Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

2012 Film Selections

2012-01-11T16:07:00.009-07:00

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival has announced the official selections for their ninth annual event to be held in Missoula, Montana February 17-26, at the Historic Wilma Theatre. The 144 film program, culled from nearly 1000 entries from all over the world will feature a free opening night screening of Matthew Akers' new film Marina Abramović The Artist is Present (sponsored by HBO Documentary Films); a massive music sidebar of new and classic films and live performances (sponsored by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences); and retrospective and visiting artist programs featuring films by Barbara Kopple, D.A. Pennebaker, Agi Orsi, Caveh Zahedi, Dave Markey and celebrated animator Bill Plympton.

Other special features of the 2012 event include live musical accompaniment to classic silent City Symphonies, performed by Stellarondo & NextdoorPrisonHotel; Two programs from Emily Armstrong & Pat Ivers acclaimed Nightclubbing series featuring rarely seen CBGB & Mudd Club vintage punk performances by Iggy Pop, Blondie, The Talking Heads and others; Work-In-Progress screenings; and The Big Sky Doc Shop, a new industry-focused four-day event that offers documentary filmmakers opportunities for networking, discussion, and professional development, through workshops, panels, and the annual Big Sky Documentary Pitch session. Confirmed guests of Doc Shop include Diane Weyermann (Food, Inc) Yance Ford (POV) Lois Vossen (Independent lens/ITVS)and Marshall Curry (If A Tree Falls).

The Festival will feature three venues this year, two screens at the Wilma and a third at the Crystal Theater, 515 South Higgins on the Hip Strip. "This is going to be an incredibly exciting year," said Festival Director, Mike Steinberg. "The energy and joy inherent in this years line-up is a reflection of the enormous support we have seen from our community and our national and local sponsors."

Visit the festival website, bigskyfilmfest.org for film info, volunteer opportunities and to purchase passes online.

The Official Selections for the 2012 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival:

OPENING NIGHT FILM

Marina Abramović The Artist is Present (Director: Matthew Akers)
Free Screening sponsored by HBO Documentary Films
(Filmmakers in Attendance)

CLOSING NIGHT FILM

Under African Skies (Director: Joe Berlinger)

FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

Andrew Bird: Fever Year (Director: Xan Aranda)
Battle For Brooklyn (Directors: Suki Hawley & Michael Galinsky)
Calvet (Director: Dominic Allan)
The Carrier (Director: Margaret Betts)
Chasing Ice (Director: Jeff Orlowski)
Faceless (Director: Jason Lapeyre)
Laura (Director: Fillipe Gamarona Barbosa)

SHORT FILM COMPETITION

After (Director: Jeremy Cohan)
Aside the Sea (Director: Sine Skibsholt)
A Force of Nature (Director: Barbara Kopple)
Ben Franklin Blowing Bubbles (Director: Jonathan Napolitano)
Blue Rinse (Director: Matt Leigh)
Guanape Sur (Director: Janos Richter)
Hombre mquina (Machine Man) (Director: Roser Corella)
Kudzu Vine (Director: Josh Gibson)
Making Noise In Silence (Director: Mina T. Son)

MINI-DOC COMPETITION

Grandpa Looked Like William Powell (Director: David B. Levy)
Mr Smith's Peach Seeds (Director: Stewart Copeland)
The Noble Earth (Director: Bryan McManus)
No Wine Left Behind (Director: Kevin Gordon)
Spirit of the Blue Bird (Director: Xstine Cook, Jesse Gouchey)
Stray Dawg (Director: Sean Dunne)

BIG SKY AWARD COMPETITION

Boomtown (Director: Torben Bernhard & Travis Low)
The Lookout (Director: Brian Bolster)
Painting John (Director: Audrey Hall)
Pot Country (Director: Kate McLean, Mario Furloni)
Smoke Songs (Director: Briar March)

VISITING ARTISTS AND SPECIAL FEATURES AT BSDFF 2012

BARBARA KOPPLE: Letting It Shine

A Force of Nature
Harlan County, USA
Shut Up And Sing
Wild Man Blues
(Filmmaker in Attendance)

TEENAGE WASTELAND: The Films of Agi Orsi

Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who (Director: Paul Crowder, Murray Lerner, Parris Patton)
Dogtown and Z Boys (Director: Stacy Peralta)
No Room For Rock Stars (Director: Parris Patton)
Riding Giants (Director: Stacy Peralta)
(Filmmaker in Attendance)

TAKING IT PERSONALLY: Four Films by Caveh Zahedi

I Am Sex Addict
I Don't Hate Las Vegas Anymore
In The Bathtub Of The World
Untitled Work-In-Progress
(Filmmaker in Attendance)

THE-SLIGHTLY-NON-FICTION-ISH-SOMEWHAT DOC-LIKE-HOW-TO-FILMS OF BILL PLYMPTON

A collection of strange yet some how instructive films from the celebrated illustrator/animator, including 25 Ways To Quit Smoking, How To Kiss, and Santa: The Fascist Years. (Filmmaker in Attendance)

NIGHTCLUBBING with Pat Ivers & Emily Armstrong

Two rarely seen compendiums (Greatest Hits 1975-80 & The Origins of Hardcore) of late 70s performances from a massive archive featuring Blondie, Iggy Pop, The Talking Heads and others, captured by Ivers & Armstrong when they were the house videographers at downtown punk meccas CBGB and The Mud Club. (Filmmakers in Attendance.)

ITS ALL OVER NOW: The Classic Rock-Docs of D.A. Pennebaker

Don't Look Back
Monterey Pop
Ziggy Stardust

PUNK-A-MUCK: 3 by Dave Markey

1991: The Year Punk Broke
The Slog Movie
(This Is Known As) The Blues Scale

WORK-IN-PROGRESS SCREENINGS

Code of the West (Director: Rebecca Richman-Cohen)
The List (Director: Beth Murphy)
Untitled Work In Progress (Director: Caveh Zahedi)
The Winding Stream (Director: Beth Harrington)
(Filmmakers in Attendance)

WINTER IN THE BLOOD PREVIEW EVENT

A sneak peek at Alex & Andrew Smith's much anticipated new feature based on Montana writer James Welch's beloved novel. With clips and trailers from the film, a screening of Visionary Insight, a behind-the-scenes film by Big Sky Alum Tracy Rector, and live musical performances from the soundtrack. (Filmmakers in Attendance)

CITY SYMPHONIES

Stellarondo and NexdoorPrisonHotel perform LIVE musical accompaniment to silent Avant-garde classics, and a new film by Artist/Animator Andy Smetanka.

Manhatta (Director: Paul Strand)
Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (Director: Walter Ruttmann)
To The West (Director: Andy Smetanka)

BIG SKY MIX-TAPE: a massive mash of new and vintage films that celebrate the power of music through the ages. From Bluegrass to Soul, from Jazz to Punk, the melodiously diverse program (presented by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences) also features a myriad of live musical performances throughout the festival (presented by The Missoula Community Foundation).

1991: The Year Punk Broke (Director, David Markey)
Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who (Directors: Paul Crowder, Murray Lerner, Parris Patton)
American Juggalo (Director: Sean Dunne)
Andrew Bird: Fever Year (Director: Xan Aranda)
The Archive (Director: Sean Dunne)
Between Rooms and Voices (Director: Kyle Eaton)
Better Than Something: Jay Reatard (Directors: Alex Hammond & Ian Markiewicz)
Don't Look Back (Director: D.A. Pennebaker)
Give Me The Banjo (Director: Marc Fields)
In Love With These Times: New Garage Explosion (Directors: Aaron Brown & Joseph Patel)
Kevin (Director: Jay Duplass)
King For Two Days (Director: Noah Hutton)
Man & Machine (Director: Jesse Roesler)
Monterey Pop (Director: D.A. Pennebaker)
No Room For Rock Stars (Director: Parris Patton)
Pianomania (Director: Robert Cibis & Lilian Franck)
Piano Pat (Director: Matthew J. Clark)
Refugee All Stars in Montana (Director: Colin Ruggiero)
Roll Out Cowboy (Director: Elizabeth Lawrence)
Sing Your Song (Director: Susanne Rostock)
Shut Up And Sing (Director: Barbara Kopple)
The Slog Movie (Director: David Markey)
Smoke Songs (Director: Briar March)
Sound It Out (Director: Jeanie Finlay)
Sounds and Silence (Director: Peter Guyer & Norbert Wiedmer)
Stray Dawg (Director: Sean Dunne)
The Swell Season (Director: Nick August-Perna)
Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser (Director: Charlotte Zwerin)
(This Is Known As) The Blues Scale (Director: David Markey)
Water on the Road: Eddie Vedder Live (Director: Brendan Canty & Christoph Green)
Way of the Crowd (Director: J.D. Moore)
Shut Up And Sing (Director: Barbara Kopple)
Under African Skies (Director: Joe Berlinger)
Wild Man Blues (Director: Barbara Kopple)
The Winding Stream (Director: Beth Harrington)
Ziggy Stardust (Director: D.A. Pennebaker)

NATURAL FACTS - Films About Nature, Wildlife & the Environment

Among Giants (Director: Chris Cresci, Ben Mullinkosson & Sam Price-Waldman)
Back to Land (Director: Tijana Petrovi)
History Is Unwritten (Director: Aaron Jones)
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (Director: Marshall Curry & Sam Cullman)
Lads & Jockeys (Benjamin Marquet)
Last Call At The Oasis (Director: Jessica Yu)
Mating For Life (Director: Cindy Stillwell)
L'or des Autres (The Gold of Others) (Director: Simon Plouffe)
A Salton Soul (Directors: Mike Agnew, Greg Balkin, Tim Kressin)
Schrebergaart (Director: Yann Tonnar)
Surviving Progress (Director: Mathieu Roy)
Tanglewood (Director: Sarah Newens)
To Make a Farm (Director: Steve Suderman)
Up in Smoke (Director: Adam Wakeling)
Well-Fed (Director: Anna Moot-Levin)
Y.E.R.T. Your Environmental Road Trip (Directors: Ben Evans)
Young Bird Season (Director: Nellie Kluz)

