Film Festivals
IL Series Producer Recaps Sundance 2012
By Lois Vossen, Founding Series Producer of Independent Lens and Vice President of ITVS
ITVS-funded filmmakers and staff rally for lunch at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT
Sundance 2012 was a record-breaking year year for ITVS and Independent Lens. Six ITVS funded films screened in the documentary competitions and all six were honored with Sundance awards. (ITVS had had seven films playing at Sundance in 2004; six films in 2002; and eight films in 1997 for those interested in banner years).
ITVS in the News
A sampling of coverage from the New York Times, Realscreen, and more …
New York Times: Sundance Documentaries Transform Data Into Stories
Over the weekend, The House I Live In, Eugene Jarecki’s heart-heavy investigation into the American war on drugs, nabbed the grand jury prize for documentary at the Sundance Film Festival.
Miller-McCune Magazine: Does Black History Month Need More Than a Month?
At a time when so many documentaries adopt an either angry or elegiac tone, More Than a Month has a disarmingly light touch. Among the several laugh-out-loud moments is a brief parody of Ken Burns’s The Civil War, featuring the filmmaker in period costume. Tilghman’s a great guide on this journey: he’s genuinely troubled by the questions he raises, but he’s also unpretentious, quizzical, and, at times, bemused.
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Women and Girls Lead & Athena Film Festival Present, “Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock”
Women and Girls Lead is happy to announce an exciting partnership with the Athena Film Festival on the film Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock. The documentary will air on Independent Lens on February 2.
The Athena Film Festival is a celebration of women and leadership, and the only film festival in the nation to focus its content on women’s leadership. With an impressive line-up of groundbreaking films — chronicling the lives of long serving Native American female firefighters to the weekend’s closing film, The Lady, on the life of Aung San Suu Kyi the Burmese opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
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ITVS Films Clean Up at Sundance
All six ITVS films in competition at Sundance picked up awards on Saturday, marking an unprecedented accomplishment for the organization and the filmmakers.
WINNER OF THE GRAND JURY PRIZE IN U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
The House I Live In by Eugene Jarecki
The film weaves together director Eugene Director’s personal narrative with America’s war on drugs. Here, producers including Sam Cullman, Melinda Snopsis, Danny Glover, and director Eugene Jarecki — reflect on the film and its Sundance premiere.
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Filmmakers of “The House I Live In” Respond to Sundance Premiere
By Steve Goldbloom, Reporting for PBS and BTB at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival
The House I Live In premiered last weekend at the Sundance Film Festival. The film weaves together director Eugene Jarecki’s personal narrative with America’s war on drugs. Here, producers including Sam Cullman, Melinda Shopsin, Danny Glover, and director Eugene Jarecki — reflect on the film and its Sundance premiere.
Filmmakers of “The Invisible War” Reflect on Sundance Premiere
By Steve Goldbloom, Reporting for PBS and BTB at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival
This past weekend, filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering premiered their documentary The Invisible War at the Sundance Film Festival. The film examines the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the U.S. military, the institutions that cover up its existence, and the profound personal and social consequences that arise from it. Watch the video below as both filmmakers recount the Sundance experience.
“If a Tree Falls” Filmmaker Reacts to Oscar Nomination
By Steve Goldbloom, Reporting for PBS and BTB at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival
Sam Cullman, co-director and cinematographer of If a Tree Falls reacts to his Oscar Nomination, which he learned about on Tuesday at Sundance.
The movie takes a behind-the-scenes look at Earth Liberation Front, the radical environmental group that the FBI calls the “number one domestic terrorism threat” in America. If a Tree Falls aired on POV this past fall.
Macky Alston’s “Love Free or Die” Takes Off at Sundance
By Steve Goldbloom, Reporting for PBS and BTB at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival
Premiering Monday night at Sundance is Macky Alston’s new film Love Free or Die, which follows the historic and controversial rise of Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Bishop. BTB caught up with Alston at a mass held at St. Luke’s Church on Sunday in Park City, where LGBT leaders showed up to support and discuss the film.
Love Free or Die is an ITVS-funded film slated for broadcast on an upcoming season of Independent Lens.
Motor City Struggles Resonate at Sundance Premiere
By Steve Goldbloom, Reporting for PBS and BTB at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival
The ITVS-funded documentary Detropia held its worldwide premiere on Saturday at the Temple Theatre in Park City. Watch below, as Co-Directors Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing discuss the film and recount their Sundance experience. BTB will be rolling several video reports from the festival throughout the week.
Detropia artfully displays the rapid decline of a once thriving American city. On the brink of bankruptcy, the filmmakers and loyal citizens profiled in the feature, suggest the feeling that as goes Detroit, so goes the nation.
Congratulations to the filmmakers and keep an eye on BTB this week for more video updates from the festival.
Six ITVS Documentaries to Screen in Competition at Sundance 2012
On Wednesday, ITVS welcomed the announcement that six of its funded films have been selected to screen in competition at the upcoming 2012 Sundance Film Festival (January 19-29). ITVS domestic co-productions claimed four of the 16 spots in this year’s U.S. Documentary competition and two of the 12 spots in the World Documentary competition.
“There could be no better recognition of the diversity and quality of our films and makers than such a large claim of the documentaries in competition at Sundance,” said Sally Jo Fifer, president and CEO of ITVS. “These films represent an extraordinary range of stories – both deeply personal and broadly profound – and it gives us great pride to know that each of them will eventually be presented to millions of viewers on public television.”
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