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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.

Tribeca 2010: MONICA & DAVID and THE ARBOR Take Top Doc Jury Prizes

Although it continues through this weekend, the Tribeca Film Festival held its awards gala on Thursday night with top honors in the World Documentary category going to Alexandra Codina's MONICA & DAVID.  The jury - comprised of top documentary filmmakers Marshall Curry, Margaret Brown, Jessica Alba and Whoopi Goldberg (among others) also presented Best New Documentary Filmmaker to Clio Barnard for THE ARBOR. Both films' directors received a $25,000 cash prize.

MONICA & DAVID, the story of two adults with Downs syndrome, heads next to Hot Docs where it will play next week.  NOW Toronto already has a preview, calling it "one of the most humane and emotionally rich films you'll see this year".  Prior to Tribeca, indieWIRE had some questions for director Codina.

Lots of folks have been talking about THE ARBOR and its mix of fiction/nonfiction in telling the story of playwright Andrea Dunbar.  Writing at The National, David D'Arcy describes:

"In THE ARBOR, named for a grim housing estate in Bradford, England, where the playwright Andrea Dunbar (1961-90) lived with her daughter Lorraine, the director Clio Barnard blends fiction and non-fiction in the story of a troubled family. Actors lip-synch testimony about Dunbar, who rose to success as an author but couldn’t rise above her surroundings and addiction."

More about THE ARBOR in a future post.

The New York Documentary Competition prize went to C. Scott Willis' THE WOODMANS, which tells the story of a tragedy in a family of artists.

The Brief: OCEANS and Bansky Reap Box Office Rewards, THE OATH Caps an Award-Winning April and Tribeca in Progress

We're dead in the middle of the spring festival onslaught, with Tribeca and San Francisco just hitting their mid-points, IFFBoston about to wrap its event and Hot Docs getting ready to kick-off tomorrow.  We went on our own mini-fest-tour earlier this month (Ashland and Sarasota - more on this later, but let's just say our assessment bore out) and we're trying to get our footing before we head up to Toronto next week.  So much is happening, and here's a brief sample in a mid-week brief...

It was a big weekend at the theatrical box office for OCEANS, the new film from Oscar nominated filmmaker Jacques Perrin (WINGED MIGRATION) and distributor Disneynature.  The film took in just over $6M for the weekend, after an Earth Day debut at the top of the charts on Thursday.  That takes the film to $8.4M so far, with expectations that the film will reach the $10M mark by today.  OCEANS took in nearly $5K per screen, which was the best average in the top 10.

Mystery seems to be paying off huge dividends for EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP, the curious documentary from the anonymous artist known as Banksy.  The film has taken in an $390,000 from a handful of screens (it expanded from 8 to 11 this weekend) for the best per screen average of any film in release, according to indieWIRE's weekly box office report, which also gives the back story of EXIT's unusual DIY release by sales rep John Sloss and a team that included Richard Abramowitz.

Also from Abramowith, Tom DiCillo's Doors documentary, WHEN YOU'RE STRANGE, took in another $24K in its third weekend, taking that film's total to just under $165,000.

As mentioned, Tribeca is heading for its closing weekend, with much of the doc talk surrounding the unstoppable force that is Alex Gibney.  With two completed films (and a segment of omnibus doc FREAKANOMICS) at this year's fest, Gibney made a huge splash with his not-yet-completed UNTITLED ELIOT SPITZER FILM (we summed up the press coverage here) over the weekend.

But Gibney wasn't the only news at Tribeca.  indieWIRE's Brian Brooks examines a potential controversy in the wake of Deborah Scranton's EARTH MADE OF GLASS.  Cinematical's Christopher Campbell has a review of FREETIME MACHOS (which is also headed to Hot Docs).  And at Movieline, S.T. Vanairsdale has a recap of the Q&A following Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg's popular JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK.  POV's Tom Roston finds that the Rivers doc changes his mind about the subject.

