Sunday, June 22-----A film festival is invariably a series of moments. And if one is lucky, there is an interesting symmetry between those moments. And if one is very lucky indeed, then a special kind of serendipity brings those moments into some deeper understanding. When those moments are not officially related to one another, but still offer illuminating cross-referencing, it is all the more special. This was my experience over the past two days as I attended the final films of this year's...

 Saturday, June 21------As SILVERDOCS enters its final weekend, one is both encouraged and discouraged by the assessments of many professionals who have appeared on panels as part of the parallel International Documentary Conference.While the sheer number of films here (over 120 screened, over 1500 submitted)) is evidence of a spike in documentary production around the world, the performance of recent films at the box office has made for quite a sober event here. "We are experiencing th...

 Saturday, June 21-------How does one make a film based in a divided East Jerusalem that is not overtly political? That was the challenge for French director Georgi Lazarevski in his documentary film THS WAY UP, which had its East Coast Premiere at SILVERDOCS yesterday.The film is set in the Our Lady of Sorrows nursing home in East Jerusalem, a venerable (if delapidated) institution for aging Catholic Palestinians. Residents once had a sweeping view of the city of Jerusalem but that has been ...

 Saturday, June 21-----In celebrations being held around the world, the events and repercussions of that pivotal year in world history, 1968, are being discussed, remembered and even eulogized. The events of that turbulent year in political and social history are best experienced and explained through the music of the times and the films of the era.At SILVERDOCS, the Festival is presenting a sidebar program entitled 1968 AND BEYOND that offers several seminal films from 1968 that give as accura...

 Friday, June 20----The SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival has, in just six short years, become the premium festival for non-fiction film in the United States. With documentary films on the rise all over the globe, tackling every subject under the sun and even revealing some considerable box office muscle, this event has become ground zero for appreciating documentary works from the U.S. and overseas and track the trends for non-fiction media of the future.With the explosion...

 Friday, June 20--------SILVERDOCS is, by and large, a non-glam event, with most attendees simply hard-working documentarians, most working without massive media spotlight. However, each year, the event brings some Hollywood-style stardust to the proceedings. In the past two years, the Festival has honored Jonathan Demme and Martin Scorsese, specifically for their documentary work. Last night, it was Spike Lee's turn, as the iconoclastic director was honored with the Guggenheim Symposium for h...

The Rhode Island International Film Festival’s 2007 Audience Choice Award Winner Screens at Prestigious Sun Yat-sen University PROVIDENCE, RI (April 9, 2008) – The Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF)– New England’s largest film festival and its only Academy Award qualifying event – is pleased to announce the screening of “From The 50 Yard Line” at the prestigious Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China thanks to a special partnership between the two festivals. ...

Friday, February 16----Much has been written about the "golden age of documentaries" that we suddenly and fortunately are currently immersed in. Perhaps it is a response to a violent and confusing world to which we are looking to bring knowledge, healing and understanding. Aside from aesthetic considerations, the documentary has also proven to be a highly profitable item for distributors, with such films as FAHRENHEIT 911, MARCH OF THE PENGUINS and this year's AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH...

Man Ray's Famous Photograph Wednesday, November 2----Three films showing at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival will focus on the creative life and careers of three different artists, each in a style all its own. The three films make an interesting triptych that demonstrates how the art of film can be used to interpret the art of the canvas or photograph. A local South Florida artist with an international following, Purvis Young is a prolific painter who uncovers the beauty and uni...

Tam Tam Digifestival sponsors IPSE DIGIT, a competition reserved to digital audio-video productions. If you have realized only by digital a videoclip, an Internet documentary, a mobile movie or a newsreel reportage, please send your work to: Coop. Tam Tam, Via Ugo Niutta 33, 80128 Napoli / Naples - Italy. It can last from one minute to one hour. The competion is from October 1st to December 31st 2006. It will award 5 between the best works in each section (Digi Music, Fahrenheit Planet, Mobile T...

Monday, October 9----Veteran documentary director Barbara Kopple will be honored with the Maverick Award at the Woodstock Film Festival, which opens on Thursday. She will be honored at a special Awards Ceremony on Saturday evening, with actress-turned-documentarian Rosie Perez giving Kopple her award honors. Perez co-directed her first documentary film this year, the autobiographical I'M BORICUA, JUST SO YOU KNOW! Rosie Perez Kopple, a double Oscar winner for her films HARLAN COUNTRY USA and...

Saturday, June 17----As the US Congress debated this week on the future of the war in Iraq, four documentaries presented at the SILVERDOCS AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival provide a more in-depth understanding of the cost of this bloody conflict to the American economy, the American morale and America’s standing in the world. While the Bush Administration offers platitudes of bringing Western style democracy to the Middle East, the true politics of that region are “petro politics...

Friday, June 16----The new frontiers in distribution of documentary films has been a running theme at the SILVERDOCS International Documentary Conference. While other topics such as film financing, working with non-profits and foundations, and producing for public television are rather evergreen and non-changing from years past, the arena of distribution is on fire, with a number of panels pointing to incredible new opportunities for documentary filmmakers to reach wider audiences. On Thursday ...

Thursday, June 15----One of the tenets of the American system of governing is a strict separation of church and state. It is very clearly written into our Constitution, and was certainly the intention of our "founding fathers", who had experienced the persecutions of state religions in Europe. This seperation between church doctrine and the rule of law has been scrupulously followed but that wall is definitely crumbling. A number of documentaries premiering at the SILVERDOCS festival this week,...