Camden International Film Festival

The Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) and its Points North Documentary Forum have announced dates for 2015. The festival and forum will take place September 17-20, 2015.

For the second time, CIFF has received support from both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the National Endowment for the Arts for the 2015 Festival. Following the success of the 2013 Academy-funded Then and Now program, the Academy returns to support the festival’s new series Being There, a retrospective sidebar program and workshop series focused on the past, present and future of ethnographic documentary film.

 CIFF has championed this growing movement around experimental, ethnographic documentary since the inaugural festival in 2005, screening the early works of directors such as David Redmon and Ashley Sabin, Robert Greene, Jessica Oreck, Jean Francois-Caissy, Sophie Benoot and many more. Inspired by Leacock’s famous description of his work as a “search for the feeling of being there,” CIFF will highlight historically significant ethnographic films spanning 90 years, each of which demonstrates the potential of documentary to transport viewers to another world or to see the world through another set of eyes. These screenings will be complemented by a series of in-depth interviews, workshops and master classes at CIFF’s Points North Documentary Forum, focused on topics such as research methods, observational cinematography, documentary ethics and the blurred lines between ethnography and art.

 CIFF also received renewed support from the National Endowment for the Arts’ Arts Works program for the 2015 Camden International Film Festival and Points North Documentary Forum, with a focus on the expansion of its Points North Fellowship and its Engagement Summit. The Points North Fellowship is a unique opportunity for documentary filmmakers to develop their works-in-progress at CIFF through a combination of focused industry mentorships, workshops, meetings, pitch training and a public pitch session, with additional support throughout the year. Support from the NEA will provide audiences intimate access to filmmakers and an opportunity to experience the world’s best documentary cinema, while building an extended community and a supportive environment for emerging filmmakers to focus on creative and professional development.

 NEA Chairman Jane Chu said, “I’m pleased to be able to share the news of our support through Art Works including the award to the Camden International Film Festival and Points North Documentary Forum. The arts foster value, connection, creativity and innovation for the American people and these recommended grants demonstrate those attributes and affirm that the arts are part of our everyday lives.”

 “We’re honored to be recognized by such prestigious establishments as the NEA and Academy, and already excited for 2015 Camden International Film Festival and expanded programs through Points North Documentary Forum,” added Camden International Film Festival’s Founder/Director Ben Fowlie.

 Filmmakers may submit their completed documentaries starting January 5, 2015 when submissions for feature and short films open. The Points North Fellowship submissions will open in Spring 2015. CIFF will also unveil some exciting new programs outside of their Fellowship and the Festival weekend to expand upon the support of emerging documentarians. Check out CIFF’s website for further information on upcoming programs and how to submit in the coming months.

 via CIFF

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VIRUNGA

The Camden International Film Festival announced the award winning films from its tenth edition, which marked the end of a four-day weekend that included the screening of over 70 films from dozens of countries, as well as the 6th Points North Documentary Forum.  This year’s Harrell Award for Best Documentary Feature went to CIFF’s Opening Night film VIRUNGA directed by Orlando von Einsiedel, who attended the festival to present his film and went on to accept the award via Skype. 

The Jury, consisting of Susan Margolin (President, Docurama), Banker White (Filmmaker, THE GENIUS OF MARIAN) and Cecily Pingree(Filmmaker, BETTING THE FARM) awarded their Special Jury Mention to J.P. Sniadecki’s THE IRON MINISTRY which had its US Premiere at CIFF and continues on to play the New York Film Festival later this week.

This year’s Emerging Cinematic Vision Award sponsored by Vimeo went to APPROACHING THE ELEPHANT directed by Amanda Rose Wilder. Wilder, along with producer Caitlin Mae Burke and subject Alex Khost were in attendance to accept the award. The Jury, consisting of Gabriele Caroti (Director, BAMCinematek), Lyda Kuth (Executive Director, LEF Foundation) and Sam Morrill (Creative Relations Lead, Vimeo) awarded the Special Jury Mention to Jean-Francois Caissy’s GUIDELINES.

Maine-made WILD HOME directed by Jack Schurman and co-directed by Robert Schurman received not only a standing ovation at their World Premiere screening but also received the 2014 Audience Award and increased cash prize. Filmmakers were in attendance to accept this award.

The Camden Cartel Award was given to Ciaran Cassidy’s THE LAST DAYS OF PETER BERGMANN and Honorable Mention went to Luke Lorentzen’s SANTA CRUZ DEL ISLOTE.

Al Jazeera’s AJ+ channel  held their first ever AJ+ Pitch at CIFF, a Live Pitch offering five filmmakers the chance to pitch their short documentary concepts and works-in-progress to a panel of filmmakers and industry leaders for up to $10,000 cash and a commission from the AJ+ channel. The Jury included AJ+’s Jeff Seelbach, Tribeca Film Institute’s Ryan Harrington and filmmakers Margaret Brown and Rebecca Richman Cohen.

Finalists included Jillian Schlesinger (EMOTIONAL ROBOT), Sierra Pettengill (HALL OF THE EVENING STAR), Ben Kalina (PLAN C FOR CIVILIZATION), Jayisha Patel (POWER GIRLS) and Jon Bougher (THAILAND’S FLOATING CITIES). AJ+commissioned three of these projects, awarding up to $10,000 each to Schlesinger’s EMOTIONAL ROBOT, Pettengill’s HALL OF THE EVENING STAR and Jayisha Patel’s POWER GIRLS.

Last but not least, CIFF announced the winner of their expanded Points North Fellowship, with a day of training at Maine Media Workshop prior to the festival and the Pitch event to a panel of funders, broadcasters, on Saturday, September 27 at the Camden Opera House. 2014 documentary works-in-progress included Tony Gerber’s AMERICAN WARLORD, Adam Mazo and Ben Pender-Cudlip’s DAWNLAND, Amy Benson, Ramyata Limbu and Scott Squire’s THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, Pacho Velez’s THE REAGAN YEARS, Cassidy Friedman’s SOLEDAD, and Elisa Haradon and Gabriel Miller’s SWEETHEART DEAL. The 2014 Points North Pitch Award and Modulus Funishing Fund was granted to THE REAGAN YEARS, with director Pacho Velez and producer Sierra Pettengill receiving $1,000 cash prize from Documentary Educational Resources, three consultations with the Tribeca Film Institute and a discounted post-production package from Modulus Studios.

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 HAPPY VALLEY

The Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) announced its slate of feature and short films in their 10th festival taking place September 25 thru 28, 2014 throughout Camden, Rockport and Rockland, Maine.  CIFF will present over 60 features and short films from all across the globe and from our very own Maine, with filmmakers in attendance at nearly every screening.

Now entering its tenth year, the Camden International Film Festival presents a snapshot of the cultural landscape through the year’s best non-fiction storytelling.  The festival is recognized as one of the top 12 documentary film festivals in the world, and one of the 12 best small town film festivals in the US. In addition to the festival’s expanded Points North Fellowship, a new partnership with Al Jazeera’s AJ+ to host the first AJ+ live pitch, CIFF announces the main slate of films, which includes Points North Pitch alum In Country and Mateo. In addition to the titles below, CIFF will screen the Cinema Eye Honors’ Nonfiction Short Film Finalists, whose titles will be announced from the festival later this month.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with this years festival program,” says Ben Fowlie, Founder and Executive Director of the Camden International Film Festival. “Over the past ten years we’ve had the opportunity to share a selection of films that highlight both the creativity and unique ways artists are using to tell stories, and the impact these stories can have on community. This year is no exception.”

Camden International Film Festival will announce their Points North Documentary Forum line up of films, speakers and panels later this week.

2014 CAMDEN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL FEATURES

A GOAT FOR A VOTE
Jeroen van Velzen | Netherlands | 2014

A Goat for a Vote follows three students in Kenya competing to become the next school president. Winning the election will not only earn them power and respect, but guarantees a role within Kenyan society in the future. Magdalene has to prove herself in a boy-dominated school that has never been led by a girl. She has the impossible task of uniting all girls in her fight for equal rights. Harry, from the poor side of town, hopes to win so he will be able to take care of his family in the future. He struggles against the popular Said, who is a natural born leader with a disarming smile.

ACTRESS
Robert Greene | United States | 2014

Brandy Burre had a recurring role on HBO’s “The Wire” when she gave up her career to start a family. When she decides to reclaim her life as an actor, the domestic world she has carefully created crumbles around her. Using elements of melodrama and cinema verité, Actress is both a present tense portrait of a dying relationship and an exploration of a complicated woman, performing the role of herself, in a complex-yet-familiar story.

ALIVE INSIDE
Michael Rossato-Bennett | United States | 2014

Alive Inside is an exploration of music’s capacity to reawaken our souls and uncover the deepest parts of our humanity. Filmmaker Michael Rossato-Bennett chronicles the astonishing experiences of individuals who have been revitalized through the simple experience of listening to music. His camera reveals the uniquely human connection we find in music and how its healing power can triumph where prescription medication falls short. This documentary follows social worker Dan Cohen, founder of the nonprofit organization Music & Memory, as he fights against a broken healthcare system to demonstrate music’s ability to combat memory loss and restore a deep sense of self to those suffering from it.

 APPROACHING THE ELEPHANT
Amanda Rose Wilder | United States | 2014

It is year one for students Lucy and Jiovanni, and school director Alex at the Teddy McArdle Free School in Little Falls, New Jersey, where classes are voluntary and rules are created by democratic vote. Wilder is there from the beginning, observing an indelible cast of outspoken young personalities as they form relationships, explore their surroundings, and intensely debate rule violations until it all comes to a head.