ART IS - New Films About Art & Artists

Adventures in Plymptoons (Director: Alexia Anastasio)
AGLOW (Director: Howard Libov)
The Art of Fighting (Director: Gavain Browne)
Artist In The Margin (Director: Emily Haddad)
Baring It All (Director: Patricia Zagarella)
Black Rock Horse (Director: Todd Darling)
Come On Down and Pick Me Up (Director: Jon Bougher, Nicholas Corrao)
Everything Is Incredible (Director: Tyler Bastian, Trevor Hill, Tim Skousen)
Four Cubic Feet of Space (Director: Tony Gault)
Kiss The Paper (Director: Fiona Otway)
Poetry of Resilience (Director: Katja Esson)
Robert Williams: Mr. Bitchin' (Director: Mary C. Reese)
Scraped Up (Director: Chrissy Dodson)

YOUNGER THAN YESTERDAY: Films About Aging

Aquadettes (Director: Drea Cooper)
The Best Thing I Ever Done (Director: Margaret Emily McKenzie)
The Gentle Sport (Directors: Jenni Nelson & John Rory Fraser)
Maurice (Director: Patrick Kack-Brice)
Tramping In Bohemia (Director: Margot Buff)
You're Looking At Me Like I Live Here And I Don't (Director: Scott Kirschenbaum)

BIG SKY/BIG WORLD - New Films from Around the Globe

Crazy Horse (Director: Frederick Wiseman)
Crazy Wisdom: The Life & Times of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (Director: Johanna Demetrakas)
Finding Fidel (Director: Bay Weyman)
Happy (Director: Roko Belic)
Hold On Tight (Director: Anna Rodgers)
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (Director: David Gelb)
Kyren and the Mysterious World of Sight (Director: Emma Calvelvey)
Tales of the Waria (Director: Kathy Huang)
Unlikely Treasures (Director: Tally Abecassis)

AMERICAN SPECTRUM

Angel For Hire (Director: Mary Flynn & Nina Goodby)
The Bus (Director: Damon Ristau)
Cafeteria Man (Director: Richard Chisolm)
Cartography (Director: Sara Mott)
Disaster (Director: Laura Green)
Ecstasy of Order (Director: Adam Cornelius)
Holy Rollers (Director: Bryan Storkal)
An Imaginary Thing (Director: Reva Goldberg)
Language of the Unheard (Director: Jacqueline Reyno)
Little Mom (Director: Maria Fortiz-Morse)
Living Tiny (Director: Paul Meyers, Paul Donatelli)
Love and Allegiance (Director: Adam Smith & Tijana Petrovic)
Love Hacking (Director: Jenni Nelson)
Man on a Mission (Director: Mike Woolf)
Manufactured Fortunes (Director: Kevin Gordon)
A New Sight (Director: David Keller & Paulius Kontijevas)
Ordinary Skier (Director: Constantine Papanicolaou)
Patriot Guard Riders (Director: Ellen Frick)
Promenade (Director: Briar March)
Shangri-La (Director: Adam Smith)
Still (Director: Lou Karsen)
Visionary Insight: Behind The Scenes of The Film Winter In The Blood (Directors: Tracy Rector & Lou Karsen)
Vito (Director: Jeffrey Schwartz)
You Have the Right to an Attorney (Director: Matthew Bockelmann)

Major Sponsors of Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, HBO Documentary Films, The Documentary Channel, International Documentary Association, Canon, Montana Pubic Television, The Missoula Independent, Montana Public Radio, Montana Film Office, Missoula Community Foundation, Good Food Store, KBGA, Anderson Zurmuehlen, The Trail 103.3, Big Sky Brewing Company, George's Wines, Montana Arts Council, Humanities Montana, First Interstate Bank, ITVS, Missoula Art Museum, Blossoms Bed & Breakfast, Doubletree Inn, Holiday Inn Downtown, Motel 6 University, Wingate, The Mountain Valley Inn, Grant Creek Best Western and Campus Inn.

Film Sponsors

HBO, LEAW Family Foundation, Advanced Imaging, Big Dipper, Biomimicry Institute, Bob Ward & Sons, Clark Fork Coaltion Community Food and Agriculture Coalition, Fact and Fiction, Garden City Harvest, The Montana Environmental Information Center, Jeanette Rankin Peace Center, Le Petit Outre, Open Aid Alliance, Morgenroth Music, Sushi Hana.

For more information:

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival 113 West Front Street, Suite 203 Missoula, Montana 59802 (406) 541-3456 < http://www.bigskyfilmfest.org>

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This announcement is from the Big Sky Film Series, a project of the Big Sky Film Institute, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. http://www.bigskyfilm.org

Big Sky Offers International Pitch with Top Industry Reps

2011-12-26T17:30:00.004-07:00

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival will host an International Pitch Session with top industry representatives including Diane Weyermann (Participant Media) Yance Ford (POV The American Documentary) and Lois Vossen (ITVS, Independent Lens).

The third annual Big Sky International Documentary Pitch Session will take place on February 23, 2012 as part of Big Sky Doc Shop (Feb 21-24), a five day non-fiction industry forum during the ninth annual film festival.

More about the Pitch:

Entry Fee: $25

Submission Deadline: January 6, 2012

Filmmakers have the opportunity to pitch their work-in-progress (WIP) documentaries to some of the top commissioning editors and funders for documentary film in North America. All documentary forms and all subjects are eligible to submit. Commissioning editors will critique and comment on each pitch. A maximum of 15 projects will be accepted to pitch in this session. Potential participants should submit a brief (250 words maximum) project summary and an additional one-paragraph project status report. A short (5 minutes maximum) sample reel of the work-in-progress may be submitted (via vimeo, youtube.com, blip.tv, etc.) in addition to the written application. Selected projects will have 20 minutes to pitch their project and show a short sample (if available) for the panel. Selected projects will be required to pay an additional $75 to participate, and will be notified of their acceptance by January 11, 2012.

Confirmed panelists include: Diane Weyermann (Executive Vice President, Documentary Films, Participant Media), Yance Ford (Series Producer, POV/The American Documentary), Lois Vossen (Independent Lens, Senior Series Producer & Vice President, ITVS) and Reva Goldberg (Communications and Fellowships Manager at Cinereach) Caroline Graham (Marketing Manager, The Documentary Channel).

Enter via Withoutabox.com

More about Doc Shop

February 20-24, 2012 at The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

The Doc Shop is a new, industry-focused feature of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. It offers documentary filmmakers opportunities for networking, discussion, and professional development. The DocShop schedule includes workshops, panels, a round table discussion, product demos, and the annual Big Sky Documentary Pitch session. These events deal with topics from funding to distribution, and everything in between. The Doc Shop brings filmmakers, industry decision-makers, and experts together in a dialogue about what matters most in the world of documentary film.

Confirmed participants at Doc Shop include: Diane Weyermann (Food, Inc.,An Inconvenient Truth) Yance Ford (POV, The American Documentary on PBS) Caroline Graham (The Documentary Channel) Lois Vossen (Independent Lens/ITVS) Richard Saiz (ITVS) Reva Goldberg (Cinereach Foundation) Marshall Curry (Racing Dreams, If A Tree Falls) Rebecca Richman-Cohen (War Don Don, Code of The West) Beth Harrington (Welcome To The Club: The Women of Rockabilly) Mike Woolf (A Man On A Mission) Ben Fowlie (Camden International Film Festival), Doug Whyte (The Hollywood Theater) Jeanie Finlay (Goth Cruise, Sound It Out) and Gita Saedi-Kiely (The New Americans).

Doc Shop passes - available for $50; good for all Doc Shop specific events, workshops, pitch sessions, and discussions. All-Access Industry Passes - available for $275; good for all Doc Shop events, festival screenings, festival parties, & special events.

For more Info contact Doc Shop Coordinator Noel Pederson at docshop (at) bigskyfilmfest.org

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Awards $10,000 Grant to Big Sky

2011-11-28T19:08:00.004-07:00

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival has received a generous $10,000 grant from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences to support Special Programming at the 9th Annual Film Festival (February 17-26 in Missoula, MT), including filmmaker retrospectives and a unique music-themed side bar entitled Big Sky Mix Tape.

The Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded $455,000 to 25 U.S. film festivals for the 2012 calendar year. "We are extremely grateful to The Academy for their support", said Big Sky Festival Director Mike Steinberg. "Without their generosity this sort of programming would simply not be possible."

Big Sky Mix Tape will feature new and historic work that conveys the depth and beauty of music in human life. From rockumentaries and tour films to profiles of renowned and unknown artists, the program will explore the limitlessness of music. The program will also include guest artists and live performances throughout the ten-day event.

The full slate of films and events, along with the Official Selections of the 9th Annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival will be available in early January at bigskyfilmfest.org

Passes for the ten-day event are available for purchase now.

OPEN CALL for International Documentary Pitch Session

2011-10-27T20:17:00.001-06:00

The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is hosting the second annual
Big Sky International Documentary Pitch Session on February 23, 2012.
The pitch will take place as part of Big Sky Doc Shop (Feb 21-24), a
four day non-fiction industry forum during the ninth annual film
festival.

