All these wonderful things

Will the Liberal "Establishment" Kill the Documentary Resurgence?

A blog post by Tom Roston, aka POV Blog's Doc Soup Man, has been making the rounds this morning (h/t Basil Tsiokos) - it's a recap of a discussion at last week's Independent Film Week entitled "Cage Match: Filmmaking or Social Activism".  Moderated by POV's Yance Ford and peopled with opinionated industry leaders (including the BBC's Nick Fraser and Women Make Movies' Debra Zimmerman), the panel kicked off - as Roston summarizes - with the question "is the medium at an identity crisis?". 

What followed harkened back to a debate at last year's Sheffield Doc/Fest between Fraser and BritDoc leader Jess Search that had doc folks chattering for months.  The fierce (yet friendly) back-and-forth seemed to lay bare some of the things that documentary filmmakers talk about often but which rarely get played out on such a large canvas - can documentary filmmaking break free of the socially-important strangelehold imposed by a predominantly liberal financial-and-critical-support structure.

Guardian's David Cox wrote about that exchange in an article headed "Is this the end of the line for the impartial documentary?":

"This year, the normally clubby atmosphere of Sheffield's documentarists' convention has been shaken by a genuine row. The intensity of the debate at the Campaigning Documentaries: The Thin Line Between Passion and Propaganda session reflects the seriousness of what's at stake. It's not just the future of the genre that hangs in the balance, but its very identity.

One side maintains that documentary-making must be open-minded, impartial and journalistic. Its purpose should be to help people understand, not to encourage them to emote. The other side insists that the whole point of documentary-making is to effect desirable change. Campaigning is to be relished, not shunned...

The appearance of independence makes documentaries ideal vehicles for promoting corporate interests. Nowadays, NGOs, charities, single-issue lobby groups and the like sometimes have lots of money. Co-opting documentarists can prove an effective way of spending it. Plenty of film-makers are only too willing to play ball. After all, they want to make films. As Nick Fraser, the editor of the BBC's Storyville strand, said at the heated Doc/Fest session: "If Dr Goebbels appeared with a huge sack of money, there would be documentary film-makers queueing around the block to take it."

One of Fraser's key points in Sheffield was that the search for money - and the availabilty of funding by agenda-driven companies and organizations - meant that lots of films were being made with no (or little) aesthetic or cinematic ambitions.  In short - topic was trumping craft.

It's a debate that we've been talking about here on the blog (sometimes with more frequency than others) for years.  Our general frustration (and sometimes righteous anger) on the topic led to the launch of the Cinema Eye Honors, which will celebrate its fourth event this January. 

As we wrote in the summer of 2008:

"The debate is not that so-called "important" films can't be well made but that one shouldn't have knee-jerk approval of shoddily made films just because the subject matter has external value."

We delved further into this topic (and stirred up a real hornet's nest of anger against us) by writing about the knee jerk liberal/leftist reaction to the controversy surrounding the film BANANAS!*:

"In the documentary community, we are, it becomes increasingly apparent, occasionally enslaved by some who have pledged an unquestioning loyalty to a certain kind of social justice perspective."

Even Errol Morris, whose early, character-driven films were both celebrated and shunned (for their creative innovations) within the documentary community, asked a similar question via Twitter (which he reportedly later deleted, but which we had retweeted):

"Are all documentaries about worthy causes worthy documentaries? (Can't there be a bad movie about something good?)"

The Monday Brief: JOAN RIVERS Opens Big, A Legal Break for Berlinger, Sheffield Moves to June and the P.O.V. Power List

First off, apologies for the break in posting.  Between traveling to New York, working on various projects and the start of the Los Angeles Film Festival, I've found myself starting several posts (including the last two Monday Briefs) only to watch them go unfinished.

Truth is, this summer might be somewhat light in our coverage around these parts, although we're gonna endeavor to stay on track this month to cover two of the year's most important festivals for documentary - LAFF, which launched seemingly successfully in its new downtown digs last Thursday, and Silverdocs, which kicks off tomorrow...

In the interim, there's been a lot of news in the documentary world - shifting dates for a top festival, a legal victory for a noted filmmaker and a list that does what lists tend to do: get people talking.

But the past two weekends, the biggest headlines in the doc world were made by a film that premiered at Sundance...

Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg's docu-portrait, JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK, was the big winner at the specialty box office the past two weekends.  Opening a week ago at 7 theaters (but as indieWIRE noted - on three separate screens at NYC's IFC Center), the film took in an estimated $24,368 - the biggest per theater debut for a doc this year.  In its first weekend, the film took in more than $170K, more than the combined total take of Stern and Sundberg's previous two (critically acclaimed and super serious) docs, THE TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT and THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK.

