All these wonderful things

Toronto 2010: New Docs from Errol Morris, Kim Longinotto, Alex Gibney, Ondi Timoner and Werner Herzog in 3D

indieWIRE has the latest on an amazing Toronto Film Festival documentary lineup, including the second nonfiction Gala of Thom Powers' tenure at TIFF - Thom Zimmy's Bruce Springsteen doc THE PROMISE: THE MAKING OF DARKNESS AT THE EDGE OF TOWN  (his first was 2006' SHUT UP AND SING), along with a handful of world premieres from masters of the documentary form: TABLOID from Errol Morris, PINK SARIS from Kim Longinotto, CLIENT 9: THE RISE AND FALL OF ELIOT SPITZER from Alex Gibney (which had a work-in-progress screening at Tribeca) and the first 3-D feature from Werner Herzog - CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS, about the cave paintings in the Chauvet Cave in Southern France.

Toronto will also feature some of the North American debut of the breakout titles of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival - Janus Metz' ARMADILLO, Frederick Wiseman's BOXING GYM and Charles Ferguson's INSIDE JOB - and a film that is sure to stir up controversy, Ondi Timoner's COOL IT, which promises a very unconvenient look at the issue of global warming.

The Toronto slate continues what has been one of the most powerful year's for nonfiction on record, following a Sundance lineup that was chock-a-block with Oscar nominees & winners and a SXSW crop that intro'd some extraordinary new voices in documentary.

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 (Post-Holiday) Brief: Silverdocs and LAFF Previews, 86 Films Eligible for Cinema Eye and CONVENTION in NYC

Hard to believe but it's June 1...

The beginning of June is also the end of something, the end of the first half of our documentary year - one that begins with the announcement of the Sundance line-up and the annual gathering of the doc world in Amsterdam.

Six months ago we were just hearing about LAST TRAIN HOME, ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE, THE OATH, RESTREPO, GASLAND, 12th AND DELAWARE, EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP and the rest.  Now, with last week's announcement of the Silverdocs line-up, that six month stretch starts to wrap itself up.

Not that we won't hear about the above films for the rest of the year (we will, particularly at awards season), but Silverdocs signals the changing of the guard, the last major, domestic festival gasp for many of the creme of 2010's documentary crop and the first glimpse of a few films that will be stalwarts on the fall festival tour.

And the beginning of June reminds us that the unveiling of the Toronto line-up, when the fall season really begins in earnest, is less than two months away.

Summer is here.

Silverdocs will kick off its 8th edition in just over three weeks, leading with opening night omnibus doc FREAKONOMICS and closing with Amir Bar-Lev's THE TILLMAN STORY, both of which should be of strong interest to the DC-adjacent crowd.  Competition titles include several festival favorites, including Doug Block's THE KIDS GROW UP, Alexandra Codina's MONICA AND DAVID (which won Tribeca), Robin Hessman's MY PERESTROIKA, Julia Bacha's BUDRUS, Yael Hersonski's A FILM UNFINISHED (which won Hot Docs, Roberto Hernández and Geoffrey Smith's PRESUMED GUILTY and Christian Frei's SPACE TOURISTS.

Silverdocs will also share a few competition titles with it's cross-country rival LAFF, which gets the jump this year by opening five days earlier than Silverdocs.  Los Angeles is set to premiere Malcolm Murray's CAMERA, CAMERA and Aaron Schock's CIRCO, both of which will then head to Silver Springs.  The two fests will also offer Davis Guggenheim's WAITING FOR SUPERMAN, the first time we've seen that film screen since it debuted in Park City earlier this year.  They'll also share FREAKONOMICS, TILLMAN, Jeff Malmberg's MARWENCOL, Sam Green's UTOPIA IN FOUR MOVEMENTS, Mads Brügger's THE RED CHAPEL, Alexandre O. Philippe's THE PEOPLE VS. GEORGE LUCAS and others.

