Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

Evolution of A Criminal

The 2014 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival award winners were announced this afternoon at the festival’s annual Awards Barbecue. The Reva and David Logan Grand Jury Award was presented to Evolution of a Criminal, directed by Darius Clark Monroe. Ten years after robbing a bank as teenager, filmmaker Darius Clark Monroe returns home and turns the camera on himself — to tell the story of what happened and look at the fallout from his actions.

Jury members Shola Lynch, Robb Moss, and Christine O’Malley stated: “For its mix of autobiographical storytelling and inventive use of recreations, for its ability to disrupt what has become a familiar narrative, we award the Grand Jury Award to Evolution of a Criminal.”

White Earth

The Full Frame Jury Award for Best Short was given to White Earth, directed by J. Christian Jensen. Against the backdrop of an ethereal North Dakota winter, three children and their immigrant mother describe scenes of isolation and exertion — the impact of the oil boom to their everyday lives.

Jury members Brian McGinn, Rick Prelinger, and Toby Shimin stated: “Short filmmaking is the art of working within the constraints of limited resources. For its elegant images of an environmentally precarious practice, its enigmatic and often surprising characters, and its vivid depiction of a place undergoing rapid transition, we recognize White Earth with the Jury Award for Best Short.”

The Hand That Feeds

The Hand That Feeds, directed by Rachel Lears and Robin Blotnick, received the Full Frame Audience Award for Feature. The film, a moving story of a bitter labor dispute, follows a group of New York City restaurant workers who stand up for their rights, despite the threat of job loss and deportation.

http://youtu.be/Hs2KiBiPU6w

The Silly Bastard Next to the Bed, directed by Scott Calonico, received the Full Frame Audience Award Short. The film is a humorous retelling of how JFK handled a scandal over some pricey bedroom furniture during the last summer of his presidency.

The Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award was given to Evolution of a Criminal, directed by Darius Clark Monroe. Provided by the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, this award honors a documentary artist whose work is a potential catalyst for education and change. Representatives from the Center for Documentary Studies juried the prize: Randy Benson, Wesley Hogan, Katie Hyde, Lynn McKnight, Dan Partridge, Elena Rue, Teka Selman, and April Walton.

Return to Homs

Return to Homs, directed by Talal Derki, was awarded the Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award. The film takes viewers to the frontlines of the Syrian Civil War as two friends who are determined to defend their city abandon peaceful resistance and take up arms, heading straight for the heart of the warzone. Provided by the Charles E. Guggenheim family, this prize honors a first-time documentary feature director. Zak Piper, Roger Ross Williams, and Martha Shane juried this award.

The Overnighters

The Overnighters, directed by Jesse Moss, received the Full Frame Inspiration Award. The film deals with a pastor in an oil boomtown who opens his doors to desperate and disillusioned jobseekers, and the unintended consequences that result from his good intentioned actions. Sponsored by the Hartley Film Foundation, this award is presented to the film that best exemplifies the value and relevance of world religions and spirituality. Sarah Masters, Jason Osder, and Dawn Porter juried this award.

Santa Cruz del Islote

The Full Frame President’s Award was presented to Santa Cruz del Islote, directed by Luke Lorentzen. The film is about the remote island of Santa Cruz del Islote, one of the most densely populated on the planet, where a community struggles to main its way of life as resources and opportunities dwindle. Sponsored by Duke University, representatives on behalf of the President’s Office juried the prize.

Private Violence

Private Violence, directed by Cynthia Hill, won the Kathleen Bryan Edwards Award for Human Rights. This urgent and inspiring film confronts the question, “Why didn’t you leave?” through two women’s complex stories of survival, while exploring the way we talk about and deal with domestic violence as a society. Provided by the Julian Price Foundation, this award is presented to a film that addresses a significant human rights issue in the United States. Representatives from the Kathleen Bryan Edwards family juried the prize: Anne Arwood, Laura Edwards, Clay Farland, Margaret Griffin, and Pricey Harrison.

The Great Invisible

The Nicholas School Environmental Award was presented to The Great Invisible, directed by Margaret Brown. The film is a chilling investigation of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, told through the stories of people still experiencing its after effects — from oil executives to Gulf Coast residents — long after the media moved on. The Nicholas School Environmental Award honors the film that best depicts the conflict between our drive to improve living standards through development and modernization, and the imperative to preserve both the natural environment that sustains us and the heritages that define us. Representatives from the Nicholas School of the Environment juried the prize: Lisa Campbell, Erin Espelie, Cindy Horn, Rebecca Patton, and Tom Rankin.

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THE BATTERED BASTARDS OF BASEBALL by Chapman Way and Maclain Way

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival announced additional programming for the 2014 festival: 4 Center Frame programs, 5 Free Screenings, this year’s Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant recipients, and the Southern Documentary Fund: In-the-Works program. THE BATTERED BASTARDS OF BASEBALL by Chapman Way and Maclain Way will screen as the Free Closing Night Film on Sunday, April 6.

Four films previously announced in the Invited Program will exhibit as Center Frame screenings in the Fletcher Hall of the Carolina Theatre: “Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq” by Nancy Buirski, “The Case Against 8” by Ben Cotner and Ryan White, “E-Team” by Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman, and “Ivory Tower” by Andrew Rossi. 

Filmmakers and subjects from the films will participate in extended conversations after the Center Frame screenings. Special guests include legendary classical dancer Jacques d’Amboise of “Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq;” Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, two of the plaintiffs featured in “The Case Against 8;” and Carroll Bogert of Human Rights Watch, who appears in “E-Team.”

