HEADLINES
 

Sara Archambault Joins Harvard to Lead Initiative on Doc Film in the Public Interest
Matthew Carey reports for Deadline: "Award-winning documentary producer and film programmer Sara Archambault is joining the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. As the newly-named Documentary Film Project Manager, Archambault will oversee a new initiative on documentary film in the public interest…Archambault’s most recent producing credits include Riotsville, U.S.A. and A Decent Home, both from 2022, as well as the upcoming Richland. She previously spent a decade as the program director of the LEF Foundation in Cambridge, Mass., and nine years as founder/programmer of the Brattle Theatre’s The DocYard film series. In 2019, the Boston Society of Film Critics awarded her a special commendation for her ‘tremendous contributions to Boston’s film community.’”

Netflix and Chicken & Egg Found Doc Fund for Women & Non-Binary Filmmakers
Addie Morfoot reports at Variety: “Netflix and Chicken & Egg Pictures have teamed up on a new $450,000 documentary fund to support seasoned women and non-binary filmmakers working on their next feature-length project. Up to 30 filmmaking teams will receive either a $10,000 research grant or a $20,000 development grant to use towards a docu project. Recipients of the Chicken & Egg Pictures research and development grant will also have access to peer support, mentorship, and relationship-building within the documentary filmmaking community. Applications are currently being accepted for the new grant. The deadline for submission is April 24 and recipients will be announced this summer. To be eligible for the new grant, projects must be a feature-length film that is either in the research or the development stage. Additionally, the project must be directed or co-directed by an experienced woman or non-binary filmmaker who has directed at least two feature-length documentary films. Docus covering all types of topics and artistic approaches are welcome to apply. Projects will be evaluated according to their feasibility and the director’s body of work and connection to the story.”

Meet Catapult Film Fund’s 2023 Research Grant Filmmakers
Announced via press release: “We are proud to announce our 2023 Research Grant film teams: Sofian Khan; R.J. Lozada and Chris Filippone; Alejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborn; Lauren Wimbush; and Farihah Zaman. Each film team will receive a $10,000 grant and six months of mentorship and professional development as they explore a new film concept. Now in its third year, our newest program expands Catapult’s commitment to supporting documentary filmmakers at the earliest stage. ‘We are so excited to support these incredible projects, each unique in their approach and concept,’ said Megan Gelstein, co-director and chief program officer. ‘Based on the response from this round, it’s clear that critical early-stage funding remains essential and in demand.’ Special thanks to our advisors Sara Dosa, Ramona S. Diaz, Jacqueline Olive, David Osit, and Kristine Samuelson who will offer guidance, feedback, and industry insights as our filmmakers conceptualize their projects. The Catapult Research Grant is made possible with support from XRM Media.”

Lamont “Jack” Pearley as Inaugural Recipient of Co-hosted Fellowship with WKU
MIT Open Documentary Lab shared via press release: "The MIT Open Documentary Lab is excited to announce Lamont “Jack” Pearley as the inaugural recipient of a new fellowship offered in partnership with the Western Kentucky University (WKU) Innovation Campus. This fellowship will connect a Kentucky-based creator to the Lab’s online community of innovative storytellers, technologists and scholars while WKU provides additional mentoring and physical resources on campus. Pearley, host of the weekly African American Folklorist segment on WKU Public Radio and an inductee in the New York Blues Hall of Fame, was nominated for the fellowship to help identify, curate and amplify true folk stories from roots music and communities of color. ‘I can’t imagine a better inaugural recipient for this fellowship than Lamont,’ wrote Sarah Wolozin, director of the MIT Open Documentary Lab. ‘His work across multiple media formats and with emerging technologies, and his commitment to co-creation approaches with the communities whose stories he’s documenting, is deeply aligned with our focus and work at MIT.’”

