All these wonderful things

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.

Nearly 200 Top Doc Makers Sign Open Letter of Support for Joe Berlinger

In the aftermath of a judge's ruling that may force filmmaker Joe Berlinger to hand over the outtakes from CRUDE to energy giant Chevron, nearly 200 top documentary filmmakers have signed "an open letter of support", protesting the breadth of the decision by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to allow Chevron to subpeona all of Berlinger's raw footage.

Noting that "it is understood that First Amendment protection of the journalist's privilege is never absolute", the letter goes on to note that "(t)ypically, if such privilege is successfully rebutted in court, a turn-over order demanding a document or other thing is issued..."

"Therefore, it is astounding to us that Judge Kaplan demanded that all of the footage shot during the production of the film be handed over to the attorneys of Chevron, given that the privilege exists primarily to protect against the wholesale exposure of press files to litigant scrutiny...

At the heart of journalism lies the trust between the interviewer and his or her subject.  Individuals who agree to be interviewed by the news media are often putting themselves at great risk, especially in the case of television news and documentary film where the subject's identity and voice are presented in the final report.  If witnesses sense that their entire interviews will be scrutinized by attorneys and examined in courtrooms they will undoubtedly speak less freely.  This ruling surely will have a crippling effect on the work of investigative journalists everywhere, should it stand."

Spearheaded by filmmaker Patrick Creadon and editor Doug Blush (who worked together on WORDPLAY and I.O.U.S.A.), the letter has been signed by a veritable who's who of the documentary community, including at least 20 Oscar winners (among them: Michael Moore, Alex Gibney, Rob Epstein, Barbara Kopple, Peter Davis, Davis Guggenheim, Freida Lee Mock, James Marsh, Louie Psihoyos, Ross Kauffman, Kevin Macdonald, Jessica Yu, Cynthia Wade, Mark Harris, Steven Okazaki and Leon Gast), and even more Oscar nominees (including DA Pennebaker, Morgan Spurlock, Laura Poitras, Kirby Dick, Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady, Jeff Blitz, James Longley, Tia Lessin, Carl Deal, Ellen Kuras, Robert Kenner, Julia Reichert, Steven Bognar, Scott Kennedy, Hupert Sauper, Liz Garbus and Amy Berg) as well as dozens of the community's top filmmakers (Kim Longinotto, Jehane Noujaim, Chris Hegedus, R.J. Cutler, Nick Broomfield, Haskell Wexler, Steve James, Peter Gilbert, Ken Burns, Lucy Walker, Doug Pray and Amir Bar-Lev, among them).

[Full disclosure: I am also a signer on the letter.]

Work began on the letter on Saturday when Creadon reached out to a handful of filmmakers calling for a united community response in support of Berlinger.  A first draft on the letter was completed Sunday, with the IDA joining the effort and working with Creadon and others to finesse the language regarding the case's complex legal issues.  IDA President Eddie Schmidt took the letter to his Board of Directors, which decided to sign the letter en masse to make a statement on behalf of the organization. 

"Advocacy is an area where an organization like IDA can make a difference - and we should try to lead as much as we can," Schmidt told me.  "It seemed important to come out early and instrumentally, and luckily, we have a forward-thinking Board of Directors and an Executive Director who believe in making a stand."

Schmidt said that he was amazed at the support the letter garnered within the community in just a few short days.  "Those names say it all: who can argue with the greatest cinematic arguers of our time?"

In an email exchange, Creadon wrote about his reaction to the news as it broke last Thursday:

"I read the story in the New York Times Saturday morning and was stunned when I realized Joe was likely going to have to turn over all of his footage.  What many outside of our community do not realize is that of all the challenges facing documentary filmmakers, it's often the legal hurdles that prove to be most difficult.  And of course legal difficulties usually lead to big legal bills -- a particularly acute kind of pain that doesn't just hurt the individual but can often hurt that person's family and livelihood."

And earlier today, Blush described the chain of events that unfolded after the judge's decision was announced:

"I've worked on several films with critical interview confidentiality issues, and when I first saw the story Thursday, I was profoundly shaken by its implications.  Patrick called on Friday, and he was on fire.  He proposed bringing together doc community filmmakers around a statement of support, and wrote a first draft.  Since then, with many great suggestions and the incredible tidal wave of signatures, the statement is out there and Joe knows he's not alone in this.  My gratitude goes out to Eddie, the IDA, and this amazing global group of artists, and I believe this can be a first step to amend and increase the vital legal protections for our work."

The full text of the letter after the jump.

Filmmakers and others in the documentary community are invited to add their names to this open letter in the comments section of this post.

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

Festival coverage sponsored by IndiePix.

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

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

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

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

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

Festival coverage sponsored by IndiePix.

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

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

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

IN DEPTH: The Competition Docs of Sundance 2008

Festival coverage sponsored by IndiePix.