 ART AND CRAFT
Sam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman, co-directed by Mark Becker | United States | 2014

Mark Landis has been called one of the most prolific art forgers in USA history. His impressive body of work spans thirty years, covering a wide range of paintings that could fetch impressive sums on the open market—but Landis isn’t in it for money. Posing as a philanthropic donor, a grieving executor of a family member’s will, and as a Jesuit priest, Landis has given away hundreds of works over the years to a staggering list of institutions. But after duping a tenacious registrar who discovers his ruse and sets out to expose him, Landis must confront his own legacy and a chorus of museum professionals clamoring for him to stop.

BUGARACH
Sergi Cameron, Ventura Durall, Salvador Sunyer | Spain, Germany | 2014

Bugarach is a tiny village in southern France where everyone lives a quiet life, isolated from the world—until the day the international media spreads the news that Bugarach is the only place that will allegedly survive doomsday. The arrival of increasingly outlandish strangers soon begins to disturb the local population and what unfolds is a landscape of existential emptiness.

 DESERT HAZE
Sofie Benoot | Belgium, Netherlands | 2014

The American West. A world where human life seems to be impossible. An arid, mythical landscape characterized by the absence of water. But traces start to appear and the film becomes a peculiar portrait of America, between present and past, myth and reality: astronauts preparing for future missions to Mars, Japanese country singers, military archeologists, and many other forms of life.

 E-TEAM
Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman | United States | 2013

E-Team is driven by the high-stakes investigative work of four intrepid human rights workers and offers a rare look at their lives at home and in the field. Anna, Ole, Fred, and Peter are four members of the Emergencies Team—or E-Team—the boots on the ground division of a respected, international human rights group. Arriving as soon as possible after allegations of human rights abuse surface, the E-Team uncovers crucial evidence to determine if further investigation is warranted and to give voice to thousands whose stories would otherwise never have been told.

 FLORENCE, ARIZONA – Sneak Preview!
Andrea B. Scott | United States | 2014

Florence, Arizona is a cowboy town with a prison problem. Founded in 1866, this bastion of the Wild West is home to 8,500 civilians and 17,000 inmates spread over nine prisons. Through an unconventional lens, Florence, Arizona weaves together the stories of four key residents of Florence, whose lives have all been shadowed in some way by the surrounding prison industrial complex. The result is an intricately crafted cinematic tapestry, threaded through with deep strands of Americana, humor, intimacy, and pathos, revealing as much about ourselves as it does about our modern carceral state.

THE GREAT INVISIBLE
Margaret Brown | United States | 2014

On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and causing the worst oil spill in American history. The explosion still haunts the lives of those most intimately affected, though the story has long ago faded from the front page. At once a fascinating corporate thriller, a heartbreaking human drama, and a peek inside the walls of the secretive oil industry, The Great Invisible is the first documentary feature to go beyond the media coverage to examine the crisis in-depth through the eyes of oil executives, survivors, and Gulf Coast residents who experienced it first-hand.

 HAPPINESS
Thomas Balmes | France, Finland | 2013

Peyangki is a dreamy and solitary eight-year-old monk living in Laya, a Bhutanese village perched high in the Himalayas. Soon, the world will come to him: the village will be connected to electricity, and the first television will flicker on before Peyangki’s eyes.

 HAPPY VALLEY
Amir Bar-Lev | United States | 2014

The town of State College, the home of Penn State University, lies at the heart of an area long known as Happy Valley. Its iconic figure for more than 40 years was Joe Paterno, the head coach of the school’s storied football team, who took on mythic national stature as “Saint Joe.” But then, in November 2011, everything came crashing down. Former Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky was charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse. Filmed over the course of the year after Sandusky’s arrest, Happy Valley chronicles the ensuing firestorm of accusations about who failed to protect Happy Valley’s children. Director Amir Bar-Lev creates a parable of guilt, responsibility, and identity for a small town caught in the glare of the national spotlight.

 IN COUNTRY
Mike Attie, Meghan O’Hara | United States | 2014

War is Hell. Why would anyone want to spend their weekends there? Few would mistake Oregon’s grassy fields for the jungles of Vietnam, but war re-enactors try. Dressed in fatigues, these men willingly recreate a war most choose to forget. This at times humorous, but ultimately disquieting, trip into the men’s minds and private lives blurs fantasy with trauma, therapy with nostalgia. The effect is purposefully disorienting—is this harmless enthusiasm for a hobby or unhealthy fandom for a brutal war? In Country is a powerful commentary on a culture that venerates a past from which it hasn’t yet recovered.
Points North Pitch alum!

 THE IRON MINISTRY
J.P. Sniadecki | United States | 2014

Filmed over three years on China’s railways, The Iron Ministry traces the vast interiors of a country on the move: flesh and metal, clangs and squeals, light and dark, language and gesture. Scores of rail journeys come together into one, capturing the thrills and anxieties of social and technological transformation. The Iron Ministry immerses audiences in fleeting relationships and uneasy encounters between humans and machines on what will soon be the world’s largest railway network.

GUIDELINES (LA MARCHE A SUIVRE)
Jean-Francois Caissy | Canada | 2014

Guidelines (La marche à suivre) is a series of tableaux illustrating the occasionally trying existence of young people at a rural secondary school. Emphasizing the contrasts between the regulated environment of the classroom and the beckoning freedom of the great outdoors, the film gradually reveals the interior drama of adolescence, with its shifts from fragility to reckless abandon.

 THE LAST SEASON
Sara Dosa | United States | 2014

Amid the bustling world of central Oregon’s wild matsutake mushroom hunting camps, the lives of two former soldiers intersect. Roger, a 75-year-old sniper with the U.S. Special Forces in Vietnam, and Kouy, a 46-year-old platoon leader of Cambodia’s Khmer Freedom Fighters who battled the brutal Khmer Rouge, come together each fall to hunt the elusive matsutake mushroom, a rare mushroom prized in Japanese culture and cuisine. In the woods, the pair discovers more than just mushrooms: they find a new life, and livelihood; and a means to slowly heal the scarring wounds of war. Told over the course of one matsutake mushroom season, The Last Season is a journey into the woods, into the memory of war and survival, telling a story of family from an unexpected place.

MATEO
Aaron I. Naar | United States | 2014

Matthew Stoneman dreamed of pop stardom. Instead, he went to jail, learned Spanish, and emerged as “Mateo,” America’s first white mariachi singer. Mateo is on the brink of completing an album of original songs in Havana. But his estrangement from friends and family, his criminal past, and his love for Cuban women could derail him on his quest for fame.
Points North Pitch alum!

 MR. DYNAMITE: THE RISE OF JAMES BROWN
Alex Gibney | United States | 2014

James Brown changed the face of American music. Soul Brother Number One, as he was known, pioneered the journey from rhythm and blues to funk. More than that, this American legend—who willed himself to life after he was stillborn—was a classic embodiment of the American dream. The son of a “turpentine man” from rural South Carolina, Brown became one the greatest live performers ever known, the “hardest working man in show business,” and a self-made millionaire. With unique cooperation of the Brown estate, this is a definitive documentary biography of the James Brown story and legend, 1933–1974.

 NE ME QUITTE PAS
Sabine Lubbe Bakker, Niels van Koevorden | Netherlands, Belgium | 2013

Ne Me Quitte Pas is a tragicomic ode to failure. Set in a village on the edge of Belgium, Bob (Flemish) and Marcel (Walloon) share their solitude, sense of humor and craving for alcohol. They have agreed that suicide is the best way out if worse comes to worst. In that case, they have chosen the perfect spot to do so: under the tree of life of Bob, a retired cowboy. Ne Me Quitte Pas is a Belgian drama about life on the brink of society in all its beauty, modesty and irony. The authenticity of the main characters is painful and confronting, yet entertaining and utterly charming. It is a story about mortality in a place where time seems to stand still.

 THE NOTORIOUS MR. BOUT
Tony Gerber, Maxim Pozdorovkin | Russia, United States | 2014

Viktor Bout was a Russian entrepreneur, a war profiteer, an aviation magnate, an arms smuggler and, strangest of all, an amateur filmmaker. Until three days prior to his 2008 arrest on charges of conspiring to kill Americans, Bout kept the camera running, documenting a life spent in the gray areas of international law. Dubbed the “merchant of death,” and portrayed by Nicolas Cage in Lord of War, Viktor Bout can justifiably be called the world’s most famous arms dealer. With unprecedented access to Bout’s home movies and DEA surveillance material gathered during the sting operation to bring him down, The Notorious Mr. Bout is a portrait of a life much mythologized but little understood.

THE OVERNIGHTERS
Jesse Moss | United States | 2014

When hydraulic fracturing unlocks a vast oil field in North Dakota’s Bakken shale, tens of thousands of unemployed men descend on the state with dreams of honest work and a big paycheck. In the tiny town of Williston, busloads of newcomers step into the sad reality of slim work prospects and nowhere to sleep. Over at Concordia Lutheran Church, Pastor Jay Reinke is hell-bent on delivering the migrants some dignity. Night after night he converts his church into a makeshift dorm and counseling center, opening the church’s doors to allow the “Overnighters” – as he calls them. The Overnighters engages and dramatizes universal themes: the promise and limits of re-invention, redemption and compassion.