As the other April fests start wrapping up, it's worth noting the exceptional run Laura Poitras' THE OATH is having.  It began the month with a Special Jury Prize at Full Frame, and followed that with two Grand Jury notations - at Sarasota and at IFFBoston.  The film is heading to Hot Docs and then to the IFC Center where Zeitgeist will kick off its theatrical run next Friday.  We'll be hosting the LA premiere at Cinefamily on May 18. 

We finally got a chance to see THE OATH In Sarasota and it's a knockout, subtle and brilliant with one of the best scores in a documentary in years.

Two more of our favorite docs of 2010 also scored at Sarasota and Boston.  Josh Fox' GASLAND, which has been getting deserved raves all year, received the Special Jury prize in Sarasota and Jeff Malmberg's terrific, complex MARWENCOL picked up the same award at IFFBoston.  All three films will rank among the best in nonfiction in 2010.

Stuff worth reading:  Yance Ford recaps her experience at Full Frame and considers the once and future festival.  Raphaela Niehausen writes about Steven Soderbergh's appearance at Stranger Than Fiction for his Spalding Gray doc AND EVERYTHING IS GOING FINE.  Anthony Kaufman considers the "documentary fictions" of the Soderbergh film and the Banksy doc.  Kaufman also writes about the STF screening of Doug Block's latest THE KID GROWS UP.  And completing his doc trifecta, Anthony writes about "art docs" for IFC.com.  And finally, a post over at the IDA's news blog on a recent Supreme Court decision sparks a debate on first ammendment freedoms and animal cruelty.

Tribeca 2010: Alex Gibney's UNTITLED ELIOT SPITZER FILM

The hardest working man in documentary is back (and back and back and back) at the Tribeca Film Festival.  Oscar winner Alex Gibney brings his Sundance-premiered CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY, a feature version of Lawrence Wright's one-man show MY TRIP TO AL-QAEDA, as well as his slice of the closing night, omnibus documentary FREAKONOMICS.  So much Gibney was on display that Tribeca Fest co-founder Jane Rosenthal reportedly introduced the filmmaker by saying that they were remaining the event "the Alex Gibney Film Festival".

But even with several finished works on display, it was a 4th screening - the work-in-progress showing of his forthcoming documentary about disgraced former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer that had the New York doc community talking this weekend.

Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Michelle Kung provides the background for the unusual WIP screening of such a major work:

"Comprised of interviews with finance types, individuals involved in the escort business, as well as Spitzer himself, Gibney’s film traces the former New York Governor’s career from his start as an attorney general determined to take down corruption on Wall Street, to his status as a political joke after he was forced to resign for patronizing the Emperor’s Club VIP escort service. But, without giving too much away because the film isn’t yet finished, the documentary is more than just an expose of Spitzer’s sex scandal; Gibney also raises numerous questions about the incidents leading up the government’s investigation of Spitzer’s crime."

At Hollywood Elsewhere, Jeffrey Wells raved "this movie is going right into my list as one of the best films of 2010":

"What a dirty, stinking story this is -- a balding oddball hero with the right ideals and goals brought down by a fatal flaw, but whose public exposure and ruin is orchestrated by his powerful enemies, and not just any enemies but some of the same financially speculating, double-dealing Wall Street scumbags whose actions brought this country to the brink of financial ruin. Goodness falls, evil triumphs -- great movie material!

It is always the mark of a top-notch film when you think you know what it's going to do plot-wise, and it more or less does that in terms of what it "tells" but with so much more punch and pizazz and intrigue than you expected. And you come out of it going "wow, damn good!""

