by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor Coming to a climax after a week full of screening premieres, information sessions, special events and networking parties, the 2009 SILVERDOCS Documentary Film Festival, co-presented by the American Film Institute and The Discovery Channel, announced its award winners this past weekend, spreading the wealth amongst a diverse group of documentary titles. This year, the Festival screened over 120 films representing 58 countries and incl...

  by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor Nothing is more prized at a film festival than a World Premiere, the first go out of the gate of a film that can trace its origin to that very film event. It is what builds reputations for festivals and captures the attention of media professionals and press with special attentiveness. The Silverdocs International Film Festival, which ends on Sunday, has a good number of World Premieres to tantalize. Chief among them is tonight's...

 by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies EditorIn a theater full of documentary filmmakers and film lovers, the appearance of an eminence grise the likes of Albert Maysles is the equivalent of having a member of documentary royalty in your midst. Maysles, along with his late brother David, was responsible for some of the most iconic documentaries of the past fifty years and has served as a mentor to hundreds of filmmakers.Albert Maysles is widely recognized as a pioneer of “direct cinema” a...

  by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor The SILVERDOCS International Film Festival, which is entering its final weekend, is by most accounts a very sober affair. After all, many of the films are about challenging subjects of human rights abuse, political exploitation, ecological ruin and the inhumanity of men and their regimes. But the programmers of the event have made sure to season this sober brew with some films whose premises are a bit "out there". However, i...

  by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor President Barack Obama is, if nothing else, very telegenic.....the camera simply loves him and cannot get enough. This fact plus his historic ascendancy in a mere two years from junior Senator to the top political leader of the world is an astounding one that will certainly be the stuff of legend in years to come. But for the moment, we are living that legend and the media fascination on and surrounding Obama is electric. Afte...

  by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor "The future is strange", declared Silverdocs International Documentary Conference Keynote Speaker Tom Bernard, the co-founder and co-President of Sony Pictures Classics (SPC). Drawing on a 30 year career where he has marketed and distributed some of the most celebrated American independent and world cinema films, Bernard is one of the true film mavens with a commanding intellect and a deep understanding of the cinema busines...

  by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor Perhaps it is only a coincidence or a kind of cinematic convergence that sometimes happens at a film festival, but the boxing legend Muhammad Ali is the subject (or at least the subtext) of several of the most anticipated films showing here at the Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival. The three-time World Heavyweight Champion and one of the most colorful sports figures of the past 50 years is the focus of FACING ALI, which recei...

  by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor As SILVERDOCS, the nation's most prominent documentary film festival, begins to hit its stride, it is worth mentioning that the documentary film has not had the charmed life at the box office as we saw earlier in the decade. While not every film can hope to reach the stratosphere of FAHRENHEIT 911 (which had a record-shattering $120 million international box office gross in 2004), the recent crop of documentaries coming to theaters ...

  by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor With the Washington DC area still reeling from last week's shooting at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in the heart of the nation's capital, a hot-button documentary explores the nature of anti-semitism in both the United States and overseas. Israeli director Yoav Shamir, whose incendiary films on the Israeli/Palestine conflict won major awards at Sundance, Berlin and other festivals, brings a somewhat light-heartened tone to DEFAMATION...

  by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor The sports documentary MORE THAN A GAME, a tale of inspiration set in the hardknock basketball courts of Akron, Ohio, opens the 2009 edition of the SILVERDOCS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL, prior to its theatrical release in October 2009 by Lionsgate. Directed By:Kristopher BelmanProduced By:Harvey Mason, Jr., Kristopher Belman, Matthew Perniciaro, Kevin Mann Starring: LeBron James, Sian Cotton, Dru Joyce III, Willie McGee, Rome...

  by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor The SILVERDOCS Documentary Film Festival, one of the most prestigious film events devoted to the non-fiction form, has joined forces with UK's Channel Four BRITDOC Foundation (www.britdoc.org/goodpitch) and the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program (www.sundanceinstitute.org/docsource) to present the North American tour of THE GOOD PITCH, a co-production market initiative that will be part of the Festival's industry events this...

  by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor Two premieres have been announced to bookend the SILVERDOCS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL, which begins on Monday. The Festival opens with the U.S. Premiere of MORE THAN A GAME,  a remarkable coming of age story about friendship and loyalty in the face of great adversity. Directed by Kristopher Belman, the documentary film follows the incredible rise (and occasional fall) of five talented young basketball players from Akron, Ohio....

  by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor For lovers of non-fiction film, it doesn't get much better than the SILVERDOCS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL, which begins its week-long love affair with documentaries next week. Boasting some of the finest achievements from the world of documentary film, the Festival is sponsored by the American Film Institute and The Discovery Channel. Its home base at the AFI Silver Theater, one of the finest arthouse venues in the country, brings even...