Metrograph Announces Inge de Leeuw as Director of Programming
Filmmaker Magazine reports: "Today, Metrograph announces Inge de Leeuw as their newly appointed Director of Programming, who joins the New York-based company after working as a programmer of English-language titles at International Film Festival Rotterdam for over a decade, where she introduced European audiences to filmmakers like Kogonada, Terence Nance and Eliza Hitman. (Notably, the aforementioned filmmakers each previously appeared on our 25 New Faces of Independent Film list). ‘Metrograph is a family built around film curation—daring, inspiring, personal programs that have driven our growth since we opened in 2016,’ said Alexander Olch, Metrograph’s Founder, via a press release. ‘These countless detailed choices accumulate into our signature cinematic experience, which we are incredibly excited to see Inge lead. I’m thrilled to welcome Inge to our family and see her build her team with Lydia, as they create original, thought-provoking programs that are already inspiring our New York and growing nationwide community.’ In her new role, she oversees the launch of Metrograph Expanded—a new programming concept that will incorporate facets of Metrograph’s physical location and its at-home streaming service—alongside programmer Lydia Ogwang, who joined the Metrograph team in 2022.”

Remembering Judy Heumann: ‘Changing the Face of Disability in Media’
The IDA editorial staff wrote at in Documentary Magazine: "Judy Heumann was a mentor and friend for over 50 years. Called 'the mother of the disability rights movement,' Judy was that and so much more. Her connection to our world of nonfiction storytelling and representation of people with disabilities in entertainment became a focal point for her in the last years of her life. When Nicole Newnham and I started our work on Crip Camp (2020), I told Nicole that I thought that there was a connection to my summer camp, Camp Jened, and the disability rights movement. But, I cautioned, let’s make sure that I’m correct. Our first call was to Judy. Yes, there was a connection. But that simply was the beginning of what became our ability to tell a mostly unknown civil and human rights story. When our film was released to the world, Crip Camp reframed what disability meant to many people with and without disabilities. I am grateful that our film will help people know Judy’s story and the movement that she led.”

 

New Weekly Documentary Series Launches March 21

Inaugural Spring 2023 Season of Screening Series at NYC’s IFC Center Features Sneak Previews of Sundance, SXSW and Venice Hits, with Filmmakers in Person!

See the Full Schedule

ON THE FESTIVAL CIRCUIT
 

SXSW Film & TV Festival Announces 2023 Jury and Special Awards
Announced via press release: “The South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals announced the 2023 Jury and Special Award winners of the 30th SXSW Film & TV Festival. The Awards follow the 2022 Opening Night Film Everything Everywhere All At Once winning seven Oscar Awards on Sunday, including Best Picture. Feature films receiving Jury Awards were selected from the Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature Competition categories. SXSW also announced all other juried sections, including Shorts, Design and XR Experience Awards. Special Awards announced included: Louis Black ‘Lone Star’ Award, Adobe Editing Award, Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award, Hope Award, Thunderbird Rising Award, ZEISS Cinematography Award, and new this year in honor of Janet Pierson, Director Emeritus, the Janet Pierson Champion Award.”

How CPH:DOX Became One of the Most Influential Documentary Events of the Year
Addie Morfoot reports at Variety: “When CPH:DOX shifted from a fall festival to a spring-based fest in 2017, it got out of IDFA’s shadow and grew into one of the most influential documentary events of the year. ‘It made a big jump in prominence when it moved to March because it fit into the calendar in a more exciting way for a lot of documentary stakeholders,’ Thom Powers, lead documentary programmer for Toronto Film Festival, says. ‘It became a great place for films coming out of Sundance to have a European launch. It’s also become a very significant place for films to make world premieres near the beginning of the year, which can then send them on a circuit, traveling to other festivals like Hot Docs or DOC NYC.’ Now in its 20th year, CPH:DOX is among the largest documentary film festivals in the world. This year’s lineup includes 200 docus, more than half of which are making world premieres. There are 61 competition titles in five international competitions, and for the first time in the fest’s history, all 13 films competing for the top Dox:Award are world premieres.”

