July 27, 2016 | POV’s daily list of essential reading for the documentary and independent filmmaking community.

The best films of 2016 so far: The A.V. Club’s Catch-up Guide
A.V. Club film editor and staff critic draw on their combined years of experience in helping complete strangers pick out movies based on only the most vague of criteria, to put together a guide to some of the best and most interesting movies released so far this year.
Read more | A.V. Club »

Grierson Awards: Women Directors Break Documentary Shortlist Record
A record number of female directors have been shortlisted for this year’s British Documentary Awards. A total of 52 women are on the Grierson shortlist, dominating in the best documentary series and best constructed documentary series categories. Among the shortlist, The Look of Silence is nominated for Best Cinema Documentary.
Read more | BBC News »

MTV Documentary Series to feature Orlando Nightclub Shooting Survivors
An episode of the MTV series True Life will feature a number of survivors from June’s shooting at an Orlando nightclub. The episode, which will air on Aug. 15 at 8 p.m. and is titled “True Life: We Are Orlando,” will center on four people who were injured at the Pulse nightclub when Omar Mateen opened fire on June 12, Us Magazine reported.
Read more | WFTV »

Lil’ Yachty’s Dreamy Documentary ‘Keep Sailing’: Watch Petra Collins’ Portrait of the Rap Star
“I would be nowhere without the Internet,” the artist and filmmaker Petra Collins told IndieWire last week, after her short documentary, Keep Sailing, about the Atlanta rapper Lil’ Yachty premiered on The Fader, which produced the film. Collins was drawn to Yachty as a fan of the music, but also because of their similar trajectories. “How he came up on the Internet and was really honest about that really drew me to him.”
Read more | IndieWire »

The VICE Documentary Pitch at IDFA
VICE returns to IDFA to launch the VICE Documentary Pitch at IDFA, offering filmmakers a chance to win a commission from the VICE documentary team. The VICE Documentary Pitch at IDFA is a chance for talented filmmakers to see their work come to life in VICE‘s documentary strand which has garnered hundreds of millions of views since launching.
Read more | IDFA »

Upcoming festivals and deadlines

  • Deadline: Porto/Post/Doc Submission 7/31
  • Deadline: DOK Co-Pro Market Submission 8/1
  • Deadline: IDFA DocLab 8/1
  • Deadline: International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 8/1
  • Deadline: HBF Post-Production Grant 8/1

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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.