A Sneak Peek at the 6th FilmGate Interactive Media Festival

The upcoming FilmGate Interactive Media Festival (November 30th – December 6th) will mark its sixth year of bringing the immersive arts to South Florida. A quick glance through the lineup shows it’s the most impressive edition yet. Divided into four programs — Miami @ Play, Festival Panels, Interactive Installations, and the Virtual Reality Portal (with its 35-plus interactive experiences to choose from) — not to mention the many parties (this is Miami after all), the 2018 edition may just make the folks in town that same week for Art Basel look 20th century passé.

To read my top picks visit Filmmaker magazine.

In With The New at The 31st International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam

This edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (November 14th-25th) — now in its third decade, but also marking its inaugural year under the exciting new leadership of Syrian documentarian Orwa Nyrabia — offered one of the most binge-worthy lineups I’ve experienced in all my years covering the world’s largest doc fest. Of the nearly two-dozen films I managed to catch both in Amsterdam during my stay (once again guests were put up at the lovely — and couldn’t get more convenient — Hotel NH Carlton, which doubles as the fest’s headquarters) and online, not one disappointed. Indeed, veteran filmmakers working at the top of their game were well represented by some stellar films. This included Vitaly Mansky (Putin’s Witnesses), Werner Herzog (Meeting Gorbachev), Errol Morris (American Dharma), Ruth Beckermann (The Waldheim Waltz), Kazuo Hara (Extremely Private Eros: Love Song 1974), Sergei Loznitsa (The Trial), Maria Ramos (The Trial), Nikolaus Geyrhalter (The Border Fence) — and that’s just off the top of my head.

To read all about my inspiring time visit Filmmaker magazine.

IDFA 2018 Presents Industry Talk: Steve James and Claire Simon on Storytelling in Serialized Documentaries

People are “natural scriptwriters,” Claire Simon noted towards the beginning of what turned out to be a surprisingly lively discussion between the French documentarian and the US’s own Steve James about one of the hottest topics in the doc industry today: serialized storytelling. The setting was an intimate theater at De Brakke Grond (the longtime headquarters of IDFA DocLab, where this year’s Humanoid Cookbook theme whimsically allowed for browsing a menu before ordering, or rather requesting, VR experience time slots).

To read all about it visit Filmmaker magazine.

“High Security Was Essential, In Order to Protect My Sources, My Crew and the Ability To Complete the Film”: Alex Winter on The Panama Papers

Alex Winter’s The Panama Papers is a globetrotting, newsroom-hopping peek inside the multinational process, which ultimately brought together over 100 media organizations in 80 countries under the auspices of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). That led to the 2016 mass publication of documents from the highly secretive, Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca — which in turn brought down heads of state and business leaders the world over, and cost the lives of at least two reporters affiliated with the leaked trove.

I was fortunate enough to catch Winter’s film at this year’s IDFA (in the stunning Tuschinski Theater, no less, which Winter proclaimed the grandest venue any of his films had ever played in), especially because the post-screening chat featured a conversation with not only the director, but also three of the journalists who’d worked on the exposé. (That included Pulitzer Prize winners Bastian Obermayer, whose Munich-based newspaper initially received the tip, and Icelandic journo Jóhannes Kr. Kristjánsson, whose work on the project led to the resignation of his own country’s prime minister.)

Prior to the film’s Epix release on November 26th, Filmmaker spoke with Winter about his logistically challenging, filmed-in-secret film.

To read my interview visit Filmmaker magazine.

Courage Under Fire Award: Stephen Maing and the NYPD 12

This year’s Courage Under Fire Award recipients, director Stephen Maing (High Tech, Low Life) and the whistleblowers of the NYPD 12 that he documented in his exquisite doc Crime + Punishment, may not at first glance seem as likely honorees as, say, journalists facing down the daily guns and bombs of the war-torn Middle East. But look closer. Maing, an Emmy Award-nominated Brooklynite, and the black and brown men in blue that he collaborated with, have taken on, as Maing reminds us, “the most powerful policing organization in the nation” in order to expose the illegal quotas that disproportionately affect New York City’s minority communities. So how dangerous is exposing systemic corruption in this force? Just ask Frank Serpico.

To read the rest visit Documentary magazine.