POINT AND SHOOT
Marshall Curry | United States | 2014

In 2006, Matt VanDyke, a timid 26-year-old with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, left home in Baltimore and set off on a self-described “crash course in manhood.” He bought a motorcycle and a video camera and began a three-year, 35,000-mile motorcycle trip through Northern Africa and the Middle East. While traveling, he struck up an unlikely friendship with a Libyan hippie, and when revolution broke out in Libya, Matt joined his friend in the fight against dictator Muammar Gaddafi. With a gun in one hand and a camera in the other, Matt fought in—and filmed—the war until he was captured by Gaddafi forces and held in solitary confinement for six months. Two-time Academy Award nominated documentary filmmaker Marshall Curry tells this harrowing and sometimes humorous story of a young man’s struggle for political revolution and personal transformation.

 RICH HILL
Tracy Droz Tragos, Andrew Droz Palermo | United States | 2014

Rich Hill, Missouri could be any of the countless small towns that blanket America’s heartland, but to teenagers Andrew, Harley and Appachey, it’s home. As they ride their skateboards, go to football practice, and arm-wrestle their fathers, they are like millions of other boys coming of age the world over. But faced with unfortunate circumstances—an imprisoned mother, isolation, instability, and parental unemployment—adolescence can be a day-to-day struggle just to survive. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, Rich Hill is a moving examination of the challenges, hopes, and dreams of rural America’s youth.

 THE SEARCH FOR GENERAL TSO
Ian Cheney | United States | 2014

Who was General Tso? And why are we eating his chicken? The Search for General Tso explores the phenomenon of Chinese American food through the lens of America’s most popular Chinese takeout meal. On a lively journey through restaurants, Chinatowns, and American popular culture, the film unravels the mysterious origins of General Tso’s Chicken—and in the process explores a larger story of immigration and cultural exchange. A quest brimming with mystery and humor ends in a surprisingly poignant visit with the 92-year-old inventor of the chicken that conquered America.!

SEEDS OF TIME
Sandy McLeod | United States | 2014

A perfect storm is brewing as agriculture pioneer Cary Fowler races against time to protect the future of our food. Gene banks of the world are crumbling, crop failures are producing starvation-inspired rioting, and the accelerating effects of climate change are already affecting farmers globally. But Fowler’s journey, and our own, is just beginning: From Rome to Russia and, finally, a remote island under the Arctic Circle, Fowler’s passionate and personal journey may hold the key to saving the one resource we cannot live without: our seeds.

 SILENCED
James Spione | United States | 2014

In Silenced, Academy Award nominated documentarian James Spione investigates what really happened inside the USA security establishment after the events of September 11th, 2001 that caused it to radically change course in profound and lasting ways. Exploring the unique courage and character it takes to challenge unethical behavior from within the American national security establishment, Silenced offers a provocative critique of systemic failures of the U.S. government and its draconian over-reactions. The film, through its vivid characters, challenges the national narrative from which our mainstream discourse seldom deviates: of America the victim, of America protecting liberties at home and abroad.

 SONG FROM THE FOREST
Michael Obert | Germany | 2014

As a young man, American-born Louis Sarno heard a song on the radio that never let him out of its grasp. He followed the mysterious sounds back to the Central African rainforest, found his music with the Bayaka pygmies, and never came back. Today, 25 years later, Louis is a full member of this community of hunters and gatherers and now has a son, 13-year-old Samedi. Louis travels with his son from the African rainforest to a jungle made of concrete, glass, and asphalt: New York City. Song From the Forest is a modern epic in which the shared journey of father and son steers towards a surprising reversal of roles and gives the viewer an intimation that the African rainforest and urban America, apparently separated worlds, are not all that separate after all.

 TOMORROW WE DISAPPEAR
Jimmy Goldblum, Adam Webber | United States | 2014

Tomorrow We Disappear is a documentary about Kathputli, India’s last colony of magicians, acrobats, and puppeteers. Since the 1970s, New Delhi’s magicians, puppeteers, and acrobats have called the tinsel slum, the Kathputli Colony, their home. Last year, the government issued relocation permits to the colony residents; the slum is to be bulldozed, cleared for development. Experience the last remnants of this culture born out of folk art and molded by poverty.

 TWO RAGING GRANNIES
Havard Bustnes | Norway, Denmark, Italy | 2014

A combination of curiosity and frustration with the status quo drives Shirley and Hinda, two gutsy, nearly 90-year-old American women, to seek answers to the burning question on everyone’s mind: How do we get out of this economic mess? Two Raging Grannies is a touching and thought-provoking documentary that challenges the idea that we must continue to shop, consume, amass, and keep the economy growing. Armed with courage, humor, a long friendship and a zest for life, Shirley and Hinda take to cities and towns across the USA and demonstrate that it is never too late to make a difference.

 VIRUNGA
Orlando von Einsiedel | United Kingdom | 2014

In the forested depths of eastern Congo lies Virunga National Park, one of the most bio-diverse places in the world and home to the last of the mountain gorillas. In this wild, but enchanted environment, a small and embattled team of park rangers—including an ex-child soldier turned ranger, a caretaker of orphan gorillas, and a Belgian conservationist—protect this UNESCO world heritage site from armed militia, poachers, and the dark forces struggling to control Congo’s rich natural resources. When the newly formed M23 rebel group declares war in May 2012, a new conflict threatens the lives and stability of everyone and everything they’ve worked so hard to protect.

 WAITING FOR AUGUST
Teodora Ana Mihae | Belgium | 2014

Georgiana Halmac is turning 15 this winter. She lives with her six siblings in a social housing condo on the outskirts of Bacau (Romania), and their mother Liliana, an economic migrant in Torino, will not be back until the summer. During her mother’s absence, Georgiana is catapulted to the role of new head of the family, and her adolescence is brutally cut short, as she is now responsible for her brothers and sisters. Caught between puberty and responsibility, she moves ahead improvising. Intimate scenes from the daily life of Georgiana and her siblings show both their ingenuity and their fragility.

 WALKING UNDER WATER
Eliza Kubarska | United Kingdom, Germany, Poland | 2014

Alexan, the last compressor diver on Mabul Island near Borneo, teaches 10-year-old Sari everything he knows, from dangerous fishing techniques and the temptations of the tourist economy to wisdom about the underwater world. Walking Under Water presents the Badjao tribe’s ancient traditions and collective experience as a magical narrative, spinning the urgent pressures and problems they face into a hybrid of fantasy, fiction and fact. The Badjao people once lived like fish, spending the majority of their time in the water, but with the encroachment of modern civilization, that way of life has become nearly extinct. Breathtaking underwater photography emphasizes this loss and the drought of enchantment on dry land.

WILD HOME
Jack Schurman, Robert Schurman | United States | 2014

Alexan, the last compressor diver on Mabul Island near Borneo, teaches 10-year-old Sari everything he knows, from dangerous fishing techniques and the temptations of the tourist economy to wisdom about the underwater world. Walking Under Water presents the Badjao tribe’s ancient traditions and collective experience as a magical narrative, spinning the urgent pressures and problems they face into a hybrid of fantasy, fiction and fact. The Badjao people once lived like fish, spending the majority of their time in the water, but with the encroachment of modern civilization, that way of life has become nearly extinct. Breathtaking underwater photography emphasizes this loss and the drought of enchantment on dry land.
Dirigo Doc! Made in Maine!

 

2014 CAMDEN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL SHORT FILMS

3 ACRES IN DETROIT
Nora Mandray | United States, France | 2013

A MARRIAGE TO REMEMBER
Banker White and Anna Fitch | United States | 2014

 ADRIFT
Frederik Jan Depickere | Belgium, Columbia | 2013

 THE ANIMATED LIFE OF A.R. WALLACE
Flora Lichtman, Sharon Shattuck | United States | 2013

BRIDGE TENDER
Hunter Snyder | United States | 2014
Dirigo Short! Made in Maine!

 

CATHEDRALS (KATHEDRALEN)

Konrad Kästner | Germany | 2013

 CHANGING HANDS: Rocky Ridge Organic Dairy
Bridget Besaw | United States | 2014
Dirigo Short! Screens as part of GROWING LOCAL

CROOKED CANDY
Andrew Rodgers | United States | 2014

 THE DOGWALKER (HUNDVAKTEN)
Caroline Ingvarsson | Sweden | 2014

FOUNDRY NIGHT SHIFT
Steven Bognar | United States | 2014

HACKED CIRCUIT
Deborah Stratman | United States | 2014

 THE HERMIT
Lena Freidrich | United States | 2014
Dirigo Short! Made in Maine!

HOME
Thomas Gleeson | New Zealand | 2012

 KATAH-DIN
Taylor Dunne | United States | 2014
Dirigo Short! Made in Maine!

THE LAST DAYS OF PETER BERGMANN
Ciaran Cassidy | Ireland | 2014

LAST REEL
Steven Bognar | United States | 2014

THE LION’S MOUTH OPENS
Lucy Walker | United States | 2014

THE MURDER BALLAD OF JAMES JONES
Jesse Kreitzer | United States | 2014

 NO EXIT
David Redmon, Ashley Sabin | United States | 2014
Dirigo Short! Made in Maine!

 NOTES ON BLINDNESS
Peter Middleton, James Spinney | United Kingdom, United States, Australia | 2014

 ONE YEAR LEASE
Brian Bolster | United States | 2014

 PARTY LINE
Alan Magee | United States | 2014
Dirigo Short! Made in Maine!