Entry Fee: $25

Submission Deadline: January 6, 2012

Filmmakers have the opportunity to pitch their work-in-progress (WIP) documentaries to some of the top commissioning editors and funders for documentary film in North America. All documentary forms and all subjects are eligible to submit. Commissioning editors will critique and comment on each pitch. A maximum of 15 projects will be accepted to pitch in this session. Potential participants should submit a brief (250 words maximum) project summary and an additional one-paragraph project status report. A short (5 minutes maximum) sample reel of the work-in-progress may be submitted (via vimeo, youtube.com, blip.tv, etc.) in addition to the written application. Selected projects will have 20 minutes to pitch their project and show a short sample (if available) for the panel. Selected projects will be required to pay an additional $75 to participate, and will be notified of their acceptance by January 11, 2012.

Confirmed participants include: Diane Weyermann (Executive Vice President, Documentary Films, Participant Media), Yance Ford (Series Producer, POV/The American Documentary), and Reva Goldberg (Communications and Fellowships Manager at Cinereach).

Enter via Withoutabox.com

2011-10-13T11:36:00.006-06:00

There's less than ONE WEEK until the final deadline for entry into the 2012 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. This year's dates are as follows:

Final Deadline - Postmarked by October 17, 2011
Extended Deadline (withoutbox entry ONLY) October 31, 2011

The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, the premier venue for nonfiction film in the American West, is seeking submissions for its ninth annual event. From February 17-26, 2012 the festival will screen 100+ films, including world and U.S. premieres, classics, rare and experimental works on Montana's largest screen at the historic Wilma Theater in downtown Missoula, Montana. In addition to ten days of screenings, the event will feature many public and VIP events including panel discussions, pitch sessions, galas, receptions and networking round-tables.

Now in its ninth year, the event draws an annual audience of 12,000, including thousands of enthusiastic documentary fans, filmmakers, distributors, broadcasters and industry professionals. Held in the idyllic mountain town of Missoula, Montana, Big Sky has grown to become the largest cinema event in Montana, and a destination for documentary devotees from around the world.

The competition is open to non-fiction films and videos of all genres, subject matter, lengths and production dates. Awards and cash prizes will be given for Best Documentary Feature (over 50 minutes), Best Documentary Short (15-50 minutes), Best Mini-Doc (under 15 minutes) and best documentary about the American West (the Big Sky Award).

Finished films, rough cuts and works-in-progress are all accepted for this final deadline, provided that the completed film will be available for exhibition by February 17, 2012.

DVD (NTSC/PAL), VHS (NTSC/PAL), DVCAM (NTSC/PAL), HDV (NTSC), and miniDV (NTSC/PAL) accepted for preview.

Enter via Withoutabox.com at - http://www.withoutabox.com/login/3969

or download entry form in pdf format at - http://www.bigskyfilmfest.org/bsdff/festival/submissions

If you would like an entry form emailed to you in pdf format, send a request to .

For more information visit http://www.bigskyfilmfest.org

Deadline Approaching for 2012 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

2011-08-30T13:02:00.003-06:00

It's coming up right around the corner... the deadline for entry into the 2012 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. This year's dates are as follows:

Regular Deadline - Postmarked by September 9, 2011
Final Deadline - Postmarked by October 17, 2011

The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, the premier venue for nonfiction film in the American West, is seeking submissions for its ninth annual event. From February 17-26, 2012 the festival will screen 100+ films, including world and U.S. premieres, classics, rare and experimental works on Montana's largest screen at the historic Wilma Theater in downtown Missoula, Montana. In addition to ten days of screenings, the event will feature many public and VIP events including panel discussions, pitch sessions, galas, receptions and networking round-tables.

Now in its ninth year, the event draws an annual audience of 12,000, including thousands of enthusiastic documentary fans, filmmakers, distributors, broadcasters and industry professionals. Held in the idyllic mountain town of Missoula, Montana, Big Sky has grown to become the largest cinema event in Montana, and a destination for documentary devotees from around the world.

The competition is open to non-fiction films and videos of all genres, subject matter, lengths and production dates. Awards and cash prizes will be given for Best Documentary Feature (over 50 minutes), Best Documentary Short (15-50 minutes), Best Mini-Doc (under 15 minutes) and best documentary about the American West (the Big Sky Award).

DVD (NTSC/PAL), VHS (NTSC/PAL), DVCAM (NTSC/PAL), HDV (NTSC), and miniDV (NTSC/PAL) accepted for preview.

Enter via Withoutabox.com at - http://www.withoutabox.com/login/3969

or download entry form in pdf format at - http://www.bigskyfilmfest.org/bsdff/festival/submissions

If you would like an entry form emailed to you in pdf format, send a request to .

For more information visit http://www.bigskyfilmfest.org

2011 Big Sky Film Series Kicks Off Friday

2011-06-02T14:37:00.007-06:00

When: June 3, 2011 - Screening at 8:30 p.m.

Where: Le Petit Outre, 129 South 4th Street, West, Missoula, Montana

Cost: Free Public Admission

The Big Sky Films Series kicks off this Friday with the first installment of the 2011 season, a collection of short films from this year's festival.

The program of films features some of the best short films to play during the 2011 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. Included in the program are Ian McCluskey's SUMMER SNAPSHOT, an artful film about skinny dipping; Mina Son's FINAL CHAPTER, about a Northern California undertaker; Sara Newen's COMFORT OF COLD about a 74 year-old man who swims daily i the San Francisco Bay; and the 2011 Big Sky Award winner TUNED IN by Kevin Gordon - a film that explores the mysterious world of natural radio signals.

The Big Sky Film Series is a periodic monthly screening series highlighting traditional and innovative nonfiction film and video. It is held the first Friday of the month as part of downtown Missoula, Montana's "Art Walk." All screenings are held in the Historic Wilma Theatre and are FREE and open to the public. The series is programmed by the staff of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.

For more information, visit www.bigskyfilm.org Call (406) 541-FILM or email director@bigskyfilmfest.org for sponsorship information.

The Big Sky Film Series is a program of the Big Sky Film Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. The mission of the Big Sky Film Institute is to celebrate and promote the art of nonfiction filmmaking, to establish Missoula as a center of documentary filmmaking, exhibition and criticism, and to encourage media literacy by fostering public understanding and appreciation of documentary film.

Big Sky Film Series Sponsors:

Big Sky Film Institute

HBO Documentary Films

The Historic Wilma Theatre

Le Petit Outre

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Announces Call For Entries

2011-05-13T13:36:00.003-06:00

Missoula, Montana - The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, the premier venue for nonfiction film in the American West, is seeking submissions for its ninth annual event. From February 17-26, 2012 the festival will screen 100+ films, including world and U.S. premieres, classics, rare and experimental works on Montana's largest screen at the historic Wilma Theater in downtown Missoula, Montana. In addition to ten days of screenings, the event will feature many public and VIP events including panel discussions, pitch sessions, galas, receptions and networking round-tables.

Now in its ninth year, the event draws an annual audience of 12,000, including thousands of enthusiastic documentary fans, filmmakers, distributors, broadcasters and industry professionals. Held in the idyllic mountain town of Missoula, Montana, Big Sky has grown to become the largest cinema event in Montana, and a destination for documentary devotees from around the world.

The competition is open to non-fiction films and videos of all genres, subject matter, lengths and production dates. Awards and cash prizes will be given for Best Documentary Feature (over 50 minutes), Best Documentary Short (15-50 minutes), Best Mini-Doc (under 15 minutes) and best documentary about the American West (the Big Sky Award).

DVD (NTSC/PAL), VHS (NTSC/PAL), DVCAM (NTSC/PAL), HDV (NTSC), and miniDV (NTSC/PAL) accepted for preview.

Enter via Withoutabox.com or download entry form in pdf format.

If you would like an entry form emailed to you in pdf format, send a request to callforentries@bigskyfilmfest.org.

For more information visit www.bigskyfilmfest.org

A Huge Thank You

2011-02-20T18:24:00.000-07:00

Between the Yo La Tengo concert, Brewfest, sponsorships, hard work, lovely filmmakers, great weather and other films and events throughout the festival, we've got a lot to be thankful for.

Thanks to:

...our FILMMAKERS
who continue to submit their works of art and passion to us each year.

...our VOLUNTEERS and INTERNS
whose donated hours allow us flexibility and fluidity throughout the festival.

...our AUDIENCE and the town of MISSOULA
who continues to come out and support us each year with their enthusiasm and their curiosity.

...our FESTIVAL STAFF
whose hard work throughout the year and throughout the festival has made the 8th annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival another incredible success.

...the WILMA THEATRE
for letting us take over their beautiful space for 10 days each February.

...our SPONSORS
whose generosity made the fest possible.
HBO, Blue Cross Blue Shield, LEAW Family Foundation, Fact and Fiction, Humanities Montana, Silver Foundation, The Green Light, Lost Trail, Bob Wards, Poverello Center, Rocky Mountain School of Photography, The Artists Shop, Ear Candy Music, Hellgate Roller
Girls, Runners Edge, Farm to Family, Montana Museum of Art and Culture, Missoula Winery, Bernices Bakery, and Trail 103.3, HBO Documentary Films, Sony Electronics, The Documentary Channel, Montana Pubic Television, The Missoula Independent, Montana Public
Radio, Montana Film Office, International Documentary Association,
Morris & Helen Silver Foundation, ITVS, Docurama, KBGA, Northwestern, Energy, First Security Bank, Montana Arts Council, ITVS, Missoula Art Museum, Blossoms Bed & Breakfast, Doubletree Inn, The Mountain Valley Inn, Grant Creek Best Western and Campus Inn.

Special thanks to the McKays, our musicians, Jimmy Johns, UPS, USPS, the weather, FedEx, Taco Del Sol, McKenzie Pizza, Great Harvest, The Badlander, Statriot Designs, popcorn, iPhone, Hellgate Cyclery, Patrick Record, Tom Robertson, Subaru, hole punchers, Big Sky Brewing et beaucoup beaucoup plus!