The 2014 Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant, now in its eighth year, has been awarded to James Demo for “The Peacemaker” and RaMell Ross for “Hale County.” Grant organizers will join the filmmakers in presenting short excerpts from their works-in-progress prior to the World Premiere screening of “In Country” by 2013 recipients Mike Attie and Meghan O’Hara. The grant is awarded in honor of filmmaker Garrett Scott, who made a distinctive mark in the documentary genre during his brief career. It recognizes first-time filmmakers who, like Scott, bring a unique vision to the content and style of their documentary films. 

The Southern Documentary Fund is screening in-the-works excerpts from “Old South” by Danielle Beverly and “Trapped” by Dawn Porter. The screenings will be followed by a moderated conversation with the filmmakers. SDF: In-the-Works provides Southern filmmakers the opportunity to receive feedback from a dedicated assembly of their peers and serious documentary enthusiasts. 

In addition to the Closing Night Film, Full Frame 2014 will feature 4 Free Screenings. The festival will continue its tradition of showing free films Friday and Saturday nights. Two fan favorites from last year’s festival will each screen twice, once indoors at the Full Frame Theater in the Power Plant at American Tobacco and once outdoors at Durham Central Park: Ryan White’s “Good Ol’ Freda” and Patrick Creadon’s “If You Build It.” Food Truck Roundups will precede the Durham Central Park showings on Friday and Saturday nights. All Free Screenings at the festival are presented by PNC.

The complete schedule of events, along with film descriptions, can be viewed online at www.fullframefest.org.

2014 Center Frame Screenings at Carolina Theatre’s Fletcher Hall

CENTER FRAME – Friday, April 4 at 4:40pm
Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq (Director: Nancy Buirski)
Tanaquil Le Clercq inspired choreographers unlike any ballerina before her, but in 1956, at the height of her fame, she was stricken with polio. A mesmerizing film of love, loss, and surprising grace.

CENTER FRAME – Friday, April 4 at 7:40pm
E-Team (Directors: Katy Chevigny, Ross Kauffman)
Four fearless activists from Human Rights Watch’s Emergency Team take us to the frontlines of Syria and Libya as they investigate and document war crimes.

CENTER FRAME – Saturday, April 5 at 4:40pm
Ivory Tower (Director: Andrew Rossi)
Is a college degree worth the price? This sweeping examination of higher education questions the value of college in an era of rising tuition costs and staggering student debt.

CENTER FRAME – Saturday, April 5 at 7:40pm
The Case Against 8 (Directors: Ben Cotner, Ryan White)
This behind-the-scenes film, shot over five years, follows the unlikely team who fought to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage.

2014 Free Screenings Presented by PNC

FREE CLOSING NIGHT FILM
Sunday, April 8 at 8:00pm – Carolina Theatre’s Fletcher Hall (Ticket Required)
The Battered Bastards of Baseball (Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way)
A celebratory portrait of the Portland Mavericks, who joined the minor leagues in 1973 as the lone single-A team without a major-league affiliation.

FREE SCREENINGS
Friday, April 4 at 6:30pm – Full Frame Theater (Ticket Required)
Saturday, April 5 at 8:30pm – Durham Central Park
If You Build It (Director: Patrick Creadon)
Innovative teachers, striving students, and a radical curriculum in Bertie County, N.C., are chronicled over the course of one transformative year.

FREE SCREENINGS
Friday, April 5 at 8:30pm – Durham Central Park
Saturday, April 6 at 6:30pm – Full Frame Theater (Ticket Required)
Good Ol’ Freda (Director: Ryan White)
Liverpudlian teenager Freda Kelly was the Beatles secretary and tells “one of the last true stories of the Beatles you’ll ever hear.”   

2014 Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant
Saturday, April 5 at 4:10pm – Cinema 4

The Peacemaker (Director: James Demo)
The Peacemaker follows Padraig O’Malley into conflict zones as he works a peacemaking model based on his recovery from addiction.

Hale Country (Director: RaMell Ross)
Immersive moments and ambling montages investigate the lives of two young Black men on the cusp of adulthood in the historic South.

SDF: In-the-Works
Sunday, April 6 at 2:30pm – Durham Arts Council

Old South (Director: Danielle Beverly)
Two Southern communities steeped in history—one black, one white—collide as they strive to keep their respective legacies alive in a changing America.

Trapped (Director: Dawn Porter)
Dr. Willie Parker is one of the only physicians willing to provide abortion care at clinics in Alabama and Mississippi. But when new state laws effectively ban him from practice, these clinics must fight to stay open.

The 17th Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will be held April 3-6, 2014, in Durham, N.C., with Duke University as the presenting sponsor. The NEW DOCS, Invited, Tribute, and Thematic Program lineups were previously announced.

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Steve James (“Hoop Dreams,” “The Interrupters,” “Stevie”)

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has announced its full list of Full Frame Tribute and Thematic Program films. The festival will present the Full Frame Tribute to esteemed filmmaker Steve James (“Hoop Dreams,” “The Interrupters,” “Stevie”). Full Frame will screen a collection of his highly regarded films over the course of the four-day event, and will welcome a variety of subjects featured in these works for Q&As. Arthur Agee, Jr. (“Hoop Dreams”), Ameena Matthews (“The Interrupters”), and Reverend Carroll Pickett (“At the Death House Door”) are expected to attend, along with many of James’s collaborators from Kartemquin Films. Full Frame will also feature “Hoop Dreams at 20,” a panel conversation in celebration of the landmark documentary’s 20th anniversary that will feature outtakes, insider commentary, and special guests.

“I’m excited to have so many of my films play again in front of the appreciative audiences at Full Frame. It will give me a rare opportunity to reflect on where my career has led me, and maybe make connections between the films that have eluded me before. And I’m determined to resist the impulse to go re-edit them all again,” said Steve James.

