Center For
Independent
Documentary
|
|
Industry News & Opportunities
|
|
UPCOMING FREE WEBINAR:
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES (NEH) MEDIA GRANTS
|
We are excited to announce that CID's free webinar series is back! And we are returning with a bang!
Join us and David Weinstein, senior program officer with the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), for a free webinar to learn more about National Endowment for the Humanities Media grants.
The NEH’s Media program funds documentary films, radio programs, and podcasts in the
humanities. The program has supported many award-winning historical documentaries. There are
two levels of funding: Development and Production. David will discuss funding for long-form documentaries as well as an exciting new grant program, Short Documentaries. This program funds short documentary films (up to 30 minutes) that engage audiences with humanities ideas.
David will offer tips on preparing your proposal, discuss what makes an application competitive,
and share news. There will be ample opportunity for Q&A.
This free webinar will be held on Thursday, April 23rd from 12:30pm - 1:30pm ET.
Register here
.
|
|
|
SAVE THE DATE FOR
KOPKIND/CID FILM CAMP 2020
|
Feeling the need for some radical relaxation while you take a deep dive with your film?
Save the date!
This year's Kopkind/CID Film Camp will be August 2-9, 2020 in Vermont.
Applications will be accepted beginning in April. Learn more about camp
here!
|
|
|
CRIP CAMP
(co-directed by Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht) will premiere on Netflix and in select theaters on
March 25th
!
The film tells the story of a revolution that blossomed at a ramshackle summer camp for disabled teenagers in the 1970s, transforming their young lives and igniting a landmark movement.
|
|
|
COMING FROM BEHIND
ROUGH CUT SCREENING
|
Center for Independent Documentary in partnership with Lesley University will be holding a rough cut screening of
COMING FROM BEHIND
, directed by Bob Nesson, at
Lesley University on March 24th
. A discussion will be held around the film’s structure and content with an
invitation-only
audience that will include many filmmakers. The panel will include the director, Bob Nesson, and principal advisors Ed Jordan, Barry Bluestone, and David Maneira.
|
|
|
ACTIVIZED
TO PREMIERE AT THIN LINE FILM FESTIVAL
|
ACTIVIZED
, directed by Eric Stange, will premiere at
Thin Line Film Festival in Texas on March 27th
, followed by a nationwide screening tour.
The filmmakers are partnering with activist groups and organizations, universities, schools, film festivals and series across the country to make sure
ACTIVIZED
reaches as wide an audience as possible. To date there are more than 30 screenings in the works, with many more to come.
ACTIVIZED
follows six first-time activists working on the critical issues of gun violence prevention, voting rights and immigrants' rights. Their stories illuminate the importance of citizen engagement to preserve our democracy and build progressive movements for change at this critical time in our country.
Do you know a group interested in partnering? If so, you can contact the filmmakers
here.
|
|
|
YOUTH AND GENDER MEDIA PROJECT
AROUND THE U.S.
|
YOUTH AND GENDER MEDIA PROJECT
continue to screen their four films around the country, often with the films' subjects in attendance. All screenings are part of larger professional development sessions for teachers and staff on how to implement institutional, curricular and interpersonal inclusivity practices for trans and non-binary students.
Jonathan and Johanna spoke to more than 150 students from all over the DC area on gender inclusion for the
Association of Maryland and DC Schools
. Their highlight was students passionately sharing their own gender journeys.
They were invited to screen Becoming Johanna at the
LGBTQ caucus
meeting of the Nation's largest teachers' union (the NEA) in Las Vegas. Johanna's talk received a standing ovation that lasted longer than Jill Biden's.
Jonathan presented his films at the
Hamlin School for Girls
, his first time conducting a training at a single-gender school. The trainings and discussions about how to be more inclusive for the non-binary students at the school proved quite fruitful.
|
|
|
THE PREMIERE OF
BORDERLAND: THE LIFE & TIMES OF BLANCHE AMES AMES
|
The film
chronicles the remarkable life of a society woman who was determined to change American society. Blanche Ames wrote, marched, and organized. A talented artist and birth control maverick, she drew political cartoons in support of women’s suffrage that both inspired and enraged.
Read a review of the film in WBUR's The ARTery
here.
|
|
|
THE SONGPOET
SELLS OUT U.S. PREMIERE AT SBIFF
|
After returning from a standing-room only U.S. premiere and second sold-out show at the Santa
Barbara International Film Festival, Paul Lamont and Scott Sackett received Official Selections
for their film
THE SONGPOET
at the American Documentary and Animation Film Festival and the
In-Edit Netherlands International Music Documentary Film Festival. Audiences in the U.S. can see their feature film about legendary singer-songwriter Eric Andersen on
Sunday, March 29 at
AmDocs in Palm Springs, California
. Festival-goers in Europe can see
The Songpoet
and Eric
Andersen live in concert on
closing night of the In-Edit festival in Amsterdam, Sunday, May 17
.
Photo Credit: Eric Andersen from The Songpoet, courtesy Getty Images
|
|
|
HOW I LIVE
WINS "BEST DIRECTOR" AND "BEST FEATURE FILM"
|
HOW I LIVE
, directed by Meghan Shea and Mike Rogers, had its festival premiere at the Chambal International Film Festival where it won "Best Director". The film also screened at Fisheye Film Festival in the U.K. where it took home the award for "Best Feature Film".