Best Tweets of the Fest

2011-02-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

As the festival winds down and the Awards Screenings begin, now may be a good time to share some of the best Tweets we've gotten over the past 10 days. From compliments to sheer excitement for our films, the following words are music to our ears. @bigskydoc

@greendoorphoto The Big Sky Film Festival is so inspiring and eye opening.

@MCADSustainDsgn Saw "Play Again" at the Big Sky Film Festival last night. Heartbreaking. My advice: see it, share it, go outside

@torbenb About to watch 'Granito' @BigSkyDoc. Great films all day!

@sonminat stanford representin' tonight at @BigSkyDoc!

@friendofdurutti sad to leave Missoula. I had a great time screening @theseaisharsh. Big sky knows how to treat filmmakers! Inspired.

@marcmoss great seeing *you*! Thnx 4 all the work you're doing!

@filmwitch Big Sky winner of Best Fest Award! Thanks n love 2 best, smartest, crew n all the great staff n volunteers

@WeStillLiveHere Many thanks to the organizers and audiences at @BigSkyDoc last weekend. Hope you enjoyed the film!

jeanlouisefinch Best time @BigSkyDoc great audience, conversation, generous filmmakers.

@topspinmovie can't believe we are missing the show! there arent enough sad faces to express our despair

@TonskiProducers Thanks @BigSkyDoc! What a ridiculous weekend...Strong programming, solid festival staff and an awesome @rolloutcowboy Montana premiere

@IcarusArts One of the best documentary festivals in the country is going on right now.

@bruensk How to Die in Oregon amazing! Wonderful programing with free admission bringing real story's to Missoula public discourse!

@bjwoodman Thanks for the hospitality! Big Sky Folks are the best!!!

Stories About Writers

2011-02-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

Our last shorts program of the festival features stories about writers, from Henry Miller to David Rubin and a young Ugandan boy to local Sheryl Noethe of the Missoula Writing Collaborative. This Writer's Block is sponsored by Fact & Fiction bookstore, the Morris and Helen Silver Foundation and Humanities Montana.

Writer's Block SHORTS PROGRAM plays at NOON on SUNDAY, February 20th.

HENRY MILLER: ASLEEP AND AWAKE features the then-81-year-old author sharing ideas about life, writing, sex, spirituality, nightmares and New York.

NOTES FROM A POET AND A ONE-EYED CAT is about the founding of the Missoula Writer's Collaborative and Sheryl Noethe's passtion to spread the love of writing to future generations.

RADIOGRAFIA DUN AUTOR DE TEBEOS journeys through the imagination of comic artist David Rubin as he is being filmed for a documentary.

UNEARTHING THE PEN tells the story of a young Ugandan boy's desire for education in the face of a 40-year-old curse on the written word.

Chuck Workman Brings Knowledge of FIlm to Big Sky

2011-02-18T23:42:00.001-07:00

Chuck Workman arrived at the Missoula Art Museum on Thursday night straight from the airport, ready to speak to a crowd about the short film he screened there--a montage of films whose directors are all members of the Directors Guild of America. BSDFF director Mike Steinberg described Workman's knowledge of film as "encyclopedic," a talent that has earned him an Academy Award and numerous Emmy nominations.

Friday afternoon Workman was a guest speaker to students at UM, talking through several movies clip by clip, discussing why directors make certain choices in terms of camera angles and aesthetics--poignant decisions that have made these moments the quintessential ones audiences cling to the most.

Big Sky is delighted to welcome 2011 retrospective artist, Chuck Workman for a guided tour of his cinematic and countercultural oeuvre. Workman who has been making films since 1967 has produced films for the Motion Picture Academy, the Motion Picture Association of America, CBS, Disney World, Turner Broadcasting, and PIECES OF SILVER for Eastman Kodak and the Director’s Guild of America. The six film program includes films about cinema, writing and the arts, and features his newest feature Visionaries and his Academy Award winning film Precious Images which was selected for the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 2009.

Six of Workman's films will play as part of the retrospective on Saturday.

PIECES OF SILVER plays with VISIONA RIES at 1:40 in Wilma 2
THE SOURCE plays with WORDS at 4pm in Wilma 1
PRECIOUS IMAGES plays with SUPERSTAR: THE LIFE AND TIME OF ANDY WARHOL at 6:10 in Wilma 1.

Orangutans in the Morning

2011-02-18T18:29:00.004-07:00

How could you not want to see this? Grab some breakfast then come see this endearing flick about our ancestors.

NENETTE, directed by Nicolas Philibert, 2010, France, 70 minutes, French

Born in the jungles of Borneo, Nénette is a 40-year-old orangutan — and the oldest (and most beloved) inhabitant at the Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes in Paris. The latest film by legendary French documentarian Nicolas Philibert (TO BE AND TO HAVE), Nénette is a captivating study of an enigmatic animal and our relationship to her.

Screening - Wilma 2, Saturday February 19 @ 10:15 am Montana Premiere

MARWENCOL (a land made of dolls) Helps Victim Cope

2011-02-18T13:28:00.002-07:00

MARWENCOL
Wilma 1, Friday February 18 @ 7:45pm
On April 8, 2000, Mark Hogancamp was attacked outside of a bar in Kingston, NY, by five men who beat him literally to death. Revived by paramedics, Mark had suffered brain damage and physical injuries so severe even his own mother didn’t recognize him. After nine days in a coma and 40 days in the hospital, Mark was discharged with little memory of his previous life. Unable to afford therapy, Mark decided to create his own.

In his backyard, he built Marwencol, a 1/6th scale World War II‐era town that he populated with dolls representing his friends, family and even his attackers. He used the small dolls and props to redevelop his hand‐eye coordination, while he dealt with the psychic wounds from his attack through the town’s many battles and dramas. Shot over the course of four years, Jeff Malmberg’s documentary intertwines the dual realities of Mark Hogancamp to tell the whole story of Marwencol – a surprising tale of love, secrets, pain, and adventure.

Awards Announced, Screenings Too!

2011-02-18T10:09:00.004-07:00

The judges of the 8th annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival have announced this year's award winning films in the four competitive categories: Best Feature, Big Sky Award, Best Short Film and Best Mini Doc (under 15 minutes). The awards were announced Thursday evening at a ceremony at The Loft in downtown Missoula. The Feature Category winner will receive $1000, while the film in the other three categories will receive a cash prize of $500, courtesy of The Documentary Channel.

This year's jury included Andrew Catauro of POV, Michael Lumpkin of the International Documentary Association, Ian McCluskey from NW Documentary, Kate Pearson of the Documentary Channel, Tracy Rector of Longhouse Media, Oscar-winning filmmaker Chuck Workman and Paco de Onis & Pamela Yates of Skylight Pictures and GRANITO.

The Awards Screenings will take place in the Wilma Theatre February 19 and 20th.
The schedule for this weekend's Awards Screenings is as follows:

Saturday February 19 at 8:00pm
DREAMS AWAKE by Kevin Gordon & Rebekah Meredith- 7 mins
MICHAEL AND HIS DRAGON by Briar March - 6 mins
TUNED IN by Kevin Gordon- 5 mins
DARWIN by Nick Brandestini - 86 mins

Sunday February 20 at 8:00pm
BROKEN DOORS by Goro Toshima- 34 mins
THIS WAY OF LIFE by Thomas Burstyn - 85 mins
STEAM OF LIFE by Joonas Berghall & Mika Hotakainen - 81 mins

800+ Students From Area School Pack the Wilma

2011-02-18T09:48:00.003-07:00

The Wilma is currently packed full of 800+ students from area middle and high schools for a FREE screening of PLAY AGAIN, a film about the lost art of going outside.

As part of our Educational Outreach program, this morning's show was organized by our coordinator Nicole Vanek who says that the fest is, "by nature, educational as well as entertaining and it only makes sense to have a partnership with the schools."

Among the schools participating today are Hellgate, Big Sky, Sentinel, Clark Fork and Sussex.

Festival Awards Announced!!!

2011-02-17T21:06:00.006-07:00

People oohed and awwed And were rapt at the revelation of the festival winners at The Loft downtown.
After much deliberation, here are the awards...

Short Doc: Broken Doors, directed by Goro Toshima
Mini Doc: Dreams Awake, directed by Kevin Gordon & Rebekah Meredith
Artistic Vision: Michael and his Dragon, directed by Briar March
Feature: This Way of Life, directed by Thomas Burstyn
Feature Artistic Vision: Steam of Life, directed by Joonas Berghall & Mika Hotakainen
Big Sky Award: Tuned In, directed by Kevin Gordon
Big Sky Award Artistic Vision: Darwin, directed by Nick Brandestini

What could be better than getting 5 films for the price of one?

2011-02-17T15:25:00.000-07:00

Our second to last Shorts Program plays tonight at 8pm and features a variety of films all revolving around Personal Views.

One of the featured films is MISSOULAQUATSI, a short essay about Missoula, MT. filmed on Super 8 that reveals itself in subtle and timeless ways through extensive use of grainy imagery, time-lapse photography and a futuristic jazz soundtrack. Filmmaker Andrew Smetanka will be in attendance.

Also featured is Tarkio Balloon by Torben Bernhard. The 5-minute film is about the death of his brother by Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. It tracks Torben's drive from Utah to Tarkio, MO. and uses an interview by his mother as the soundtrack.

TONIGHT'S PROGRAM

Tarkio Balloon - 5 min
Yizkor (Remembrance) - 24 min
Irma - 12 min
Missoulaquatsi - 10 min
Rushland Ridge - 37 min

For All You Writers, Actors and Monologists Out There...

2011-02-17T12:09:00.002-07:00

A couple months ago I heard this great piece on NPR about AND EVERYTHING IS GOING FINE, a film about Spalding Gray starring Spalding Gray and directed by Steven Soderbergh. It really gave me a glimpse into the life of this semi-elusive man who committed suicide in 2004 and intrigued me to the point of making it an ABSOLUTE necessity that I see this film.
It shows tonight, Thursday, at 9.45pm in Wilma 1.