“What’s really at the heart of honoring filmmakers with this Tribute is having the opportunity to look back at the course of a particular artist’s work. I deeply admire Steve’s approach as a filmmaker—the commitment to his subjects, and the way he handles even difficult exchanges with candor, honesty, and respect. Being able to welcome the people who have collaborated on his films is such an amazing opportunity,” said director of programming Sadie Tillery.

The Thematic Program “Approaches to Character,” curated by filmmaker Lucy Walker (“Waste Land,” “The Crash Reel”), reveals a series of memorable subjects through a diverse array of filmmaking techniques. The lineup features titles from many accomplished filmmakers, including Werner Herzog, Shirley Clarke, and Joe Berlinger, as well as three of Walker’s own films: her two most recent shorts, “The Lion’s Mouth Opens” and “David Hockney IN THE NOW (in six minutes),” and her first feature film, “Devil’s Playground.”

“In each of the brilliant titles I’ve selected, the filmmaker has found a different access point to their subjects. Through these diverse techniques we learn something profound about human beings and how they construct their identities, often revealing the individual in more powerful and fascinating ways than meeting a person in real life,” said Lucy Walker. “This is a fantastic opportunity to show films that we rarely get to see on a big screen to an extraordinarily knowledgeable and engaged audience. This is what I love about Full Frame—filmmakers come to watch films, be inspired, talk shop and exchange notes with our colleagues and heroes.”

Tillery added, “Showing older works alongside brand new films gets right to the core of my vision for Full Frame. I want this lineup to start conversation, spark connections, and make filmgoers really think about the form.”

Specific screening times and venues will be announced with the release of the full schedule on March 13th.   

FULL FRAME TRIBUTE
Full Frame honors the work of Steve James. The Full Frame Tribute will be presented at the Awards Barbecue on Sunday.

At the Death House Door (Directors: Steve James, Peter Gilbert)
An unflinching account of the work of Reverend Carroll Pickett, who presided over 95 executions during his 15-year tenure as a death house chaplain in a Texas prison.

Hoop Dreams (Director: Steve James)
This deeply moving film follows Arthur Agee, Jr., and William Gates as they strive to achieve professional basketball stardom and escape poverty in Chicago.

Hoop Dreams at 20
In celebration of the landmark documentary’s 20th anniversary, this panel conversation features insider commentary, rarely seen footage, and special guests.

The Interrupters (Director: Steve James)
Three brave “interrupters” from Chicago’s CeaseFire organization take on inner-city violence with a dangerous form of intervention.

A Place Called Pluto (Director: Steve James)
When a reporter is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, he boldly faces his prognosis by putting his experiences into words.

Reel Paradise (Director: Steve James)
The final month of an American family’s yearlong stay in Fiji, where they screened movies in one of the most remote cinemas in the world.

Stevie (Director: Steve James)
Ten years later, Steve James visits a young man to whom he was a Big Brother and finds him at a turbulent crossroads in his life.
 

FULL FRAME THEMATIC PROGRAM: APPROACHES TO CHARACTER
Filmmaker Lucy Walker presents a series of documentaries featuring memorable subjects revealed through a diverse array of filmmaking techniques.

The Arbor (Director: Clio Barnard)
This unconventional portrait of the late British playwright Andrea Dunbar features actors lip-synching audio interviews with her family, friends, and neighbors.

Creature Comforts (Director: Nick Park)
In this short film, claymation zoo animals reveal how they feel about their living conditions, and living perpetually on display.

David Hockney IN THE NOW (in six minutes) (Director: Lucy Walker)
A tribute to the evolving work of the iconic British painter and photographer, an artist who insists on living in the present.

Devil’s Playground (Director: Lucy Walker)
Amish teenagers choose between their faith and the temptations of the modern world following a period of experimentation known as rumspringa.

The Five Obstructions (Directors: Lars von Trier, Jørgen Leth)
Lars von Trier challenges fellow filmmaker Jørgen Leth to create five new iterations of his film The Perfect Human, placing a new restriction on each production.

Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (Director: Marcel Ophüls)
This epic examination of the life of Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie, the “Butcher of Lyons,” doggedly explores questions of evil, complicity, memory, responsibility, and evasion.

The Kid Stays in the Picture (Directors: Nanette Burstein, Brett Morgen)
Robert Evans, the first actor to become head of a major film studio, narrates this Hollywood insider tell-all detailing his rise, his fall, and his rise again.

Land of Silence and Darkness (Director: Werner Herzog)
Fini Straubinger, deaf and blind since her teens, attempts to help those who are similarly afflicted overcome their isolation.

The Lion’s Mouth Opens (Director: Lucy Walker)
With the support of family and friends, a young woman takes the daring step of determining whether she carries the genetic marker for Huntington’s disease.

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (Directors: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky)
At work on their album St. Anger, the members of the legendary band find themselves embroiled in bitter disputes, so they bring in their therapist to help.

On the Bowery (Director: Lionel Rogosin)
Part-time railroad worker Ray Salyer spends three days drinking on drifting on Manhattan’s Skid Row in this seminal postwar work of docufiction.

Portrait of Jason (Director: Shirley Clarke)
Drink in hand, Jason Holiday, a gay African American hustler and aspiring nightclub performer, regales us with stories of his life.

The 17th Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will be held April 3-6, 2014, in Durham, N.C., with Duke University as the presenting sponsor. The Invited Program and NEW DOCS films were announced last week. The complete schedule of films will be announced March 13th. Individual tickets go on sale March 27th.

