Center For
Independent
Documentary
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REMEMBERING MARTIN ALPERT
A proper remembrance of CID Board member Martin H. Alpert requires just a bit of history.
The Newton Cable Television Programming Endowment, Inc. was created as a private non-profit foundation on June 3, 1981, in connection with the City of Newton’s issuance of its first Community Cable Television license to Continental Cablevision. The Mayor of Newton, Theodore D. Mann, asked three Newton citizens, including current CID Board President Tony Logalbo, to be the initial Trustee incorporators. The original purpose of the organization was stated in its Articles of Organization: "To support directly the production, promotion or acquisition of educational, cultural and informational programming, for the Newton Cable Television System and for other purposes consistent with state and federal laws, rules, regulations and policies relative to the Newton Cable Television License."
One of the first acts of the incorporators was to expand the Board. Martin Alpert, then the Chair of the City of Newton Cable Television Advisory Board, joined the Board in 1982. The “class of 1982” also included Marion Burke, then Assistant VP of Nursing at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, and Leslie Hitch, then Program Director, School of Executive Education at Babson College. Martin, Marion and Leslie have served continuously on the Board since then.
The second big event of 1982 was the decision of the now expanded Board to hire Susi Walsh as Executive Director and Fred Simon as Executive Producer.
In the early 90’s, in connection with a renewal of the city’s cable TV license to a successor company, and with Susi and Fred having already compiled an impressive library of documentary films created by a growing coterie of extraordinary filmmakers, the financial ties to the City’s Cable TV licensee were severed, the name of the organization was changed to The Center for Independent Documentary (CID), and the rest – the ensuing almost 30 years - is, as is said, history; a history of supporting independent filmmakers over a wide and impressive range of subject matter, much of which would likely not otherwise have happened.
On July 8th, we lost Martin Alpert, at age 90. He has served actively, passionately and steadfastly as a CID Board member and an advocate for independent documentary excellence. This was just part of his exemplary service to his city and his Temple, Congregation Miskan Tefila. Even those of us who have worked alongside Martin for so long must pause to marvel at the energy, commitment and devotion he brought to the CID Board right up to the present. He seemed to us to be ageless.
Thank you, Marty, for your long and valued service to CID and to your community.
And to Marty’s family, thank you for sharing both him and Judith with us.
For the CID Board,
Tony Logalbo
President
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Industry Resources & Opportunities |
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CONTRIBUTE TO BROWN GIRLS DOC MAFIA FUNDRAISER |
Brown Girls Doc Mafia (BGDM) is an initiative advocating for over 4,000 women and non-binary people of color working in the documentary film industry from around the world! They fight inequality and systemic racism by building community and sharing resources, by nourishing their creative brilliance, by demanding access and visibility in creative and professional environments, and by cutting through oppressive industry structures to advocate for our members.
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NORTH SHORTS FUND AND RESIDENCY |
Points North Institute, IF/Then Shorts, ScreeningRoom, and LEF Foundation have joined forces to offer a fund and rough cut residency for filmmakers from the American Northeast with documentary shorts in post-production. Filmmakers with shorts in post-production living and working in Maine, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Puerto Rico are eligible to apply.
Deadline for applications is August 10th at 11:59pm EST. More details here.
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IF/THEN AMERICAN SOUTH PITCH |
The annual If/Then American South Pitch will now be held virtually, in partnership with Reel South and New Orleans Film Society. The pitch calls for original stand-alone commissions of short documentaries by diverse filmmakers, who are living and working in the American South. The projects should be at the end of their production and explore a range of socially, politically, and culturally relevant topics. Six finalists will present their projects at a live, virtual pitch event to a panel of industry judges. One project, selected by the jury, will receive up to $25,000 in production funding, a co-production agreement from Reel South and in-kind post-production finishing courtesy of UNC-TV.
Applications close on August 23rd at 11:59pm CT. More details here.
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LEF MOVING IMAGE FUND SUMMER 2020 GRANTEES |
The LEF Foundation has awarded 12 Moving Image Fund Grants totaling $50,000 in support of feature-length documentary works by New England-based filmmakers. This most recent round of awards included four grants of $2,500 to projects at the Early Development stage, and eight grants of $5,000 to projects at the Pre-production stage. Special congratulations go out to CID-sponsored grantees "UNITED ALTERED STATES FILM" directed by Julie Mallozzi and Emma Meyers (Early Development) and "HANNAH" directed by Siobhan Landry (Pre-production).
Read the full press release here.