An intimate portrait of master monologist Spalding Gray, as described by his most critical, irreverent and insightful biographer: Spalding Gray. Soderbergh has sifted through rare and revealing footage to construct a riveting final monologue. There are glimpses of Gray’s father, and of his son Forrest (who provides soaring music for the end credits), but mostly this is an inspired one-man show, a bittersweet display of Spalding’s playful and embattled intelligence, his gift for tracking universal truths by looking himself squarely in the eye.

AND EVERYTHING IS GOING FINE

BSDFF Receives Award from BSHS

2011-02-17T09:26:00.004-07:00

Big Sky High School honored big Sky Film Festival this morning for our participation in their 10th annual Diversity Week. We've shown over 100 films and brought in 37 filmmakers over the past 6 years. Our collaboration with them has not only been great for us as part of our educational outreach program, but the students have been exposed to various films from different ways of life from all over the world via the documentary medium. Thanks, BSHS!!

Join Us As We Get Face Planted

2011-02-16T17:30:00.000-07:00

The Top Hat on Front Street is usually a good time, right?
Tonight, however, will be especially charming due to the band Butter playing for the festival-hosted party sponsored by Bayern Brewing and Lost Trail Powder Moutain. It begins at 8pm following the screening of LIKE A LION.
It is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

Wednesday Night Brings the Portrait of a Private Artist to Life

2011-02-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

In DAVE BAILEY: FOUR BEAT TO THE BAR AND NO CHEATING, director Jérôme de Missolz has created an engaging portrait of a very private man who bared the soul of the swinging sixties and seventies with his photographs and films. Portraits of people like these are always fascinating, captivating and alluring, and this film is sure to be one of them.

From Vogue magazine fashion photographer to filmmaker, painter and sculptor, Bailey is the working-class Londoner who befriended the stars (Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol, Jack Nicholson, Roman Polanski), married his muses (Jean Shrimpton, Catherine Deneuve, Marie Helvin) and captures the spirit and elegance of his times with his refreshingly simple approach and razor-sharp eye.

He is also the man whose life and work inspired one of the cult movies of the sixties, Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up, and who has constantly travelled the globe either with the most beautiful models or chronicling the contemporary reality of Papua New Guinea, Brazil, Vietnam, Afghanistan and other countries with ground-breaking reportages. Above all, Bailey is a romantic with a delightful sense of humour approaching his 73rd year and showing no sign of slowing up.

WEDNESDAY AT 7PM AT THE PIPESTONE AT 129 W FRONT STREET

WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY

2011-02-16T11:03:00.004-07:00

Today starts with a FREE screening of BAG IT at 12.30, with the director in attendance for a Q&A.
In this lively and comical look at one of the most important environmental issues of the day, Telluride, CO everyman Jeb Berrier makes a resolution to stop using plastic bags at the grocery store. Little does Berrier know that this simple decision will change his life completely. He concludes that our consumptive use of plastic has finally caught up to us, and looks at what we can do about it.
__________
Wednesday night's Shorts Program: Darkness and Light is composed of eight fabulous films, dealing with everything from life and illness to sleep deprivation and death. But six of these films have one thing in common: they were all made by students from the same MFA program at Stanford.

We talked to Jenni Nelson, Mina T. Son, Theo Rigby and Sara Newens who were here over the weekend watching films, eating milkshakes, meeting fellow filmmakers and telling us about the selective school which accepts only eight students a year for the rigorous two-year program in Documentary Film and Video.
When asked why they could only stay for the weekend and not take a day off, they responded, "These were our days off."

Mina (of TOPSPIN and THE FINAL CHAPTER) is in her second to last quarter in the two-year Documentary Film and Video program and is working on her final film--one of four (one being in 16mm b&w) all graduates are required to make in their two years as students. She raves about the program, despite its intensity.

"We are all making and will make films; that is what they're training us for."

The concentrations among the students vary, as some will go on to do commercial work while others stick to the artistic, more independent track. But they all get a lesson in the art of film festival strategy, which has proven successful, seeing as this year's programming has films from Stanford students of both present and past.

Shorts Program: Darkness and Light will show Wednesday night at 9.45pm in Wilma 1. NIGHT AWAKE, THE COMFORT OF COLD, THE FINAL CHAPTER, FIRELINE, INDELIBLE MARK, MICHAEL & HIS DRAGON are all Stanford student-made films.

Tonight's the Night

2011-02-15T20:43:00.001-07:00

Yo La Tengo is playing inside.

Reason #242 That Big Sky Film Fest is Great for the Community

2011-02-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

We believe documentaries are so awesome that we bring directors of our films right to the
kids. We show the flick then do a discussion after, presenting students with topics and ideas they may not have been exposed to otherwise.

Starting Monday, directors will visit Big Sky, Sentinel, Willard and Hellgate High Schools. Kudos to our Education Director, Nicole Vanek, and thanks to the directors for taking the time to chat with young Missoulians.

Directors include Kathy Corley of THE TAO OF BLAKE, Mary Murphy of HEY BOO, Katherine Bruens of CORNER STORE and Theo Rigby of SIN PAIS.

Yo La Tengo and Underwater Urchins at the Wilma

2011-02-15T08:59:00.013-07:00

I first saw Yo La Tengo (I've got it!) play THE SOUNDS OF SCIENCE 4 or 5 years ago in St. Louis at Webster University. I was unfamiliar with the band, only hearing about them at the local record shop and from my sister whose obsession was on the verge of, well, obsessive. I loved what I heard here and there, but it wasn't until this show that I was truly turned onto their unique and complex sound.

They played two shows that night, each one sold out, and I remember being squished in like a sardine looking up at a movie screen undulating with vivid images of starfish, seahorses, urchins and octopi while the trio played solidly below. I eventually fell asleep, being drawn into a sort of trance--the sheer volume and intensity of the music was just enough to lull me into a dream state.
A few years later I was asked to teach a middle school Oceanography class. Seeing as I knew next to nothing about Oceanography, I turned to the DVD of THE SOUNDS OF SCIENCE to help introduce the kids to the underwater world as well as some kick-ass tunes. They enjoyed the shrimp and jellyfish, sure, but the audio stimulation was what really stuck with them, as it did me.
Click on the Octopus for a sample of their tune.

Yo La Tengo plays TONIGHT (Tuesday) at 8pm at the Wilma.

There are still tickets available!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BOX OFFICE AT THE WILMA OPEN AT NOON. $20 each, yo.
TICKETS
__________________
New Jersey’s legendary independent rock trio Yo La Tengo (Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan, and James McNew) bring a live performance of their ambient and altogether mesmerizing score for the rarely seen undersea documentary shorts by influential French avant-garde filmmaker Jean Painlevé. One of the first to plunge underwater with a movie camera, Painlevé’s films are hypnotic and surreal, capturing the strange beauty of the scientific world as surely as Bunuel and Man Ray. His evocative images are taken to a new level of dreaminess by Yo La Tengo’s free- form compositions.

The eight films in the program include:
Hyas and Stenorhynchus (Hyas et stenorinques ) 1927, 13 min.
Sea Urchins (Les Oursins ) 1954, 11 min.
How Some Jellyfish Are Born (Comment naissent des Méduses ) 1960, 14 min.
Liquid Crystals, (Cristaux liquides ) 1978, 6 min.
The Sea Horse (L’ Hippocampe) 1933, 13 min.
The Love Life of the Octopus (Amours de la pieuvre ) 1967, 13 min.
Shrimp Stories, (La Crevette), 1963, 13 min.
Acera or the Witches’ Dance, 1972, 12 min.

Sponsored by KBGA, The Montana Arts Council, First Security Bank and Northwest Energy

Regarding Your Yo La Tengo Tickets...

2011-02-15T08:59:00.012-07:00

UPDATE: YO LA TENGO IS SOLD OUT!!!!!!!!

If you ordered online...YOU PICK UP YOUR TICKETS AT THE BOX OFFICE
Bring your ID to prove you are who you think you are.
BOX OFFICE OPENS AT NOON (12pm) TODAY.

Three for Bieber

2011-02-14T22:54:00.000-07:00

After our last showing on Friday night, a few gentlemen came into the Wilma looking for tickets to a film.

"Three for Bieber," one of them said, leaning coolly on the counter.

You can imagine our confusion...that is, until we realized that a new Justin Bieber documentary was across town at another theatre.
Their mistake was pointed out to them and they went on their way in search of the newest installment to the Canadian 16-year-old's stardom: NEVER SAY NEVER in 3D.

The New York Times talks about it here.

Maybe next year for the Bieber doc...maybe next year...

Come Out and Show Some Love, Why Dontchya

2011-02-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

Some may scoff at today's Hallmark holiday while others may revel in the squishy feeling it gives them inside, but for either extreme and for everyone in between, we're offering a handful of hardy (and hearty) docs today for you solo-goers and couples alike.

1) From teen romance to a decades-long marriage; newlyweds to a recent divorcee, and even a bachelor so frustrated in his search that he chooses to have children without a partner, LOVE, ETC. documents the intimate journeys of engaging characters aged 18-89 who reflect the city's diversity, and takes an honest look at life’s most challenging pursuit.

LOVE, ETC. Jill Andresevic, 2010, USA, 94 minutes, English Screening - Wilma 1,
Monday February 14 @ 6:00 pm Montana Premiere

2) In our Writers' Blocks strand is DOC, a portrait of the filmmaker's father, the legendary forgotten novelist, co-founder of The Paris Review, and counterculture icon Harold Louis “Doc” Humes. Doc’s friends and family—including Norman Mailer, George Plimpton, Timothy Leary, William Stryon, Peter Matthiessen, Paul Auster, and Jonas Mekas—weaving together a story of politics, literature, protest and mental illness, shedding light on an original mind as well as the cultural history of postwar America.

