Archive for February, 2007
A new underground documentary has emerged on John Lennon’s life, which its creator calls the forerunner of all reality shows. The film was shot almost four decades ago inside Lennon’s apartment in New York. The film “3 Days in the Life” captures Lennon at a crossroads in his career, just weeks before the breakup of The Beatles. It ends with Lennon rehearsing for the BBC show Top of the Pops, where he performed Instant Karma for the first time.
“Lennon wanted to make this documentary because he wanted people to see he was a normal guy,” said the editor, Ray Thomas. “He wore jeans and ate corn flakes.” Thomas and his partner acquired the film in 2000 but have been unable to get Yoko Ono’s agreement to release the film. The film will therefore be distributed on alternative channels, possibly on the internet. Stay on the lookout. 
The European Documentary Network (EDN) has released the 2007 version of its ”TV-Guide” – a key resource for producers and directors working on European television documentaries. The guide contains detailed information on more than 100 European TV channels including their profiles, commissioned documentary strands, as well as useful emails and phone numbers. EDN members can access an online version too, which can be searched according to countries, thematic references and length of slots. Non-members can purchase a hardcopy for 70 euro here.
Last night, Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” took home the Oscar for Best Feature Documentary, while the Documentary Short award went to Chinese American filmmaker Ruby Yang for “Blood of the Yingzhou District”.
The latter follows a 4-year-old Chinese AIDS orphan (also carrier of the virus) who is taken in by his eldest uncle after the death of his parents. The film reveals how traditional obligations of kinship collide with the terror of the disease, and how these forces play out in the boy’s search for a family to call his own. You can read more about the film here.
A powerful American documentary about child molestation is available for online viewing at the PBS Frontline portal. Filmmaker Joe Cultrera explores the case of his brother, who was one of the approx. 10,000 children abused by Catholic priests in the US.
14-year-old Paul was sexually abused in the 1960s by Father Joseph Birmingham (see photo), who allegedly molested nearly a hundred other children in the Boston area. The film tells the story of faith betrayed, and how Paul and the rest of the Cultrera family fought back against a scandal that continues to afflict churches across America.
Paul kept his secret for nearly 30 years, until he decided to finally confront the church and launch his own investigation into whether the Archdiocese of Boston had covered up allegations against Birmingham by moving him from parish to parish.
Watch the film on PBS Frontline, or read more about the story in the Boston Globe.
Last November, Clare Richards won the Grierson documentary award for her directorial debut “Disabled and Looking for Love” (the first ten minutes of which can be watched on Google video). Clare filmed four Briton’s with disabilities who spoke intimately of their lives while going through a unique journey to find a partner. The European Documentary Portal briefly spoke to the director about the film, and her life since the award.
Q: What suggestions would you have for filmmakers who want to work on the same subject matter?
The idea behind the film was that, even though it might be more difficult to find a relationship if you have a disability, to find a partner is a desire that everybody has regardless of whether you are disabled or not. It was important that the audience saw past the disability and saw them as people that they could relate to. So my only advice would be not to treat people with disabilities any differently than you would treat anybody else.
Continue reading ‘Clare Richards on making “Disabled and Looking for Love”’
Last week’s screening of the documentary “Moskva Pride ’06” at the Berlinale trigerred a major security alert after festival organizers received threats prior to the first screening. Russian director Vladimir Ivanov’s film chronicles the story of Moscow’s first gay pride parade in May 2006, in which protesters clashed with gay activists after the march was banned by the authorities. The filmmakers commented that the threats were a grim reminder of intolerance even in places like Berlin. The film’s producer, Nikolai Alekseev, told the Berlinale audience he doubts that the documentary will ever be shown on Russian television. “We expect that the film will be screened at other film festivals in different countries and after that we will release it on DVD.”
Now in its tenth year, MIPDOC will be held again in Cannes’ posh Carlton Hotel (April 16-20). The specialist international screening marketplace and conference offers a unique opportunity to get close to the key players that are creating, distributing and buying the hottest titles. Last year, MIPDOC launched a new initiative (called “International Trailblazers”) designed to recognise creativity and innovation in the emergence of new trends and genres. This scheme supports new talent by promoting their films with major distributors. For filmmakers/ companies attending for the first time, participation costs 825 euro.
