Yance FordI arrived in Raleigh yesterday to sunny skies, a warm breeze and a bright yellow coat of pollen on everything! Things are just starting to bloom in NYC, but in North Carolina I’ve got to get my Zyrtec on.

Full Frame got off to its usual enthusiastic start yesterday, and I jumped right in with some screenings. POV films Promised Land (2010) and Last Train Home (2011) screened in the early afternoon, followed by Enemies of the People. Yoruba Richen, director of Promised Land was pleased with the turnout for her film about land clams in South Africa, and I heard good things about the Last Train Home screening as well. I was at the screening for Enemies of the People, and I can report that the audience was enthralled, and though Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambat couldn’t make it, a local expert on Cambodia answered questions from the audience afterwards.

Full Frame: Carolina Theatre

The Carolina Theatre in Durham, N.C.

Kings of Pastry

The opening night film, Kings of Pastry by the legendary D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus was sold out. VERY sold out. The line stretched from the front of the Fletcher Theater up the block and around the corner — nearly to the front entrance of the Marriott, where many of the theaters are located. Those lucky enough to get inside were treated to the delightful story of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France, or MOF, competition. Showing once again that the French love food more than any other people, this film documents French pastry chefs as they train for months to compete for the MOF collar. The desserts constructed (and destroyed) by the chefs are unbelievable, and as in any great competition film, some chefs win and some crack under the pressure. Keep an eye out for the film in theaters near you.

The opening night party afterward felt like a get together of a very large group of old friends. There were dancers, a Kings of Pastry-inspired display by a local French Culinary institute, and lots of delicious food and treats to go around.

Today I’ve got a schedule only a programmer could love: a State of the Doc panel at 10 (I wonder what state we’re in) followed by No Crossover, My Pererstroika, The Oath, and Las Isla — Archives of Tragedy. I’ll be drinking coffee at 10 pm, but I’ll be loving every minute of it.

Tweets will follow through the weekend, so stay tuned!

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Yance Ford
Yance works closely with POV's executive director and programming director to evaluate films submitted to POV She is instrumental in curating the series, a showcase of acclaimed documentary film on PBS. Yance frequently represents POV | American Documentary at conferences, festivals and markets, procuring work from filmmakers both nationally and internationally. Yance also oversees POV's annual call for entries, which yields upwards of one thousand entries, and coordinates POV's annual programming advisory board. Yance is a Programming Consultant and Pre- Screener for film festivals around the country, including the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, the Black Maria Film Festival, the Newport International Film Festival, Latino Public Broadcasting, Creative Capital and the Sundance Film Festival. She has served on festival juries at Full Frame and Silverdocs, appeared on panels at Sunny Side of the Doc and DocuClub and served on the IFP Advisory Committee. A graduate of Hamilton College and the production workshop at Third World Newsreel, Yance is a former Production Stage Manager for the Girls Choir of Harlem and has worked as a Production Manager on numerous independent productions for the Discovery Health and History channels. Ford has also worked in various capacities on the documentaries The Favorite Poem Project, Juanita Anderson, Executive Producer, Brian Lanker's They Drew Fire (PBS), and Barry Levinson's Yesterday's Tomorrows (Showtime).Yance's favorite documentaries include:1. Hands on a Hard Body2. Tongues Untied3. Harlan County, USA4. Cul de Sac5. When We Were Kings6. The Thin Blue Line7. Night and Fog