How I Live
follows the journeys of four children with cancer in Guatemala, El Salvador, Myanmar and Egypt. Following them from diagnosis through treatment, the complex issues facing patients, families and healthcare providers emerge. The film documents the difficulties not only of cancer treatment but also the physical and geographic obstacles to accessing care and how these can be the most daunting to overcome.
|
|
|
FROM BAGHDAD TO THE BAY
AT OXFORD FILM FESTIVAL
|
From Baghdad To The Bay
follows the journey of an Iraqi refugee and former translator for the US military. Wrongfully accused of being a double agent, tortured by the U.S., and ostracized from his family and country, Ghazwan Alsharif struggles to rebuild his life in the United States while coming out as an openly gay man.
|
|
|
PERFECT STRANGERS
SCREENINGS
|
In late January,
PERFECT STRANGERS
was shown to an audience of 95 people at Stanford University. The screening was followed by a discussion with a Stanford Ph.D. student who donated his kidney to someone he didn’t know — for purely altruistic reasons — two months ago. Also on the panel was a daughter-father donor-recipient pair.
Upcoming public screenings in recognition of Donate Life month in April will be at Rhode Island Hospital and Augusta University in Georgia.
|
|
|
FREE ONLINE WORLDWIDE SCREENING OF
DAWNLAND
|
Right now it feels especially pressing to observe and elevate the International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims, a United Nations observance happening this month. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has said that the right to the truth about egregious violations is "an inalienable and autonomous right."
In honor of International Day for the Right to Truth
DAWNLAND
, Upstander Project's documentary about stolen children and cultural survival, will have a free online worldwide screening. This will be followed by a Q & A with the filmmakers on
Thursday March 26th at 6:30pm ET
.
|
|
|
MORE JOY LESS PAIN
STREAMING FREE DURING MARCH
|
More Joy Less Pain
is a documentary feature surrounding the life of award-winning journalist and raconteur, Peter Gorman. For the past 25 years, Peter has been leading journeys to Peru and the Amazon jungle. On these trips Gorman shows his guests what it’s like to live in the jungle for a week. He introduces his guests to the ways of the indigenous tribe known as the Matsés. This documentary explores how Peter navigates the two worlds in which he lives: a life in Peru and a life with his family in Texas.
|
|
|
WBCN & THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
UPCOMING SCREENINGS
|
The highly-acclaimed documentary
WBCN & THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
continues its theatrical screenings in New England and around the country, including benefits in support of community radio stations. Coming up are screenings in:
- Flying Monkey Movie House and Performance Center, Plymouth, NH through March 5.
- The Colonial Theatre, Belfast, Maine (for the benefit of WERU-FM and WBFY-FM) through March 5.
- Acoustic Java Cafe and Microcinema, Providence, RI (for the benefit of WRIU) March 13, through March 26, 2020,
- Monty Hall, Jersey City, NJ (for benefit of WFMU-FM) March 21, 2020. Panel with WFMU General Manager and film director Bill Lichtenstein to follow screening.
- Vermont International Film Festival's Global Roots Film Festival on April 5, with Q&A following film by director Bill Lichtenstein.
- Broadway Metro Theatre, Eugene, OR, April 14.
- Phoenix Ivy Council, ASU Skysong, Building 3, Scottsdale, AZ, April 2.
- Woods Hole Film Festival's Dinner and a Movie, Redfield Auditorium, on May 9.
|
|
|
CIVIL WAR SURVEILLANCE POEMS
ON THE FESTIVAL CIRCUIT
|
Civil War Surveillance Poems
, directed by Mitch McCabe, contemplates a second American civil war via lyrical nonfiction, mixing radio and twenty years of verité footage from the filmmaker’s archive.
|
|
|
CALL FOR ENTRIES FOR 6TH ANNUAL IRISH AMERICAN MOVIE HOOLEY
|
Call for Entries! The 6th Annual Irish American Movie Hooley will be held in
Chicago September 25, 26, 27, 2020 at The Gene Siskel Film Center
. The festival is looking to discover the next John Ford, Ed Burns, Preston Sturges, John Huston, or John Patrick Shanley, i.e.; Irish American filmmakers who epitomize Irish American pride, bravado, and legendary storytelling. All work submitted should represent the best of the Irish American experience on screen. Airfare and hotel will be paid for all selected filmmakers. For more info click
here.
|
|
|
PROTECT OUR PAST
spent four days filming examples of historic buildings that have been torn to pieces with excavators, ones that are in danger of this same fate, and ones that have been saved. The interview personalities covered ranged from concerned local house owners, realtors, builders, millennials, high school students, and a mix of passionate save history advocates. People were upset that their streetscapes are beginning to look like everywhere USA. They had visceral reactions to this truth, “Once Gone, Lost Forever.” There was also concern for related sustainability and environmental waste issues. Over 20% of what goes into landfills is from demolished structures, many being historic. One can no longer find first growth wood to build such strong sturdy houses. The blame game ranged from big money to town governments. The filmmakers are more motivated than ever to complete this full-length documentary. In the meantime, filmmaker Oliver Becker (The Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival) is editing the footage to create a short 3-5 marketing piece that will be used to raise the funds needed for the one-hour film. It will take the power of the screen, big and small, to motivate change in public attitude and in town by-laws so more historic properties will be saved!
|
|
CID Sponsored Film Of The Month
|
|
"LOSING SIGHT: INSIDE THE MYOPIA EPIDEMIC"
Directed by Jane Weiner
Confronted with an ever-escalating irretrievable loss of sight, award-winning filmmaker Jane Weiner discovers that her situation is not unique.
Camera in hand, she travels to North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Eastern Europe, exploring the visual aspects and impacts of 'how we see what we see' while constructing a creative documentary that pulls back the curtain on the worldwide Myopia Epidemic.
Read more and contribute to the film
here.
|
|
Featured Resource Of The Month
|
|
|
|
"List of Grants for Women Filmmakers"
|
From pre-production to filming and post, a detailed list of active grants for women filmmakers.
|
|
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.
|
|
Center For Independent Documentary | 1-339-364-1278 | www.documentaries.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