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IFP ANNOUNCES PROJECT FORUM SLATE FOR IFP WEEK |
IFP Week will take place online September 20-25, 2020. Read the full lineup here.
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DIAMOND DIPLOMACY RECEIVES FUNDING FROM NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
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Baseball was played at all ten Japanese American internment sites during WW II. The DIAMOND
DIPLOMACY team received a grant from the National Parks Service to produce a short film,
Barbed Wire Baseball (working title). This will be an expanded view from the material included
in the longer story of Japanese and American connections through baseball.
Diamond Diplomacy has recently formed an auspicious partnership with JapanBall. With the
unavailability of travel tours, JapanBall created a zoominar series and Yuriko Gamo Romer
presented a sneak preview of work in progress and had a lively event, complete with door
prizes. She will also be moderating a panel on U.S. Japan Baseball for the Japan America Society of NY and Dallas in August.
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DAWNLAND AND DEAR GEORGINA SCREENINGS AND LIVE Q&A
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On August 12th, National Indian Education Association and Upstander Project present DAWNLAND and DEAR GEORGINA followed by a live Q & A.
This screening is a celebration of International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples (Aug 9) and International Youth Day (Aug 12).
For decades, child welfare authorities have been removing Native American children from their homes to save them from being Indian. In Maine, the first official “truth and reconciliation commission” in the United States begins a historic investigation. Dawnland goes behind-the-scenes as this historic body grapples with difficult truths, redefines reconciliation, and charts a new course for state and tribal relations.
In Dear Georgina a Passamaquoddy elder journeys into an unclear past to better understand herself and her cultural heritage.
Join author Leilani Sabzalian (Alutiiq), special guests from NIEA, filmmaker Adam Mazo, and Upstander Project Learning Director Mishy Lesser for a live Q & A after the films.
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FEELINGS ARE FACTS: THE LIFE OF YVONNE RAINER NOW STREAMING
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FEELINGS ARE FACTS: THE LIFE OF YVONNE RAINER is now streaming via Vimeo on Demand. Directed by Jack Walsh, the film tells the captivating story of one of America's most important artists. In 1962, as a founding member of Judson Dance Theater, Rainer revolutionized modern dance by introducing everyday movements like walking and running into the dance lexicon. Abandoning choreography in the ‘70s, Rainer introduced narrative techniques into American avant-garde film, turning that genre on its head, too. In Feelings Are Facts, we follow Rainer, now in her 80s and returned to choreography, as she continues to create vibrant, courageous, unpredictable dances that invite audiences to question basic assumptions about art and performance.
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5 BLOCKS ON THE FESTIVAL CIRCUIT
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5 BLOCKS has been named an Official Selection of the Architectural Film Festival Rotterdam and will stream through Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival's "Docs Come Home" program in late August. In addition, producer/director Dan Goldes just signed the first direct educational distribution deal, with San Francisco State University. The film will be used in the school's Urban Studies program. 5 Blocks tells the story of a San Francisco neighborhood going through its most dramatic change in 50 years, as tech companies and their high-wage employees move into an area that has housed one of the city's poorest and most marginalized communities.
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DISCOVERING KAROL RATHAUS UPDATE
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DISCOVERING KAROL RATHAUS, directed by Sergei Deych, has received a $15,000 grant from the Botstiber Institute for Austrian-American Studies.
The film tells the story of Karol Rathaus, a prominent composer of concert and film music, who is forced into exile in Nazi Germany and fights for his creative survival in an atmosphere of cultural and political hostility.
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CID Sponsored Film Of The Month |
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"ADVENTURES IN MISCARRIAGE"
Directed by Cheryl Furjanic
Adventures in Miscarriage is an irreverent, genre-bending feature documentary about lesbian filmmaker Cheryl Furjanic’s pregnancy loss. Heartbroken after a traumatic miscarriage, Furjanic navigates her grief using dark humor, surrealist vignettes, and absurdist fantasy to overcome the shame and silence of pregnancy loss while revealing the cruel treatment of miscarriage by the American medical system.
Read more and contribute to the film here.
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Featured Resource Of The Month |
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"Documentary Producers Alliance Anti-Racist & Structural Equity Resource Guide" |
"We hope this guide can help all producers and content creators better understand the responsibilities we share, internalize the importance of this work, and highlight the reasons, benefits and pathways to creating an inclusive and decolonized documentary ecosystem."
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We are grateful for the generous support of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, and the Boston Cultural Council, a local agency which is funded by the Mass Cultural Council, and administered by the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture. |
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Center For Independent Documentary | 1-339-364-1278 | www.documentaries.org |
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