The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival began on February 12th in Missoula, Montana and continues through this weekend. The festival’s founding and artistic director is Doug Hawes-Davis, whose film Libby, Montana aired on POV in 2007. Among the award winners at the festival this year are two films that will be broadcast on POV: Lixin Fan‘s Last Train Home (2011) and Michael Angus‘s Salt (2010).
Food, Inc. filmmaker Robert Kenner was in New York City this week, squeezing in a meeting at the POV offices to talk to us about the April 21st broadcast of his film on PBS. Robert was a blur of energy, and his schedule was jam-packed with a screening at the Stranger than Fiction series at IFC, speaking engagements, and a party hosted by Martha Stewart at Monkey Bar. The New York Times caught up with him there to find out what foods were served — Robert noted that he’s invited to tons of dinner parties, but that people worry about what to serve him. No need to fear, he says — he’s “no foodie policeman” and enjoys all sorts of food. Except that night — the article reports that he went hungry at the party because he was so busy talking!
Elsewhere in New York City, MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight, 2010 began on Wednesday and runs through March 3rd. Appalshop, a nonprofit media, arts and education center in eastern Kentucky, is celebrating their 40 years of media making at the Fortnight this year with a daylong symposium on Saturday, February 20th and additional screenings. Check out MoMA’s schedule for more details and other events and screenings.
The South by Southwest Conferences and Festivals are also coming up. The festivities take place in Austin from March 12-March 21. The schedule for film screenings and panels is available on SXSW’s website, as is the schedule for the Interactive portion of SXSW.
Finally, PBS’s Art 21 Blog had a great post on art documentary productions this week that covers their own filming of Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco‘s work, and rounds up documentary viewing opportunities in New York City. The post also delves into Running Fence, the Maysles brother film about Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the artists behind “The Gates” and many more works. Head on over to read more about docs — from the art perspective.