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

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

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

AN AMERICAN SOLDIER
Directed by Edet Belzberg

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

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

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

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

Sundance 2008: New Docs from Nanette Burstein, Alex Gibney, Patrick Creadon and Margaret Brown Amongst Competition Line-Up

The first glimpse of the documentary class of 2008 was just announced as the Sundance Film Festival unveiled its Documentary Competition and World Documentary Competition Lineups.  Amongst the famous names coming to Park City are Oscar nominees Nanette Burstein, who debuts her A&E IndieFilms feature AMERICAN TEEN, and Alex Gibney, who brings his bio GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON.  Also, Patrick Creadon, who made a big splash at Sundance 2006 with WORDPLAY, returns with I.O.U.S.A., Margaret Brown, who made the acclaimed Townes Van Zandt doc BE HERE TO LOVE ME, brings THE ORDERS OF MYTHS and acclaimed cinematographer Ellen Kuras will screen NERAKHOON (THE BETRAYAL), a film 23 years in the making.

Here's the Documentary Competition Line-Up, with descriptions furnished by the festival:

AN AMERICAN SOLDIER
Directed by Edet Belzberg
Uncle Sam really wants you! A compelling exploration of army recruitment in the United States told through the story of Louisiana Sergeant, First Class Clay Usie, one of the most successful recruiters in the history of the U.S. Army. World Premiere   

AMERICAN TEEN
Directed by Nanette Burstein
This irreverent cinema verite chronicles four seniors at an Indiana high school and yields a surprising snapshot of Midwestern life. World Premiere      

BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER*
Directed by Christopher Bell
A filmmaker explores America’s win-at-all-cost culture by examining his two brothers' steroids use...and his own. World Premiere      

FIELDS OF FUEL
Directed by Josh Tickell
America is addicted to oil and it is time for an intervention. Enter Josh Tickell, a man with a plan and a Veggie Van, who is taking on big oil, big government, and big soy to find solutions in places few people have looked. World Premiere      

FLOW: FOR LOVE OF WATER
Directed by Irena Salina
Water is the very essence of life, sustaining every being on the planet. FLOW confronts the disturbing reality that our crucial resource is dwindling and greed just may be the cause.  World Premiere   

GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON
Directed by Alex Gibney
Fueled by a raging libido, Wild Turkey, and superhuman doses of drugs, Thompson was a true "free  lance," goring sacred cows with impunity, hilarity, and a steel-eyed conviction for writing wrongs.   Focusing on the good doctor's heyday, 1965 to 1975, the film includes clips of never-before-seen (nor heard) home movies, audiotapes, and passages from unpublished manuscripts. World Premiere      

THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO
Directed by Lisa F. Jackson
Jackson travels to remote villages in the war zones of the Congo to meet rape survivors, providing a  piercing, intimate look into the struggle of their lives. World Premiere      

I.O.U.S.A.
Directed by Patrick Creadon
Few are aware that America may be on the brink of a financial meltdown. I.O.U.S.A. explores the country’s shocking current fiscal condition and ways to avoid a national economic disaster. World Premiere      

NERAKHOON (THE BETRAYAL)
Directed by Ellen Kuras; Co-Director: Thavisouk Phrasavath
The epic story of a family forced to emigrate from Laos after the chaos of the secret air war waged by the U.S. during the Vietnam War. Kuras has  spent the last 23 years chronicling the family's extraordinary journey in this deeply personal, poetic, and emotional film. World Premiere      

THE ORDER OF MYTHS
Directed by Margaret Brown
In 2007 Mobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras is celebrated...and complicated.  Following a cast of characters, parades, and parties across an enduring color line, we see that beneath the surface of pageantry lies something else altogether. World Premiere      

PATTI SMITH: DREAM OF LIFE
Directed by Steven Sebring
An intimate portrait of music icon Patti Smith that mirrors the essence of the artist herself. World Premiere      

ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED
Directed by Marina Zenovich
Marina Zenovich's new documentary examines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary director Roman Polanski's sudden flight from the United States. World Premiere      

SECRECY
Directed by Peter Galison, Robb Moss
Amidst the American hunger for instantaneous news and up-to-date “facts,” this unflinching film uncovers the vast, invisible world of government secrecy. World Premiere   

SLINGSHOT HIP HOP
Directed by Jackie Reem Salloum
The voice of a new generation rocks and rhymes as Palestinian rappers form alternative voices of resistance within the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. World Premiere   

TRACES OF THE TRADE: A STORY FROM THE DEEP NORTH
Directed by Katrina Browne; Co-Directors: Alla Kovgan, Jude Ray
History finally gets rewritten as descendants of the largest slave-trading family in early America face their past, and present, as they explore their violent heritage across oceans and continents. World Premiere      

TROUBLE THE WATER
Directed by Tia Lessin
An aspiring rap artist and her streetwise husband, armed with a video camera, show what survival is all about when they are trapped in New Orleans by deadly floodwaters, and seize a chance for a new beginning.   
World Premiere 

Here are the films screening in the World Cinema Documentary Competition:   

ALONE IN FOUR WALLS (ALLEIN IN VIER WANDEN)
Directed by Alexandra Westmeier
Germany
Adolescent boys struggle to grow up in a home for delinquents in rural Russia where life behind bars may be better than the release to freedom. North American Premiere   

