indie films
You Be the Judge: The 2011 Independent Lens Audience Award
Voting for the Independent Lens audience award closes Tuesday, June 28.
It’s a wrap! The ninth season of Independent Lens is in the can, and what a fantastic season it was. We had nine months of eye-opening, jaw-dropping, gut-wrenching, and mind-blowing films. Now its the audience’s chance to vote for the films they liked the best.
Voting for the 2011 Audience Award is open for one more week, ending Tuesday, June 28 at 5pm PDT.
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/award/
You can rate each film from one to five stars. You can rate any single film once every 24 hours, so vote early and often!
Best of luck to all of the filmmakers, and thank you for being a standout audience this season!
International Call Profile: Koen Suidgeest
Filmmaker Koen Suidgeest
With fewer than five days to go before the International Call deadline, (December 10, 2010!), BTB is highlighting past recipients. This week, we turn to Koen Suidgeest and his film Karla’s Arrival, which explores the subculture of second-generation street kids in Managua, Nicaragua. The documentary tells the story through the experience of a 19-year-old mother raising her child on the same streets she grew up on. For those interested in applying for International call, take a look at the application and join the Facebook group to keep up with developments.
How did you get involved with this film?
Koen Suidgeest: I was in Guatemala for the first time in 2003 to do research for another project that also involved street children (but never got made). I was taken around by an NGO who was helping me and I realized when I was meeting groups of children — living in empty plots of land and abandoned buildings — that there were a lot of pregnant girls.
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Independent Lens Rack Up Awards at IDA
The IDA Documentary Awards took place last Friday in Los Angeles and Independent Lens films received high honors. Series Producer and ITVS Vice President Lois Vossen was on hand and filed this report to BTB.
From the beginning, it was clear this would not be your usual staid awards ceremony. Director Morgan Spurlock and Eddie Schmidt, president of the IDA Board, opened the show clothed only in Turkish towels in a skit to spoof the nominated documentary Steam of Life. Spurlock and Schmidt continued the fun throughout the evening, interspersing skits for all five featured films nominated for best documentary.
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Family, Secrets, and Tragedy Exhumed in Lost Sparrow
Lost Sparrow airs Tuesday night on Independent Lens
Some questions can never be answered. Some answers are hard to take.
Three decades ago, two Crow Indian brothers ran away from their adoptive home for reasons their family never quite understood. The next day, Bobby and Tyler Billing were found dead on the railroad tracks. Their sudden and mysterious deaths sent shock-waves through a tiny upstate New York community.
Their brother, journalist and filmmaker Chris Billing, set out to investigate what really happened to his family, and to return his brothers’ bodies to the Crow reservation where they were born. The film of his journey is not a fairy tale of redemption, but a gently probing document of love and denial.
Lost Sparrow airs Tuesday, November 16 at 10 PM on Independent Lens (check local listings).
Revisiting Reserved To Fight
Reserved to Fight will streamed online until November 30
In honor of Veterans Day, filmmaker Chantelle Squires Olsen updates BTB on some of the characters she profiled in her film Reserved To Fight. The documentary is available online for free until November 30.
Since the premiere of Reserved To Fight, we have received numerous stories from veterans and their families who have been affected by this film.
Bryan Catherman, a young veteran, shared his story with us: “I went to an early screening of Reserved To Fight. It was at that moment that I realized that I wasn’t alone in my battle with my demons. The next day I walked into the VA to get help. It was this film that saved my marriage, my career, and even my life.”
Although it was often difficult for the veterans to participate in the film, they have expressed that sharing their story with the world has helped give them a sense of purpose in the midst of their struggles. › Continue reading
Waste Land Opens in New York
Artist Vik Muniz in the documentary Waste Land
Lucy Walker’s Waste Land, which is part of this year’s lineup on Independent Lens, opens this Friday, October 29 at the Angelika Film Center in New York.
The documentary tells the extraordinary tale of the Brazilian artist Vik Muniz and his journey to the largest landfill in the world to work with a community of people called catadores — pickers of recyclable materials — to create enormous portraits of them out of the materials they collect.