In its second weekend, the film cooled off only slightly as it expanded to 29 screens, managing a still strong average of just under $8K per screen, bringing its grand total thus far to more than $475K.  According to Peter Knegt's iW piece, IFC Films plans an aggressive rollout for the film, expanding to the top fifty markets by the 4th of July.  It could be the doc of the summer (at the box office at least), and seems likely to become the 4th $1M doc of 2010 (following BABIES, OCEANS and EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP).

Also fairing quite well last weekend was Madeleine Sackler's charter schools documentary THE LOTTERY.  Variance Films released the doc on a single NYC screen to a potent $17K+.  THE LOTTERY screened at this year's Tribeca Film Festival and a handful of top regional fests (Sarasota, IFFBoston, Cleveland among them) before its quick and successful theatrical launch.

This weekend saw the release of another Sundance doc, 8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION, the first out of the box for Red Flag Releasing.  Released on 16 screens, the film took in an average of more than $3K.

Segueing out of the theatrical box office, news continued to break last week in the Joe Berlinger/Chevron/CRUDE footage case.  And this time the news was good (at least for anyone who cares about documentary)...

A federal appeals court granted Berlinger a temporary stay in the case and will soon rule on his appeal of the lower court judge's decision that he must turn over his raw footage to Chevron.  This means Berlinger won't have to turn over the footage immediately, which would have been the case if the appeals court had denied his petition for a stay.

Berlinger's lawyer, Maura Wogan, told the NY Times that if the court hadn't granted the stay, "(Berlinger) would have been forced to turn over this material before the appeal was heard – he would have, in effect, lost his right to an appeal."

Berlinger will join filmmaker Morgan Spurlock for a special Stranger Than Fiction this Tuesday at NYC's IFC Center.  The event will be a benefit for Berlinger's legal defense fund.

But perhaps the biggest news of the past week was announced with relatively little fanfare.  Confirming rumors that have been circulating for months (we even included them in our festival profile last December), Sheffield Doc/Fest announced that their 2011 edition will be held in early June.  That means two Doc/Fests in Sheffield separated by little more than seven months (they will still hold this year's event the first week of November).

The Monday Brief: Indie Film in Hell - The Bloodbath, CineVegas & Polanski, But Signs of Hope With Ondi Timoner's Innovations, CAPITALISM, SEPTEMBER & IT MIGHT GET LOUD

Is the entire indie film world going to hell?  That's been the question vibrating through our community for the past several weeks, particularly after a Toronto International Film Festival that was light on sales and a summary paper issued by Anne Thompson, in which she labeled this year's TIFF an "indie bloodbath":

"The old independent market is over. A new one will take its place. But we are smack in the middle between the end of one paradigm and the start of another, and it’s a scary place indeed...

If nobody knew anything before, they know even less now. The one sure thing is that moviemakers will now PAY to get their films released. The few remaining distributors can sit back and wait for movies to drop in their laps, often with P & A funds attached. All hopes of a hot sale at a festivals were dashed this year."

And if you think filmmakers going to festivals have it bad, what about the festivals themselves?  This year has seen an unprecedented upheaval, as five of the top 10 festivals for documentaries saw a change in leadership (Sundance, Silverdocs, Los Angeles, Tribeca and Full Frame) and a number of film festivals found themselves making news - Toronto over its choice of Tel Aviv for its City to City Spotlight, Los Angeles in its battle with the BANANAS!* filmmakers and lawyers from Dole, SF Jewish Film over its screening of RACHEL, Tokyo due to its rejection-then-capitulation/acceptance of THE COVE, not to mention the coup at the Denver Film Society.  And what does it say about the New York Film Festival if most of NYC's indie film cognoscenti took the first flights out of town to be in Austin for Fantastic Fest, just as NYFF was opening?

Now we learn that CineVegas, one of the best regional festivals in the US, will not be back for its 2010 edition (although they state publicly that they will try to return sometime after that) and yesterday  the news that filmmaker Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland as he was en route to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Zurich Film Festival.

Add to all this what any filmmaker on the festival circuit (including this one) can tell you with certainty - for many festivals, the days of largesse have passed.  No travel, no accommodations, no screening fees.  Oh yeah, and if you want more than a couple tickets to your film, you're going to have to pay for them.

Let that sink in for a moment.

BREAKING: BritDoc Pulls the Plug After Successful 3-Year Run

Sad news to report:  BritDoc, the upstart Oxford festival that drew raves from the doc community on both sides of the pond, will end its run after three exceptional and innovative years.  News of the festival's demise comes as the Sheffield Doc/Fest kicks off today and amid reports that the BritDoc team will now partner with Sheffield to help create a single major doc event in the UK.