If I were headed to Silver Springs this year, I'd certainly want to catch Stephen Kijak's STONES IN EXILE - the 60 minute making-of "Exile on Main Street" doc which made such a splash in Cannes, as well as Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood's ON COAL RIVER, which chronicles a community action against Massey Energy prior to that company's coal mine disaster at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia.  Plus, there's a terrific line-up of 40+ shorts, including a few of the best shorts we've seen in years - Sergio Oksman's NOTES ON THE OTHER and Vance Malone's THE POODLE TRAINER.

Silverdocs is also gonna fete Frederick Wiseman (although they don't have his latest, BOXING GYM, which was just at Cannes) and will screen Oliver Stone's SOUTH OF THE BORDER, a profile of South American heads of state, which should make some kind of news, one suspects.

We will be covering the Los Angeles Film Fest, which will host large outdoor screenings of the GEORGE LUCAS doc and Mark Landsman's THUNDER SOUL and one of the first (if not the first) post-Sundance screening of Mark Lewis' 3-D doc, CANE TOADS: THE CONQUEST.  LAFF makes its move from Westwood to downtown Los Angeles (HQing itself at the LA Live complex) and while we weren't big fans of this year's LA Live-based Spirit Awards, we're cautiously optimistic about the relocation of the film festival.

Five months into 2010 and the Cinema Eye Honors team (full disclosure: once again I'll be a co-chair for the 2011 event) has announced the 86 films that are already eligible for next year's awards - and most of the above named film titles (save for the recent premieres) are on the list.  I can't get in the business of predicting which way Cinema Eye is going to go (not only that, I'm a relatively poor soothsayer as far as nominations for that event goes), but I'm very excited about that list of films - as well as by a bunch of stuff going on behind the scenes that we will be announcing later this summer.

The Joe Berlinger/CRUDE/Chevron case continues to unfold, as Berlinger's lawyers make their case for overturning the judge's decision (that he must turn over raw footage to Chevron) to an appeals court.  Chevron, for their part, issued a press release this week that, in part, details their arguments related to the Berlinger case:

"The U.S. federal court proceedings in which Chevron seeks hidden evidence of corruption and misconduct captured by filmmaker Joe Berlinger have also centered on evidence of collusion in connection with the (Ecuadorian court appointee Richard) Cabrera’s damages report. Parts of Berlinger’s film CRUDE show plaintiffs’ lawyers Steven Donziger and Pablo Fajardo working with Carlos Beristain, one of the supposedly neutral experts on Cabrera’s team, at a focus group meeting related to Beristain’s supposedly independent health survey Cabrera relies on Beristain’s survey for his assessment of $9.5 billion in damages for excess cancer claims. While, at the direction of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, Berlinger edited the DVD version of Crude to conceal Beristain’s involvement with the lawyers, the unedited scene remains in a recently released internet version of the film. This documentation of collusion supported Chevron’s successful argument to a federal court in New York that other Crude outtakes should be reviewed for further evidence of misconduct. In its recent order, the New York court ruled that the fact that this scene was cut from the final version of the DVD at the direction of plaintiffs’ lawyers is a fact suggestive of an awareness of questionable activity."

Stuff worth reading: 11/4/08 director Jeff Deutchman talks to indieWIRE about the collaborative filmmaking behind his doc (it screens at NYC's Stranger Than Fiction on June 15), which includes contributions from Margaret Brown and Henry Joost.  There are reports that Warner Bros. plans to turn Jody Lambert's festival hit OF ALL THE THINGS into a narrative feature, with Steve Carrell being chased to play Lambert's songwriting dad, Dennis.  indieWIRE has the scoop on the weekend indie box office and doc wise, the story continues to be EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP - now at $2M and still climbing.