THE ART STAR AND THE SUDANESE TWINS
Directed by Pietra Brettkelly
New Zealand
Vanessa Beecroft is obsessively determined to adopt Sudanese twin orphans. Her consuming passion drives her marriage to a breaking point and fuels her controversial art, raising troubling questions about exploitation, culture clash, and the imposition of the West on Africa.  World Premiere   

BE LIKE OTHERS
Directed by Tanaz Eshaghian
UK
An intimate and unflinching  look at life in Iran, seen through the lens of those living at its fringes, BE LIKE OTHERS is a provocative look at a generation of young Iranian men choosing to undergo sex change surgery.  World Premiere   

A COMPLETE HISTORY OF MY SEXUAL FAILURES
Directed by Chris Waitt
UK
Chris is a useless boyfriend. Determined to find out  why, he consults his ex-girlfriends, medical practitioners, producers, and mother to find out how   women really see him. Has this journey made him potential boyfriend material or is he staring a life  of loneliness square in the face? World Premiere   

DEREK
Directed by Isaac Julien
UK
A film involving two courageous and innovative artists—one the subject and one the filmmaker—provides a cinematic journey that illuminates the work and enduring importance of the late Derek Jarman. World Premiere      

DINNER WITH THE PRESIDENT
Directed by Sabiha Sumar and Sachithanandam Sathananthan
Pakistan
From on-the-street interviews to audiences with religious leaders to dinner with the President of Pakistan, the film takes the temperature of a culture on issues from politics to women’s rights. U.S. Premiere      

DURAKOVO: THE VILLAGE OF FOOLS (DURAKOVO: LE VILLAGE DES FOUS)
Directed by Nino Kirtadze
France
Russian nationalism percolates in a castle outside Moscow, where Mikhail Morozov rules autonomously over young initiates, laying the groundwork for a rapidly growing right-wing movement. North American Premiere   

IN PRISON MY WHOLE LIFE
Directed by Marc Evans
UK
A curious young filmmaker attempts to understand the true story behind award-winning journalist Mumia Abu Jamal’s death row sentence, and comes to startling realizations about American history and its justice system. With William Francome, Noam Chomsky, Alice Walker, Mos Def, Smoof, Snoop Dogg, Angela Davis. North American Premiere      

MAN ON WIRE
Directed by James Marsh
UK
In 1974, Philippe Petit, a young Frenchman, dances on a wire suspended between New York's Twin Towers.  Consequently, Philippe is arrested and thrown into jail for what would become known as “the artistic crime of the century.” World Premiere   

pUUJEE
Directed by Kazuya Yamada
Japan
Against the backdrop of a magnificent but harsh natural landscape, a Japanese photojournalist encounters puujee, a young girl who tames wild horses on the Mongolian plains. North American Premiere   

RECYCLE
Directed by Al Massad
Jordan
A Jordanian family man living in the hometown of Muslim leader Al-Zarqawi struggles to support his family and define his identity in a tense political climate. World Premiere   

STRANDED: I’VE COME FROM A PLANE THAT CRASHED ON THE MOUNTAINS
Directed by Gonzalo Arijon
France
For the first time ever, survivors of the famous 1974  Andes plane crash tell in their own words their harrowing story of survival. North American  Premiere   

TRIAGE: DR. JAMES ORBINSKI’S HUMANITARIAN DILEMMA
Directed by Patrick Reed
Canada
Acclaimed doctor James Orbinski, former head of Doctors Without Borders, returns to Africa to confront the harsh reality of conditions there and explores what it means to be a  humanitarian. North American Premiere      

UP THE YANGTZE
Directed by Yung Chang
Canada
At the edge of the Yangtze  River, not far from the Three Gorges Dam, young men and women take up employment on a cruise  ship, where they confront rising waters and a radically changing China. U.S. Premiere         

THE WOMEN OF BRUKMAN (LES FEMMES DE LA BRUKMAN)
Directed by Isaac Isitan
Canada
Amidst Argentina’s financial collapse, workers take over a Buenos Aires men’s clothing factory and continue producing clothing on a self-management model. As the formerly poor become business managers, their lives are changed forever. U.S. Premiere   

YASUKUNI
Directed by Li Ying
Japan
Controversy abounds as Japanese officials  honor the deceased at the legendary Yasukuni shrine, where swords used to kill Chinese soldiers  were famously forged. Few know about the shrine’s eerie past and the mysterious sword inside. Cast:  Kariya Naoji, Sugawara Ryuken,Gaojin Sumei. North American Premiere 

Sundance Films in Competition 2006

Indiewire has the full line-up of films in competition for the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. In a separate article, Sundance's John Cooper says, "I think that this year is going to be the festival of new faces", with nearly 50 first-time feature filmmakers represented.

In the documentary competition, the films are:

"A Lion In The House," directed by Steven Bognar & Julia Reichert
Five diverse families -- each with a child fighting cancer -- navigate the ups and downs of treatment over six years, while maintaining hope in this complex portrait of human resilience. [World Premiere]

"American Blackout," directed by Ian Inaba
A stylish hard hitting documentary that recounts the fascinating career of Representative Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) and the suppression of the black vote historically and during the recent Presidential elections in Florida and Ohio. [World Premiere]