The Monday Brief: MARWENCOL Victorious, Hot Docs Lineups & What to Say About Elinor Burkett, Film Critics & The Conversation

Flying back to Los Angeles from Cleveland, where locals are putting the wraps on the latest edition of their staggeringly successful regional film festival.  With jammed corridors like I’d never seen before and uniformly packed screenings (a new record of 71,000 tickets sold), the Cleveland International Film Festival has developed an exceptionally loyal and curious fan base (one that reaches far outside the Cleveland metropolitan area), resulting in a festival that sets a high benchmark on the regional circuit and…

It was in Cleveland last night where two docs stood in the spotlight.  First and foremost, Jeff Malmberg's MARWENCOL continued its hot streak, picking up its second Jury Prize in less than two weeks – it took the title at SXSW last week (see our summary of the early reviews of the film here.  The film will next go to top fests Ashland in Oregon, IFFBoston and San Francisco International.

In addition, another documentary, LOUDER THAN A BOMB, a world premiere that follows participants in a poetry slam in Chicago, took two prize in Cleveland - the coveted Audience Award as well as the Greg Gund Memorial Standing Up Prize, given to the top social justice film.

As Cleveland was wrapping, another spring festival favorite, Don Hahn’s WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY (which screened at True/False and SXSW) kicked off its theatrical run, opening on five screens for a solid weekend estimate of $6,620 per screen.  The Disney distributed film on the fall and rise of the studio’s animation unit in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s is heading to Full Frame and Sarasota in the next few weeks.

While we've been on a bit of an extended hiatus (or at least slowdown), several top fests have posted their line-ups.  Hot Docs announced this past week that they will open with Thomas Balmès’ French doc BABIES - which was acquired by Focus Features at last year's Cannes Film Festival.  Said Focus topper James Schamus at the time:

“Seeing these little heroes during their formative moments makes Baby(ies) an extraordinarily entertaining experience, one that will appeal to any viewer of any age in any part of the world.  With this movie, Thomas is re-defining the nonfiction art form.”

Hot Docs has slated 25 films in its International Spectrum section of the festival, including festival favorites THE OATH, THE INVENTION OF DR. NAKAMATS, MARWENCOL, HIS & HERS and GASLAND.  Here's the full list:

HOT DOCS 2010
INTERNATIONAL SPECTRUM

AISHEEN (STILL ALIVE IN GAZA)
Directed by Nicolas Wadimoff (Qatar/Switzerland)

AUTUMN GOLD
Directed by Jan Tenhaven (Austria/Germany)

CHEMO
Directed by Pawel Lozinski (Poland)

DADDY'S GIRLS
Directed by Lily Sheffy (Isreal)

DAVID WANTS TO FLY
Directed by David Sieveking (Germany/Austria/Switzerland)

DISORDER
Directed by Huang Weikai (China)

FEATHERED COCAINE
Directed by Thorkell Hardarsson and Orn Marino Arnarson (Iceland)

A FILM UNFINISHED
Directed by Yael Hersonski (Isreal)

FLOWERS IN THE DESERT
Directed by José Alvarez (Mexico)

GASLAND
Directed by Josh Fox (USA)

GENERAL ORDERS NO. 9
Directed by Robert Persons (USA)

HIS & HERS
Directed by Ken Wardrop (Ireland)

I SHOT MY LOVE
Directed by Tomer Heymann (Isreal/Germany)

INTO ETERNITY
Directed by Michael Madsen (Sweden/Finland)

THE INVENTION OF DR. NAKAMATS
Directed by Kasper Astrup Schröder (Denmark)

ITO - A DIARY OF AN URBAN PRIEST
Directed by Pirjo Honkasalo (Finland)

MARWENCOL
Directed by Jeff Malmberg (USA)

THE OATH
Directed by Laura Poitras (USA)

THE PLAYER
Directed by John Appel (Netherlands)

THE REGRETTERS
Directed by Marcus Lindeen (Sweden)

SONA, THE OTHER MYSELF
Directed by Yang Yonghi (Japan/South Korea)

STEAM OF LIFE
Directed by Joonas Berghall and Mika Hotakainen (Finland)