PHOEBE’S BIRTHDAY CHEESEBURGER
Will Lennon | United States | 2013

 PIG NOT PORK: Farmers Gate Market
Bridget Besaw | United States | 2014
Dirigo Short! Screens as part of GROWING LOCAL

PINK HELMET POSSE
Benjamin Mullinkosson, Kristelle Laroche | United States | 2014

SANTA CRUZ DEL ISLOTE
Luke Lorentzen | United States | 2014

 SEEDING A DREAM: Sheepscot General Store & Uncas Farm
Bridget Besaw | United States | 2014
Dirigo Short! Screens as part of GROWING LOCAL

TWENTY EIGHT FEET: LIFE ON A LITTLE WOODEN BOAT
Kevin A. Fraser | United States | 2013

 UNLOCKING THE TRUTH
Luke Meyer | United States | 2013

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The Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) which celebrates its 10th anniversary this September 25-28, 2014, announced the expansion of the Points North Documentary Forum with the launch of the Points North Fellowship.

The Points North Fellowship enhances and expands upon the well-established Points North Pitch, a unique opportunity to pitch documentary works-in-progress to an international delegation of funders, commissioning editors and producers before a live audience. Five selected filmmakers (or filmmaking teams) will receive two VIP passes to the festival, four nights of accommodations and a stipend to subsidize their travel to Camden. The fellowship will begin with a day of intensive pitch training in partnership with the Maine Media Workshop (MMW) and focused industry mentorship held at the MMW’s Campus prior to the start of the festival, followed by the fifth annual Points North Pitch, held in the Camden Opera House on September 27, 2014.

In January 2015, all Points North Fellows will receive a ticket to the Cinema Eye Honors, an invitation to CIFF’s annual nominees party and two nights of accommodations in NYC. These events will give fellows an opportunity to connect with the wider documentary community and follow up on their pitches by setting up targeted meetings with industry delegates.

Submissions for the Points North Fellowship are now open through July 18, 2014. http://camdenfilmfest.org/pointsnorth

Fellows will also have a chance to win the Points North Pitch Award, which includes a $1000 cash prize from Documentary Educational Resources, three consultations with the Tribeca Film Institute, and a discounted post-production package from Modulus Studios. Past panelists include representatives from BBC, HBO, A&E IndieFilms, Participant Media, ARTE, ITVS, POV, Al Jazeera, Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, and Cinereach, as well as leading executive producers and distributors.

The Points North Documentary Forum, held concurrently with CIFF, will continue to feature three days of programming for passholders, including hands-on workshops, panel discussions, one-on-one meetings, networking events and master classes designed to help documentary filmmakers advance their projects in concrete, meaningful ways. In addition to Points North Fellows, the 2014 forum expects to host nearly forty filmmakers with projects in development, through partnerships with the UnionDocs Collaborative Fellows, the Bay Area Video Coalition’s MediaMaker Fellows and the LEF Foundation’s Moving Image grantees.

Points North Pitch Alumni currently traveling the festival circuit include Mike Attie and Meghan O’Hara’s In Country (Points North Pitch Winner 2012), which held its World Premiere at Full Frame in April, and Aaron Naar’s Mateo, which recently premiered at SXSW. Other notable films that have pitched at Points North include the critically-acclaimed Leviathan and the award-winning Betting the Farm.

As Camden International Film Festival enters its second decade and a new chapter of growth, the festival has recruited an 8-member Industry Advisory Board to guide the development of the forum, which includes Andrea Meditch (Founder/President, Back Allie Entertainment), Ryan Harrington (Vice President Artist Programs, Tribeca Film Institute), Kristin Feeley (Director, Labs and Artist Support, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program), Brian Newman (Founder, Sub-Genre Media), Robb Moss (Filmmaker, Harvard University Professor), Mary Lampson (Filmmaker/Editor), Nancy Schafer (Producer, former ED of Tribeca Enterprises), and Lyda Kuth (Executive Director, LEF Foundation).

The Points North Documentary Forum is made possible by the generous support of the National Endowments for the Arts, the LEF Foundation, the Maine Arts Commission, The Fledgling Fund, Maine Technology Institute and the Maine Media Workshops.

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 THE GENIUS OF MARIAN

The Camden International Film Festival wrapped its ninth edition, and announced the award winning films of the 2013 festival, with THE GENIUS OF MARIAN directed by Banker White and Anna Fitch winning the Harrell Award for Best Documentary Feature.  THE GENIUS OF MARIAN is described as an intimate family portrait that explores the heartbreak of Alzheimer’s disease, the power of art and the meaning of family. THE GENIUS OF MARIAN follows Pam White in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease as her son, the filmmaker, documents her struggle to hang on to a sense of self.

The Harrell Award for Best Documentary Feature Special Jury Mention went to EXPEDITION TO THE END OF THE WORLD directed by Daniel Dencik. On a three-mast schooner packed with artists, scientists and ambitions worthy of Noah or Columbus, we set off for the end of the world: the rapidly melting massifs of North-East Greenland. An epic journey where the brave sailors on board encounter polar bear nightmares, Stone Age playgrounds and entirely new species.

This year’s Emerging Cinematic Vision Award went to BENDING STEEL directed by Dave Carroll.  BENDING STEEL is a moving documentary, which follows Chris Schnoeck, an endearing yet unassuming man as he trains to become a professional oldtime strongman. 

A Special Emerging Cinematic Vision Jury Mention went to LAST DREAMS by Estephan Wagner. LAST DREAMS follows three women during their last month of life. Through them we get an intimate and honest picture of what it means to be close to death – stories of solitude, reconciliation and love during the process of saying goodbye. 

The Camden International Film Festival had two films tie for the 2013 Audience Award – Dave Carroll’s BENDING STEEL and Jillian Schlesinger’s MAIDENTRIP.

In addition to the award winning films, seven filmmakers took the stage of the Camden Opera House on Saturday, September 28 for the fourth annual Points North Pitch, part of CIFF’s Points North Documentary Forum that runs concurrently with the festival. The filmmakers pitched their documentary works-in-progress to a panel of funders broadcasters, distributors and producers. The 2013 Points North Pitch Award and Modulus Finishing Fund was given to Drew Xanthopoulos for THE SENSITIVES. 

CIFF’s partnership with The New York Times brought filmmakers to pitch their ideas for an Op-Doc as part of Points North Documentary Forum on Sunday, September 29 at Union Hall in Rockport. The winning pitch receives the opportunity to produce an Op-Doc for The New York Times with a budget of $2,000 (USD). This year’s 2013 winner was PROJECT NODAK directed by Lewis Wilcox and James Christenson.  

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The Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) has unveiled the lineup for its Points North Documentary Forum. Now in its fifth year, the Forum has quickly become the largest gathering in New England of filmmakers, key decision makers and thought leaders in the documentary field.  The three-day conference program runs concurrently with the festival from September 27 – 29, 2013 at the historic Camden Opera House in Camden, Maine, and Union Hall in Rockport, Maine. This year’s program will feature a wide range of panel discussions, workshops, case studies, networking events and two public pitch sessions. Points North is dedicated to providing independent documentary filmmakers with unique opportunities for both professional development and creative inspiration, helping build a vibrant regional filmmaking community while sustaining a conversation about new directions in nonfiction storytelling. 

This year, some of the documentary industry’s leading broadcasters, distributors, funding organizations and executive producers will convene at the Points North Pitch, a public pitch session held during the Forum on September 28. Seven filmmakers will be given an opportunity to pitch their works-in-progress and receive critical feedback from industry delegates before a live audience. The event, which will be free and open to the public, is a unique opportunity for filmmakers to secure vital support for their projects and audience members to see how documentaries are developed in their early stages. This year’s panel will include representatives from PBS, Sundance Institute, POV, Al Jazeera America, Cinereach, LEF Foundation, DirecTV, Naked Edge Films, LEF Foundation, Fledgling Fund and Documentary Educational Resources.

One project will receive the Points North Pitch Award and Modulus Finishing Fund, which comes with a $1000 cash prize from Documentary Educational Resources, a $10,000 post-production package from Boston-based Modulus Studios, a $3000 tuition scholarship to Maine Media Workshops and three consultations with the Tribeca Film Institute. A full list of selected projects and filmmakers is included below. Last year’s winner, IN COUNTRY, has gone on to receive the Garret Scott grant and has been selected by the Hot Docs Forum and IFP Labs, while being recognized by indieWIRE as one of the “50 indie films to look out for in 2013.”

“We’re honored and excited to have the opportunity to continue to develop a platform for filmmakers to introduce their projects to some of the most influential decision-makers in the documentary industry,” says Ben Fowlie, Founder and Executive Director of the Camden International Film Festival.

Filmmakers, students and other Points North attendees will have numerous opportunities to connect with industry delegates throughout the festival weekend, both formally during panels, workshops and one-on-one sessions, and informally during CIFF parties and receptions. This year’s Points North Reception – on Friday, September 27 in the Camden Opera House – will be sponsored by the LEF Foundation, also one of the founding sponsors of the Points North Documentary Forum.

One of the themes running through this year’s program will be the ways that documentary storytelling can be used to strengthen communities and promote public dialogue around important issues, leading to real social impact.

On September 28, the Forum will host the inaugural Points North Engagement Summit: Aging in Maine, in which approximately 15 Maine-based nonprofit leaders and healthcare professionals in the field of aging will converge in Camden for a daylong closed-door strategic summit meeting with documentary filmmakers focused on aging issues. The purpose of the meeting is to explore how their work can be supported and enhanced through the use of powerful documentary films focused on the experiences of older adults, their loved ones and caretakers. The summit agenda will be designed and facilitated by Working Films, an organization that specializes in connecting storytelling with community engagement and action.