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 112 WEDDINGS

The 17th Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival taking place April 3 to 6, 2014, in Durham, N.C., announced its “Invited Program” and “NEW DOCS” lineup of new feature and short films. Filmmaker Doug Block’s film “112 WEDDINGS” will have its World Premiere as the Full Frame Opening Night Film on Thursday, April 3rd. 

“112 WEDDINGS,” an HBO Documentary Film, is a heartwarming examination of the struggles and joys that come with lifelong partnership. After two decades filming weddings part-time, acclaimed director Doug Block (“51 Birch Street,” “The Kids Grow Up”) revisits couples years after the big day in order to see how love and life have unfolded after vows.

Block said, “Among filmmakers, Full Frame is the country’s most revered documentary film festival, so it’s a particular honor to be chosen as this year’s Opening Night Film. ‘112 Weddings’ is a thought-provoking film about love and marriage, and I’m hoping it will get the festival off to a rousing, celebratory start.”

http://youtu.be/4BMPt4qfMMs

One of the nation’s premier documentary film festivals, Full Frame celebrates its 17th annual festival this April. Full Frame is a qualifying event for consideration for the nominations for both the Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject and the Producers Guild of America Awards.

Invited Program

112 Weddings (Director: Doug Block)
Documentary filmmaker and part-time wedding videographer Doug Block tracks down couples he’s filmed over the years, contrasting past with present to see how love and life have unfolded after vows. World Premiere

20,000 Days on Earth (Directors: Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard)
Equal parts document and daydream, Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth’s innovative film features the inimitable Nick Cave in a series of revelatory and imaginative vignettes.

Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq (Director: Nancy Buirski)
Tanaquil Le Clercq inspired choreographers unlike any ballerina before her, but in 1956, at the height of her fame, she was stricken with polio. A mesmerizing film of love, loss, and surprising grace.

Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory (Director: Michael Rossato-Bennett)
When a social worker discovers that music can unlock the memories of patients whose minds are clouded by dementia, he embarks on a mission to transform lives one iPod at a time.

The Battered Bastards of Baseball (Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way)
A celebratory portrait of the Portland Mavericks, who joined the minor leagues in 1973 as the lone single-A team without a major-league affiliation.

The Case Against 8 (Directors: Ben Cotner, Ryan White)
This behind-the-scenes film, shot over five years, follows the unlikely team who fought to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage, and won.

E-Team (Directors: Katy Chevigny, Ross Kauffman)
Four fearless activists from the Human Rights Watch’s Emergency Team take us to the frontlines of Syria and Libya as they investigate and document war crimes.

Freedom Summer (Director: Stanley Nelson)
Remarkable archival footage and unforgettable eyewitness accounts take us back to the summer of 1964, when hundreds of civil rights activists entered Mississippi to help enfranchise the state’s African American citizens.
 
The Green Prince (Director: Nadav Schirman)
A real-life thriller about the complex relationship between a Palestinian spy and his Israeli Shin Bet handler.

Ivory Tower (Director: Andrew Rossi)
Is a college degree worth the price? This sweeping examination of higher education questions the value of college in an era of rising tuition costs and staggering student debt.

Last Days in Vietnam (Director: Rory Kennedy)
Historical footage and reflections by U.S. diplomats and soldiers transport us to Saigon in April 1975 and the moral quandaries surrounding the order to evacuate American citizens only.

The Missing Picture (Director: Rithy Panh)
This deeply poetic and personal document uses hundreds of clay figurines—as so few photos exist—to recreate events and validate memories of the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.

My Prairie Home (Director: Chelsea McMullan)
Transgender singer-songwriter Rae Spoon tours Canada in this impressionistic merging of dreamy music videos and intimate interviews.

No More Road Trips? (Director: Rick Prelinger)
Compiled from hundreds of home movies to create a dream ride across 20th-century America, this mixtape’s soundtrack and narration is provided by the audience.

One Cut, One Life (Directors: Lucia Small, Ed Pincus)
Two filmmakers undertake the making of a very personal documentary when one of them is diagnosed with a terminal illness, approaching matters of life and death with profound honesty. World Premiere

Our Man in Tehran (Directors: Drew Taylor, Larry Weinstein)
This riveting film recounts Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor’s role in the high-risk rescue of six Americans from Tehran during the Iran hostage crisis. US Premiere

Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa (Director: Abby Ginzberg)
Lawyer, writer, art lover and freedom fighter Albie Sachs fights to overthrow South Africa’s apartheid regime. World Premiere

Supermensch (Director: Mike Myers)
As entertaining as it is heartfelt, this star-studded film celebrates the adventurous life of talent manager, producer, and dealmaker extraordinaire Shep Gordon.

Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People(Director: Thomas Allen Harris)

This invaluable document is a journey through the African American family photo album: its political, social, and artistic history; its stories of loss, self-invention, community, and beauty.

The Visitors (Director: Godfrey Reggio)
Stunning black-and-white images set to a score by Philip Glass propel this visceral rumination on humanity’s relationship with an increasingly digital world.

WHITEY: United States of America V. James J. Bulger (Director: Joe Berlinger)
This true-crime doc examines the sensationalized trial of a notorious South Boston gangster and brings new allegations of law-enforcement corruption to light.

NEW DOCS

Ana Ana (Directors: Corinne van Egeraat, Petr Lom)
Four young women in Egypt tell their stories in an unforgettable cinematic collaboration that merges the personal and the political. North American Premiere

Apollonian Story (Directors: Ilan Moskovitch, Dan Bronfeld)
A modern hermit has spent the last 40 years single-mindedly carving a home out of a Mediterranean cliff. When his estranged son comes to help, the pair must navigate long-standing tensions. North American Premiere

Book of Days (Director: Ian Phillips)
Filmed over seven years, this fascinating short follows an enigmatic artist and bookseller as he struggles to get his book, Hannibal Barca, published. World Premiere

Born to Fly (Director: Catherine Gund)
“Action architect” Elizabeth Streb choreographs performances that push the human body to extremes in this exhilarating portrait of Streb and her company of dancers as they take to the air.