TANKOGRAD
Directed by Boris Bertram (Denmark)

THIEVES BY LAW
Directed by Alexander Gentelev (Isreal/Germany)

WISTFUL WILDERNESS
Directed by Digma Sinke (Netherlands)

In addition to Hot Docs, IFFBoston also announced their strong line-up, including nearly 40 nonfiction features.  THE OATH, MARWENCOL and HIS & HERS will screen here as well - along with a number of other notable titles, including BANANAS!*, CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY, COLONY, ERASING DAVID, FAMILY AFFAIR, HOW TO FOLD A FLAG, I'M DANGEROUS WITH LOVE, JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK, SATURDAY NIGHT, WAR DON DON and our own CONVENTION.

In one more bit of spring festival news, Tribeca announced today that they will close their 2010 festival with the ensemble doc FREAKONOMICS, featuring new work from an all-star line-up of docmakers, including Morgan Spurlock, Alex Gibney, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, Seth Gordon and Eugene Jarecki.

And one more thing...  Part of the reason why I’ve been so slack over the past few weeks is that I’ve been editing my new film (and I’m desperately trying to keep my priorities in order).  But another reason why I haven’t been able to muster together Monday Briefs the past three weeks is that I’ve been at somewhat of a loss to add anything of substance to the various debates du jour.  

I mean, what really is there to say about Elinor Burkett that wasn’t said by the late night comedians?  And seriously, are any of us happy that the most famous documentarian on Oscar night is a loud-mouthed punchline?  Or that after months of THE COVE’s steady march to Oscar glory, that film’s director wasn’t allowed to speak about the reason that he made the film – unfurled banner or second speaker rules be damned.

And what to add to the latest rounds of film critic wars and woes?  Armond White vs. J. Hoberman?  Glenn Kenny vs. Eric Kohn?  The pink-slipping of sometime documentarian and longtime film critic Todd McCarthy by the imploding Variety?  The cancellation of “At the Movies”, just as the series seemed to have a rebirth (and more focus on documentaries) with the hiring of the NY Times’ A.O. Scott and the Chicago Tribune’s Michael Phillips.  And the less said about Kevin Smith, the better.  All this in just three weeks. I mean, it was nearly four years ago when I wrote “Dog Days for Film Critics”, but who could imagine it would get so much worse so quickly.

Which is not to say that this stuff doesn’t matter.  It does.  It matters that the biggest platform that documentary filmmakers have all year was hijacked by a lucky-to-be-nominated producer (don’t run off at the mouth about how you don’t like the finished film and how your vision isn’t on the screen at the same time that you clutch your little gold man) and an overeager activist/show director.  Looking idiotic on television is not good for our brand, if that must be said aloud.

And the state of our film criticism union is not strong.  And that matters to us as well.  Check out Rotten Tomatoes year end lists of the best reviewed films of the year.  It’s consistently dominated by nonfiction features.  Now, as much as I love docs, I gotta admit I find it a little hard to believe that we are really that much better than narrative films, but I will take any bit of leverage I can to get our films out before an audience that needs to be convinced that we are entertaining, cinematic and theatrical.

And what to make of The Conversation, a much tweeted about gathering of the usual suspects in New York and the latest attempt to grasp hold of some sense of balance as the ground keeps shifting underneath our industry.  Maybe one day one of these events will come up with the big answers, but for now it seems like a constant cry for filmmakers to find more ways to be innovative (and spend more time marketing and promoting their films - for free, naturally) while the "industry" types pontificate.  How many of the folks speaking at The Conversation actually pay filmmakers and vendors what they say they will? And they charge filmmakers to watch this stuff?

So, alas and alack, I have thoughts but no answers.  And I'm probably as much of a usual suspect as those on the dais in New York.  But I'm quickly looking forward to some new things to have conversations about.

