May 19, 2016 | POV’s daily list of essential reading for the documentary and independent filmmaking community.


Werner Herzog Teaching Online Filmmaking MasterClass Summer 2016
Are you looking to get started or learn more about documentary filmmaking this summer? Look no further! Acclaimed filmmaker Werner Herzog is teaching a master class online this summer, and pre-registration opened yesterday. The class will “focus on the art of both feature and documentary filmmaking” with lessons on storytelling, financing, cinematography, editing, documentary techniques, and more.
Read more | IndieWire »

MacArthur’s $25M to nonprofit journalism outlets includes NPR, ‘Frontline’
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced a major expansion of its support for nonprofit journalism at the PBS Annual Meeting yesterday, reinforcing its commitment to strengthening U.S. democracy through more informed and engaged citizens. Twelve organizations including NPR, Public Radio International, the Center for Investigative Reporting and Frontline will receive a total of nearly $25 million in unrestricted, five-year general operating grants from the Chicago-based foundation. The contribution is also to help keep nonprofit news organizations “free from commercial and partisan pressures.”
Read more | Current »

Virtual reality flies into Cannes
Virtual reality looks set to be the next big thing in film-making and the programming and panels at the Marché’s annual NEXT event offered a glimpse of things to come. Focused on the future of cinema, the section featured a jam-packed schedule of VR programming with both filmmakers and experts. It shows the film industry is open to the idea of VR as an alternative interactive medium for storytelling.
Read more | Screen Daily »

Frontline is finding new mic-drop moments for good old-fashioned reporting
With time-shifting and digital video recorders, when so much of the television landscape has become fragmented and noisy, when audiences have become accustomed to spending less and less time on a single story, capturing audiences on broadcast is a challenge. Roney Aronson, executive producer of PBS’s Frontline, talks about the documentary series on a digital video platform, using Facebook-first films, and “social journalism.”
Read more | Nieman Lab »

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POV Staff
POV Staff
POV (a cinema term for "point of view") is television's longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films. POV premieres 14-16 of the best, boldest and most innovative programs every year on PBS. Since 1988, POV has presented over 400 films to public television audiences across the country. POV films are known for their intimacy, their unforgettable storytelling and their timeliness, putting a human face on contemporary social issues.