During the festival, there will also be an Aging in Maine sidebar of film screenings, including a highlighted screening of Banker White and Anna Fitch’s THE GENIUS OF MARIAN. Following the festival, CIFF will work with participating organizations to implement the ideas devloped at the summit and spearhead a screening tour of selected films in 8-10 communities across Maine. The Aging in Maine program is made possible by support from The Fledgling Fund, Camden National Bank, Pen Bay Healthcare Foundation and The Bingham Program, as well as partnerships with the University of Maine Center on Aging, the Portland Press Herald and The Conversation Project.

Another new addition to the 2013 Forum program will be The New York Times Op-Docs Pitch. Six filmmakers will pitch their ideas for opinionated documentary shorts (running 3 to 10 minutes) that fit the editorial and creative scope of the Op-Docs series. The filmmaker with the winning pitch will have an opportunity to produce an Op-Doc video for The New York Times with a budget of $2,000 (USD). Subject to The New York Times’s approval, the documentary will premiere on NYTimes.com. The panel of judges will include Jason Spingarn-Koff (The New York Times’ Commissioning Editor for Opinion Video), Kathleen Lingo (The New York Times’ Op-Docs Coordinating Producer) and Lindsay Crouse (The New York Times’ Op-Docs Series Researcher), as well as veteran Op-Docs filmmakers Rebecca Richman Cohen (CODE OF THE WEST) and Penny Lane (OUR NIXON). The pitch will take place on the morning of Sunday, September 29, in the beautifully-restored Union Hall overlooking Rockport Harbor.

Since 2011, the Points North Documentary Forum has been highlighting experiments in documentary storytelling that take advantage of new media technologies. This year, the Forum will debut a speaker series called Doc/Tech, featuring innovators and thought leaders working at the intersections between storytelling, technology and social activism. Confirmed speakers include Alexander Reben (Creator of the BlabDroid documentary filmmaking robots), Elaine McMillion (Director of the groundbreaking interactive documentary Hollow), Sasha Costanza-Chock (MIT Professor and transmedia activist) and Nonny de la Pena (Creator of Gone Gitmoand Hunger in Los Angeles virtual reality journalism projects). The session is made possible by support from the Maine Technology Institute, and will be hosted by the MIT Open Documentary Lab’s William Uricchio.

The opportunity to meet one-on-one with visiting industry delegates is another important part of the Points North experience. The 2013 program includes a session called Social Media Audit, in which filmmakers have a chance to spend 20 minutes receiving tailored feedback on their film’s online presence from social media and audience engagement gurus Kristin McCracken (former VP of Digital Media at Tribeca Enterprises) and Christie Marchese (Founder/Executive Director, Picture Motion).

For filmmakers interested in strengthening their storytelling craft, Points North will feature an editing masterclass led by Jonathan Oppenheim, editor of PARIS IS BURNING, THE OATH, and 2013 CIFF selection WILLIAM AND THE WINDMILL. For those who want to delve into the history of documentary film, filmmaker and Harvard professor Robb Moss (THE SAME RIVER TWICE, SECRECY) will lead a masterclass on the evolution of nonfiction storytelling techniques and the ethical and aesthetic issues that have shaped documentary filmmaking since the 1950s.

“We’re really honored to be bringing in such a diverse, talented and inspiring group of participants to Camden for this year’s Forum,” says Points North Director Sean Flynn. “Whether you’re developing a feature, producing a short for the web, getting into interactive media, using media as a tool for social change, curious about film history or interested in craft of documentary storytelling – there’s something here for everyone.” 

Access to the full conference program is open to all CIFF passholders. Passes are now on sale on the Camden International Film Festival website. For more information, please visit: http://camdenfilmfest.org/pointsnorth.

The Points North Documentary Forum is made possible by the generous support of the LEF Foundation, Virginia Hodgkins Somers Foundation, Maine Arts Commission, The Fledgling Fund, Camden National Bank, the Pen Bay Healthcare Foundation, The Bingham Program, Maine Technology Institute, Modulus Studios, Documentary Educational Resources, Maine Media Workshops and the Tribeca Film Institute.

A full conference schedule and list of industry delegates is attached to this press release and available online.

Points North Pitch Selections

THE BOLIVIAN CASE

Directed by Violeta Ayala

Produced by Dan Fallshaw and Vann Alexandra Daly

MATEO

Directed by Aaron I. Naar

Produced by Benjamin Dohrmann and Aaron I. Naar

THE OCEAN DOESN’T CARE

Directed and Produced by Chase Whiteside & Erick Stoll

PROJECT NODAK

Directed by James Christenson and Lewis Wilcox

Produced by Mark Steele, Eliot Popko and Jonah Sargent

RAINBOW FARM

Directed by J.P. Sniadecki

Produced by Joe Bender, Blake Ashman-Kipervsaer and J.P. Sniadecki

THE SENSITIVES

Directed by Drew Xanthopoulos

Produced by David Hartstein

WHAT TOMORROW BRINGS

Directed by Beth Murphy and Kevin Belli

Produced by Beth Murphy and Beth Balaban

New York Times Op-Docs Pitch Selections

ANCESTRAL SOIL

Directed by Beth Balaban and Beth Murphy

Produced by Beth Murphy

CAPITALIST MASTERPIECES

Directed and Produced by Lisanne Skyler

THE HAPPY FILM

Directed by Stefan Sagmeister

Produced by Ben Nabors

HOTLINE

Directed by Tony Shaff

Produced by Tony Shaff, Lauren Belfer and Bryce Renninger

PROJECT NODAK

Directed by Lewis Wilcox and James Christenson

Produced by Jonah Sargent, Eliot Popko and Mark Steele

A WILL FOR THE WOODS

Directed by Amy Browne, Jeremy Kaplan, Tony Hale and Brian Wilson

Produced by Amy Browne

Points North Documentary Forum Program

September 27 – 29, 2013

Camden Opera House | Camden, ME

Union Hall | Rockport, ME

Friday, September 27

11:00am – 12:30pm (Tucker Room)

Docs on Demand

In this workshop, Danielle DiGiacomo (Manager of Film Distribution, The Orchard) demystifies the brave new world of digital distribution. Drawing on case studies to explore topics such as the lifecycle of a digital release, negotiating contracts, strategizing about windows and platforms, the varieties of VOD, and retail marketing, this session will leave you full of ideas for how to maximize the potential of your film’s digital release. Bring your notebook!

11:30am – 1:00pm (Washington St. Conference Room)

From Story to Action

Since the days of Grierson, documentary filmmakers have been driven by a desire to affect social change through storytelling. Today’s filmmakers have more tools at their disposal than ever before to engage audiences and close the gap between inspiration and action. In this panel, filmmakers, outreach coordinators and funders discuss ideas and strategies for using film to create meaningful social impact.

●      Molly Murphy (Working Films)

●      Sheila Leddy (Fledgling Fund)

●      Christie Marchese (Picture Motion)

●      Banker White (THE GENIUS OF MARIAN)

●      Rebecca Richman Cohen (CODE OF THE WEST)

●      moderator: Sara Archambault (LEF Foundation)

1:00pm – 2:30pm (Tucker Room)

Documentary 101 with Robb Moss

In this special masterclass, award-winning filmmaker and Harvard professor Robb Moss (SECRECY, THE SAME RIVER TWICE) leads participants on a guided tour through the history of documentary film. Using clips from both classic and contemporary films, Moss traces the evolution of nonfiction storytelling techniques and explores both the ethical and aesthetic issues that have shaped documentary filmmaking over the past six decades.

1:30pm – 3:00pm (Washington St. Conference Room)

Meet the Broadcasters

Top programmers from major networks discuss everything you ever wanted to know about documentary broadcast, including programming priorities, marketing, multiplatform distribution and more. Come meet the broadcasters before you see them onstage at the Points North Pitch.

●      Brian Newman (Brainstorm Media / direcTV)

●      Chris White (POV)

●      Kathryn Lo (PBS / Independent Lens)

●      moderator: Andrea Meditch (Back Allie Films)

2:00pm – 4:30pm

Social Media Audit

Building an audience online has become an indispensable part of independent filmmaking, but where do you start? Where do you find your audience and what content should you be sharing with them? In these one-on-one sessions, you’ll have a chance to spend 20 minutes getting tailored feedback on your film’s online presence on your project from social media and audience engagement gurus Kristin McCracken (former VP of Digital Media at Tribeca Enterprises) and Christie Marchese (Founder/Exec Director, Picture Motion). Bring a laptop and RSVP to pointsnorth@camdenfilmfest.org by September 20. Space is limited!

3:00pm – 4:30pm (Tucker Room)

Courting Your Subject

Behind every documentary is the story of how the filmmaker first met his/her subject and negotiated that all-important access. Did they start filming right away? Did they fully reveal their intentions for the film? Did they befriend their subjects or maintain a distance? In this panel, three directors from the 2013 CIFF program discuss the complicated relationship between filmmaker and subject.