DOC, Immy Humes, 2008, USA, 90 minutes, English Screening - Pipestone,
Monday February 14 @ 7:00 pm
Montana Premiere

But don't worry, the love's not over yet!

3) KATI WITH AN I is an intimate portrait of a teenage girl in Alabama about to graduate high school. With microscopic focus, the beautifully rendered film captures her moment-by-moment emotional transformation over three tumultuous days that leave her future in doubt. The movie explores the period in one’s life when the only constant is motion.

KATI WITH AN I, Robert Greene, 2010, USA, 85 minutes, English Screening - Wilma 1, Monday February 14 @ 8:00 pm Montana Premiere, Feature Competition

Also today is the Doc Challenge Showcase, a collection of films developed, produced and edited in five days by a group of people around the world. The result is a maddening process for them as well as a joy for the audience. Always a popular choice at Big Sky.

So come out and show your love, Missoula!

PHOTOgraphy

2011-02-13T17:22:00.001-07:00

Did you know we document all this jazz that goes on here at the fest?
Well, we do...thanks to Patrick Record.
A few weeks ago Record called up the Big Sky office wondering if we needed any help with our photography. OF COURSE, we said.

A Photojournalism student at UM who's worked in TV in LA for several years, Record is now working more with photography.
We're highly appreciative of all his hard work and availability to archive our events.

You find more of his stuff HERE.
And go to our Flickr page HERE.

He's a rapper. He's a cowboy. He's a rapping cowboy.

2011-02-13T13:00:00.001-07:00

"This bow-legged, wrangler jean wearin’ cowboy struts onto the stage and announced that he was 'gonna do a little old school beat boxin’ tonight.'"
-Elizabeth Lawrence, Director of ROLL OUT, COWBOY

About 10 years ago, Elizabeth Lawrence saw North Dakota native Chris "Sandman" Sand perform his "mishmash of folk, hip-hop and country." She realized right away that he wasn't just some act but that he was a true artist, whose work was both poignant and intelligent.

"He had lots to say and the rhythm to prove it."

Sand says most of his songs emerge from a dissatisfaction with social policies or seeing people stand up against acts of injustice.

"I've always fought for the 'little guy,'" he says. "The 2011 political climate befuddles me, though. Part of the time I'm pissed and the other part I'm inspired."

What became of Sandman was a role as the "Rapping Cowboy," whose story includes quirky details, from his hometown of 120 people to buying a house for $1000 to most of his friends being senior citizens. Lawrence was convinced this was enough material from which to craft a
documentary that would be "dramatic and entertaining at the same time."

"I called Chris and asked if he’d like to participate in a documentary project about his life," Lawrence says. "He agreed. Destiny led me to Dunn Center, North Dakota three weeks later."

Roll Out Cowboy from Roll Out, Cowboy on Vimeo.

"Chris Sand's story is about one man's daily effort to make his voice heard. From Red States, to Blue States, from urban to rural, from the elderly to the youthful...ROLL OUT, COWBOY has something for everyone."

ROLL OUT, COWBOY screens SUNDAY Feb. 13th at 9.45pm with a Q&A and a live performance by Chris Sand.

@rolloutcowboy @rappingcowboy

Let Us Help You

2011-02-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

We here at Big Sky Film Festival listen to our customers' requests.
You want cooler merch? We did it.
You want more parties? Done.
You ask for a quiz to match up your interests with the film topics and a little guidance to help you plan your week? YOU GOT IT, BABY.

Do you like Self-effacing self-portraits of monologists (Spalding Gray)?

Do you like Dramatic war documentaries in Danish, Farsi and English?

Do you like to eat the sun? Have you ever been a teenager?

Do you like Renaissance men with famous liaisons? You want Hollywood tragedy?

Have you ever been in love? Are you intrigued by Irish Psychiatric wards?

Do you want to learn how to love the gun? How about amazing short films?

When Beauty Gets Brutal

2011-02-12T14:00:00.001-07:00

Do you like "butt-kickin’ tights-wearing’ roller-skatin’"* ladies?

Then go see this movie TONIGHT @9.45pm.

Afterwards, join the sponsors of the film--Hellgate Rollergirls--at The Badlander in downtown Missoula for a rockin' good time.

"I am always attracted to true subcultures that act as a clan. Roller Derby is definitely that."
-Chip Mabry, Director

Documenting the Rose City Rollers in Portland, BRUTAL BEAUTY explores the recently revived contact sport of female Roller Derby, where two teams race around an indoor track trying to get ahead of the other using precision and teamwork, with a little shoving, grunting, jamming, blocking, pivoting and bruising along the way. Director Chip Mabry's interest in sports with an "amateur aesthetic" is what tuned him into the roller derby culture, as well as the unwavering commitment each of the these ladies has for the activity.

"All of them have full-time jobs and no income from the sport," he says, amazed at their dedication.

But along with fortitude there is also risk.

"I saw many broken tibs, fibs and ribs over the year of production. I was most surprised to see the exact level of anticipation from these women as the professional athletes I have covered."

Mabry got hooked up with the Rose City Rollers through friends he met while making a film about skateboarding and actually began the project feeling skeptical about the sport, as he thought it "more of a fad than a culture." But his opinion was soon changed once he spent hours upon hours with these brutal, yet beautiful, girls.

"These women made me a believer in a sport that I now think has a real future; they changed me more than I'd like to admit."

BRUTAL BEAUTY shows Saturday, February 12 at 9.45pm.
Party to follow at The Badlander--208 Ryman. The event is FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

*Taken from the Hellgate Rollergirls' site

Why This Festival Rocks

2011-02-12T10:26:00.006-07:00

There's something about opening night at Big Sky that gets me. Directors, editors, and producers are in town (we picked up 17 from the airport yesterday alone), the town is aflutter with film buzz, and the energy level all around is high, as each of the 200+ people involved with the fest have hit the ground running in preparation for 10 days of film, hard work and invaluable experiences. The intimacy of this festival, in addition to its glorious location in downtown Missoula, and the accessibility of the visiting filmmakers creates a vibe that's hard to find at any other film festival, albeit a documentary film festival.

The festival kicked off Friday night with a free screening of HOW TO DIE IN OREGON, sponsored by HBO Documentary Films. Festival Director Mike Steinberg noted that it's an incredible honor to have a free screening the first night of the film, especially in association with HBO, whose quality programming continues to inspire and awe audiences. "HBO makes it possible for us to start our event with a lot of energy. It's really a wonderful gift to this community."

Peter D Richardson, director of the film conducted a Q&A with the 800+ people who turned out Friday night at opening night of the fest. Editor Greg Snider was also in attendance. HOW TO DIE IN OREGON was recently chosen by Sundance as the winner of the Grand Jury Prize in documentary. And judging by the 800+ people who showed for this film at the Wilma, his success is surely not 0ver.

More pictures of the Opening Night at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

Sundance Grand Jury Prize Film Screens FOR FREE Tonight! Crowd of 800+ Turns Out.

2011-02-11T12:32:00.013-07:00

Making its Montana premiere in the festival's American Spectrum strand, HOW TO DIE IN OREGON tells the stories of terminally ill Oregonians as they decide whether to end their life under the state's Death with Dignity Act. What emerges is a complex, poignant, and deeply moving portrait of what it means to die at the time and circumstance of ones choosing. Just last month the film won the prestigious Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Documentary Competition at Sundance Film Festival.

The free HBO screening marks the fifth year the cable network has sponsored an opening night film at Big Sky. "It's an amazingly generous sponsorship," says Festival Director, Mike Steinberg. "HBO makes it possible for us to start our event with a lot of energy. It's really a wonderful gift to this community."

HOW TO DIE IN OREGON screens Friday, February 11 at 6.30pm, Q&A with director Peter D. Richardson follows the FREE screening.

Watch Peter D Richardson accept his award at Sundance

Double Feature Competition Films Deal with Native American Issues

2011-02-09T14:04:00.002-07:00

"Why is there a holiday to an Indian-killing slave trader?"

This is one of the questions asked in COLUMBUS DAY LEGACY (Saturday, Feb 12 at 2pm), a film that explores quintessential American issues of the freedom of speech, ethnic pride, and the ownership of history against the backdrop of the ongoing Columbus Day Parade controversy in Denver, Colorado.

In attendance will be filmmaker Bennie Klain, a director of documentaries and short fictions. He is the founder of TricksterFilms, based in Austin, Texas. He is a fluent Navajo speaker, often incorporating the language into his work. We asked him a few questions about the film and his hopes for future projects.

BSD: Outside of being a Navajo speaker, what is your connection to the topic of COLUMBUS DAY LEGACY? What got you interested in the controversy in Denver?

BK: I had never heard about the Denver Columbus Day parade until September of 2006, when my producer Leighton C. Peterson was a visiting professor at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. After talking with several people about the conflicting politics involved, he approached me with the idea of shooting during the parade the in October. We knew there was a unique human story here, and we were onto something significant when both the Italian- and Native American communities passionately emphasized that the 2007 parade—signifying the 100^th anniversary of the holiday in Colorado—was the one to capture, . We returned the following year with two film crews to simultaneously capture this passionate energy on both sides.

I decided that Columbus Day Legacy needed to begin by representing both sides of this conflict somewhat equally, a difficult undertaking as a Navajo filmmaker. What emerged as a result of this persistent vision is a contemporary digital portrait of two strong and proud ethnic communities, both fighting to preserve the memory of their prejudiced experiences as representatives of the original inhabitants and immigrant Americans. Both groups were historically far removed from any political elite or aristocracy. During editing, this formed the central conflict in Columbus Day Legacy as the United States grapples with everyday questions about rights, immigration, and identity in the 21^st Century.