The new partnership will spotlight one of the many bright spots of what we now know was the final edition of BritDoc - the Good Pitch.  Writing about the Good Pitch, I said that it "may just be the beginning of pulling the pitching forum into the future".  It appears that the new branding of BritDoc will focus on this social justice emphasis in working with Sheffield and other festivals.

From the press release:

"The Sheffield partnership will free the (BritDoc) Foundation to launch their new REAL GOOD activities, which will include a new collaboration with US-based Working Films to devise social action campaigns, training courses and a tailored service to UK broadcasters, NGOs and brands to maximise the impact of their documentary films.  There will also be an enhanced online presence, including new website GoodFilm.org (launching early 2009) to link NGOs and brands to documentary projects.  REAL GOOD Sessions will also be presented at Sheffield Doc/Fest."

The shuttering of BritDoc deprives the international doc community of an important retreat/camp-like event in the midst of summer.  And while this year's event was focused almost exclusively on British filmmakers, it proved it could still be a draw for those from other countries.  As I wrote this July:

"What if we said that despite the fact that there's not really a place for the Americans at BritDoc, that there's no room for you (the fest might have reached full capacity in '08), that there's no hue and cry for you to show, that you should think of going anyway. 

And by saying you should think of going, we absolutely mean that you should stay home, because we like it just as it is, actually, and more Americans trying to upset the apple cart might just make the whole thing a little less, dare we say, awesome."

THE GREAT GLOBAL WARMING SWINDLE Wins a Round for Advocacy Docs (and Claire Fox Weighs In from BritDoc)

Less than a month after EXPELLED struck an important legal blow for Fair Use, a British television watchdog agency ruled that a conservative documentary, THE GREAT GLOBAL WARMING SWINDLE, "did not materially mislead the audience so as to cause harm or offense".   

The film, which aired on Britain's Channel 4 last year, had caused an uproar in the UK, with hundreds voicing complaints that the film exaggerated dissent to the prevailing theories on global warming.  In SWINDLE, filmmaker Martin Durkin profiles several scientists that hold varying views on the causes and existence of global warming.  According to the International Herald Tribune:  "Criticism has been particularly sharp over the film's assertions that the depiction of consensus on human-caused warming is a willful deception.  One particularly jarring line of narration is: 'Everywhere you are told that manmade climate change is proved beyond doubt.  But you are being told lies.'" 

The Office of Communication ruled that such statements were "intemperate" but said the film was "adequately framed as a polemic", adding that the film had a place on television, particularly considering the number of films that accept the dominant scientific opinion.  SWINDLE, meanwhile, has become widely circulated in conservative circles.    Channel 4's new head of documentary Hamish Mykura told IFT that the agency's ruling "explicitly recognizes Channel 4's right to show the program and the paramount importance of broadcasters being able to challenge orthodoxies and explore controversial subject matter."

The topic came up at BritDoc last month during the Sheffield Doc/Fest Oxford Debate, which centered around the question of whether docs were "too serious".  During the debate, Claire Fox - a noted media figure in the UK who runs the Institute of Ideas - referenced the decision by the Office of Communication as well as the uproar by those opposed to SWINDLE's advocacy of contrarian ideas, whether they be based in fact or opinion. Further she wonders whether today's vaunted idea of filmocracy is nothing more than propaganda.

BritDoc 2008: Reasons to Crash a Veddy British Festival

Festival coverage sponsored by IndiePix.

Come the new year, we will sit down for the second time to compose our summaries of the best festivals for documentary (here's the first), and when we do, this may well be the text of my thoughts on BritDoc, which on Friday wrapped its third edition in Oxford:

BritDoc is not for you.  And by you, we mean Americans. 

After two years of including us Yanks in an International Competition and showcase, they have shown us the door, focusing instead on their first priority, connecting British filmmakers with funders, festival programmers and networking opportunities.  Their Facebook profile might as well have been changed to read: "Looking for: Friendship, Networking, Whatever I Can Get (Brits preferred)." 

Further cementing the focus on the home team, the 2008 edition was stripped of its international competition and replaced by a "Best of Fests" sidebar, featuring films from a handful of world class film festivals: Sundance, Toronto, IDFA, SXSW & Berlin.  So, keep it moving, nothing to see here.  No need for you to go to BritDoc.

And yet....

What if we said that despite the fact that there's not really a place for the Americans at BritDoc, that there's no room for you (the fest might have reached full capacity in '08), that there's no hue and cry for you to show, that you should think of going anyway. 

And by saying you should think of going, we absolutely mean that you should stay home, because we like it just as it is, actually, and more Americans trying to upset the apple cart might just make the whole thing a little less, dare we say, awesome.