●      Rachel Boynton (BIG MEN)

●      AJ Schnack (CAUCUS)

●      Banker White (THE GENIUS OF MARIAN)

●      moderator: Charlotte Cook (Hot Docs)

3:30pm – 5:00pm (Washington St. Conference Room)

Shaping the Nonfiction Narrative – Editing Masterclass

Documentary editor Jonathan Oppenheim reveals the conceptual strategies he uses to discover and shape a film’s story structure during editing. Drawing on examples from past and present work – including PARIS IS BURNING, THE OATH and WILLIAM AND THE WINDMILL – Oppenheim explores issues such as context, intention and the unique challenges of the documentary form.

5:30pm – 7:00pm (Third Floor, Camden Opera House)

Points North Reception (sponsored by LEF Foundation)

After a busy day of panels and workshops, come unwind over drinks, mingle with filmmakers and industry delegates and make some new friends. Open to all festival passholders. This reception is made possible by LEF Foudation, a Points North founding sponsor and major supporter of the New England filmmaking community.

Saturday, September 28

10:00am – 1:00pm

Points North Pitch

Seven filmmakers pitch their works-in-progress to an international panel of funders, broadcasters and producers. Each pitch lasts exactly 7 minutes, followed by 12 minutes of critical feedback. This is an invaluable chance to see first-hand how leading industry decision-makers evaluate projects.

●      Lyda Kuth (LEF Foundation)

●      Alice Apley (Documentary Educational Resources)

●      Brian Newman (Brainstorm Media / direcTV)

●      Leah Giblin (Cinereach)

●      Daniel Chalfen (Naked Edge Films)

●      Kristin Feeley (Sundance Documentary Institute)

●      Sheila Leddy (Fledgling Fund)

●      Chris White (POV)

●      Kathryn Lo (PBS)

●      Moderator: Andrea Meditch (Back Allie Films)

2:00pm – 3:30pm

Doc/Tech (sponsored by Maine Technology Institute)

Throughout its history, documentary film has been a catalyst for social change and a unique medium for social connection. In this series of short thought-provoking talks, we explore how new media technologies are blurring the lines between producers, subjects and audiences, while expanding the possibilities for documentary storytelling to act as an agent of social change and civic engagement.

●      Elaine McMillion

●      Alexendar Reben

●      Sasha Costanza-Chock

●      Nonny de la Pena

●      moderator: William Uricchio

 

Sunday, September 29

11:00am – 12:30pm

The New York Times Op-Docs Pitch

Grab some brunch in Rockport and spend your Sunday morning experiencing The New York Times live. Six filmmakers will pitch their ideas for short, opinionated documentaries that fit the editorial and creative scope of The New York Times’ Op-Docs series. A jury of Op-Docs alumni and The New York Times staff will award one filmmaker with a budget of $2,000 and the chance to produce their film for a potential online audience of millions.

 

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CUTIE AND THE BOXER

Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) announced its slate, of over 65 features and short films, taking place September 26- 29, 2013 throughout Camden, Rockport and Rockland, Maine. The festival will open with CUTIE AND THE BOXER directed by Zachary Heinzerling. CUTIE AND THE BOXER is described as a reflection on love, sacrifice, and the creative spirit, this candid New York tale explores the chaotic forty year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and artist Noriko Shinohara.

2013 FEATURES

A WILL FOR THE WOODS
Amy Browne, Jeremy Kaplan, Tony Hale, Brian Wilson | United States | 2013
Psychiatrist and musician Clark advocates for natural burial – and plans his own – while battling lymphoma. Capturing the genesis of a revolutionary social and environmental movement, this film is a life-affirming portrait of people coming to terms with death by embracing its central place in nature.

THE ACT OF KILLING
Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn, Anonymous | Denmark, Indonesia | 2012
In a country where killers are celebrated as heroes, the filmmakers challenge unrepentant death squad leaders to dramatise their role in genocide. The hallucinatory result is a cinematic fever dream, an unsettling journey deep into the imaginations of mass-murderers and the shockingly banal regime of corruption and impunity they inhabit.

BENDING STEEL
Dave Carroll | United States | 2013
BENDING STEEL is a moving documentary which follows Chris Schoeck, an endearing yet unassuming man as he trains to become a professional oldetime strongman. While preparing to perform incredible feats of strength publicly, Chris privately struggles to overcome crippling fears and inhibitions. For the first time in his life he is compelled to confront his own social awkwardness, unsupportive parents, and an overwhelming fear of failure. What unfolds is one man’s inspirational quest to find his place in the world.

BIG MEN
Rachel Boynton | United States | 2013
In Ghana, a small American energy company fights to hold onto its discovery of oil just as a new government comes into power.With unprecedented access and an unflinching eye, BIG MEN takes us deep into the African oil industry in Ghana and Nigeria, delivering an exposé on the ambition, greed and corruption that threaten to exacerbate Africa’s resource curse and leave more of its citizens behind.

CAUCUS
AJ Schnack | United States | 2013
CAUCUS tells the story of the 2011-2012 campaign in Iowa as eight Republicans fight to become their party’s standard-bearer and take on Barack Obama. But to win, each must first navigate state fairs, town hall meetings and agitated questions from the increasingly contentious GOP base. A revealing look at the difficulty of running for office, particularly the Presidency, and features private, human moments of very public figures.

CRASH REEL
Lucy Walker | United States | 2013
Snowboard legend Kevin Pearce crashed on a Park City half-pipe, and ended up fighting for his life. Now all Kevin wants to do is get on his snowboard again, even though medics and family fear it could kill him.

CUTIE AND THE BOXER – Opening Night Film!
Zachary Heinzerling | United States | 2012
A reflection on love, sacrifice, and the creative spirit, this candid New York tale explores the chaotic forty year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and artist Noriko Shinohara.
CUTIE AND THE BOXER screens as part of PROCESS.

DARWIN’S NIGHTMARE
Hubert Sauper | France, Austria, Belgium | 2004
DARWIN’S NIGHTMARE is a tale about humans between the North and South, about globalization, and about fish. Some time in the 1960’s, in the heart of Africa, a new animal was introduced into Lake Victoria: the Nile Perch, a voracious predator, who extinguished almost the entire stock of the native fish species. However, the new fish multiplied so fast, that its white fillets are today exported all around the world. Huge hulking ex-Soviet cargo planes come daily to collect the latest catch in exchange for their southbound cargo… This booming multinational industry of fish and weapons has created an ungodly globalized alliance on the shores of the world’s biggest tropical lake.
DARWIN’S NIGHTMARE screens as part of THEN AND NOW.

ELENA
Petra Costa | Brazil | 2013
Elena, a young Brazilian woman, travels to New York with the same dream as her mother, to become a movie actress. She leaves behind her childhood spent in hiding during the years of the military dictatorship. She also leaves Petra, her seven year old sister. Two decades later, Petra also becomes an actress and goes to New York in search of Elena. She only has a few clues about her: home movies, newspaper clippings, a diary and letters. Gradually, the features of the two sisters are confused; we no longer know one from the other. When Petra finally finds Elena in an unexpected place, she has to learn to let her go.

EXPEDITION TO THE END OF THE WORLD
Daniel Dencik | Denmark, Sweden | 2013
A grand, adventurous journey of discovery to the last uncharted areas of the globe. Yet no matter how far we go, and how hard we try to find the answer, the ultimate meeting is with ourselves and our own transience. On a three-mast schooner packed with artists, scientists and ambitions worthy of Noah or Columbus, we set off for the end of the world: the rapidly melting massifs of North-East Greenland. Curiosity, grand pathos and a liberating dose of humour come together in a superbly orchestrated film where one iconic image after the other seduces us far beyond the historical footnote that is humanity.

THE GENIUS OF MARIAN
Banker White, Anna Fitch | United States | 2013
THE GENIUS OF MARIAN is a visually rich, emotionally complex story that follows Pam White in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease as her son, the filmmaker, documents her struggles to retain a sense of self.

HARLAN COUNTY U.S.A.
Barbara Kopple | United States | 1977
HARLAN COUNTY, USA is an Oscar-winning documentary film covering the “Brookside Strike,” an effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the Eastover Coal Company’s Brookside Mine and Prep Plant in Harlan County, southeast Kentucky in 1973.
HARLAN COUNTY U.S.A. screens as part of THEN AND NOW.

HEARTS AND MINDS
Peter Davis | United States | 1974
Peter Davis’s Oscar-winning documentary unflinchingly confronts the United States’ involvement in Vietnam. Using a wealth of sources-from interviews to newsreels to documentary footage of the conflict at home and abroad-Davis constructs a powerfully affecting portrait of the disastrous effects of war.
HEARTS AND MINDS screens as part of THEN AND NOW.

THE KILL TEAM
Dan Krauss | United States | 2013
THE KILL TEAM looks at the devastating moral tensions that tear at soldiers’ psyches through the lens of one highly personal and emotional story. Specialist Adam Winfield was a 21-year-old infantryman in Afghanistan when he attempted to alert the military to heinous war crimes his platoon was committing. An intimate look at the personal stories so often lost inside the larger coverage of the longest war in US history.

LAST DREAM (SIDSTE DRØMME)
Estephan Wagner | Denmark | 2013
LAST DREAMS follows three women during their last month of life. We follow their relationship with doctors, nurses, priests and family members, and through them we get an intimate and honest picture of what it means to be close to death – stories of solitude, reconciliation and love during the process of saying goodbye.

THE LAST STATION (EL ESTACION ULTIMA)
Cristian Soto, Catalina Vergara | Chile, Germany | 2012
Under the competitive look of a camera, the life and moments some old people face in their last stage are portrayed in an atmosphere of solitude and abandonment. These homes, and their long lasting passage of time, are the last station in life before setting out on the inevitable journey to death.

