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Doc Linkage | Rosenbaum on "The 9/11 Generation"; Moore Goes Gratis

[Mark Rabinowitz] A collection of some of the goings on across the InterWeb, including an interesting 1st person piece at indieWIRE.com and Michael Moore's latest distribution plan.

First Person 9/11
Over at indieWIRE, the co-presenter of Docsider, filmmaker Steven Rosenbaum ("7 Days in September") writes a first person piece on the 9/11 generation. It's a lovely and moving piece Reading it, I found myself going back to that day and replaying it, or parts of it, in my head. At any given time I can only remember pieces of that day and those that followed and much of what I do remember is painful, but Rosenbaum's piece certainly sparks some curiosity in me and not only to see his film, which I will endeavor to do this weekend, but maybe to write up my own recollections, if only for myself. I think maybe we all should. It turns out that seven years isn't very long at all.

Michael Moore To Release "Slacker Uprising" For Free
According to Agence France Press and other outlets, Michael Moor is releasing his new film, "Slacker Uprising," free at SlackerUprising.com, beginning on September 23rd. The DVD will be released in October through Netflix and Amazon. In a prepared statement, Moore said, according to AFP: "I've been very blessed and fortunate to have so many people come to my movies over these two decades, I decided the way to say thanks was to make one that the fans can have for free, as a show of my profound appreciation of their support."

» Continue reading "Doc Linkage | Rosenbaum on "The 9/11 Generation"; Moore Goes Gratis"


Berends Still In Custody-How To Help

BerendsNigeria02sep08.jpg[Mark Rabinowitz] A few days ago I wrote about filmmaker Andrew Berends and his detention, along with his interpreter Samuel George, in Nigeria. At the time, he had been arrested, temporarily released and ordered to return, which he did. Berends has now been in custody since August 31st, barring his 36 hour release. According to the blog set up to monitor the situation, Berends has not been visited by a US consular official, despite their knowledge of the situation and despite letters to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice from both of Berends' home state senators, Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer.

The State Security Service (SSS) has confiscated Berends' passport, telephone, equipment and film and continues to interrogate the filmmaker under charges of spying. Berends entered the country legally in April, 2008. Here's how you can take action including how to contact Senators Clinton and Schumer.



SnagFilms Kicks Off Annual 9/11 Remembrance Slate

[Mark Rabinowitz] Beginning tomorrow, September 5th and continuing through September 12th, SnagFilms (one of this blogs presenters) will be presenting its first annual "September 11th Remembrance in Film" lineup, with a slate of five docs, including Steven Rosenbaum's "7 Days in September," National Geographic's "Afghanistan Revealed," Beth Murphy's "Beyond Belief," Glenn Holsten's "Saint of 9-11," and Danny Schechter's "We Are Family."

Clearly this is not meant to be a comprehensive documentary look at the events of 9/11 and the slate was apparently put together at a moment's notice but considering how much "conspiracy theory" dreck is out there, this isn't bad.

On the subject of 9/11, the Republican National Convention just aired a video apparently titled: "World Stood Still" that contained horrific video from 9/11, including both towers exploding and falling and a voiceover talking about "bodies falling." After the video, MSNBC cut to Tom Brokaw and Chuck Todd who had a little bit to say about the convention and then back to Keith Olbermann who, visibly upset (he mentioned that he'd lost several friends on the day), proceeded to excoriate the GOP and his own network for airing the video.

Keeping that in mind, I have a question or two for all of my readers: Has the definitive 9/11 doc been made or are we still waiting? Is it too soon? How much 9/11 is too much?



Doc Linkage | Less Paris; More Petit

[Mark Rabinowitz] Paris Hilton is pissed about something or other and "Man on Wire" keeps going strong!