Bronx Obama (Director: Ryan Murdock)
An unemployed Puerto Rican father chases the “look of a lifetime” when he realizes he bears an uncanny resemblance to our 44th president.

Buffalo Dreams (Director: Maurice O’Brien)
Fanciful dreams meet cold reality as a Scottish family tries to raise American bison far from their native grasslands. North American Premiere

Butterfly Girl (Director: Cary Bell)
An unsentimental, deeply moving portrait of a young woman trying to live a “normal life” despite having a rare, often fatal, skin disease.

Can’t Stop the Water (Directors: Rebecca Ferris, Jason Ferris)
Abandoned homes line the one road of the disappearing Isle de Jean Charles in Louisiana, home to a Choctaw community. This is the story of those who’ve stayed.

CAPTIVATED: The Trials of Pamela Smart (Director: Jeremiah Zagar)
In telling the story of the first fully televised trial in the U.S., this incisive, multilayered film looks at how mass-media coverage and sensationalism impact the workings of justice.

The Case of the Three Sided Dream (Director: Adam Kahan)
Rahsaan Roland Kirk, an extraordinary musician who preferred the term “black classical music” to “jazz,” lived in a world of sound and dreams—and action.

The Chaperone (Directors: Fraser Munden, Neil Rathbone)
Charm and surprise characterize this animated story of a fight that breaks out between chaperones of a middle-school dance and a biker gang.

The Circle (Director: Bram Conjaerts)
Scientific data, animation, and man-on-the-street interviews collide in this portrait of life above the world’s largest high-energy particle accelerator.

DamNation (Directors: Ben Knight, Travis Rummel)
This poetic, reflective film follows the growing and increasingly successful movement to tear down America’s dams and restore long-standing fisheries, through both legal means and guerilla tactics.

Evolution of a Criminal (Director: Darius Clark Monroe)
Ten years after robbing a bank as a teenager, filmmaker Darius Monroe returns home and turns the camera on himself—to tell the story of what happened and look at the fallout from his actions

Fairytale of the Three Bears (Director: Tristan Daws)
Three hardworking men recall the story of the “Three Bears” as they muse on their lives in post-Soviet Russia. North American Premiere

Flowers from the Mount of Olives (Director: Heilika Pikkov)
Mother Ksenya, an 83-year-old nun in a convent in Jerusalem, reflects on her remarkable life as she embarks on one final challenge: silence. North American Premiere

Foundry Night Shift (Director: Steven Bognar)
In the wee hours, when electrical demand is down, workers stoke elaborate furnaces to produce the steel frames for Steinway pianos.

The Great Invisible (Director: Margaret Brown)
A chilling investigation of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill through the stories of people still experiencing its aftereffects, from oil executives to Gulf Coast residents—long after the media moved on.

Hacked Circuit (Director: Deborah Stratman)
A single suspenseful shot takes us inside the art of aural illusion and reveals that all is not as it seems or sounds.

The Hand That Feeds (Directors: Rachel Lears, Robin Blotnick)
A group of NYC restaurant workers stand up for their rights, despite the threat of job loss and deportation, in this moving story of a bitter labor dispute. World Premiere

Happy Valley (Director: Amir Bar-Lev)
This compelling look at Penn State’s football scandal goes beyond the surface of spectacle to get at the heart of the responses of an impassioned community.

The Hip-Hop Fellow (Director: Kenneth Price)
Music producer and turntablist supreme Ninth Wonder travels from North Carolina to Massachusetts to become Harvard’s first Hip-Hop Fellow. World Premiere

In Country (Directors: Mike Attie, Meghan O’Hara)
The lines between what’s real and what’s pretend blur as members of a platoon of Vietnam War re-enactors go to battle, each for their own complicated reasons.  World Premiere

The Lab (Director: Yotam Feldman)
Israeli filmmaker Yotam Feldman points a chilling lens at his country’s defense industry, the fourth largest arms exporter in the world. North American Premiere

Light Fly, Fly High (Directors: Susann Ostigaard, Beathe Hofseth)
Born into the “untouchable” caste, an Indian girl challenges her fate by entering a government-subsidized (and unfortunately, corrupt) boxing program. North American Premiere

Monk by Blood (Director: Ema Ryan Yamazaki)
Scion Sasaki, an aspiring chef and sometimes DJ, grapples with the responsibility of taking over his family’s ancestral Buddhist temple, a tradition dating back 23 generations. North American Premiere

Monk with a Camera (Directors: Guido Santi, Tina Mascara)
Nicky Vreeland trades in his rarified high-society existence for a Tibetan Buddhist monk’s maroon robes. Luckily, he brings his camera along.

The Notorious Mr. Bout (Directors: Tony Gerber, Maxim Pozdorovkin)
With unprecedented access and years of home movies, this multidimensional film points a lens at international arms smuggler and philosophical businessman Viktor Bout.

Olga – To My Friends (Director: Paul Anders Simma)
A young woman living alone on a reindeer herding post 1,000 miles north of Moscow contemplates solitude and purpose, and what she will do if the post is shut down. North American Premiere

The Overnighters (Director: Jesse Moss)
The unintended consequences of good intentions become evident when a pastor in an oil boomtown opens his doors to desperate and disillusioned jobseekers.

A Park for the City (Director: Nicole Macdonald)
Surveillance cameras give us a Night at the Museum look inside Detroit’s abandoned zoo on Belle Isle, a no-man’s land of flora and fauna reverting to wilderness.


