

Few journalist