Visions du Réel Announce First 2023 Titles & Opening Film
Announced via press release: “Visions de Réel unveils its Grand Angle and Highlights selection: 23 feature films – including 3 world premieres, 1 international premiere and 1 European premiere – that testify to the current vitality of non-fiction film as well as its formal and narrative freedom. This 54th edition (21 to 30 April 2023) will open with the world premiere of Nightwatchers by Juliette de Marcillac. Filmed at night in an idyllic Alpine resort a stone's throw from the French-Italian border, Nightwatchers walks the vertiginous peaks alongside volunteers who help migrants. The Grand Angle competition, where 12 titles compete for the Audience Award, features premieres of films that are soon to make waves at festivals, as well as those that have already won over international audiences. For 2023, this section includes three world premieres: the activist story of Extinction Rebellion in Planet B by Pieter Van Eecke; Behind the Lines by Syrian filmmakers Alisar Hasan and Alaa Amer, which focuses on the city of Idlib’s first female cartoonist, interweaving animation and live action; and the opening film Nightwatchers by Juliette De Marcillac.”

True/False Film Festival Announces Leadership Change
Announced via press release: “Following the high-spirited conclusion of its 20th annual True/False Film Fest, the Ragtag Film Society announces the departure of Co-Executive Director Barbie Banks. Alongside Arin Liberman, Banks has been Co-Executive Director, commonly referred to as ‘Co-Custodian’, since the Spring of 2020. Banks departs RFS at the end of March to start a new role with the Career Center at the University of Missouri in early April. Board President Carol Hurt says, ‘As one of the Co-Custodians, Barbie’s leadership has been instrumental to the continued success of the cinema and True/False. She has been there with the RFS through the peak growth times and helped steer the organization through the down time presented by COVID. As the organization has continued to rebuild, Barbie has been an invaluable asset. Barbie will be greatly missed, but I know she will continue to be a strong supporter of the cinema and True/False.’”

Hot Docs, North America’s Largest Documentary Festival, Unveils 19 Forum Projects
Leo Barraclough reports at Variety: "Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival, has unveiled the projects it has selected for the 24th edition of the Hot Docs Forum, the financing event aimed at securing co-productions and funds for feature length documentaries. The Forum returns in-person to Toronto’s Hart House on May 2 and 3 as part of festival, which runs April 27 to May 7. Nineteen projects representing 16 countries and featuring 23 filmmakers, 12 of whom are women and 11 of whom are black, indigenous and people of color, will pitch to international decision makers and members of the documentary community. An additional Wild Card pitch will be selected live at the Forum. At The Forum projects are pitched live for co-production financing to a roundtable of leading commissioning editors, film fund representatives, financiers, programming executives and angel investors. Selected projects will also participate in Hot Docs Deal Maker, a curated one-on-one pitch meeting program, which includes an additional 35. The full list of Hot Docs Deal Maker projects will be announced on March 29.”

America’s Political, Legal & Cultural Underbelly Explored at CPH:DOX
Addie Morfoot reports at Variety: "Don’t expect to see Roger Stone at the CPH:DOX premiere of A Storm Foretold. In the documentary, directed by Danish filmmaker Christoffer Guldbrandsen, Stone’s efforts to aid former President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election are captured. ‘(Roger) has threatened us with a $25 million lawsuit, and he’s called me fat,’ says Guldbrandsen. ‘Right now, we are communicating through our lawyers.’ A Storm Foretold along with Praying for Armageddon and Victim/Suspect are three films screening at CPH:DOX that explore America’s political, legal and cultural underbelly. Guldbrandsen and cinematographer Frederik Marbell began filming Stone, Trump’s former advisor, in 2018. They followed the Republican kingmaker in the final months of the Trump administration, which culminated in the storming of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. (In 2022, the House committee investigation into the assault on the Capitol subpoenaed footage from Guldbrandsen and Marbell. Ultimately, the committee received approximately 10 minutes out of 170 hours that the crew had shot over the course of three years.)”

ZagrebDox Announces Full Programme for 2023 Festival
Modern Times Review reports: “ZagrebDox, the international documentary film festival, has presented its programme for this year’s event. The festival features twenty films competing for the official award, The Big Stamp, in the international documentary film category, and an equal number of titles in regional competition. The festival aims to offer audiences a wide selection of films that address the totality of the world we live in, with new sections such as Green Dox dedicated to environmental issues, and new awards for short documentaries. The International Competition features films dealing with global socio-political issues, such as the war in Ukraine, portrayed through the eyes of volunteers in Eastern Front by Vitaly Mansky and Yevhen Titarenko.”