Private Violence (Director: Cynthia Hill)
“Why didn’t you leave?” This urgent and inspiring film follows two women’s complex stories of survival while exploring the way we talk about and deal with domestic violence as a society.

Return to Homs (Director: Talal Derki)
This film takes us to the frontlines of the Syrian Civil War as two friends who are determined to defend their city abandon peaceful resistance and take up arms, heading straight for the heart of the warzone.

Rich Hill (Directors: Tracy Droz Tragos, Andrew Droz Palermo)
Three boys from a small Missouri town grapple with isolation and instability in this expressionistic film that portrays, with grace and complexity, family bonds, poverty, and survival.

Ronald (Director: John Dower)
One man, one supersized pair of red shoes, over ninety-nine billion served. World Premiere

Santa Cruz del Islote (Director: Luke Lorentzen)
On this remote island, the most densely populated on the planet, a community struggles to maintain their way of life as resources and opportunities dwindle. World Premiere

Seeds of Time (Director: Sandy McLeod)
As humans face a “perfect storm” of disastrous scenarios, scientist Cary Fowler demonstrates the importance of biodiversity by developing seed banks across the globe.

Sex(Ed) The Movie (Director: Brenda Goodman)
Remember the first time you heard about sex? Through clips from film and TV archives, this hilarious, humbling film takes a look at our country’s earnest attempts to share the facts of life.

The Silly Bastard Next to the Bed (Director: Scott Calonico)
JFK handles a scandal over some pricey bedroom furniture in the last summer of his presidency. World Premiere

Summer 82 When Zappa Came to Sicily (Director: Salvo Cuccia)
Frank Zappa’s 1982 European tour comes to a surprising, and riotous, conclusion in Palermo in this film featuring rare footage and local insights. North American Premiere

The Supreme Price (Director: Joanna Lipper)
Hafsat Abiola fights to realize her parents’ dreams of alleviating poverty and ending military dictatorship in this powerful look into the Nigerian pro-democracy movement.World Premiere

Swallow (Director: Genevieve Bicknell)
Eating: a pleasant or unpleasant task? Food: tasty and bubbling or oozy and disgusting?North American Premiere

Tough Love (Director: Stephanie Wang-Breal)
Two parents navigate the red tape of America’s child welfare system as they fight to regain custody of their children. World Premiere

Ukraine Is Not a Brothel (Director: Kitty Green)

The women of FEMEN, the provocative topless feminist movement in the Ukraine, confront the power structure fueling their organization.

Watchers of the Sky (Director: Edet Belzberg)
Four extraordinary people embody the vision of Rafael Lemkin, who created international law to stop genocide and hold leaders accountable.

Where is My Son? (Director: Qu Zhao)
Abandoning a successful career in the big city, JunKyo Lee returns home to care for his ailing mother in her final years. North American Premiere

White Earth (Director: J. Christian Jensen)
Against the backdrop of an ethereal North Dakota winter, three children and their immigrant mother describe scenes of isolation and exertion—the impact of the oil boom on their everyday lives.

Yangtze Drift (Director: John Rash)
In gorgeous black and white, this updated city symphony moves along the varied sights, sounds, and rhythms of a great river. World Premiere

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Festival Will Honor Emmy-Winning Director Steve James, Oscar®-Nominated Director Lucy Walker to Curate Thematic Program

The 17th Full Frame Documentary Film Festival taking place April 3 to 6, 2014, in Durham, North Carolina, announced its annual Thematic Program and Tribute. The Full Frame Tribute will celebrate the work of award-winning filmmaker Steve James. The 2014 Thematic Program will look at the role of the subject in documentary film through a series of films curated by esteemed filmmaker Lucy Walker. 

“I’ve always enjoyed Full Frame’s Thematic Program, and credit it with introducing me to films I’d never seen on the big screen before,” said Lucy Walker. “The documentaries I most enjoy all have memorable characters, and in my own work, I’ve gravitated towards character-led stories. I’m thrilled and honored to guest curate a selection of films for the Thematic Program that have unforgettable personalities at their heart and center.”

“Character-driven documentaries depend on the relationship a filmmaker can forge with his or her subject. We’re interested in how the people featured in documentary films – their personal openness and charisma – shape the impact of these works,” said director of programming Sadie Tillery. 

Lucy Walker is a British film director who has twice been nominated for an Academy Award®. Her Oscar®-nominated film “Waste Land” won the 2010 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Audience Award. Her other feature documentaries include “The Crash Reel,” “Countdown to Zero,” “Blindsight,” and “Devil’s Playground.” She has also directed several short documentaries, including “The Lion’s Mouth Opens,” which recently premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, as well as the Oscar®-nominated “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom.” Her films have been nominated for seven Emmys, an Independent Spirit Award, and a Gotham Award, and have won over eighty other film awards.

The festival will honor Steve James with the Full Frame Tribute and will feature a retrospective of his work. Steve James produced and directed “Hoop Dreams,” winner of every major critics’ prize including a Peabody and Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. Other films include “Stevie,” which won IDFA’s grand jury prize; the acclaimed miniseries “The New Americans”; Tribeca Grand Prize-winner “The War Tapes,” which James produced and edited; “At the Death House Door,” which won numerous festival awards; “No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson,” produced for ESPN’s Peabody-winning “30 for 30” series; and “The Interrupters,” which won an Emmy, Independent Spirit Award, and the duPont Journalism Award, among numerous others. James’ most recent documentary on the life and career of critic Roger Ebert, “Life Itself,” premiered to great acclaim at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.  