Finally, point of personal privilege: CONVENTION, the film I made at the 2008 DNC with fellow filmmakers Steven Bognar, Daniel Junge, Laura Poitras, Julia Reichert, Paul Taylor, Nathan Truesdell and David Wilson (as well as producers Britta Erickson, Shirley Moyers and Jenny Chikes), opens this Friday at the IFC Center and a number of us will be on hand all weekend to toast the theatrical premiere and take your questions.  A couple press pieces to note:  indieWIRE re-runs their article from last summer with Brian Brooks quizzing yours truly on the making of the film.  NY Magazine nicely calls the film "wonderfully counterintuitive...a generous portrait of the true face of modern democracy—if Robert Altman made documentaries, this is what they might look like."  Previously, Variety's Eddie Cockrell said it was "a bipartisan, upbeat celebration of democracy's delicate membrane and can-do spirit".  There's some other raves out there, but we'll spare the piling on (you can also find a negative review or two of the "nothing newsworthy happens" variety, which one might argue is beside the point, but one might also be biased).

Hope you can come out this weekend to the IFC Center - say hello.

The Monday Brief: Metz' ARMADILLO is the Latest Dane Success, EXIT is a DIY Phenom and a First Amendment Fund for Berlinger

Happy Monday one and all as the Cannes Film Festival has come to a close (and a certain television show has stopped eating my Twitter feed - God, please) and we head into the beginning of summer (with the June onslaught of film festivals soon upon us...

In the documentary world, the big news out of Cannes this year centered on two films - the premiere of Charles Ferguson's much lauded INSIDE JOB and the latest film from Danish filmmaker Janus Metz, ARMADILLO, which took the Grand Prix at La Semaine Internationale de la Critique.  ARMADILLO is reported to be the first documentary ever chosen for a competition slot in the Critics Week section.

Metz made a mark stateside in 2009 when his LOVE ON DELIVERY and its companion piece TICKET TO PARADISE played at a number of US festivals.  But ARMADILLO, which was one of the projects at CPH:DOX's 2009 Pitch Forum, should make many more doc film fans aware of Metz.  The film, which follows four young Danish soldiers in Afghanistan (shades of RESTREPO)  is already stirring controversy in Denmark over military tactics and reigniting debate there over the country's involvement in that war.

ARMADILLO's triumph further emphasizes (if one needed proof) that Denmark's documentary community is one of the most creative and vibrant in the world.  In the last few years, the Danes have produced such award winning films as THE MONASTERY - MR. VIG AND THE NUN, GHOSTS OF CITÉ SOLEIL, THE RED CHAPEL, THE INVENTION OF DR. NAKAMATS and BURMA VJ.

And while Ferguson's INSIDE JOB didn't play in Cannes' main competition (where FAHRENHEIT 9/11 remains the only nonfiction film to have ever won the Palme d'Or), critic Todd McCarthy (no stranger to documentary) suggests that it should have:

"Given the dearth of strong competing entries as well as the scarcity of American pictures this year, it would have been a great boost both to Cannes and the film to include INSIDE JOB in the competition."

We summed up further Cannes crix reax to Ferguson's latest here.  Sony Pictures Classics is due to release INSIDE JOB here in the fall, where box office for current events docs has not been sensational - Michael Moore's CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY is the only 2009 current events/political docu to break $1M and even that was considered a disappointment by his standards.  In 2008, only the conservative intelligent design flick EXPELLED: NO INTELLIGENCE ALLOWED surpassed $1M.

But non-issue docs continue to find success, at least in limited portions, and it's hard to imagine a more successful recent release - particularly in terms of word-of-mouth - than EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP.  The art world hype vs. reality film by Banksy continues to shake up the North American box office.  Now in 43 theaters, the film declined just 5% from the previous weekend, for an estimated average of $4,721 per screen - which is a better per screen take than any of the films in the box office top 20.

EXIT, whose DIY distribution was profiled by indieWIRE's Peter Knegt last month, now has an estimated cume of $1.6M and seems certain to get to $2M shortly, perhaps by the end of the Memorial Day weekend.