MAIDENTRIP
Jillian Schlesinger | United States | 2013
14-year-old Laura Dekker sets out-camera in hand-on a two-year voyage in pursuit of her dream to be the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone. In the wake of a year-long battle with Dutch authorities and global media scrutiny, Laura finds herself far from land and family, exploring the world in search of freedom, adventure, and distant dreams of her early youth at sea.

MOON RIDER
Daniel Dencik | Denmark | 2013
Moon Rider is a coming-of-age story about the bike rider Rasmus Quaade. The film follows young Rasmus’ struggle to become a professional rider, a rough and winding road through hell and back.

MY ARCHITECT
Nathaniel Kahn | United States | 2003
World-famous architect Louis Kahn had two illegitimate children with two different women outside of his marriage. Son Nathaniel always hoped that someday his father would come and live with him and his mother, but Kahn never left his wife and died when Nathaniel was only 11. Nathaniel travels the world visitng his father’s buildings and haunts, meeting his father’s contemporaries, colleagues, students, wives, and children.
MY ARCHITECT screens as part of PROCESS.

NARCO CULTURA
Shaul Schwarz | United States | 2013
From war photographer Shaul Schwarz comes NARCO CULTURA, an explosive look at the drug cartels’ pop culture influence on both sides of the border as experienced by an LA narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.

NIGHT LABOR
David Redmon, Ashley Sabin | Canada, United States | 2013
Sherman lives in a remote and unknown place. By day, he digs for clams; by night, he works alone in a factory that we find hard to imagine is ever empty. A moment, as commonplace as it is lyrical and mysterious, unfolds through a combination of the powerful image and sound, minimal use of narration and a personality with exceptional traits. War approaches; but some people have already lost.

OUR NIXON
Penny Lane | United States | 2013
OUR NIXON is an all-archival documentary presenting home movies for the first time from White House aides, H.R Halderman, John Ehrlichman and Dwight Chapin. Along with other rare footage seized by the FBI during the Watergate investigation, the film creates an intimate and complex portrait of the Nixon presidency as never seen before.

PABLO’S WINTER (EL INVIERNO DE PABLO)
Chico Pereira | Spain, UK | 2012
Set in Almadén, Spain, the home of the most productive mercury mines in the world’s history, PABLO’S WINTER tells the story of Pablo, a retired seventy year old miner who is trying to stop smoking. With the mines closing 15 years ago, the film is a profound reflection on past and present, the traditional and the new. It is a moment of historical importance for the town and it’s older generations, as well as a moment of hope and opportunity for the young to reinvent themselves and create a new identity for the town.

PANDORA’S PROMISE – Closing Night Film!
Robert Stone | United States | 2013
The atomic bomb and meltdowns like Fukushima have made nuclear power synonymous with global disaster. But what if we’ve got nuclear power wrong? PANDORA’S PROMISE asks whether the one technology we fear most could save our planet from a climate catastrophe, while providing the energy needed to lift billions of people in the developing world out of poverty.

PUBLIC HEARING
James N. Kienitz Wilkins | United States | 2012
PUBLIC HEARING is the verbatim re-performance of a rural American town meeting from a transcript downloaded as publicly available information. Shot entirely in cinematic close-up on black-and-white 16mm film, a cast of actors and non-actors read between the lines in an ironic debate over the replacement of an existing Wal-Mart with a super Wal-Mart.

REMOTE AREA MEDICAL
Jeff Reichert, Farihah Zaman | United States | 2013
Over three days in April 2012, Remote Area Medical, the pioneers of “no-cost” health care clinics, treated nearly 2000 patients on the infield of Bristol, Tennessee’s massive NASCAR speedway.

RUNNING FROM CRAZY
Barbara Kopple | United States | 2013
RUNNING FROM CRAZY examines the personal journey of model and actress Mariel Hemingway, the granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, as she strives for a greater understanding of her family history of suicide and mental illness. Through stunning archival footage of the three Hemingway sisters and intimate verite moments with Mariel herself, the film examines the remarkable though often heartbreaking Hemingway legacy.

SEE
Bo Bartlett, Betsy Eby, Glenn Holsten | United States | 2013
Artists Bo Bartlett and Betsy Eby set off to make a film about seeing, traveling the country stumbling upon art sites, characters and luminaries. But then the unexpected happens sending their adventure into unforeseen territory. A moving meditation, SEE delivers the beauty of America through the eyes of artists determined to see art in the everyday.
SEE screens as part of PROCESS.

SUITCASE OF LOVE AND SHAME
Jane Gillooly | United States | 2013
Tender, erotic and pathetic, this reconstructed narrative examines the obsession to chronicle the details of an adulterous affair. SUITCASE OF LOVE AND SHAME is a mesmerizing collage woven from 60 hours of reel-to-reel audiotape discovered in a suitcase purchased on eBay.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS MAY APPLY
Cullen Hoback | United States | 2013
Terms and Conditions May Apply is a documentary that shows the outrageous and downright scary things that happen when you click I Agree.
Following this screening there will be a panel with: Ben Wizner ACLU, Shahid Buttar, Bill of Rights Defense Committee and Amie Stepanovich, Electronic Privacy Information Center

THESE BIRDS WALK
Omar Mullick, Bassam Tariq | United States, Pakistan | 2012
Filmed over nearly three years, THESE BIRDS WALK is portrait of contemporary Pakistan is created through the eyes of an ambulance driver and a runaway boy who call a humanitarian and his mission based organization home.

TO THE WOLF (STO LYKO)
Aran Hughes, Christina Koutsospyrou | Greece, France, United Kingdom | 2013
Set over four days of unrelenting wind and rain in a remote village high up in the Nafpaktia mountains in western Greece, the film follows the lives of two shepherd families struggling for survival at a time of deep national crisis. TO THE WOLF is both the reality and an unsettling allegory of modern-day Greece.

TOWN HALL
Sierra Pettengill, Jamila Wignot | United States | 2013
An inside look into the lives of two Tea Party activists from Pennsylvania as they fight to preserve their vision of America. More than a political treatise, Town Hall is a tone poem that paints a portrait of those who fear being left behind by a nation’s transition.

WILLIAM AND THE WINDMILL
Ben Nabors | United States | 2013
WILLIAM AND THE WINDMILL is a feature-length documentary about William Kamkwamba, a young Malawian who rescued his family from famine by building a power-generating windmill from scrap parts. His achievement leads to new opportunities and complex choices.

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Op-Docs, the New York Times’s editorial department’s forum for short opinionated documentaries is looking for opinionated documentary shorts (running 3 to 10 minutes), Documentary filmmakers in the United States are invited to apply for a new pitch opportunity at this year’s Camden International Film Festival (CIFF): The pitch will take place as part of the Camden International Film Festival’s Points North Documentary Forum running from September 26 – 29, 2013.

Six finalists will be selected to present their projects on stage in Camden, Maine, before a panel of judges from The New York Times (including the commissioning editor for opinion video, Jason Spingarn-Koff; Op-Docs coordinating producer Kathleen Lingo and series researcher Lindsay Crouse) and veteran Op-Docs filmmakers. This will be the first live video pitch event in North America for The New York Times. The event builds on the success of a recent Op-Docs pitch competition in England, at Sheffield Doc/Fest, which attracted more than 120 submissions.

Op-Docs is The New York Times’s editorial department’s forum for short opinionated documentaries, produced with wide creative latitude and a range of artistic styles, covering current affairs, contemporary life and historical subjects. Contributors range from Oscar winners (Errol Morris, Alex Gibney, Roger Ross Williams, Jessica Yu) to emerging filmmakers and artists. View the films at NYTimes.com/OpDocs.

The filmmaker with the winning pitch will have an opportunity to produce an Op-Doc video for The New York Times with a budget of $2,000 (USD). Subject to The New York Times’s approval, the documentary will premiere on NYTimes.com.

The deadline for entries is Friday, August 9, 2013 at 11:59pm EST. For more information and a link to the online application see Camden International Film Festival’s Points North Documentary Forum.

image via New York Times

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 [caption id="attachment_2855" align="alignnone" width="800"]BALLROOM DANCER[/caption]

The Camden International Film Festival announced the first round of “Official Selections” films that will screen at the 2012 festival from Sept. 27 – 30 in Camden, Maine. CIFF will screen over 70 films with the majority being followed by a Q&A with visiting filmmakers. 

The films include:

BALLROOM DANCER

Andreas Koefoed and Christian Bonke | Denmark | 2011

New England Premiere

A decade after Slavik Kryklyvyy became the World Latin Dance Champion, he tries to regain the success that seemed to have slipped by him with a new partner and lover. Depicting their shifting dynamic through gestures, glances, and dance, this film evolves past the comeback, into a tragic love story, as Slavik’s perfectionism drives a wedge between them.

 

BETTING THE FARM

Jason Mann and Cecily Pingree | USA | 2012

New England Premiere

After being dropped by their main dairy processor, a group of nine Maine organic dairy farmers try to launch a new milk company, Maine’s Own Organic Milk. But in their first year, the farmers face mounting debts and money loss every week. Can the new company succeed, and fast enough to save them?

CALL ME KUCHU

Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall | USA, Uganda | 2012

In Uganda, a new bill threatens to make homosexuality punishable by death. David Kato – Uganda’s first openly gay man – and his fellow activists work against the clock to defeat the legislation while combating vicious persecution in their daily lives.