“There’s a deep tie between our Thematic Program and Tribute this year in that Steve James is responsible for introducing audiences to some of the most memorable documentary subjects of all time,” said Tillery. “We’re proud to recognize his remarkable films and the powerful stories he’s captured over the years.”

“Full Frame has always been one of my absolute favorite festivals because of its devotion to artistic and challenging documentaries and to making filmmakers feel loved and appreciated,” said Steve James. “That love extends from the passionate festivalgoers to Full Frame’s incredible staff and programmers. It is both thrilling and humbling to attend this year and receive this tribute.”

Both Walker and James will attend the festival. Specific titles for the Thematic Program and Full Frame Tribute, along with additional attending guests, will be announced in March.

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After another year of of drawing record attendance and selling out a record 46 events , the annual four-day Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will definitely be back for 2014. The 17th annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is confirmed for April 3-6, 2014.

The 2013 festival screened 96 films, including 10 World Premieres, 9 North American and 2 US Premieres.  In other good news, in February, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences notified Full Frame that it had been chosen as an Academy Award® qualifying festival in the Documentary Short Subject category. Full Frame is also a qualifying event for the Producer Guild of America Awards.

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[caption id="attachment_3474" align="alignnone" width="550"] American Promise[/caption] The 2013 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Award Winners were announced Sunday afternoon at the festival’s annual Awards Barbecue. The top prize, the Reva and David Logan Grand Jury Award was presented to American Promise directed by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson. This personal film follows the directors’ son and his best friend from their first day of kindergarten through high school graduation, and how their lives diverge. Considered one of the nation’s premier documentary film festivals, Full Frame is celebrating its 16th annual festival. For the first time, Full Frame is a qualifying event for consideration for nominations for both the Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject and The Producers Guild of America Awards. 2013 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Award Winners The Reva and David Logan Grand Jury Award The Reva and David Logan Grand Jury Award was presented to American Promise directed by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson. This personal film follows the directors’ son and his best friend from their first day of kindergarten through high school graduation, and how their lives diverge. This award is sponsored by The Reva and David Logan Foundation. The Jury, Greg Barker, Nina Davenport, and Tia Lessin, stated: “We chose this film – which spans twelve years in the lives of two African American families – for the elegance and honesty with which filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson tell the story of their son Idris and his best friend Seun growing up in Brooklyn. This epic cinema-verite film is at once a revealing and affecting depiction of the contemporary black male experience and a deeply personal and beautifully observed portrait of a family.” The Full Frame Jury Award for Best Short The Full Frame Jury Award for Best Short was given to By Her Side directed by Niels van Koevorden, In this film, three fathers-to-be share their hopes, dreams, and anxieties as they anticipate the birth of their children. The Full Frame Jury Award for Best Short is provided by Drs. Andrew and Barbra Rothschild. The Jury, Ross McElwee, Elise Pearlstein, and Angela Tucker stated: “By Her Side takes the simple approach of intercutting interviews with three expectant fathers followed by the births of their children to deliver a surprisingly profound take on the act of becoming a father.” Honorable Mention The shorts Jury awarded an honorable mention to A Story for the Modlins directed by Sergio Oksman, stating “we also felt inspired to recognize the experimentation and inventiveness of A Story for the Modlins, which felt like it deserved a category of it’s own.” After discovering a stranger’s box of family photos on the sidewalk, Oksman pieces together a sketch of the Modlins’ bizarre lives. Full Frame Audience Awards – Feature A Will for the Woods, directed by Amy Browne, Jeremy Kaplan, Tony Hale and Brian Wilson, received the Full Frame Audience Award Feature. This film explores the green burial movement by focusing on one man’s quest for a final resting place that will do no harm to the earth.The Audience Award Feature is sponsored by Merge Records. Full Frame Audience Awards – Short The Record Breaker, directed by Brian McGinn, received the Full Frame Audience Award Short. Even though he holds more Guinness Book of World Records than anyone else on the planet, McGinn’s film shows that Ashrita Furman is not slowing down. The prize for the Audience Award Short is provided by Vimeo. The Center For Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award The Center For Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award was given to A River Changes Course, directed by Kalyanee Mam. Is convenience progress? The film is a beautiful and heartbreaking vérité look at three families subsisting in (what may be the end of) rural Cambodia. Provided by the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, this award honors a documentary artist whose work is a potential catalyst for education and change. Representatives from the Center for Documentary Studies juried the prize: Randy Benson, Katie Hyde, Lynn McKnight, Dan Partridge, Tom Rankin, Elena Rue, Teka Selman, and April Walton. The Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award Cutie and the Boxer, directed by Zachary Heinzerling, was awarded The Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award. Provided by the Charles E. Guggenheim family, this prize honors a first-time documentary feature director. In this film, the tension between an artist and his supportive wife of forty years is further strained when a curator expresses interest in her work. Robin Hessman, Alison Klayman, and Mark Landsman participated on the Jury. Full Frame Inspiration Award God Loves Uganda, directed by Roger Ross Williams, received the Full Frame Inspiration Award.  The film captures how American Christian evangelists export virulent anti-gay teachings to Sub-Saharan Africa with deadly consequences. Sponsored by the Hartley Film Foundation, this award is presented to the film that best exemplifies the value and relevance of world religions and spirituality. Andrew Garrison, Sarah Masters, and Petna Ndaliko Katondolo participated on the Jury. Full Frame President’s Award The Full Frame President’s Award was presented to the Pablo’s Winter, directed by Chico Pereira. Former Almadén mercury miner Pablo spends his halcyon days cursing, kvetching, and chain-smoking to the chagrin of his wife and his doctor. Sponsored by Duke University, representatives on behalf of the President’s Office juried the prize. The Kathleen Bryan Edwards Award for Human Rights After Tiller, directed by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson, received The Kathleen Bryan Edwards Award for Human Rights. After the murder of their friend and colleague Dr. George Tiller, only four physicians continue to perform late-term abortions, risking their lives for women’s right to choose. Provided by the Julian Price Family Foundation, this award is presented to a film that addresses a significant human rights issue in the United States. Representatives from the Kathleen Bryan Edwards family juried the prize: Anne Arwood, Laura Edwards, Clay Farland, Margaret Griffin, and Pricey Harrison. Honorable Mention The Kathleen Bryan Edwards Family awarded an honorable mention to The Undocumented directed by Marco Williams. This film offers an unvarnished account of the repatriation of the remains of immigrants who died crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in the Arizona desert. The Nicholas School Environmental Award The Nicholas School Environmental Award was presented to A Will for the Woods directed by Amy Browne, Jeremy Kaplan, Tony Hale and Brian Wilson. This film explores the green burial movement by focusing on one man’s quest for a final resting place that will do no harm to the earth. The Nicholas School Environmental Award honors the film that best depicts the conflict between our drive to improve living standards through development and modernization, and the imperative to preserve both the natural environment that sustains us and the heritages that define us. Representatives from the Nicholas School of the Environment juried the Prize: Cindy Horn, Stephen Nemeth, Hart Bochner, Rebecca Patton, and Tom Rankin.  

