Full Frame Announces Panel & Workshop Line-up for 11th Annual Festival

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival announced today a fantastic line-up of film panel discussions and workshops for the 11th annual festivities taking place April 3-6 in Durham, NC.

And the line-up includes:

Crisis Fatigue: Outreach on the Iraq
Friday, April 4, 1:30 p.m., Durham Arts Council – PSI Theater
Sponsored by The Fledgling Fund.
In a time when many critics have complained that audiences are tired of seeing films about the war in Iraq, how can outreach campaigns keep this vital issue relevant to a media-saturated public?

The panel will be moderated by Diana Barrett, president of The Fledgling Fund. Panelists include directors Meg McLagan, “Lioness;” Jesse Moss, “Full Battle Rattle;” Daria Sommers, “Lioness;” Michael Tucker, “Bulletproof Salesman;” Robert West, co-founder and executive director for Working Films; and others.

Digital to Film: Alpha Cine Demo
Saturday, April 5, 1 p.m., Carolina Theatre – Cinema Two
Hosted by Alpha Cine Labs, Seattle.
Join Alpha Cine for a 35mm presentation and question-and-answer session with their technical experts. Review sample clips transferred to 35mm from a variety of sources, including mini-DV 24p, HDV, HD 720p and 1080p, and S16mm. The session is a great opportunity to watch, learn and ask questions about the process no matter what project phase is being worked on. Film clips include: “Taxi to the Dark Side,” “The Blood of Yingzhou District,” “Iraq in Fragments,” “Frozen River,” “Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience,” “Be Here to Love Me” and “The Unforseen.”

“Migrations” Panel
Saturday, April 5, 11 a.m., Durham Arts Center – PSI Theater
An extension of this year’s curated series, this panel provides a forum for conversation about migration as a historical constant and the artist’s role in documenting its significance. The program will include a screening of Alex Rivera’s short film series, “The Borders Trilogy.”

The panel will be moderated by Pedro Lasch, visual artist and assistant professor of the practice in the Visual Arts & Latino/a Studies Community Liaison for Duke University. Panelists include directors Steve James, “The New Americans;” Thavisouk Phrasavath, “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon);” Lourdes Portillo, curator, “Migrations;” Gordon Quinn, “The New Americans;” Alex Rivera, “Sleep Dealer,” “The Sixth Section;” Gita Saedi, “The New Americans;” and Renee Tajima-Peña, “Calavera Highway,” “The New Americans.”

State of the Doc
Saturday, April 5, 1:30 p.m., Durham Arts Center – PSI Theater
Industry leaders come together to discuss the current state of the documentary film business. With high-profile documentaries underperforming at the box office and market concerns growing, how can the commercial viability of non-fiction filmmaking be measured and where does the industry go from here?

The panel will be moderated by Liz Ogilvie, head programmer for Docurama/New Video. Panelists include Nancy Abraham, vice president of original programming, documentaries, for HBO Documentary Films; Christopher Black, senior manager of original programming for Starz Entertainment; David Laub, acquisitions manager for THINKFilm; Tom Quinn, head of acquisitions for Magnolia Pictures; Molly Thompson, director of programming for A&E IndieFilms; and others.

Video Op-Ed – A Brainstorming Session with The New York Times
Friday, April 4, 11 a.m., Durham Arts Center – PSI Theater
Can’t documentary filmmakers create video op-eds just as non-fiction authors contribute to newspapers in opinion pieces? Filmmakers and journalists explore the possibilities in this brainstorming session.

Panelists include Ann Derry, editorial director of video and television for The New York Times; Stefan Forbes, “Boogie Man;” Laura Poitras, “Flag Wars, My Country, My Country;” and David Shipley, deputy editorial page editor and op-ed editor for The New York Times.
TITUTE

Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant
Saturday, April 5, 11:15 a.m., Carolina Theatre – Cinema Two
Only 37 at the time of his death, Garrett Scott made a distinctive mark in the documentary genre during his brief career. Without any formal training in film, he directed “Cul De Sac: A Suburban War Story” and went on to make “Occupation: Dreamland,” co-directed by Ian Olds.

Created by family, friends and colleagues, this grant recognizes first-time filmmakers who, like Garrett, bring a unique vision to the content and style of documentary films. The recipients are selected based on their works-in-progress and are provided with travel and accommodations at the Festival.

The 2008 Garrett Scott Development Grant was awarded to Rebecca Richman Cohen for ‘War Don Don,” Mai Iskander for “Garbage Dreams,” and Nathan Fisher for “The Party After the War.” Ian Olds will join the grant recipients for a presentation of ten-minute excerpts from their works-in-progress.

“War Don Don,” Rebecca Richman Cohen
“War Don Don” follows Issa Sesay, a Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel commander in Sierra Leone, as he stands trial for crimes against humanity. The film interweaves the story of Sesay’s rise to power with a multifaceted account of a man whom some condemn as a war criminal and others praise for persuading the RUF to disarm

“Garbage Dreams,” Mai Iskander
Known as Zaballeen, or “garbage people,” a group of waste collectors in Egypt earn their living by recycling 90 percent of the trash they collect in the streets of Cairo. The film follows the community as multinational corporations hired by the Egyptian government threaten to usurp their painstaking livelihood.

“The Party After the War,” Nathan Fisher
In the largest exodus in six decades, at least five million Iraqis – 20 percent of Iraq’s pre-war population – have fled their homes since the United States and its allies invaded the country in 2003. The film chronicles the lives of several Iraqi refugees from a variety of ethnic, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds who now live in Syria and Jordan.

In-the-Works
Sunday, April 6, 3:45 p.m., Durham Arts Center – PSI Theater
The Southern Documentary Fund (SDF) is proud to present In-the-Works at Full Frame this year. This program provides audiences with a unique opportunity to screen documentaries in different stages of production and to participate in the critique process. It also gives North Carolina filmmakers the opportunity to receive feedback from a dedicated assembly of their peers and serious documentary enthusiasts.

In-the-Works will be facilitated by filmmaker Bill Siegel, “The Weather Underground.”

“FBI/KKK,” Michael Frierson
“FBI/KKK” is an intimate, 77-minute documentary about Dargan Frierson, an FBI agent in Greensboro, N.C., and his dealings with George Franklin Dorsett, the Grand Kludd, or chaplain, of the United Klans of America. In the 1960s, Dorsett became one of the highest-ranking paid informants who secretly provided information about Klan activities under the FBI’s COINTELPRO-White Hate program. Directed by Frierson’s son Michael, the film explores how Frierson’s career in the FBI during the turbulent 1960s forced him to come to grips with his racist attitudes and also uncovers the filmmaker’s own complicity in a legacy of familial racism.