Yes, BritDoc is the True/False of the UK, and saying that is both a compliment as well as selling both True/False and BritDoc a wee bit short.  While it shares True/False's sense of college town collegiality, it lacks T/F's manic and enthusiastic crowds (most of the screenings at BritDoc are well attended but it's rare to find a sell out), but it bares a few things that T/F does not, mainly an enviable list of industry types in a heretofore uncluttered setting.  The pitches (as we wrote about previously) are the best of their kind and Oxford is small enough that you can actually get some face time with people who may have the power to greenlight (or contribute toward your new project).

However, and this is big - and perhaps necessary before someone is allowed to set foot on the grounds of Keble College, BritDoc's HQ for the week - it would be a good idea if attendees were given a few more rules re: the approaching of commissioners and others.  Cringe-worthy it was to view one-on-one pitch meetings, whether in formal or informal settings (and it's hard to think of a meeting space more lovely than the main lawn at Keble - well there is a certain social club in east London, but that is besides the point), interrupted by overzealous filmmakers.

Word to the unwise filmmaker:  you're a rude bastard, you are.  Not only are you making a terrible first impression with the commissioner or producer, but you're betraying a fellow filmmaker who already figured out how to do it the right way.  So do one and all a favor: observe, make small entreaties - potentially through someone else (a festival representative?  another filmmaker?), be patient.  If you're really in it for the long haul, there's no good reason to to lead with your worst foot forward.

But I digress...

I was fortunate enough to be invited to BritDoc last year with ABOUT A SON (when they still had that international competition - I didn't win, by the way, but neither did eventual Oscar winner TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE or Cinema Eye winners MONASTERY or BILLY THE KID) and even more fortunate to be asked back to serve on this year's British Feature Jury with Sheffield Doc/Fest director Heather Croall and filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski.

I've been honored to serve on a number of juries during the past year (I seem to be on the "year after tour", invited back one year after screening my film - which one hopes reflects well on my behaviour in 2007).  While the jury selected James Marsh's MAN ON WIRE as the competition winner (my initial thoughts on the film from Sundance are here), there were a number of films that screened in Oxford that are worth looking out for.

We awarded an Honourable Mention to John Dower for his film THRILLER IN MANILLA, a re-examination of the classic boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Smokin' Joe Frazier, that dared to up-end our current hero worship of Ali (fomented in no small part by the Oscar winning WHEN WE WERE KINGS and the decision by Sports Illustrated to name Ali the top sportsman of the 20th century (not to mention the Michael Mann/Will Smith vehicle).  By focusing on Frazier's story, rather than Ali's, Dower successfully cracks at Ali's veneer of perfection and reveals how its possible that one superstar athlete is accorded fame and adulation while another scrapes by. 

While THRILLER is presented in a straightforward manner (and, in my opinion, should lose the distracting "British TV" narration in such a classic American story - at times you'd think they were examining the lost tribes), it's fast-paced, incredibly suspenseful and could have a theatrical life in the US.  In any case, HBO should grab the film (if they haven't already).

Another film that caught our attention was Richard Parry's BLOOD TRAIL, the examination of a young, unfocused man who travels to war-torn Sarajevo in the early 1990s in hopes of becoming a war photographer.  Following the man's story over more than a decade, Parry constructs a film that succeeds on a number of levels, not least as it deals with memory, war and the passage of time.  Parry, who also served as a journalist during the war in Yugoslavia, lingers throughout with his own camera, somehow always observing without invading.  The images are so stunningly rendered that it's often difficult to believe that some of the footage was actually shot more than 15 years ago.

Jerry Rothwell, who co-directed last year's DEEP WATER, returned to BritDoc with HEAVY LOAD, a film that he pitched at the first BritDoc two years ago (where IFC's Evan Shapiro came aboard with financing).  The film received a rapturous response from BritDoc audiences (it was not a surprise it took the Audience Award) and it's easy to see why.  Rothwell uses the conventions of the music doc - meet band, band has troubles, band perseveres, band triumphs, close credits - to great affect in a film that has an unusual subtext - 3 of the members of Heavy Load have learning disabilities. 

While there were mixed feelings about Rothwell's presence in the film (it opens and closes on him, with the ostensible rationalization that Rothwell is discovering something about finding one's bliss as he spends time with the band), HEAVY LOAD works ultimately because Rothwell is able to get the band to be honest about their hopes, fears and ultimately their frustrations.  It's on that last point - as the band begins to launch a campaign to allow the developmentally disabled to stay out later than 9 PM - that the film transcends the conventions of a typical music doc.