Top 10 Picks for IDFA 2018

The program for the 31st International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (November 14th – 25th) — the first under the new artistic directorship of Syrian documentary filmmaker Orwa Nyrabia — feels equal parts familiar and fresh. On the one hand, as in years past, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by the sheer size of the world’s largest nonfiction film festival. Once again the fest will include exceptional industry events like the IDFA Forum (and Docs for Sale, the IDFA Bertha Fund, IDFA Academy, etc.), competitions (14 in total), and more meet-and-greets and parties than one can reasonably attend. (Do I stop by the Korean night of food and music or the Scandinavian reception?)

On the other hand, Nyrabia and his team have made the upcoming event more navigable than ever, with a slimmed-down lineup — only a dozen films in each competition category this time — and a new site feature called Program Pathways, which groups films into 15 thematic categories (everything from “Lovers, Rebels, and Skateboarders,” to “Show Me Your ID,” to “Back to the USSR,” and “Backstage Politics”). This inspired me to get organized and create my own personal “Top 10” list of events not to be missed.

To read my suggestions visit Filmmaker magazine.

“What We Really Seem To Be Documenting…Is A Concerted Shift Away From An America That Sees Itself As A Land Of Immigrants Towards Something Else”: Andrés Caballero And Sofian Khan On Their DOC NYC Premiering The Interpreters

With anti-immigrant sentiment on the rise globally, and with a U.S. president who champions a ban on all Muslims to this country, Andrés Caballero and Sofian Khan’s (IFP-supported) The Interpreters serves as a timely corrective, to say the least. Their up-close-and-personal doc follows three men from Iraq and Afghanistan (and one American sergeant fighting the byzantine U.S. bureaucracy on behalf of his Baghdadi friend) who served U.S. troops as interpreters — not “translators,” since their role as intermediaries went well beyond mere language — as they struggle to keep the faith and avoid death while waiting to gain asylum in the land they risked their lives for.

Filmmaker was fortunate enough to chat with the clear-eyed co-directors prior to the film’s Veterans Day premiere at DOC NYC.

To read my interview visit Filmmaker magazine.

“The film brings audiences both the joys and pains of our political system via high school”: Alexandra Stergiou and Lexi Henigman on their DOC NYC-premiering The Candidates

If you spent the 2016 election season trying to wrap your head around the surreal circus that passed for political campaigning, just imagine actually participating in it while studying for exams. Such was the situation for the students of Townsend Harris High School in Queens, which since 1996 has included in its curriculum an as-close-to-real-life-as-possible Election Simulation. Fortunately, filmmakers Alexandra Stergiou and Lexi Henigman were there to capture it all. On one side is Russian-American Daniel, aka Trump, trying to focus on making America great again instead of grabbing women by the pussy. On the other, there’s Pakistani-American Misbah, aka Hillary, wooing votes with pizza and halal while coolly parrying xenophobic attacks (and all while wearing the hijab). And of course, there are stand-ins for Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, Bill, Melania, the media, the campaign operatives and all the rest of the sordid “swamp.”

Filmmaker caught up with the co-directors to get the scoop on their fly-on-the-wall look at civic (mis?)education prior to the film’s November 10th premiere at DOC NYC.

To read all about it visit Filmmaker magazine.

“We See Documentary Film as an Inherently Collaborative Process”: Laura Green and Anna Moot-Levin on their DOC NYC premiering The Providers

Laura Green and Anna Moot-Levin’s IFP-supported The Providers is a film I regrettably left off my must-see list at Full Frame, most likely because a doc that follows a doctor, a nurse practitioner and a physician assistant serving rural communities abandoned by our traditional (and traditionally broken) healthcare system sounded like something that might put this liberal urbanite to sleep. But in one of those lucky film fest coincidences, I ended up chatting with the doc’s co-director Laura Green on the ride back to the Raleigh-Durham airport, and mentioned I was returning to Santa Fe. Which is both a drive away and worlds apart from the rural areas of northern New Mexico where The Providers takes place.

Fortunately, the film’s DOC NYC premiere (November 9th at Cinépolis Chelsea and November 12th at IFC Center) has now provided a second chance to sing the film’s praises. Filmmaker spoke with co-directors Green and Moot-Levin about their beautifully-composed doc, which immerses us in the lives of three unsung heroes quietly making a difference on the margins, even as urban bubble dwellers like me ignore our neighbors outside the city line.

To read the rest visit Filmmaker magazine.

