LEF Foundation Blog

Documentary Double-Header

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:55:00 GMT

Last week, I lucked out in getting to see and hear 2 presentations by documentary greats: Errol Morris and Frederick Wiseman. Both gave talks within a stone's throw of the LEF New England headquarters in Cambridge.

On Tuesday, Errol Morris spoke at Harvard's Graduate School of Design about "Investigating with a Camera," illustrating his ideas with clips from his films. He's a writer as well as a filmmaker and a very animated speaker, which made for an interesting talk and Q&A about filmmaking as a process of assembling evidence. He was adamant about there being a definte truth and reality to events, a truth that the filmmaker needs to investigate and find out.

He used to be an actual private investigator, but Morris' documentaries are very far from being depositions, and I liked the point that another of the speakers at the event, Harvard professor Elaine Scarry, made about how his films manage to leave room for the unique point of view and unknowable experiences of each of his subjects, even as he's assembling the facts to construct what's really going on. Listening to the talk reminded me of how great a really good interview can be in a documentary and how, skillfully used, it can tell you much more about the subjects than just what they're saying.

More from the Nieman Storyboard on the event >>

Frederick Wiseman spoke at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study two days later, in an auditorium packed to the gills. Wiseman called documentary filmmaking as (I'm paraphrasing) "a great adventure, and a sport" and he talked in detail about his shooting and editing processes, using clips from his films to illustrate. With a system of logging footage that's a combination of a Michelin Guide-style star-rating system for each shot with a one-line discription, he described keeping track of footage as "the only thing in my life that I'm meticulous about" (disorganized folks, take heart!).

In scrutinizing his rushes, he said, he just tries to make sure there's enough for at least a 15-minute film - it was seeing Wiseman's understated, no-nonsense attitude about making the films that end up being so full of complexity that impressed me the most about his talk. He took the audience shot-by-shot through the opening scene of his film WELFARE, and the take-away is: there's more going on in a single Wiseman scene than plenty of full movies.

They have very different styles, but both of these filmmakers demonstrated that really good documentary filmmaking is as much about thinking and evaluating as using a camera. It's great to have them as neighbors and to get to hear them share a little advice.

From Errol Morris' Twitter: "Wonderful event with Fred Wiseman at the Radcliffe Gymnasium. (He is my hero.)"

More on the Wiseman event from the Harvard Gazette >>

- Nellie

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Tags: Movies,Frederick Wiseman,Errol Morris

Experiments in Engagement - Localore

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:04:00 GMT

The past few years have seen new energy and investment in thinking about what’s next for public media. Projects like the Public Radio Talent Quest and MQ2 have inspired an eruption of creativity and new ideas, many of them germinating from brain trusts right here in our own backyard in Cambridge. Nellie recently wrote about Zeega and the brilliant innovations being cooked up by the likes of Jesse Shapins, Kara Oehler and James Burns. They have a partner in crime nearby in Sue Schardt from AIR (Association of Independents in Radio). In her leadership of the organization, Sue has put AIR at the forefront of innovation in storytelling and their new project Localore is just another example of the kind of vision that AIR is contributing to new experiments in public media.

Tags: Sue Schardt,Localore,AIR,CPB

Frederick Wiseman at Harvard

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:11:00 GMT

As part of the ongoing Frederick Wiseman retrospective happening at the Harvard Film Archive,
this week brings us screenings of the Cambridge-based filmmaker's Belfast, Maine (1999) (Sunday 20 Nov. at 6pm) and Titicut Follies (1967) (Monday 21 Nov at 7pm). Belfast, Maine is "serenely composed of the illuminating routines and intimate minutiae" of a New England town, while Titicut Follies, Wiseman's first film (also set in New England, in Massachusetts), "proved so shocking in its unadorned rendering of a state mental institution that it remains the only American film to have been completely censored for reasons other than obscenity or national security." No matter what slice of American life he chooses to film, Wiseman's documentaries are engrossing - this is a chance to see a part of his panorama of work on a big screen.

In a special event on 2 Dec, the filmmaker will be at the HFA in person to talk about The Last Letter (La Dernier Lettre), his only fiction film. The last movie of the series is State Legsislature on 2 Dec - a film that LEF supported with a Production grant.

The screenings at the HFA coincide with Frederick Wiseman's Phelps Lecture at the Radcliffe Institude for Advanced Study on Dec 1:"Shooting, Editing, and Reading a Documentary Film"

"Frederick Wiseman will discuss—and illustrate with sequences from his films—his approach to documentary filmmaking. He will address choice of subject, fundraising, technical filming
issues, sound recording and editing, analysis of sequences, relation of facts to metaphor and abstraction, and the creation of a dramatic structure. Wiseman will end with a discussion
about how he applies the principles of "close reading" to film."

The lecture is free and open to the public on Dec 1 at 4pm at the Radcliffe Gymnasium, 10 Garden St. Cambridge MA.

- Nellie

Tags: Frederick Wiseman,Harvard Film Archive,Radcliffe Institute

Category: Movies

The Center for Social Media and "Honest Truths"

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 20:09:00 GMT

The Center for Social Media at American University has created yet another helpful and informative study examining the work of nonfiction filmmakers. This one is "Honest Truths: Documentary Filmmakers on Challenges in Their Work"; a report based on conversations with 45 filmmakers about the ethical challenges they face in the creation of their work and how they handle them.