CANÍCULA

Jose Álvarez | Mexico | 2012

East Coast Premiere

An engrossing ethnographic work, Canicula is a study of the rich cultural heritage and traditions of the Totonac people of Veracruz, Mexico, who have resided in this region for thousands of years. Beautifully photographed, this documentary features rare footage of the Totonac’s “voladores” ritual (“the flying dance”), named an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.

CHASING ICE

Jeff Orlowski | USA | 2012

Acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog was once a skeptic about climate change. But through his Extreme Ice Survey, he discovers undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Chasing Ice reveals Balog’s hauntingly beautiful, multi-year time-lapse videos of vanishing glaciers across the Arctic, all while delivering fragile hope to our carbon-powered planet. 

CITADEL

Diego Mondaca | Bolivia, Germany | 2011

US Premiere

CITADEL captures the disturbing and mysterious place of the male prison in La Paz, Bolivia. The film attempts to expose life inside a detention facility which does not adhere to the traditional mores of prison; here, some inmates’ wives and children live alongside the prisoners.

CODE OF THE WEST

Rebecca Richman Cohen | USA | 2012

Set against the sweeping vistas of the Rockies, the steamy lamplight of marijuana grow houses, and the bustling halls of the Montana State Capitol, CODE OF THE WEST follows the political process of marijuana policy reform. This is the story of the many lives and fraught emotions when politics fail and communities pay the price.

COLOMBIANOS

Tora Mårtens | Sweden, Colombia | 2012

US Premiere

Fernando’s life in Stockholm seems to be going nowhere. He is struggling with substance abuse and his mother wants him to go and spend time with his older brother Pablo in Colombia. Pablo has a plan on how to get Fernando clean in six months. They set out on a journey filled with trials and tribulations that put their relationship to the test.

DOWNEAST

David Redmon and Ashley Sabin | USA | 2012

Set during an era of U.S. post-industrialization in which numerous factories have been exported, Downeast focuses on Antonio Bussone’s efforts to open a lobster processing factory in rural Maine.

DROUGHT

Everardo González | Mexico | 2011

East Coast Premiere

Desert cowboys “Cuates de Australia” face death every year, avoiding the drought that threatens the ranch. While the community is forced into an exodus, the Ejido is abandoned and eventually the desert animals take over the place. They wait for the first drops of rain in order to return.

EAST HASTINGS PHARMACY

Antoine Bourges | Canada | 2011

US Premiere

In a Vancouver pharmacy, patients arrive for their dose of methadone, to be taken in front of the pharmacist. Over-the-shoulder shots forcefully convey the furtiveness and tension of this daily face-to-face.

GORANSON FARM: AN UNCERTAIN HARVEST

William Kunitz | USA | 2012

World Premiere

The 2009 season for the Goranson Farm in Maine began like most: full of hope for the year, until the wettest June on record arrived. July 4th brought hail and late potato blight. The film follows the farmers, as they struggle through the harvest and into the following year.

HARDWATER

Ryan Brod and Daniel Sites | USA | 2012

HARDWATER sheds light on the insular, diverse and oft-misunderstood ice fishing community in Maine, revealing their quirky habits and long standing traditions.

HERMANS HOUSE

Angad Singh Balla | Canada, USA | 2012

The injustice of solitary confinement and the transformative power of art are explored in Herman’s House, a feature documentary that follows the unlikely friendship between a New York artist and one of America’s most famous inmates as they collaborate on an acclaimed art project.

THE IMPOSTER

Bart Layton | UK, USA | 2012

A 13 year-old Texas boy vanishes without a trace. Three and a half years later, staggering news arrives: the boy has been found, thousands of miles from home in Spain, saying he survived a mind-boggling ordeal of kidnap and torture by shadowy captors. His family is ecstatic to have him back no matter how strange the circumstances – but things become far stranger once he returns home.

JOURNEY TO PLANET X

Myles Kane and Josh Koury | USA | 2012

New England Premiere

Eric Swain and Troy Bernier are scientists by day and amateur filmmakers by night. Over the years these two friends have turned out many of their own amateur, sci-fi inspired movies. Journey to Planet X follows the filming of Planet X, the duo’s most ambitious endeavor to date, and sheds light on their unique brand of “movie magic.”

THE LIST

Beth Murphy | USA | 2012

THE LIST tells the story of Kirk Johnson, a modern-day Oskar Schindler who is fighting to save Iraqis whose lives are in danger because they worked for the U.S. government and military to help rebuild Iraq.

MEANWHILE IN MAMELODI

Benjamin Kahlmayer | Germany, South Africa | 2011

East Coast Premiere

Extension 11 is one of many districts in the Mamelodi township in South Africa. Running water, paved roads, and electricity are nowhere to be found. But even here there is daily life, which the Mtsweni family masters with routine and integrity. Will the 2010 Soccer World Cup hosted in their country have an impact on their hopes and dreams?

NIGHT LABORER

David Redmon | USA | 2012

Work-in-Progress

NIGHT LABORER follows Sherman Frank Merchant, a forty-six year old 6’6″ Downeaster during his transition from an independent and rugged clam digger by day to a laborer inside a factory at night. With his white smock, arsenal of knives, and signature black beret, Sherman performs the tasks of preparing and arranging tools for the day laborers.

OFF LABEL

Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher | USA | 2012

New England Premiere

OFF LABEL is a powerful and unconventional coast-to-coast exploration of pharmaceuticals and American life. The film thoroughly investigates off-label use of medication, in the process revealing the tremendous influence psychiatric drugs in particular have on the greater population.

ONLY THE YOUNG

Elizabeth Mims and Jason Tippet | USA | 2012

New England Premiere

In a small desert town just beyond the shadow of magic mountain, children are the gods of foreclosed homes and underpasses. Three teenagers find things to do in a place that offers nothing. They discover first love, friendship and avoid the realities of becoming an adult.

PEAK

Hannes Lang | Italy, Germany | 2011

New England Premiere

The mountains are calling! Each year hundreds of thousands of tourists come to the white winter paradise of the mountains. A portrait of the Alps in a changing environment, PEAK questions the relationship between nature and technology. How artificial is a landscape allowed to be? How artificial must it look in order to fulfill and justify our archaic desire for paradise on earth?

PLIMPTON! STARRING GEORGE PLIMPTON AS HIMSELF

Tom Bean and Luke Poling | USA | 2012

Plimpton! tells the story of writer, editor, amateur sportsman and friend to many, George Plimpton. Using Plimpton’s own narration – along with thoughts and stories from friends, family and contemporaries – the film is a joyful celebration of a life lived fully, richly, strangely, and, at times, a life that is hard to believe was actually lived by just one man.

QUESTION ONE

Joe Fox | USA | 2011

In May 2009 Maine became the first state in the US to legislatively grant same-sex couples the right to marry. Seven months later Maine reversed, becoming the thirty-first state in this country to say “no” to gay and lesbian marriage. QUESTION ONE chronicles the fierce and emotional battle that took place during that time.

THE REVISIONARIES

Scott Thurman | USA | 2012

The theory of evolution and a rewrite of U.S. history are caught in the crosshairs when an unabashed creationist seeks re-election as chairman of America’s most influential board of education.

SPECIAL FLIGHT

Fernand Melgar | Switzerland | 2011

New England Premiere

The community of rejected asylum seekers and illegal migrants in Switzerland’s Frambois Detention Centre share friendships, fears, and a similar fate. While the staff serve as caretakers, counselors, and friends to the men there, in the end, they reflect society’s attitudes towards migrants, making them simultaneously friend and foe – a fact made most evident when staff must prepare one of the men to leave on a “special flight” – a situation of extreme humiliation and despair.

SURVIVAL PRAYER

Benjamin Greené | Canada, Haida Gwaii | 2012

World Premiere

Survival Prayer is a journey to the edge of the world. Following individual food harvesters as they gather and prepare for the winter, the film celebrates the modern lifeways of a remote indigenous community and bears witness to a sacred relationship between individuals and the land that sustains them.

THE WAITING ROOM

Pete Nicks | USA | 2012

A character-driven documentary film that uses extraordinary access to go behind the doors of an American public hospital struggling to care for a community of largely uninsured patients. The film – using a blend of cinema verité and characters’ voiceover – offers a raw, intimate, and even uplifting look at how patients, staff and caregivers each cope with disease, bureaucracy and hard choices.

WAVUMBA

Jeroen van Velzen | Nigeria, Netherlands | 2012

New England Premiere

In search of the reality behind the memories the filmmaker has of his youth in Kenia, he once again allows himself to be led by an old fisherman to a world where fantasy, dreams, belief and reality cannot be differentiated from one another.

SECRET CINEMA 1

How can a human being be illegal? What would the world be like if borders did not exist? And what do we do with all the pitiless power that surrounds us?  This film raises these fundamental questions, but rather than offering simple answers, it chooses to illustrates the complicated situations that arise when we construct a social world over our natural one.

SECRET CINEMA 2

This experiential and atmospheric film drops viewers in contemporary Lapland in the Arctic Circle, which is simultaneously the fairy tale that we might have imagined and something much more real. Using astonishing, vivid imagery, colors, and precise, evocative sound design, the filmmakers make the experience of family life and work life in the legendary North country so real to us that we become part of the story, not just observers.

THE SECRET CINEMA 3

From an Academy Award winning director comes a story of an investigation into a cover-up in one of the world’s most powerful institutions. This film documents four heroes who attempt to expose a devastating abuse of power despite the denials of authority figures who believe that because they stand for good they can do no wrong.

 

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