Meanwhile, the spring's two wider releases continue to take in money, even as they begin to cede their screens to the big summer (and pre-summer) films.  Disneynature's OCEANS now stands at $18.5M and looks to close out near (if not over) the $20M mark, while Focus Features' BABIES took in another $700K this weekend and now stands with more than $5M at the box office.

The weekend's major documentary release, Marshall Curry's Tribeca champ RACING DREAMS, seems to have stalled out on its way to theaters.  Estimates have that film taking in just $652 on its 33 screens, a disappointing number to be certain, particularly for a film that debuted with talk of stratospheric success and Oscar nominations.  We finally took in the film at the Ashland Film Festival last month and it seems certain RACING DREAMS will find an audience on television and DVD.

Switching gears (pardon that pun), news continues to unfold in the Joe Berlinger/CRUDE/Chevron case.  Berlinger's lawyers were granted a temporary stay by Lewis Kaplan, the US District Court judge that ruled Berlinger's raw footage could be subpeona'd by Chevron, while they appeal for his decision to be overturned.  Kaplan made clear, however, that he doubted his ruling would overturned.

Meanwhile, the filmmakers have taken to Kickstarter to attempt to raise $20,000 to support their legal efforts.  As of this writing, the CRUDE First Amendment fund has raised nearly $8K.  Here at the blog, nearly 250 people have signed onto the Open Letter of Support for Berlinger and there is talk bubbling of more high profile efforts in the coming weeks.

And finally: Tom Roston has a list and he's checking it twice.  The former Premiere writer, now contributing to the POV blog, is about to spring a list of the 50 Most Powerful People in Documentary:

"How did I come up with this list? In this case, I defined power by imagining a room full of filmmakers, producers, funders and programmers. If you are a documentary filmmaker, then who would you most want to be in that room advocating for your film? We're talking about the power to get your movie made exactly as you want it — and giving it the best chance to be seen by as many people as possible."

No names just yet, but one wonders if - as tales used to be told about publicists and others scrambling to get clients on similar lists by Premiere and Entertainment Weekly - Roston's mailbox is bulging with "helpful suggestions" right about now.  One also wonders if the list of 50 will be all individuals or whether a group of folks (the Sundance programmers for example) will take a single slot.

This week: Silverdocs announces its line-up.

Cannes 2010: Charles Ferguson's INSIDE JOB

One of the most talked about films from the Cannes Film Festival is the sophomore effort from Oscar nominee Charles Ferguson (who many pegged to win for his debut, NO END IN SIGHT).  Set for release from Sony Pictures Classics later in the year, INSIDE JOB is garnering mostly rave reviews for its distillation of the current economic disaster.

Writing in the NY Times, Manohla Dargis says that, like NO END IN SIGHT, "Mr. Ferguson’s new movie tells a complex story exceedingly well and with a great deal of unalloyed anger":

"Financed by Sony Pictures Classics, which plans to release it in the fall, “Inside Job” lays out its essential argument, cogently and convincingly, that the 2008 meltdown was avoidable. As Matt Damon's voiceover guides us through the past decade, Mr. Ferguson mixes charts, television clips, still photos and newspaper headlines fluidly with star interviews (George Soros, Eliot Spitzer) and some choice words from less familiar faces, including a brothel madam and a therapist who each catered to Wall Street in the bubble years. The movie ends not long after Robert Gnaizda, formerly with the Greenlining Institute, a housing advocacy group, characterizes the Obama administration as “a Wall Street government,” a take Mr. Ferguson clearly endorses."