Finding and Securing an International Co-Production

International co-production can be a valuable part of your creative, production and fundraising strategy. But what exactly does an international co-production entail? What kinds of projects are best suited for this arrangement? How do you find an international co-production partner and what should you consider as you embark on a collaboration?

Join veteran Canadian producers Ina Fichman (Fire of Love), Ed Barreveld (Queen of the Deuce), Jessica Edwards (Skate Dreams) and Peter Raymont (Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On) as they share expertise and advice so you can chart your own path. Caitlin Boyle, Interim Director of Impact at Together Films, will moderate this event.

Register Today

MISCELLANEOUS
 

The 50 Best True-Crime Documentaries You Can Stream Right Now
Lorraine Ali & Ed Stockly wrote in Los Angeles Times: “Cult murders, lottery heists, deadly dating apps, killer clowns: We’re in the midst of a true-crime wave, and television is the culprit. From HBO Max to A&E, true-crime programming is more prevalent than illegal weed dispensaries. So, like the authorities — at least the honest ones — we’re stepping in to help. Here, selected by yours truly and compiled from Times coverage, are 50 of the best true-crime documentary films and TV series you can stream right now. The choices run the gamut in terms of subject matter and tone, tackling all matter of narratives: following the gumshoe detectives of The First 48, exposing miscarriages of justice in Who Killed Malcolm X?, chronicling crimes so bizarre it’s hard to believe they qualify as true in Sasquatch. The filmmakers behind these productions have solved crimes, freed the wrongly accused, exposed the guilty and given voice to victims and survivors. And yes, they’ve also unraveled the twisted tales of heinous murders, heartless scams and wanton corruption for the sake of entertainment. Critics of the genre argue that true crime is exploitative and voyeuristic, and there’s no doubt that’s part of its allure. True-crime buffs often point to the thrill of playing armchair detective (see Don’t F— With Cats) and the satisfaction of solving a real-life puzzle. I’d like to believe the form has become so popular because perps and their wrongdoings are exposed in the majority of the programming, and accountability is in short supply elsewhere these days.”

​​​​Ken Loach Mourns the Loss of the System That Helped Him Become a Filmmaker
Eric Kohn writes at IndieWire: “It’s safe to say that no filmmaker has put more time into the struggles of the working class than Ken Loach. The 86-year-old British director has been making socially conscious dramas since the 1960s, when his kitchen sink drama Cathy Come Home aired as part of the BBC’s The Wednesday Play anthology…In the midst of this prolific career, Loach has also produced a steady stream of documentaries that reflect his socialist ideals. Ten years ago, the filmmaker put the entire modern history of the U.K. in focus with The Spirit of ’45, a black-and-white documentary about the evolution of the Labour Party in the aftermath of WWII. With a trenchant blend of experts, first-person testimonies, and ample archival materials, the movie shows how the collective postwar energy catalyzed a collaborative spirit in British society embodied by the Labour Party — and why it eventually fell apart. While The Spirit of ’45 was never released in the U.S., it finally opens this week via The Film Desk.”

Asif Kapadia on Why He Focused on Docs After Weinstein ‘Killed’ The Warrior
Addie Morfoot reports at Variety: “‘Even now The Warrior cannot be shown around the world,’ the helmer told moderator Thom Powers. ‘Even Irrfan Khan tried to get that film shown. Now nobody even knows who owns it. I can look at the experience now and go: ‘That was a big opportunity for (my drama career), and it died before it began on my first film.’ So, I had to find another way.’ Kapadia’s alternative route was documentary filmmaking. ‘I had a bit more control (on a doc),’ he explained. ‘I was running it, and I was in charge of the edit. Also, the less money you have, the more power you have.’ The career shift paid off. Kapadia went on to make a lengthy list of acclaimed docus, including Senna, Amy and Diego Maradona. As for his Oscar-winning portrait of Amy Winehouse, Kapadia described the race to get to the Academy Awards in 2016 as ‘great’ but also ‘exhausting.’ ‘It started off with a movie and an audience in a room and the emotion of people feeling collectively,’ Kapadia said. ‘And it finished with politics. (The Oscar race) felt very political.’ The director went on to express his concern over docus’ theatrical viability and the consolidation of streamers.”