Tribeca 2010: Competition Docs from Deborah Scranton, Jeff Zimbalist and a W-I-P from Alex Gibney

The Tribeca Film Festival announced part of their line-up today - including their competition sections and some special screenings.  Amongst the "Special Events" is a work-in-progress screening of Alex Gibney's forthcoming Elliot Spitzer documentary, a somewhat surprising debut for the anticipated doc.  The fest's description says of the as-yet-untitled film: "With unique access to friends and enemies of the ex-governor, this documentary explores the hidden contours of this tale of hubris, sex, and power."

Meanwhile, this year's documentary competition line-up may not have the star-power of last year's fest (featuring premieres from Oscar nominees Kirby Dick and Marshall Curry, among others), but it does feature new work from two filmmakers who were Oscar shortlisted for their previous docs - THE WAR TAPES' Deborah Scranton and FAVELA RISING's Jeff Zimbalist.

Here's this year's Tribeca Documentary Competition Slate (with descriptions provided by the festival):

AMERICAN MYSTIC
Directed by Alex Mar (USA) – World Premiere.
Set against a vivid backdrop of American rural landscapes, Alex Mar’s meditative documentary artfully weaves together the stories of three young Americans exploring alternative religion: a Wiccan in California mining country, a New Ager in upstate New York, and a Native American father and sundancer in South Dakota, all yearning for fulfilling spirituality in disparate but often strikingly similar ways.

THE ARBOR
Directed by Clio Barnard (UK) – World Premiere.
Brilliantly blending the borders of narrative and documentary filmmaking, artist-cum-director Clio Barnard beautifully reconstructs the fascinating true story of troubled British playwright Andrea Dunbar and her tumultuous relationship with her daughter. Working from two years of audio interviews, Bernard uses classic documentary techniques, actors, theatrical performance, and Dunbar’s own neighborhood to generate a unique cinematic feast while unraveling the truths of a dark family past.

BUDRUS
Directed by Julia Bacha (USA, Palestine, Israel) – North American Premiere.
In one of the most conflicted parts of the world, a Palestinian family man unites rival parties Fatah and Hamas, Western activists, and even groups of progressive Israelis in a nonviolent crusade to save his village from being destroyed. Award-winning documentarian Julia Bacha (Encounter Point, TFF ’06) captures with rawness and galvanizing intensity the power of ordinary people to peaceably fight for extraordinary changes. In Arabic, English, Hebrew with English subtitles.

The Top 25 Film Festivals for Documentaries, 2nd Edition - #8. Tribeca

Previously: #7 AFI Silverdocs

#8. Tribeca Film Festival

Our take: By all accounts, the 2009 edition of Tribeca was a complete rebirth for a festival that many feared had invariably lost its way.  The fest, which had spread its wings all over Manhattan, pared down and focused on having a festival neighborhood and most found the result to be a major success.  The Tribeca organization also seemed to quietly weather a series of changes that led to former Sundance chief Geoffrey Gilmore coming aboard to run the Tribeca Institute.  A top-notch, all-star doc slate, financial parity for the $25,000 doc prize (which had been set lower than the narrative) and the Institute's Gucci doc fund all signal that the organization imagines itself as a multi-pronged film organization that supports nonfiction.

The downside: Last year's great slate was mostly in place before Gilmore came above and many of the high-profile titles were films that hadn't been accepted during Gilmore's Sundance reign.  Members of the press report a better fest for them than in previous years (when the festival was outright hostile towards them) but still has a way to go.  Will the Institute's many prongs (a festival in Doha?) suffocate a festival that needs good care and feeding?

Important recent premieres: RACING DREAMS, OUTRAGE, FIXER: THE TAKING OF AJMAL NAQSHBANDI, AMERICAN CASINO, WHICH WAY HOME, SHADOW BILLIONAIRE, ONLY WHEN I DANCE, P-STAR RISING

Our coverage of Tribeca here.