“We found that securing institutions and private funders was more viable after we could share the breadth of the film in a meaningful way”: Hunter Robert Baker and Jordan Fein on their DOC NYC premiering The Blessing

The Blessing, the latest from the Emmy Award-winning team of Hunter Robert Baker and Jordan Fein, is the story of a Navajo coal miner and single dad as well as his teenage daughter, who navigate life on their reservation in northern Arizona. Other than Erick Stoll and Chase Whiteside’s stealthy stunner América, I can’t think of another documentary I’ve seen this year in which the simplest of premises yields such an emotional powder keg. The film’s a nearly Shakespearean drama, one in which a deeply religious father is forced to choose between sacrilege (taking part in the destruction of his sacred tribal mountain) and feeding his kid (as coal mining is the sole industry on the rez). Meanwhile his daughter is forced to choose between saving her mentally and physically exhausted dad from any further stress and being true to herself (she has a passion for playing football, not running cross country like her siblings).

Filmmaker caught up with the acutely attuned co-directors to learn more about their riveting film prior to The Blessing’s November 9th premiere at DOC NYC.

To read the rest visit Filmmaker magazine.

Five Picks for the Ninth Edition of DOC NYC

As a documentary addict who probably attends more nonfiction festivals than can be considered sane, I’m always on the lookout for reasons why I shouldn’t wait for Netflix. And this year’s 9th edition of DOC NYC (November 8th – 15th) is chockfull of one-of-a-kind events. With that in mind, here are just five of my picks for getting off the couch and into the theater.

To read the list visit Filmmaker magazine.

Wonder Women Directors at the 21st SCAD Savannah Film Festival

The 21st SCAD Savannah Film Festival (October 27 – November 3) featured a strikingly eclectic abundance of Specialty Series discussions and workshops this year. There was “In Conversation” (one with Barry Jenkins, another with Armie Hammer), a three-part Below the Line Panel Series (Casting, Costume Design and Production Design), and Animation Corner: Art in Motion. There was also the TV Sidebar (Starz’s Outlander was the focus, with creators and cast from the show in town — even a costume exhibit at the SCAD Museum of Art), and a Writers Guild of America-affiliated program (Writers on Writing:The Front Runner featured Jason Reitman). Exhibitions excitingly included one on Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs, with its wonderful, outsider-art-style sets.

But the one panel I got up early for was the Wonder Women Panel Series: Directors, at the airy, light-infused Gutstein Gallery. Entertainment Weekly staff writer Devan Coggan moderated a surprisingly down-to-earth discussion that featured actresses-turned-directors Heather Graham (Half Magic), Polly Draper (Stella’s Last Weekend), Hannah Marks (After Everything) and Anna Martemucci, aka A.M. Lukas (One Cambodian Family Please for My Pleasure). Also present were this year’s Sundance Film Festival Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award-winner Christina Choe (Nancy) and elder indie stateswomen Karyn Kusama (Destroyer) and Debra Granik (whose powerfully nuanced Leave No Trace unfortunately didn’t screen during the fest).

To read all about what has (and hasn't) changed in Hollywood post-Time's Up visit Filmmaker magazine.

“There Are Unlikely Protagonists Everywhere”: The 5th Docs to Watch Roundtable at the 21st SCAD Savannah Film Festival

Celebrating its fifth edition, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival’s Docs to Watch Roundtable is the number one reason I’ve been making the late October pilgrimage to Georgia’s charming city of (Spanish moss-draped) squares for the past few years. (That and the festival’s abundance of southern hospitality, of course. In addition to being the only fest I’ve ever been to that provides buffet-style breakfasts, lunches and dinners, guests are treated to some truly top-notch lodging. In my case, it was the lovely, Savannah River-adjacent Kimpton Brice Hotel, a mere five-minute walk from the fest’s Marshall House headquarters and the majority of the screening venues.)

Moderated by The Hollywood Reporter’s extremely deft and knowledgeable columnist Scott Feinberg, Docs to Watch is, as Feinberg put it in his intro this year, a chance to hear from the documentary equivalent of his fantasy football team. This time around the lineup included a whopping 14 filmmakers hoping to score Oscar glory: Morgan Neville (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?), Tim Wardle (Three Identical Strangers), Matt Tyrnauer (Studio 54), Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster (Science Fair), Julie Cohen and Betsy West (RBG), Alan Hicks and Rashida Jones (Quincy), Nathaniel Kahn (The Price of Everything), Gabe Polsky (In Search of Greatness), Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (Free Solo) and Stephen Maing (Crime + Punishment).

To read all about it visit Filmmaker magazine.