Amid the rubbish, Muniz encounters a group of inspiring characters that dare to re-imagine their lives through the creation of masterful works of contemporary art. Among many other accolades, Waste Land received Audience Awards at the Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals as well as the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.
You can read more about the film and its subject Vic Muniz in last week’s edition of The New York Times.
Click here to reserve a ticket for Waste Land, screening this weekend in New York.
Lessons From The Lab: Art & Copy in Review
As more and more Independent Lens films become available on iTunes we wanted to share with viewers how those projects are performing online. Indies Lab Director Davin Hutchins, pulls back the curtain on the successes behind the documentary Art & Copy.
One of the more notable documentaries in our stable of IndiesLab films is Art & Copy, which recently aired on Independent Lens on October 26. In case you haven’t seen it, the film pays homage to the groundbreaking advertising campaigns of the 60’s and 70’s in an aesthetically-pleasing walk down memory lane — in this case, Madison Avenue.
Art & Copy emerged on the scene in January 2009 at the Sundance Film Festival to generally positive reviews from critics and strong word-of-mouth buzz. The film made its way online onto iTunes in May 2010. Since its launch, we’ve spotted a couple of interesting patterns in this film’s career on iTunes that you might want to consider when plotting out your online digital distribution strategy.
In an interview with IndiesLab and Beyond the Box, director Doug Pray said that he had no idea about the online possibilities for his film. “My attitude [toward digital distribution] was much more conservative and wary. One year ago, I would have been cautious and said, ‘Oh know we’re going to cannibalize this other thing over here.’ Now, I’m just sitting back and going ‘wow.’ …The old school rules aren’t flying so much.”
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Ninth Season of Independent Lens Premieres Tonight with The Parking Lot Movie
The long-awaited new season of Independent Lens kicks off Tuesday night with the cult-favorite documentary, The Parking Lot Movie (check local listing). First-time director Meghan Eckman explores the rarefied world of one small parking lot in Charlottesville, Virginia, and its collection of overeducated staffers that keep the place in business.
Enjoy this clip from the The Parking Lot Movie airing Tuesday night at 10 PM.
Plus, be sure to schedule some face time with filmmaker Meghan Eckman who will be participating in a live chat on Wednesday, October 20 at 2 PM. Visit beyondthebox.org for details. If you have any questions you can always reach us — and your closest indie-loving fans — on our Facebook page.
We have a terrific lineup of documentaries for you this season on Independent Lens, hosted by, America Ferrera. Be sure to check out the complete fall lineup here.
What’s Your Bumper Sticker Philosophy?
The Parking Lot Movie premieres Tuesday night on Independent Lens
It’s the day before the premiere of another prime slate of films from Independent Lens. The season opener launches tomorrow night at 10 PM (check local listings) with the cult-favorite, The Parking Lot Movie.
Enjoy first-time director Meghan Eckman’s philosophical tutorial about life, humanity, and class – all reduced to one parking lot in Charlotseville, Virginia.
We’ve even launched a new game to whet the appetite for Tuesday’s premiere. Take the bumper sticker quiz and discover a slogan that is truly you. Remember, Americans wear their emotions on their sleeves and their personalities on their back bumpers.
Enjoy the game and warm up for Tuesday night’s season premiere of Independent Lens, with host America Ferrera.
The Parking Lot Movie is one of a handful of Independent Lens films available for download on iTunes, the day after broadcast. Click here for more information.
HuffPo Waxes Enthusiastic for IL Premiere
Only days away from the ninth season of Independent Lens and the reviews are already rolling in. Check out what the Huffington Post had to say about our opening film The Parking Lot Movie — airing Tuesday, October 19 at 10 PM. Film critic Jackie K. Cooper writes:
The Parking Lot Movie is the perfect kind of independent film. It is entertaining and somewhat educational. The main thing, however, is it gives insight into a subculture which many of us had never known or cared about in any way. After viewing it you will never look at the parking lot attendants in the same way you did in the past.
Read the complete review from The Huffington Post here.
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