TRIBECA 2009: Marshall Curry's RACING DREAMS Wins Grand Jury Prize

Marshall Curry, who was the talk of Tribeca for most of the week with his kids-in-go-carts documentary, RACING DREAMS, tonight won the Grand Jury Prize at the festival.  Yoav Shamir's DEFAMATION received a Special Jury Prize.

indieWIRE's Peter Knegt reported earlier today that RACING DREAMS also looks to be the favorite in the competition for the Audience Award, which - like IDFA - Tribeca is tallying in public.

Ian Olds, who has co-directed two previous feature documentaries (and won an Independent Spirit Award for OPERATION: DREAMLAND), was awarded the Best New Documentary Filmmaker prize for his excellent new film THE FIXER.  (As we've seen from New Directors/New Films, one can apparently be "new" in New York well into your third or even fourth feature.)

Both Curry and Olds received cash prizes of $25,000 for their wins.

The much talked about circumcision doc PARTLY PRIVATE (directed by Danae Elon) received the award for Best New York Documentary.

TRIBECA 2009: The Quiet Artistry of Ian Olds' FIXER

There's a moment a little more than halfway through Ian Olds' latest film, FIXER: THE TAKING OF AJMAL NAQSHBANDI, wherein Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo is pleading with his country to do something to save him.  Mastrogiacomo has been kidnapped while working in Afghanistan, along with his Afghan driver Sayed Agha and Afghan journalist Ajmal Naqshbandi.

It's at this moment that you may remember Mastrogiacomo's story and the international headlines of his capture, his ordeal and, ultimately, the decision by Afghanistan's government to release 5 Taliban fighters in exchange for Mastrogiacomo's release.

Until this moment, nothing in Ian Olds' filmmaking gives you the sense that you are part of a story that made headlines around the world.  Much to his great credit, Olds operates purely from the personal.  And rightly so, as FIXER is not about Mastrogiacomo, nor about the world-wide coverage of his ordeal, but rather about his guide, the young Afghan journalist Naqshbandi, who was later murdered by his Taliban captors.

Naqshbandi is "the fixer" of the title and apparently he was quite good at it.  Arranging transport, translation and general advice about the rapidly changing Afghan countryside, Naqshbandi is seen, in footage shot months before his kidnapping by Olds, guiding Christian Parenti, an American journalist writing for the Nation.  He's not yet 25 but he seems worldly in ways that the American journalist does not.

Politico Ties OUTRAGE to Clinton White House, Does Not Name Names

One of the key compaints in Kirby Dick's new documentary OUTRAGE is that mainstream news organizations, particularly those steeped in the Washington political culture, collude with gay politicians by refusing to report on - or even willfully protecting - their sexuality, even when they continually campaign and vote against gay rights.

The hope for the filmmakers seems to be, as we noted in our review yesterday, that the film, with its detailed reporting on various politicians (both Republicans and Democrats it must be noted) would force the issue into the open.  Patrick Goldstein at the LA Times has already written a piece that must be the first time that particular news organization described local congressman David Dreier as a closeted gay man.

Now, however, Politico, the DC-based, widely-read website has posted its first, lengthy piece (not counting blog mentions) about the film and they refuse to name one of the subjects of Dick's film.  Further, they tie the film to a former aide in Bill Clinton's White House.

Headlined "Ex-Clinton Aide's Film Touts Outing", the article provides fodder for right-wing blogs by suggesting that OUTRAGE Executive Producer Chad Griffin (although the article names him as THE executive producer of the film, he's actually one of 7 EPs on the project) is the major force behind the film:

"A former aide in Bill Clinton’s White House is backing a new film that tries to make the case that several nationally prominent Republican politicians are closeted gay men who hypocritically thwart advances in the gay-rights agenda...

Last fall, Griffin’s firm worked on ads opposing Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that prohibited same-sex marriage in the state. He lost that fight, but returns to it with OUTRAGE."

OUTRAGE has its world premiere tonight at the Tribeca Film Festival.