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The Top 25 Film Festivals for Documentaries, 2nd Edition - 10 More American Fests That Matter

Previously: #25. Ashland

There's a bunch of other great American film festivals that do good work for documentaries and filmmakers.  And if our Top 25 Film Festivals list was completely US-centric, the following ten film festivals would all make the list.

Here's an alphabetical list of 10 more American festivals that matter, with comments from filmmakers and industry who've attended:

AFI Fest

Selection of US films screened at 2009 festival:  THE ART OF THE STEAL, BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO, LA DANSE: THE PARIS OPERA BALLET, NEIL YOUNG TRUNK SHOW, REPORTER, SWEETGRASS

Our coverage of AFI Fest here.

They said:

Filmmaker:  "awesome people.  didn't get to attend, but heard good things.  have budget to fly and house filmmakers"

Filmmaker:  "Lots of glitz but not much substance, particularly for weighty films."

Industry:  "I was really impressed with the way they remade themselves this year. I'm definitely interested in returning. And yes, they paid for my flight and room."

Industry:  "Major film showcase with more than a passing nod to docs. Range of activity, organizing and facilities (up until this year). John Wildman and has staff are first rate. The many questions surrounding AFI Fest's "up-in-the-air" status the past year left attendees -- regulars, new and potential -- in a quandry: Is it or isn't it happening? The shortened program. Overall disorganization. The seeming lack of support from the institute."

Industry:  "A good screening opportunity in LA - don’t get much bang but if you can get a few journalists in to see the film, always helpful.  To be fair, the film selection gets better and better and I respect that they tried new things this year.  Don’t know how it panned out with the free public tickets, but liked the idea.  They were very accommodating in trying to travel an international filmmaker.  They offered vouchers but only out of European hubs – but appreciated the effort.  Not a lot of business happening but another good screening opportunity for those who need people (acad members) to see films on the big screen."

Industry:  "it's no longer a discovery or missed gems festival - it's just a best of the fests. They only screen one program of short films and very few docs and independent films now."

Industry:  "Can be valuable depending on the slot.  Also, the festival is changing and they seem to primarily be programming best of other festivals and less films for sale so it's a question mark going forward."

Birmingham Sidewalk Festival

Selection of US films screened at 2009 festival:  45365, BEST WORST MOVIE, BRANSON, CRUDE, FORGETTING DAD, GUEST OF CINDY SHERMAN, OFFICIAL REJECTION, SAY MY NAME, WE LIVE IN PUBLIC

Our coverage of Birmingham Sidewalk Festival here.

They said:

Filmmaker:  "You wouldn't think anything happens in Birmingham, and maybe it doesn't, but for one outstanding weekend it seems like the town was built for you.  Great hospitality.  There were field trips for filmmakers and the after parties were delightfully strange (80s hair rock bands, rappers, rooftop dance parties, arcade games…) Leisurely atmosphere with eclectic programming.  A very nice and unique regional weekend film festival."

SARASOTA 2009: WINNEBAGO MAN Wins Out on the Gulf Coast

If one needed further proof that late March/early April has become something of a hurricane's eye for film festivals, look no further than all the tweets my pals were posting on Twitter this weekend (yes, yes, we've fallen for that now too, you can follow us here). 

Over the course of three days, I was reading updates from Full Frame, Sarasota (one of our top 25 film festivals for documentary) and Ashland, which is quickly gaining a reputation for a strong doc line-up.  That swarm of activity was coming on the heels of Cleveland and AFI Dallas wrapping last weekend.

Sarasota has become something of a key stop for festival junkies, coming as it does in the wake of Austin's SXSW.  Sarasota takes a great mix of titles from Sundance and SXSW (as well as other key festivals and a handful of premieres), so it often makes for an excellent primer of the state of indie film, particularly on the narrative side - if you want to see pretty much every film that will be nominated for a Cassavetes or Someone to Watch Award at next year's Spirit Awards, you should book at flight for SRQ next year.

The documentary jury had a great line-up of films to sift through this year, including Darius Marder's LOOT, one of our favorite films of 2008.  They chose to award their Grand Jury prize to Ben Steinbauer's WINNEBAGO MAN, a film I missed at SXSW but about which I've heard great things.  I assume that I'll be seeing it soon "at a festival near you".

Doc juror Karina Longworth today posted her thoughts on six of the films she saw in competition, singling out LOOT and OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY for praise.

I'm also interested in what she has to say about Samantha Buck's 21 BELOW, scheduled to officially premiere at Tribeca later this month, and comparisons to Donal Mosher and Michael Palmieri's forthcoming OCTOBER COUNTRY (which had a sneak preview at True/False and is set to premiere at a major film festival in the upcoming months):

"(T)here’s something fascinating about the fact that (21 BELOW) will be traveling the festival circuit at the same time as OCTOBER COUNTRY, a documentary...set in a similar milieu but with a very different philosophy and aesthetic results. Go back a couple of years to include BILLY THE KID (and surely other films that slip my immediate memory), and there’s a trend story in here somewhere about the American suburban family fighting against decomposition."

Festival winners at Ashland, Cleveland and AFI Dallas after the jump.

2008 IN REVIEW: Emailing with THEY KILLED SISTER DOROTHY's Daniel Junge

#11 in this series...