While I was favorably inclined toward all of the films that I saw (including the popular US hit YOUNG@HEART), I want to briefly note two other titles - Nicola Collins' THE END, a stylish (it was not a surprise that she acted in Guy Ritchie's SNATCH, since the film sometimes feels like a compilation of excerpts from that film's cutting room floor) and concise look at East End gangsters in sunset years, and Jerermy Gilley's THE DAY AFTER PEACE, a sequel to his earlier PEACE ONE DAY, which chronicled his attempt to launch an International Peace Day.  Now that the U.N. has officially adapted IPD, the new installment looks at Gilley's efforts to get nations around the world to commit to recognizing the day with cease fires or other humanitarian endeavours.  The film is very British (it has that unquantifiable mix of social justice, reality television and, oh look, it's Jude Law!), but it's effectively structured and polished.  While the audience may initially be wary toward Gilley (who directs and serves as lead crusading character), he throws enough skepticism toward his efforts to pay off in the end.  But, man, a little Jude Law sure goes a long way.

By Friday night, the films and panels and pitches and keynotes (see Matt Dentler's notes on Larry Charles unveiling of RELIGULOUS clips here and his summary for indieWIRE here) and eyeliner (again see Dentler -- and, frankly, for the Brits as well as the Americans, if you have to ask, you apparently didn't get the memo) began to cluster around the participants as they boarded trains and coaches back to London.  Conventional wisdom was that despite tweaks and changes (and the loss of the beloved punk rock karaoke), BritDoc 3.0 was an unqualified success.

Keep that in mind when we inform that BritDoc '09 is not for you.

A Proposition: Let's Admit That Pitch Panels are Really Game Shows in Disguise and Start Bringing in Confetti

From London, where BritDoc '08 is still lingering in our collective minds...

As I prepare to head back to the states, it's worth reflecting on last week's festivities in Oxford and there is much good to say about this year's festival, particularly the strong slate of British features (led by MAN ON WIRE). 

One of the things that BritDoc has consistently gotten right has been the pitch panel format, wherein filmmakers have a limited amount of time to pitch their projects to an impressive table of commissioning editors.  Danielle Beverly described the sights and sounds at last year's IDFA Forum for Variety's The Circuit blog:

"Part theatre, part business meeting, The Forum at The International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam is a nail-biting window into the mysterious commissioning process of international broadcasters. For documentary filmmakers, it's a necessary stop on their funding quest, even if it feels like the Spanish Inquisition...

Teams get 7 minutes to present their clip, and their case.  In turn, the Commissioning Editors have 8 minutes to ask difficult and probing questions, throw money at the project, or politely - and sometimes not so politely - decline to fund it."

Anyone who has sat through this exercise - or talked to anyone who has - knows that often the big story is not who did very well, but who got shot down and by whom and what was said.  It sounds hugely dramatic.  Yet, in truth, the pitching forums can be, particularly after you've sat through a few, a bit dull.  You keep waiting for the moment for someone to get their budgets handed to them, but what you really get is polite demurrals and deferrals.  And frankly, you can't blame the panelists.  There's truly only so many ways that these CE's can say, "sorry, I don't have a strand for that" or "let's talk later".  But after a couple hours of that, you just want something to happen.

No wonder everyone keeps waiting for some kind of Simon Cowell moment, wherein the presumptuous or badly prepared filmmaker is dressed down by one of the doyennes of documentary.

Therein lies the rub.  If the essential appeal of the pitching forum is that it's the equivalent of an indie doc game show, why not go all in and make the thing an actual game show.  How 'bout this - everyone who wants to sit at the table tosses in 25K (or £ or euro) and at the end of the pitches, there is a vote and one filmmaker walks away with his or her budget.  Everybody else gets a gift bag.

Would it really be so bad if someone actually left the forum room knowing that they were going to get to make their film?  Rather than wager on whether they'd get praised or torn to shreds?

BritDoc is something else entirely.  Here, the CE's are actually nice, they're asked to be nice and  if they are really, really helpful, they just may win the prize of Best Panelist from the filmmakers who are pitching to them (although good luck unseating Sundance DocFund's Cara Mertes, who's won the award two years in a row).  Surprisingly, perhaps, this positivity doesn't make the BritDoc pitch panel (this year labeled "The Big Pitch") more boring, as CE's seem to go out of their way to think of advice that could be helpful (even if they aren't going to write a check.  It doesn't hurt that Jess Search is probably the best panel moderator that one could hope for in this kind of situation.

This year, BritDoc added "The Good Pitch" which may just be the beginning of pulling the pitching forum into the future.  Instead of loading up a table with the same group of commissioners, there were representatives from granting agencies, production companies, film funds, corporations, websites, magazines and more.  It was a fresh take on the whole pitching forum and one that viewers in the packed and overheated theater seemed to give good grades (even if it did have the whole social justice thing branded right across its arse).