BSD: Where do you hope to see this film go? What are your intentions for it?

BK: I hope that COLUMBUS DAY LEGACY spurs people to find out more about the origins of the holiday and also to find out more about the Italian American experience, as well as to find out more about contemporary Native peoples and how history continues to resonate in the present day. Troy Lynn Yellowwood, one of the participants in our documentary says it best, "I think there's two sides to every story. I think that's where we need to start. Find out more than I can tell you. Learn on your own. All I can do is peak your interest and then you have to do the rest."

BSD: What is your next project?

BK: Roadman is an hour-long documentary that , explores the origins and complexity of the Native American Church (NAC) through the lens of practicing Navajo Roadmen, NAC’s spiritual leaders for Navajo peoples. Roadmen are akin to ‘reverends’ or ‘ministers’ in the Christian faith, authorized to teach and minister by conducting peyote ceremonies. In traditional Navajo views, they are considered ‘medicine men’ and healers. Roadman will give a human face to these Navajo NAC Roadmen as they travel to the peyote fields in Texas, deal with the Federal government, and protect their religions freedom from both Navajo and outside forces.

It tells the story of a contemporary journey that highlights the balance struck between traditional Native and western values, through the course of a unique road trip to gather peyote, a widely misunderstood plant/medicine used by Native Americans, a group still striving for full religious and political freedom. Roadman brings to life this seemingly contradictory religious practice, following the personal stories of NAC Roadmen in Navajoland as they apprentice, pray, and go about their daily lives.

COLUMBUS DAY LEGACY will be screened Saturday, Feb 12 at 2pm with

WE STILL LIVE HERE
by Anne Makepeace

Celebrated every Thanksgiving as “the Indians” who saved the Pilgrims, then largely forgotten, the Wampanoag of Southeastern Massachusetts, spurred on by their intrepid Wampanoag linguist and MacArthur honoree Jessie Littledoe Baird, are saying loud and clear, and in their Native tongue, “Âs Nutayuneân,” – We Still Live Here.

The Pruitt-Igoe Myth: Where Race and Modernism Collide

2011-02-08T13:48:00.003-07:00

Playing Saturday, Feb 12th at 4pm in Wilma 1

Following its highly-publicized destruction, the Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex became a widespread symbol of failure amongst architects, politicians and policy makers. THE PRUITT IGOE MYTH explores the social, economic and legislative issues that led to the decline of conventional public housing in America, and the city centers in which they resided, while tracing the personal and poignant narratives of several of the project’s residents.

We talked with director Chad Freidrichs and producer Brian Woodman about their motivation to make the film and why, decades after the subject's demise, it's still such a relevant and racially charged topic.

Big Sky Doc: Why did you want to focus on Pruitt-Igoe? What struck you about it as a topic worthy of an entire documentary?

Chad Freidrichs: Like many these days, I first heard the words “Pruitt-Igoe” in the same sentence as “Death of Modern Architecture.” The professor in an audio lecture was discussing
Pruitt-Igoe as the ultimate representative of the decline of the City of the Future envisioned by LeCorbusier and other Modernist architects and planners. This award-winning project that was supposed to change the city instead quickly transformed into a Modernist slum.

I like documentaries about really big ideas, and this was a big one for me: that beautiful
architecture with idealistic social goals ended up being worse than the conditions it
replaced largely because of its design. And considering the former site was only a couple
hours down the road from me, and in a city with which I’m pretty familiar, it seemed like
a very promising subject.

When I began my research, I came at the subject from this architectural point of
view. But I soon read an article by Katherine Bristol called “The Pruitt-Igoe Myth” in
which she argued that Pruitt-Igoe had been inflated as an architectural achievement, that
it had never won an architectural award (she’s right) and that its supposed significance
was being used by subsequent architects and theorists to not only attack Modernism,
but also to aggrandize architects’ ability to significantly change social conditions, for
better or worse. This article, and others like it, guided my subsequent research and the story that we told.

BSD: What kind of challenges did you face with doing a documentary with a subject so racially charged?

CF: Poverty and crime, the two markers most attributed to Pruitt-Igoe’s residents, often unfairly, are extraordinarily sensitive subjects, especially when race gets involved. Those were certainly conditions that existed in Pruitt-Igoe and deeply affected many of its residents; we don’t shy away from them, but we also wanted to tell another story.

If you want to tell a truthful story about Pruitt-Igoe, a story that presents life as it was
truly lived, you have to show the relative normality that prevailed. Most people in Pruitt-
Igoe lived lives free of crime. And yet, that’s not often pointed out. Many were poor, but
the focus often stops there. It usually doesn’t extend to the ingenuity and brave struggle
that the poverty engendered.

One strategy was simply to point out something that’s so mundane that it’s often
unreported: most people in Pruitt-Igoe were pretty much like people everywhere. And
I feel that simply saying that is refreshing and more truthful than the dominant image of
life in the projects that’s been presented in the past.

On the flip side, we tried to steer clear of a tendency to place all blame on racist suburban
whites for the decline of the inner city. Again, it’s there in the film; there was no way of
avoiding that issue entirely. But we also tried to show how the larger economics of home
ownership forced even well-meaning whites to abide by the dictates of segregation.
We try to put it all in context – so far as we are able in eighty minutes – to present the
complexity of life in Pruitt-Igoe, and life in the city, during those years. I think people are
ready for that.

BSD: Were you at all inspired by "Koyaanisqatsi?" Do you use it at all in the film? As a St.
Louisan, that's a huge part of Pruitt-Igoe to us--is that featured bit in the film.

Brian Woodman: We were all very aware of the film and Pruitt-Igoe’s important place in it. If you ask a lot of people, Pruitt-Igoe really is embodied in that implosion footage. It seemed pretty
difficult not to use that footage in a film about Pruitt-Igoe. However, our research led us
to an immense amount of material that added more to the Pruitt-Igoe story than just the
destruction, so the Koyaanisqatsi material plays only a small role.

For all you filmgoers out there...

2011-02-03T06:07:00.005-07:00

Thinking of holding court at the Wilma during the fest?
Well, we've got the schedule for YOU!

Sweet!

Check out our BLOCK SCHEDULE to see what's happening day by day,
minute by minute at Big Sky.

Film Schedule Released

2011-01-30T19:24:00.005-07:00

Start planning your February 11th-20th NOW!

FILM SCHEDULE

Or download it PDF Style
____________________________

2011's Selections Announced, Yo La Tengo Headlines.

2011-01-14T04:58:00.002-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 14, 2011

Missoula, MT - Big Sky Documentary Film Festival has announced the
official selections for their eighth annual event to be held in
Missoula, Montana February 11-20, at the Historic Wilma Theatre. The
140 film program, culled from nearly 1000 entries from all over the
world will feature a live performance by indy rock band Yo La Tengo,
a free opening night screening of Peter D. Richardson's How To Die In
Oregon (sponsored by HBO Documentary Films), a retrospective of films
by venerable filmmaker Chuck Workman, and more than twenty-five
World, North American and US premiers of new non-fiction films.

The Festival will feature three venues this year--two screens at the
Wilma and a special screening room at the former Pipestone
Mountaineering store at 129 W. Front Street in downtown Missoula. In
every way, the festival continues to grow, said Festival Director,
Mike Steinberg. It's a clear reflection of the enormous support we
have from our community and our national and local sponsors.

Film info, passes and tickets for Yo La Tengo are available on the
festival website, bigskyfilmfest.org . Tickets for Yo La Tengo can
also be purchased at Ear Candy Music, 624 South Higgins Avenue.

The Official Selections for the 2011 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival:

OPENING NIGHT FILM
How to Die in Oregon (Director: Peter D. Richardson)
Free Screening sponsored by HBO Documentary Films

FEATURE FILM COMPETITION
Corner Store (Director: Katherine Bruens)
Feathered Cocaine (Director: rn Marino Arnarson & Thorkell S. Hardarson)
Granito (Director: Pamela Yates)
Holy Wars (Director: Stephen Marshall)
Kati With An I (Director: Robert Greene)
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth (Director: Chad Friedricks)
Steam of Life (Directors: Joonas Berghall, Mika Hotakainen)
Summer Pasture (Directors: Nelson Walker, Lynn True)
This Way of Life (Director: Thomas Burstyn)
Troubadours (Director: Morgan Neville)
The Two Escobars (Directors: Jeff Zimbalist, Michael Zimbalist)
We Still Live Here (Director: Anne Makepeace)

SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Albert's Winter (Director: Andreas Koefoed)
Broken Doors (Director: Goro Toshims)
Indelible Mark (Director: David Alvarado)
Sin Pais (Without Country), (Director: Theo Rigby)
This Chair Is Not Me (Director: Andy Taylor Smith)
Yizkor (Remembrance) (Director: Ruth Fertig)

MINI-DOC COMPETITION
Bye (Director: Anthony Morrison)
Dreams Awake (Directors: Kevin Gordon, Rebekah Meredith)
Bathing Micky (Director: Frida Kempff)
Mrs. Birks' Sunday Roast (Director: Kyoko Miyake)
Tarkio Balloon (Director: Torben Bernhard)
Top Spin (Directors: Sara Newens, Mina T. Son)

BIG SKY AWARD COMPETITION
Columbus Day Legacy (Director: Bennie Klain)
Darwin (Director: Nick Brandestini)
Hood to Coast (Directors: Christoph Baaden, Marcie Hume)
Play Again (Director: Tonje Hessen Schei)
Roll Out Cowboy (Director: Elizabeth Lawrence)
Tuned In (Director: Kevin Gordon)

YO LA TENGO Presents The Sounds Of Science
Hoboken's legendary Indie rock trio performs LIVE musical
accompaniment to the extraordinary underwater films of Jean Painleve

CHUCK WORKMAN RETROSPECTIVE
Words (1988)
Pieces of Silver (1989)
Precious Images (1989)
Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol (1990)
The Source (1999)
Visionaries (2010)

WRITERS BLOCKS - Films About Language & Literacy
And Everything Is Going Fine (Director: Steven Soderbergh)
The Art of Jihad (Director: Alaa Eldin el Dajani)
Chekov for Children (Director: Sasha Waters Freyer)
Doc (Director: Immy Humes)
Henry Miller: Asleep & Awake (Director: Tom Schiller)
Hey Boo: Harper Lee & To Kill A Mockingbird (Director: Mary Murphy)
In the Wake Of The Flood (Director: Ron Mann)
King in Milwaukee (Director: Nicole Brown)
Radiografia dun Autor de Tebeos (Director: Marcos Nine)
Richard Hugo: Kicking The Loose Gravel Home (Directors: Annick Smith,
Beth Chadwick Ferris)
Sayed Kashua: Forever Scared (Director: Dorit Zimbalist)
Scent of Strawberries (Director: Guy Natanel)
Unearthing the Pen (Director: Carol Salter)
William S Burroughs: A Man Within (Director: Yony Leyser)

INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY CHALLENGE The finalists from the 2010 film
contest.