Tags: Center for Social Media,Honest Truths,ethics,documentary,Steven Ascher

Category: Movies

MacArthur Foundation Documentary Film Grants

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:00:00 GMT

The Media, Culture, and Special Initiatives program of the John and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation in Chicago is funding the production and distribution of documentary films with an open call that begins Nov. 1 with proposals due Dec 2. The guidelines are fairly specific, and the deadline will be competitive, but If your project does meet the Foundation's criteria, this is a great chance to apply for some substantial funding!

Tags: MacArthur Foundation

Category: Movies

Independent Film Week in NYC

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:27:00 GMT

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the IFP’s Indie Film Week. It had been years since I had gone and I knew that in just the last year or so, the format had changed dramatically. LEF had one film in the market this year, Banker White’s THE GENIUS OF MARION, and so I took the opportunity to see what was new at the IFP.

Tags: IFP,IFW,Independent Film Week,Ryan Harrington,Judith Hefland,Chicken & Egg Pictures,TFI,Banker White,Genuis of Marion,Josh Braun,Buck

Category: Movies

Another great year at the Camden International Film Festival and Points North Film Forum!

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:38:00 GMT

I love Maine. As you cross the border into this fair state, you see the sign “The Way Life Should Be” and you learn in just moments from the fiery hills and the salty fresh air that it’s true, this is the way life should be. I am nothing but grateful that the Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) gives me an excuse every year to get up there. CIFF is an amazing festival celebrating the best, brightest, and newest ideas in nonfiction cinema, and it keeps getting better every year.

Tags: Camden International Film Festival,CIFF,Ben Fowlie,Sean Flynn,Sarah Ruddy,Love and Other Anxieties,Mosquito,Lyda Kuth,Jesse Epstein,Points North,40 Paper,Richard Saiz,Cynthia Close,DER,ITVS,Natalie DIfford,Chicken & Egg,Yance Ford,POV,Daniel Chalfen,Naked Edge Films,Sara Bernstein,HBO,Molly Thompson,A & E IndieFilms,Courtney Sexton,Participant Media,David Redmon,Ashley Sabin,Downeast,Low & Clear,Taylor Hughen,Kahlil Hudson

Category: Movies

Northeast Historic Film at CIFF

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 21:05:00 GMT

To add to the list of things to be excited about at the upcoming Camden International Film Festival: Northeast Historic Film Presents: Working Waterfronts of Maine.

This program of film clips from the Northeast Historic Film Archive promises seamoss harvesting, lobstering and boat launching, among other coastal activities. The screening takes place on Saturday, October 1 at 10:30am at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, ME, with NHF Executive Director David Weiss on hand to talk about the films.

For filmmakers or other interested parties attending CIFF, a side trip to check out Northeast Historic Film in Bucksport, ME might be worth investigating. This past July I attended the annual Summer Symposium at NHF – the 2011 theme was Das Wunderkino: A Cinematic Cabinet of Curiosities, with presenters from film studies, information science, filmmaking and film archiving all gathering to talk about their work with amateur and non-commercial film.

We got to see films from the 1939 World’s Fair in Queens, films made by tailors, films made by families, peep-show films, hygiene films – all paired with thoughtful and thought-provoking talks.

It was a chance to expand my everyday thinking about non-fiction film, to see great footage, and to get a better sense of scholars’ and archivists’ work. Here at LEF we deal mainly with filmmakers who are wrapped up with the process of getting movies made in the first place, so it was refreshing to be reminded of the dedicated and smart individuals working to contextualize and preserve existing film materials.

The archive’s collection of is open for research, and the William S O Farrell Fellowship pays for an individual (film producers are eligible!) to do a month of in-house study at NHF “toward a publication, production, or presentation based on moving image history and culture, particularly amateur and nontheatrical film.”

NHF also holds public film screenings like the one coming up at Camden, and on October 15 they’ll be hosting the Home Movie Day in Portland, ME – you can follow the NHF blog for news and events.

- Nellie

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Tags: CIFF,Northeast Historic Film

Category: Movies

Zeega

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 21:07:00 GMT

Zeega is a new platform for documentary storytelling that was selected as a 2011 Knight News Challenge winner. It’s being developed right here in Cambridge and I talked to Zeega co-founder and media artist Jesse Shapins about what Zeega is and what it hopes to do.

Tags: Zeega,Sensory Ethnography Lab,MetaLab,Berkman Center,Jesse Shapins,Kara Oehler,James Burns

Yu Ying Chou shares her experiences at the 2011 Sundance Creative Producing Summit

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:56:00 GMT

Producer and LEF Grantee Yu Ying Chou (also known as Sally Wu) is working with director Marlo Poras on the epic tale THE MOSUO SISTERS, about two spirited daughters of China's last matriarchal society and their challenges as they balance their responsibilities to their family, their culture, and themselves. Sally and Marlo were selected to participate in the 2011 Sundance Creative Producing Summit, held recently in Utah. Here are some of Sally's thoughts about the experience....

Tags: Sundance,Producers Creative Summit,Yu Ying Chou,Sally Wu,Marlo Poras,THE MOSUO SISTERS

Category: Movies