Variety's Rob Nelson calls INSIDE JOB "the definitive screen investigation of the global economic crisis" and evidence of "a new nonfiction master at work":

"Pic's historical overview of the past 30 years in Wall Street finance may contain little that's new, but its concise rendering here is suitably bone chilling. In Ferguson's account, the Reagan-era deregulation of banks precedes Bill Clinton's Financial Services Modernization Act (or "Citigroup Relief Act") of 1999; George W. Bush's drastic diminishing of the Securities and Exchange Commission; and, the filmmaker argues, President Obama's neglect of campaign promises to enact financial reform and pursue the criminal prosecution of investment bankers who knowingly bet against the unreliable securities they sold to homebuyers.

Heard off-camera, Ferguson fearlessly grills a host of government and private sector bigwigs on what they knew and when they knew it. Repeatedly, the stuttering evasions of those interviewed -- amid several requests for the director to stop filming -- speak as loudly as words."

Ann Hornaday at Washington Post concurs, although she admits its the latest in a line of documentaries to examine the issue:

"Charles Ferguson's sleek and purposely infuriating film lays out in methodical and stunning detail the factors that led to the financial collapse of 2008, threading viewers through a complicated skein of financial information with smooth assurance and clear-eyed analysis. (Ferguson, who got rich during the high-tech boom of the 1990s and is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, directed the Oscar-nominated 2007 film NO END IN SIGHT)

Although much of the terrain has been covered before, in such films as MAXED OUT, I.O.U.S.A. and Michael Moore's CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY, Ferguson's INSIDE JOB deserves to be considered an authoritative primer on the financial collapse, and it's the first examination of the crisis to implicate not only Wall Street executives, regulators and ratings agencies but also academics and business school administrators who were paid consultants of corporations while offering seemingly objective opinions about their economic soundness."

The Monday Brief: Berlinger Supporters Number More Than 400, EXIT Hits $1M and Cannes In Progress

We're more than half-way through the fifth month of 2010.  Can summer be far behind?...

The Joe Berlinger/Chevron/CRUDE raw footage-subpeona situation continues to resonate throughout the nonfiction community.  An open letter of support for Berlinger, spearheaded by Patrick Creadon and Doug Blush - and supported by the IDA, was released on Wednesday and signed by nearly 200 folks in the documentary community.  Oscar winner Errol Morris signed onto the letter on Thursday, along with another 200 people (as of Monday) in the comments section here and 40 on the IDA's website.

Bill Moyers and Michael Winship, who both signed the letter, wrote in an opinion piece that while all eyes are on the oil spill in the gulf, "there's another important story involving Big Oil and pollution -- one that shatters not only the environment but the essential First Amendment right of journalists to tell truth and shame the devil":

"Some of the issues and nuances of Berlinger's case are admittedly complex, but they all boil down to this: Chevron is trying to avoid responsibility and hopes to find in the unused footage -- material the filmmaker did not utilize in the final version of his documentary -- evidence helpful to the company in fending off potential damages of $27.3 billion.

This is a serious matter for reporters, filmmakers and frankly, everyone else. Tough, investigative reporting without fear or favor -- already under siege by severe cutbacks and the shutdown of newspapers and other media outlets -- is vital to the public awareness and understanding essential to a democracy. As Michael Moore put it, "The chilling effect of this is, [to] someone like me, if something like this is upheld, the next whistleblower at the next corporation is going to think twice about showing me some documents if that information has to be turned over to the corporation that they're working for.""

More coverage of the letter at The Wrap, firedoglake blog and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

At the theatrical box office, it was more of the same that we've seen the past couple weeks.  The Banksy/Shepard Fairey/Mr. Brainwash documentary EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP continued its stellar DIY run - taking in another $230K for an estimated cume-to-date of $1,284,000.  That makes EXIT the third million-dollar-doc of 2010, following the success of Disneynature's OCEANS ($17.7M and counting, although now seemingly less likely to reach $20M) and Focus' BABIES, which declined a respectable 53% in its second weekend, still taking in just over $1M.  BABIES is now just shy of $4M.