Daniel Junge's THEY KILLED SISTER DOROTHY premiered ten months ago at the SXSW Film Festival, taking Austin by storm and winning both the jury and audience awards.  Just a couple of weeks later, his previous film, IRON LADIES OF LIBERIA (which had premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival) took the top prize at AFI Dallas, capping a rare Texas documentary sweep.

After SXSW, DOROTHY was acquired by HBO, which will broadcast the film this year, and was shortlisted for the Academy Award.  The film is also currently in the news, as prosecutors in Brazil have re-opened the case against a rancher tied to Sister Dorothy's murder based on evidence presented in the film.  (Shades of ROMAN POLANSKI...)

In this exchange, Daniel (who is, full disclosure, one of the filmmakers involved in the CONVENTION project) talks about gaining access to both sides of a dramatic trial in the Amazon, the power of a great nonfiction character and working the festival circuit with two acclaimed films simultaneously.

ATWT:  Watching THEY KILLED SISTER DOROTHY, I was reminded of IRON LADIES and one of the things that really impressed me with that film, which was the amazing level of access that you had.  You are behind the scenes with both the prosecutors in the trial of Dorothy's murderers as well as the defense team.  How did you gain the trust of both sides of this case to allow your cameras to follow them?

Daniel Junge:  While I believe SISTER DOROTHY is more cinematic than IRON LADIES, it’s true that they both benefit from unprecedented access.  I think people are most surprised by our access to the defense team, and, in fact, at times I myself was surprised by their candor.  I think their bravado is indicative of the power structure that exists in the Amazon and ultimately which led to Dorothy's death.  Ironically, it was access to Dorothy's side of the story which was actually a more difficult and constant negotiation, which I think speaks to the stakes and what they have to lose.

The lead defense attorney, Americo Leal, is an amazing nonfiction  character.  He really could have a film all to himself.  What were your impressions onmeeting him, particularly in that he's at least nominally the villain in the last act of the film.

If you wrote Americo Leal as a fiction character he would be unbelievable.  The first day I met him I asked if we could him film him at work doing rudimentary office things, and he said, "No.  Today, I'm going to the forest to ride my Harley Davidson.  Do you want to film me doing that?"  It was at that moment I knew we had a great character and in fact a film!  I would like to react to some of the words that reviewers have used for Americo, including "villain" and "evil."  I think it's important to point out Americo is a lawyer (and a very good one) and ultimately an actor.  Furthermore, as Sister Becky points out, half of the outrageous things he says are true.  If people walk away from our film with only the portrait of a sweet nun and some evil men then I've done this story a great disservice.  Because ultimately it has to be about the systemic failures which are leading to the destruction of the forest and loss of human life in the Amazon.

2007 Preview: Major Film Festivals Jan-Jun

As we embark on the new year (without even having finished our look back at the old), it's time to preview the major film festivals on tap for the first half of 2007.  While there may be sins of omission in this list (feel free to post others in the comments), it's a good starting point of the most important festivals of the year, particularly for folks interested in nonfiction:

January
Palm Springs    January 4 -15
Sundance        January 18 - 28, 2007
Rotterdam        January 24 - February 4
Santa Barbara    January 25 - February 4

February
Berlin           February 8 - 18
Cinequest        February 28 - March 11

March
True/False        March 1 - 4
Miami            March 2 - 11
SXSW            March 9 - 17
Mar del Plata        March 8 - 18
Cleveland        March 15 - 25
Thessaloniki Documentary        March 16 - 25
New Directors New Films     March 21 - April 1
AFI Dallas        March 22 - April 1
Chicago Docu    March 30 - April 8

April
Philadelphia        April 5 - 18
Full Frame          April 12 - 15
Sarasota        April 13 - 22
Hotdocs        April 19 - 29
Tribeca        April 25 - May 6
IFF Boston        April 25 - 30
San Francisco    April 26 - May 10

May
Emerging Talent    May 12 -15
Cannes        May 16 - 27
Seattle        May 24 - June 17

June
Newport        June 5 - 10
Cinevegas        June 8 - 16
AFI Silverdocs        June 12 - 17
Provincetown    June 13 - 17
Los Angeles        June 21 - July 1

Look Behind the Curtain

Man-about-festival, SXSW guru and all-around good guy Matt Dentler links from his blog to a conversation/roundtable featuring himself and two other festival programmers - Rachel Rosen from the LA Film Festival and Brian Gordon from the Nashville Film Festival - that promises to blow the lid off film fest submissions.

Well, not exactly blow the lid off, but it's a fairly interesting look at the process of choosing films for a festival. It also reveals something that I don't think a lot of folks on my side appreciate, which is the often mind-numbing task of watching literally thousands of entries. I know that as a filmmaker/submitter, I'm supposed to take the opinion of "quit your bitching and watch the fuckers", but I was volunteered to watch films for a major not-to-be-named festival and I found it increasing difficult to gather the energy to get myself in front of the television and watch the day's allotment of films, most of which were never going to screen at this festival (or perhaps at any other). After a couple of weeks, I bowed out before I neglected my duties. Not so these folks, who take on months of doing nothing but watching people's dreams play out on their television sets.