So here's an addendum to the proposal - how about in addition to the commissioners, we throw in some wealthy millionaires who want to get into the film business (there's got to be a few more of those around, right?) along with a couple of distributors and producers?  And along with projects highlighting good deeds, can we have a few that are (whether by content or by style) a little less angelic?

BritDoc's ahead of the curve, but maybe it's time to embrace our inner American Idol (or maybe I should say Pop Idol) and start ending these pitching forums with confetti and a check.

MAN ON WIRE Takes the Top Prize at BritDoc

Festival coverage sponsored by Indiepix.

From Oxford, UK...

James Marsh's electric and triumphant MAN ON WIRE, which is celebrating its theatrical premiere in New York City today, was named the Best British Film at the BritDoc Festival in Oxford, UK tonight.  The jury, which included filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski, Sheffield DocFest's Heather Croall and yours truly, awarded an honourable mention to John Dower's THRILLER IN MANILLA, a premiere at this year's fest that examines the legendary fight between Muhammed Ali and Smokin' Joe Frazier and presents a compelling and contrary view of the usually heroic Ali.  The festival concludes tonight with the keynote address from RELIGULOUS director Larry Charles and a performance by Heavy Load, the punk rock band at the heart of Jerry Rothwell's film of the same name, which picked up the Audience Award.

Much more about this year's very successful third version of the fest in the days to come.

IN DEPTH: Part Two of The 25 Top Film Festivals For Documentaries

Continuing our first of what will hopefully be an annual look at the world's top 25 film festivals for documentary films.  For numbers 1-10, go here.  As always, rankings are based on our research as well as the anonymous thoughts of numerous filmmakers and industry figures.

11. Berlin

Our take:
Berlin screens a limited selection of documentaries each year, so those that do get in have a unique spotlight on them.  Still, the same issues at play in Toronto count here as well.  The focus tends to be elsewhere.  One of the best organized festivals in the world and surprisingly easy to navigate, plus a huge industry presence from around the world.  But one wonders what the Berlinale's POV on docs is.  This year, for the first time, a doc screened in competition (granted it was Errol Morris) and a doc screened as the opening night film (granted it was Martin Scorsese), so maybe things are changing.  But it's criminally easy to premiere at Berlin and have no one stateside take much notice.

12.  BritDoc

Our take:
A kind of English cousin to True/False, BritDoc is often compared to its American relative in terms of fun, intimacy and opportunities for connecting with others.  Plus, it has a pitching forum, although bear in mind that it is exclusively reserved for Brit filmmakers.  Only 10 international films are screened, but worth attending even if you don't have a film in the festival as the pitching forum draws a stellar line-up of major international doc players and there's none of the crush that greets them in Amsterdam.  Plus, there's the summer camp vibe - staying in the Oxford dorms, eating in the Harry Potter dining hall and drinking late into the morning at the on campus bar.  Working out some funding issues and newcomer kinks (this will be its 3rd year), but hard to beat on lots of levels.

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.   Has all of the above plus it’s a bit more serious about being an industry event too (which is good if that’s what you’re wanting). Great networking, also great atmosphere and a lot of fun."

Industry:
"The most fun of any doc fest i've been too - they make it so open and inviting, and the pitch panel is the best going.  Plus i love the open mic punk rock karaoke."

Filmmaker:
"My favorite is BritDoc, am so proud of what they've achieved and think they are just awesome on the doc-only front."

Filmmaker:
"I love great settings and if this is not the greatest....  Imagine spending a couple of days at the Harry Potter Castle. This is it! This is a great oppotunity to meet other filmmakers, but what this festival lacks compared to True/False is audience. Not the most visited screenings I have been to. Parties are great especially do not miss the "live" karaoke."

Filmmaker:
"The Harry Potter-esque setting is a little strange, and the emphasis is definitely not on the films being screened. It felt like a television pitch session with films and panels arranged around it. I've heard that this year's event will be improved on that front. I hate pitch sessions... I just don't like to see artists begging for money, I guess. But the social interaction here is great. Brit Doc attracts the cream of the British film and TV brass, and the punk rock karaoke is top notch!"

13.  Telluride

Our take:
The prestigious fall fest in the Colorado mountains only screens a handful of documentaries each year and those that do are often on their way to Toronto.  Yet for those that do get in, it's a spotlight like none other.  You will get reviewed by nearly every major outlet just by virtue of your presence here.  But warning, it's invitation only, so maybe you should know someone who knows someone to get them to make an inquiry.  Tough to beat the setting and the warm, intimate environment.

