June 13, 2016 | POV’s daily list of essential reading for the documentary and independent filmmaking community.
De Palma, A New Documentary, is Insightful, Entertaining, and Far Too Thorough
De Palma, a new 107-minute documentary about the man, directed by Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow, aims to change that fact by putting him squarely in focus. The director discusses his entire body of work, from the short films he made as a student all the way up through his late-career passion projects, and Baumbach and Paltrow edit the film so that it becomes one long monologue. The documentary’s commitment to being thorough is admirable. But that urge to be comprehensive is also how De Palma shoots itself in the foot.
Read more | Vox »
The Film is Half the Project: Almost Sunrise Filmmakers on Making an Impact
Director Michael Collins’ latest documentary, Almost Sunrise does just that—with a minivan, a Sony FS700 and two Iraq veterans who are tormented by depression and the ‘moral injury’ of war—as they set out to walk from Wisconsin to California on a journey for redemption. Collins and producer Marty Syjuco (who first worked with him on the Emmy-nominated Give Up Tomorrow) followed vets Tom Voss and Anthony Anderson on their quest to confront the suicide epidemic that claims the lives of 22 veterans every day, and thereby confront the very nature of war.
Read more | No Film School »
“Why Don’t We Just Make it Seven-and-a-Half Hours?” Director Ezra Edelman on O.J.: Made in America
How could close to 150 million people watch with rapt attention the exact same televised trial and come away with such passionately different responses to the verdict? Ezra Edelman’s epic, important and masterful documentary, O.J.: Made in America, spends close to eight hours exploring why you might have felt very differently from your neighbor. And, despite its length, nothing included is filler.
Read more | Filmmaker Magazine »
Sundance Institute Picks Up Two Academy Grants to Help Develop Underrepresented Filmmakers
The Sundance Institute has announced that the nonprofit organization has been awarded two grants from The Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) with the express intent “to support professional training and development for emerging feature film artists from nontraditional backgrounds.”
Read more | IndieWire »
Microsoft to buy LinkedIn for $26.2B in cash, makes big move into enterprise social media
Huge news today in the world of M&A in enterprise and social networking services: Microsoft has announced that it is acquiring LinkedIn, the social network for professionals with some 433 million users, for $26 billion, or $196 per share, in cash. The transaction has already been approved by both boards, but it must still get regulatory and other approvals.
Read more | TechCrunch »
Sheffield ’16: New Dimensions in Storytelling
A hologram-like technology developed by a Holocaust education institute in California is creating a potential new platform for filmmakers to store and present archival material. The project, which will be showcased as part of Sheffield Doc/Fest’s Alternate Realities Summit this weekend, allows people to pose questions to a 3D video of survivor Pinchas Gutter who then answers in real-time.
Read more | Realscreen »
Upcoming festivals and deadlines
This Week
- Human Rights Watch Film Festival, New York 6/10-6/19
- Edinburgh International Film Festival 6/15-6/26
- Sheffield Doc/Fest: Sheffield International Documentary Festival 6/10-6/15
- POV’s Call for Entries Closes 6/15
Next Week
- Edinburgh International Film Festival 6/15-6/26
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