CANNES 2010: Thom Powers Previews a Surprisingly Rich Doc Line-up

The Cannes Film Festival is now in full swing and this year's edition features a surprising strong line-up of documentary titles, including Charles Ferguson's INSIDE JOB, Sophie Feinnes' OVER YOUR CITIES, GRASS WILL GROW, Frederick Wiseman's BOXING GYM and Stephen Kijak's STONES IN EXILE, plus the latest from Danish filmmaker Janus Metz, a regular on the 2009 festival circuit with LOVE ON DELIVERY.

Thom Powers has a preview of all of these and more titles at the Stranger Than Fiction blog.  Powers will be in Cannes scouting for both the Toronto International Film Festival as well as his inaugural DocNYC.  He says that in his five years of attending Cannes, he's seen a steady increase in nonfiction's presence at the fest.

On his Facebook page, Thom is already pointing to the growing row over DRAQUILA: ITALY TREMBLES, a film by Sabina Guzzanti that targets Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's actions after a 2009 earthquake in L'Aquila.  Italian Culture Minister Sandro Bondi is skipping the festival over Cannes' decision to screen the work.

It's a latest documentary broadside to garner the ire of Berlusconi and his team.  Erik Gandini's acclaimed VIDEOCRACY (winner of the jury prize at Sheffield) screened last year in Toronto and has been a sensation in Europe and censored in Italy.

The Top 25 Film Festivals for Documentaries, 2nd Edition - 6 That Would've Made the List If Only They...

Previously: 9 More International Festivals That Matter

In figuring out which film festivals would make up the 2nd round of our Documentary Film Festival survey, there were a number of festivals which stood out as important and potentially monumental in the life of a film.  They have brand value (people have heard of them) and they have distributors attending (sales potential).  But they barely show any docs - not just American docs, but any docs.  So, herewith are...

Five festivals that would've made the list if only they showed more documentaries:

Cannes Film Festival

Important Recent Premieres:  MY NEIGHBOR, MY KILLER, A THORN IN THE HEART, TYSON, WALTZ WITH BASHIR

Our coverage of Cannes here.

Others:

Filmmaker:  "It's a market, but not really for docs."

Industry:  "If you’re a filmmaker and you get a film in Cannes, it looks really good on your resume.  Not sure it does much for the film.  You might be a little bit marginalized there.  If you’re waiting for Cannes to give you an answer and you are passing on SXSW or Full Frame or Hot Docs, then I think you’re making a huge mistake.  Even getting into Cannes may not be as good as playing 2 or 3 of these spring festivals.  99% of the time it doesn’t work out."

Industry:  "The ultimate prestige event for docs, but they take so few that it's not a must-attend."

Industry:  "I love Cannes.  Cannes is a secret to me.  Everybody’s there.  Everybody’s there from all over the world.  You can see so many films.  It’s a great value for what you can see.  But they show so few documentaries – it’s kind of crazy."

Twittering the Palme

We've only been paying peripheral attention to this year's Cannes Film Festival, a.) because we're up to our necks in preparing for our World Premiere, and b.) because the doc developments haven't exactly been what you'd call breathtaking, although Raphaela has done a good job keeping up with the social scene (here, here, here and here) and breaking the news - to me at least - that Bulgarian superstar docmakers Andrey Paounov (THE MOSQUITO PROBLEM AND OTHER STORIES) and Boris Depodov (CORRIDOR 8) were seeking money for a new animated film.

But I have been kept abreast by the twitter feeds of a few colleagues who have been steadfastly reporting their thoughts, reviews and whereabouts during their days in the south of France.  So, today, I was getting the prize winners in somewhat real time as I had my morning coffee, and I was interested to note that @FilmmakerMag, @alisonwilmore, @KarinaLongworth, @MattDentler, @erickohn, @laurex, @dwhtwit, @BRM and @The_AV_Club all had Michael Haneke's THE WHITE RIBBON as this year's Palme D'Or winner earlier - and in some cases hours - before @nytimes.  Not an earth-shattering revelation, I grant you.

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.