Others:
Filmmaker:
"All around best fest"

14.  Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival

Our take:
Despite the presence of its legendary sister festival in the fall, Thessaloniki Documentary is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the best documentary festivals in Europe.  Less of an industry fest and more focused on connecting with other filmmakers.  Supportive audiences, easy to navigate, extremely social and a focus on films from oft-neglected regions of the world.  The latter can lead to some spotty programming choices but also some gems that may never have a presence outside the Balkans.

Others:
Filmmaker:
"A great fest for the visiting international filmmaker.  Though the programming isn't uniformly great, there are a lot of gems to be discovered, and their retrospectives are both surprising and very strong.  Audience turnout tends to be good (not great) and Q&A's can be lively.

Their hospitality is superb.  You can look forward to nightly dinners at a rotating group of great Greek restaurants, beautiful views of theharbor, and the occasional late night adventure to a smoky disco.  The
dinners (and their famous Ouzo lunch) are as good as any fest, and the intimacy of them (most will involve 8 - 16 people) makes for great, and relaxed, conversation.

Screening rooms are relatively close together, films are almost always subtitled in English, and their discussions, which delve much deeper into social issues than most fest panels, come with headphones and a translator."

Filmmaker:
"Great films, great guests, all very easy to have a good time at."

Industry:
"Great because they're getting regional perspectves--European, Balkan, Chinese, Middle Eastern--and grouping thematically--in a way that's unlike north American curating/grouping."

Filmmaker:
"The Thessaloniki Film Festival I am told, attracts A-list stars and directing talent from across the international spectrum of filmmaking and hundreds of film journalists, executives and fans for the biggest film fest in the Balkan Peninsula.  The Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival (held in mid-March) attracts....documentarians! And hallelujah for that.  Freed from the blinding glitz and glam of major film festival, with no red-carpets to navigate and no VIP hierarchy to worry about, Thessaloniki Doc Fest gathers some of the best international docs and an impressive roster of filmmaker guests for an intimate celebration of the form.  The market arm is pretty low-key as well, but it does exist, yet it's not a high-pressure sales & pitch forum like HotDocs or IDFA. Thessaloniki is about discussions & dialogues - whether over some of the most sumptuous lunches & dinners I have ever encountered on the fest circuit or at moderated panels & workshops. And it gave me a chance to meet some other filmmakers in a very relaxed and nurturing setting - and they bring in some real stellar documentary talent; both legends and newcomers.  The city isn't much to look at, it was mostly gray and wet, but the students were on strike, so screenings were heaving and the hospitality was top-notch.  If you can make it a stop on your tour - it's a pretty busy time on the fest calendar (we went from there to Copenhagen for NatFilm Festivalen) - I'd highly recommend it."

15.  Festival de Cannes

Our take:
Good luck getting in, but if you do land a spot as one of the only documentaries in what is arguably the biggest festival in the world, be prepared to fight for attention like nowhere else.  There are just too many anticipated films to see, and critics and buyers put first priority on those in competition for the Palme d'Or.  Further, it can be by far the most expensive festival to screen at - it is the French Riviera after all.  Still, if lucky, you can get attention and the prestige of having played on La Croisette.

16.  AFI Fest

Our take:
Usually has an extremely strong competition line-up (treated on par with narrative) and other nonfiction titles are sprinkled throughout the festival.  Great venue in the Arclight Cinema complex, with amazing sound and picture.  Treat filmmakers exceptionally well with lots of parties and chances for interaction.  Industry presence in LA is huge - HOWEVER, most stay in Santa Monica for the concurrent AFM market and are not willing to trudge over to Hollywood for screenings.  The fest has attempted to bridge the gap between the festival and the market but hasn't yet come up with a winning combination.  If you go with no expectations (i.e. sales), you'll have a great time.

Others:
Filmmaker:
"Hats off to anybody who can figure out how the hell to have a great, dynamic festival in the middle of the city that has no middle. By the sheer genius of co-opting the ArcLight theaters and having just ONE center for all activities, AFI Fest rocks. It's also staffed by total film-loving AFI types who are very helpful and kind.  Just a fun vibe overall, and you absolutely can't beat the quality of the projection.  What other festival schedules a specific appointment for you to meet with the projectionist a half-day before your screening, where he will allow you up to a half-hour to tweak and listen and adjust the details of your screening?  I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. AFI Fest is better than the other LA Festival. And even though AFI plays the celeb card and bring out the stars for their gala events, the docs do not get buried there. They play in the same theaters as everyone else (and do just as well)."

17.  San Francisco International Film Festival

Our take:
The venerable Northern California fest has long put a big spotlight on its nonfiction line-up and provides an excellent introduction to the well-established bay area documentary community.  Tends to lean toward serious, social issue topics (as does the community) and you might find a warmer reception if that's your bent.  A screening here often disqualifies you from playing at LAFF.