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Durham, NC – The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has announced a series of provocative conversations for the 2013 A&E IndieFilms Speakeasy. Speakeasy conversations will be held Friday, April 5 and Saturday, April 6, 2013 in the Durham Convention Center during the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.

The Speakeasy is a place where everyone from a first-time filmmaker to industry visionaries like D.A. Pennebaker and Michael Moore can share their expertise, dialogue about the state of documentary filmmaking and tackle issues immediately facing the documentary community.

Panelists include Academy Award-nominated directors, filmmakers whose films have grossed millions of dollars in revenues, as well as provocateurs who are pushing boundaries on topics that are playing out in news headlines and others that are often sidestepped as taboo.

Each panel is filmed and made available online after the festival, and the use of social media is encouraged. The panel conversations are free and open to the public, no ticket is required.  For more information, please visit: http://www.fullframefest.org/filmsevents/speakeasy-conversations/

Based on a True Story                                              Friday, April 5 — 12:30 pm

Narrative films built on real-life stories have been fertile ground for filmmakers for almost as long as movies have existed, but increasingly documentaries have become good source material for feature filmmakers. What is the process to take your own documentary into the world of fiction, and what should a documentarian look for should someone wish to option their material?

Panelists include: Nancy Buirski, filmmaker (THE LOVING STORY); Marshall Curry, filmmaker (STREET FIGHT, RACING DREAMS, IF A TREE FALLS); Mark Landsman, filmmaker (THUNDER SOUL); and Stephen Nemeth, producer (THE SESSIONS).

Pay the F**king Filmmakers                                 Friday, April 5 — 3:30 pm

In February Sean Farnel, former programmer for Hot Docs, wrote a series of provocative web-articles about film festivals, culminating in a piece stating that film festivals should pay filmmakers to screen their work. Setting off comments on both sides, filmmakers urged Full Frame to bring this topic to the Speakeasy for further examination.

Panelists include: Sean Farnel, columnist and programmer; Caroline Libresco, senior programmer, Sundance; and David Wilson, filmmaker and co-director, True/False.

Making the Cut                                                        Saturday, April 6 — 9:30 am

Documentary film editors work through hundreds of hours of footage and materials to shape a ninety-minute feature. In this panel, a selection of esteemed editors talk about their art and how the approach to cutting interview, vérité, and archival content distinguishes a film.

Panelists include: Matthew Hamachek, editor (GIDEON’S ARMY, IF A TREE FALLS, RACING DREAMS); Amy Linton, editor (A.K.A. DOC POMUS, SACCO AND VANZETTI, JEWS AND BASEBALL); Sam Pollard, editor (VENUS AND SERENA, REMOTE AREA MEDICAL, THE PLEASURES OF BEING OUT OF STEP); and Toby Shimin, editor (BUCK, EVERYTHING’S COOL, SEABISCUIT).

To Be Seen                                                                 Saturday, April 6 —12:30 pm

When it comes to explicit footage, how do filmmakers choose what, and what not, to show? At what point does “bearing witness” become “exploitation”? Can revealing less particulars act to strengthen a story? Filmmakers discuss their bold choices to reveal and conceal.

Panelists include: Martha Shane, filmmaker (AFTER TILLER, BI THE WAY); Marco Williams, filmmaker (THE UNDOCUMENTED, BANISHED, TWO TOWNS OF JASPER); and Farihah Zaman, filmmaker (REMOTE AREA MEDICAL).

Stories About Stories                                               Saturday, April 6 — 3:30 pm        

The truth can be tricky. This panel brings together three incredible filmmakers to reflect on Amir Bar-Lev’s Thematic Program and to discuss the complex waters of storytelling, the act of projecting meaning onto reality, and “the inevitable friction that happens when multiple stories collide and compete.”

Panelists include: Amir Bar-Lev, filmmaker (Fighter, My Kid Could Paint That); John Walter, filmmaker (THEATER OF WAR) and editor (MY KID COULD PAINT THAT); and Jessica Yu, filmmaker (PROTAGONIST, IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL).

The 16th Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will be held April 4-7, 2013, in Durham, NC, with Duke University as the presenting sponsor. Along with the complete schedule of films, tickets are now on sale and can be purchased at http://www.fullframefest.org.

source: 16th Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 

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