Catch Her While You Can!
Paris Hilton and her "people" have apparently cajoled the Toronto International Film Festival into reducing the number of screenings of Adria Petty's "Paris, Not France," from three to one, according to multiple sources, including SpoutBlog's Karina Longworth and Risky Biz Blog's Steven Zeitchik. I have to tell you, this makes me even more curious to see this film because as Karina and Steven have mentioned, what could there possibly be in this film that would embarrass Hilton into getting the fest to reduce the number of screenings? The mind fairly explodes with the idea....
parisnotfrance.jpg

Man on Wire Passes $1.5 Million
James Marsh's brilliant and beautiful "Man on Wire" has passed the $1.5 million mark and is still going strong. Additionally, NYC and LA audiences are getting an added treat starting on Friday, September 5th, as Michael Sporn's "The Man Who Walked Between The Towers" the Jake Gyllenhaal-narrated, award-winning animated adaptation of Mordicai Gerstein's Caldecott Medal-winning children's book.



DOX OFFICE | "Water" Holds High

[Peter Knegt] Due to the Labor Day weekend, numbers came in a bit late this time around... Expanding to 8 screens, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal's Katrina doc, "Trouble the Water," held up well in its second weekend. Grossing $51,178 over the four-day weekend, for a strong $6,397 average, the film's total now stands at $92,605 going into a slow-and-stead expansion. The film is booked into over 50 cities across the country (check out "Water"'s expansion schedule here).

Aaron Rose's "Beautiful Losers" bounced back a bit after a disappointing two weekends following a potent opening. Screening again at the IFC Center in New York and opening at the Nuart in Los Angeles, the self-distributed "Losers" grossed $8,062 over the weekend, for a decent $4,031 average and a $31,743 cume after four weekends. It opens in San Francisco this Friday and Portland, Oregon the next.

» Continue reading "DOX OFFICE | "Water" Holds High"


Doc Linkage | Filmmaker Detained; More TIFF Doc Picks

[Mark Rabinowitz] An emotionally mixed collection of links today, going from the heady stuff of local and international arrests to TFF previews and a DNC Doc from Schnack et. al.

Filmmaker Andrew Berends Arrested In Nigeria, Journalist Amy Goodman Arrested in St. Paul
AP and many other outlets are reporting that New York doc maker Andrew Berends has been arrested in Nigeria and "was held for 36 hours before being accused of spying and temporarily released." His passport was confiscated. According to the New York Times, Berends is hardly the first journalist to be arrested in Nigeria in recent times. "In April, four members of a Seattle-based film crew were arrested while filming in the Delta and held for six days on spying charges," reported the Times, continuing, "In May, a CNN journalist was detained while in the main Delta city of Port Harcourt and questioned by the S.S.S. for five days before being released." A blog has been set up to keep folks up to date on Berends' situation.

So as not to get on too high of an American free speaking horse, I'd like to point out (to paraphrase) It can happen here. Amy Goodman of Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now and two of her producers were arrested by riot police in Minneapolis, yesterday. They have since been released, but still face charges. Apparently other journos and filmmakers have received similar treatment. The videos of two of the arrests are below and they're pretty terrifying.

Nicole Salazar:

Amy Goodman:

» Continue reading "Doc Linkage | Filmmaker Detained; More TIFF Doc Picks"


Doc Think | Empty Screenings For Oscar®? AMPAS Needs New Rules

[Mark Rabinowitz] Following up on yesterday's post on the Academy documentary deadline I direct your attention to this story in the New York Times. While the Academy has simplified its rules for Oscar® qualification for docs, it's still expensive and rather absurd. The story talks about filmmakers basically renting out theaters in art houses and multiplexes in order to qualify for Academy Awards consideration which on the surface seems ok. Four-walling goes on all the time. However, in this case, the filmmakers are deliberately not seeking audiences because many of them are planning on regular theatrical releases later in the year and a 1 week qualifying run would blow advertising and review opportunities.

» Continue reading "Doc Think | Empty Screenings For Oscar®? AMPAS Needs New Rules"


Reminder: Oscar® Deadline For Docs Approaches!

[Mark Rabinowitz] Just a gentle reminder that those of you out there planning on submitting a short or feature-length doc for Academy Awards consideration, the time is nigh! Assuming you've had the requisite theatrical run (I know, I know...for shorts too) the deadline for submitting all your paperwork is this coming Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008.

Personally, I think docs ought to be able to qualify through festival play or award wins. Certainly the shorts should, as is the case with live action or animated narrative short films. I wanna hear your thoughts!

Check out the complete press release after the jump and click here for complete regulations.

» Continue reading "Reminder: Oscar® Deadline For Docs Approaches!"


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