Others:
Filmmaker:
"Very nice hotel and great shopping, but I felt very alone there. The festival was not very good at "putting" filmmakers together, and that is often important for the impression of the festival. I used a lot of time on transportation and it was not a very "festive" festival even though I had a lot of expectiontions from this city I have heard so much about."

18.  Seattle International Film Festival

Our take:
The biggest (in terms of length alone) of all North American festivals, Seattle's month long cinema pilgrimage is also screens more docs than nearly any other fest.  But the length and size can also be a detriment.  Filmmakers are often only in town for a couple days, making it difficult to connect with others (despite the presence of a fully furnished hospitality lounge inside the host W Hotel).  Audiences are notoriously superb, with many screenings selling out within hours of going on sale.  The size and sheer logistical issues can tend to daunt the staff, leading filmmakers to sometimes feel on their own.

Others:
Filmmaker:
"Always has great response to docs but it's huge."

Filmmaker:
"Those people are absolutely fanatical about movies (and books, and music of course).  They definitely win the contest for "Most People Willing To Stand in the Cold and the Rain to see your Film".  And again -- they're an incredibly smart audience.  The festival really makes the filmmakers feel special and throw great parties too (also a nice bonus)."

Filmmaker:
"Great for locals, but too long, too unfocussed and not a good festival for "working" your doc (unless you're premiering on opening weekend, or have a locally-produced film). The press is erratic (well, it's a 100% guarantee that the Seattle Weekly will fucking hate your movie and tell the whole city before you arrive), the technology in the theaters is subpar. This is a filmgoer's festival, not a filmmakers festival. Go there to watch."

19.  Sheffield Doc Fest

Our take:
While BritDoc is the UK's documentary summer camp, Sheffield is quickly becoming the UK's rival to IDFA, complete with market, pitch sessions and lots of opportunities to connect with European commissioning editors.  Schedule-wise, it's not always convenient for Americans, coming as it does just a couple weeks before IDFA, but it's reputation is growing quickly as an important place to premiere and screen nonfiction work on the continent. 

Others:
Filmmaker:
There weren't that many US filmmakers there, but it's the center of the UK doc scene & the UK doc scene is really fascinating & diverse (in style & content) & the programming is fascinating & there are good panels, and a great pitch market (the 'meet market' - one on one meetings with commissioners).  Good audiences, everything very close together & easy to manage, good events, well organized... I'm a big fan.  It's a great way for US people to meet European funders & filmmakers, smaller & more manageable than Amsterdam.  One of my favorite fests.

Filmmaker:
Sheffield is all about the networking and meetings and they have some pretty good films too. Not very generous to filmmakers. The parties and decent I suppose.

20.  Denver Film Festival

Our take:
One of the best regional film festivals in the US, with audience support that almost rivals Seattle and filmmaker hospitality that is second to none - flights, hotels, food, drinks, more drinks are all on the house.  Certainly one of the best social festivals - you will get ample, ample time to meet and mingle with other filmmakers and make new friends - it has a surprising strong and curated line-up of documentaries.  Its placement late in the year means that it can sometimes serve as a summary of the year's best - from Sundance all the way through Toronto and is often a champion of films that might otherwise go unnoticed, like this year's Spirit Award nominee RUNNING STUMBLED.  Not heavy on industry, but recent efforts to draw more press were largely successful in the 2007 edition.

Others:
Filmmaker:
"It was really intimate.  It felt like a family atmosphere."

Filmmaker:
"Meaningless in terms of visibility, but just a fantastic, well-organized festival where you feel appreciated and have fun."

Filmmaker:
"Like the secret bar for filmmakers that's open until 4am every night-- that's smart. Denver felt like a smaller festival, and it is, but the audiences were good, the theaters were good, and the staff was attentive to filmmaker needs."

Next up: Numbers 21-25 plus thoughts on some other fests of note.

More Bloggers at BritDoc

A few of the other BritDoc filmmakers are blogging and have written (or one suspects will soon be writing) about their experiences in Oxford. 

• HELVETICA director Gary Hustwit has posts here and here, the latter of which describes a particularly tough festival sojourn from Melbourne to London.
• SO YOU'VE BEEN DUMPED pitcher Thea Newcomb has several posts up on her blog, including detailed feedabck on how the panelists responded to her film.
• Yet to post on her film blog (but likely to be coming soon) is BILLY THE KID's Jennifer Venditti.
• Finally, Shooting People's Ingrid Kopp has 4 posts at her Shooting From the Hip blog, including lots of photos.  See here, here, here and here.

My own BritDoc report, with pictures, is here.

Coming soon are a slew of pics from filmmaker and international feature jury member Steven Bognar.  Here are a couple from karaoke night just to whet your appetite: