June 1, 2016 | POV’s daily list of essential reading for the documentary and independent filmmaking community.
Telling An Honest Story: Kartemquin Films at 50
This year is the 50th anniversary of Kartemquin Films, the august Chicago-based documentary house behind classics such as Hoop Dreams. Over the decades, the nonprofit has consistently put out well-made, informative, engaging and sometimes masterful documentaries. Learn about the award-winning company from its foundation.
Read more | Movie Mezzanine »
VR Documentary Filmmaking on Trial at Hot Docs 2016
Hot Docs 2016 may have ended weeks ago, but the conversations from the festival are ongoing. Brendan McCourt reports from the Hot Docs Festival in Toronto where virtual reality as a documentary filmmaker platform was on trial. Can VR really become the “empathy machine” some are claiming? Or might its immersive properties become the enemy of transparency?
Read more | Road to VR »
Based on a True Story: 8 Documentaries That Inspired Feature Films
Books, newspapers and sometimes TV and radio news reports were primary sources for years, but more recently, documentary films have become an inspiration for adapting real-life stories and riveting events. Take a look at the relationship between these eight films and the original documentaries that inspired them.
Read more | Independent Lens »
L.A. Film Festival: The diversity dilemma, plus nine movies to see
Since 2014, the Los Angeles Film Festival has made the cause of diversity not just incidental but integral to its missions. The program is designed to spotlight noteworthy independent films and new voices, as well as push back against the chronic underrepresentation of women and people of color working in the industry.
Read more | L.A. Times »
Snapchat’s redesigning Discover to make it more like a newsstand
Snapchat’s Discover section is about to get a makeover, one that will help attract more viewers to the publishers. As Discover still only captures a small portion of Snapchat’s more than 100 million daily viewers, the new redesign is hoping to get more viewers to the publishers’ Discover content, where the ads also run. This is a sign of how important Discover has become for both publishers and advertisers.
Read more | Digiday »
Upcoming festivals and deadlines
This Week
- Rolling Applications: ITVS LINCS Fund 6/1
- Rolling Deadline: Center for Independent Documentary Collaboration Application 6/1
- Rolling Deadline: Ford Foundation Grants 6/1
- Rolling Deadline: ITVS Commissioned Funding 6/1
- Rolling Deadline: Japanese Foundation New York Grant for Arts and Culture 6/1
- Rolling Deadline: Jerome: NYC Film and Video Grant Program 6/1
- Rolling Deadline: The Bertha BRITDOC Documentary Journalism Fund 6/1
- Rolling Deadline: The Humane Society’s Ace Documentary Film Grant 6/1
- Rolling Deadline: The Scottish Documentary Institute Consultancies 6/1
- Deadline: Late Submission for DOC NYC 6/3
- Encounters South African International Documentary Festival 6/2-6/12
Next Week
- Early Deadline: IDA Documentary Awards 6/7
- Deadline: NEH Digital Projects for the Public 6/8
- Sheffield Doc/Fest: Sheffield International Documentary Festival 6/10-6/15
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