Death Goes Green (Director: Gabe Franz)
Grounded By Reality (Director: Phoebe Brown & Elizabeth Strickler)
Hanging Out (Director: Ben Campbell & Veena Rao)
I SAW U (Director: Maile Martinez & Lane Stroud)
Legend: A Film About Greg Garing (Director: Emily Branham)
Life is but a dream... (Director: Kelly Saxberg)
Lynching, America's Nightmare (Director: Christian Appleby)
Old Radicals (Director: Matthew Leahy)
Oneironauts (Director: Dafni Kalafati & Kiriakos Stilianopoulos)
Tami Tushie's Toys (Director: Melody Gilbert)
The Four Dreams (Director: Chris Sinclair)
Walk Across America (Director: Jon Ward)

NATURAL FACTS - Films About Nature, Wildlife & the Environment
Bag It (Director: Suzan Beraza)
Broad Channel (Director: Sarah J. Christman)

Clover & Her Mob (Erin Belmont, April Johnson, Joe Johnson, Char Sawatzke Jones, Dave Jones, Michelle McConnaha)
The Comfort of Cold (Director: Sara Newens)
Corner Plot (Directors: Ian Cook, Andre Dahlman)
Fireline (Director: Sara Newens)
Learning To Love The Gun (Director: Joseph Matthews)
Nenette (Director: Nicolas Philibert)
On Coal River (Director: Francine Cavanaugh)
One Lucky Elephant (Director: Lisa Leeman)
Queen of the Sun (Directors: Taggart Siegel, Jon Betz)
Rushland Ridge (Director: Kyle Repka)
Sea Is a Harsh Mistress, The (Director: Jason Sussberg)
Second Nature (Director: Guy Leiberman)
Snake Fever (Director: Wendy Greene)

DUST-TO-DIGITAL PROGRAM with Lance Ledbetter
Desperate Man Blues (Director: Edward Gillan)
Dust To Digital Picture Show (Various Artists)
Ten Thousan Poiints Of Light (Director: George King)

SIGHTS & SOUNDS - Films About Art & Music
The Anatomy of Vince Guaraldi (Director: Andrew Thomas)
Black Dog Running (Director: Scott Ray Becker)
Black February (Director: Vipal Monga)
David Bailey, Four Beats to the Bar and No Cheating (Director: Jrme de Missolz)
Do It Again (Director: Robert Patton-Spruill)
Everyday Sunshine: The Story Of Fishbone (Directors: Lev Anderson,
Chris Metzler)
Ghost Noise (Director: Marcia Connolly)
Keep Dancing (Director: Greg Vander Veer)
Marwencol (Director: Jeff Malmberg)
Portrait to America (Director: Peter Kovacik)
Sacred Transformations (Director: Justine Nagan)
Sand Mountain (Director: Kathryn McCool)
The Secret to a Happy Ending: A Documentary About the DriveBy
Truckers (Director: Barr Weissman)
The Tao of Blake (Director: Kathy Corley)
Waste Land (Director: Lucy Walker)
A Weaverly Path (Director: Kenny Dalsheimer)

BIG SKY/BIG WORLD New Films from Around the Globe
Armadillo (Director: Janus Metz)
Bastards Of Utopia (Director: Maple Razsa)
Bye Bye Now (Director: Aideen O'Sullivan)
Cultures of Resistance (Director: Iara Lee)
Disappearance of McKinley Nolan (Director: Henry Corra)
Farewell (Director: Ditteke Mensink)
Into Eternity (Director: Michael Madsen)
If These Walls Could Talk (Director: Anna Rogers)
Keepers of the Art (Directors: Gabriela Weeks, Karen Sztajnberg)
Kings of Pastry (Directors: Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker)
Kinshasa Symphony (Director: Claus Wischmann)
Irma (Director: Charles Fairbanks)
My Playground (Director: Kaspar Astrup Schrder)
The Sound of Insects: Record of A Mummy (Director: Peter Liechti)
To Catch a Dollar: Muhammad Yunus Banks on America (Director: Gayle Ferraro)

AMERICAN SPECTRUM
Boxing Gym (Director: Frederick Wiseman)
Breaking & Entering (Director: Benjamin Fingerhut)
Brutal Beauty (Director: Chip Mabry)
Don't Bury Me in Trona (Directors: Vicky Wetherill, Jason Skriniar)
Eat the Sun (Director: Peter Sorcher)
Final Chapter, The (Director: Mina T. Son)
Food Stamped (Directors: Shira, Yoav Potash)
Git Along, Little Dogies (Director: Kate Lain)
Like a Lion (Directors: Shane Nelson, Eric Iberg)
Lines (Director: Joselito Seldera)
Lost Angels (Director: Thomas Napper)
Love, Etc. (Director: Jill Andresevic)
Michael & His Dragon (Director: Briar March)
Missoulaquatsi (Director: Andy Smetanka)
Night Awake (Director: Jenni Nelson)
Plasticity (Director: Ryan Malloy)
Quadrangle (Director: Amy Grappell)
Skydancer (Director: Katja Esson)
Summer Snapshot (Director: Ian McCluskey)
Two Worlds Inside Out (Directors: Moeko Crider, Dana Johnson)
Voyagers, The (Director: Penny Lane)
Wana Dubie's War (Directors: Jerod Welker, Andrew Sheeley)

Major Sponsors of Big Sky Documentary Film Festival:

HBO Documentary Films, Sony Electronics, The Documentary Channel,
Montana Pubic Television, The Missoula Independent, Montana Public
Radio, Montana Film Office, International Documentary Association,
Morris & Helen Silver Foundation, ITVS, Docurama, KBGA, Northwestern
Energy, First Security Bank, Montana Arts Council, ITVS, Missoula Art
Museum, Blossoms Bed & Breakfast, Doubletree Inn, The Mountain Valley
Inn, Grant Creek Best Western and Campus Inn.

LINKABLE PRESS RELEASE

Film Sponsors:

HBO, Blue Cross Blue Shield, LEAW Family Foundation, Fact and
Fiction, Humanities Montana, Silver Foundation, The Green Light, Lost
Trail, Bob Wards, Poverello Center, Rocky Mountain School of
Photography, The Artists Shop, Ear Candy Music, Hellgate Roller
Girls, Runners Edge, Farm to Family, Montana Museum of Art and
Culture, Missoula Winery, Bernices Bakery, and Trail 103.3.

Graphix

2011-01-05T20:21:00.000-07:00

Check it

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Announces 2011 Pitch Sessions

2010-11-08T11:50:00.000-07:00

Two exciting pitch sessions will take place during the 8th Annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, an International Call and "Documenting the Big Sky" a special session focusing on films to be produced in Montana. Confirmed panelists include Yance Ford (Series Producer, POV/The American Documentary), William Marcus (General Manager of KUFM/Montana Public Television) Aaron Pruitt, Director of Programming (KUSM/Montana Public Television, and Kim Anderson (Humanities Montana). More participants will be added as they are confirmed. December 23 is the entry deadline for both sessions.

Here's all the details:

"Documenting the Big Sky" Pitch Session
February 16, 2011 - University Theater/University of Montana campus
Entry fee: FREE
Submission Deadline: December 23, 2010

Pitch your documentary work-in-progress (WIP) to Montana Public Television and other important documentary funders in Montana. The pitch session will be held on February 16, 2011 in the UC Theater on the University of Montana campus with a live audience of filmmakers, industry representatives, and students. Projects must have a Montana focus to be eligible. All non-fiction forms are acceptable including hybrid doc/narrative projects. Historical fiction and "docu-drama" projects are not eligible. Submit a brief (250 words maximum) project summary and an additional one-paragraph project status report via email. The project summary should concisely describe the focus of the film as well as a brief treatment which should include shooting format and any other relevant technical details and production credits (if known). The project status should describe the current state of the production (eg. pre-production, production, post, etc.) in some detail. A short (5 minutes maximum) sample reel of the work-in-progress may be submitted in addition to the written application. Work-in-progress reels may be submitted on-line only via vimeo, youtube.com, blip.tv, etc. Provide a direct link with your written application. Do not send DVD screeners as part of your application. A maximum of 15 projects will be selected to pitch on February 16, 2011. Selected projects will have 20 minutes to pitch their project and show a short sample (if available) for the panel. If selected to pitch, filmmakers will be required to pay an additional $50, which includes the right to pitch the selected project to the panel of broadcasters and funders. For an additional $50, participants will receive an All Access Pass for the 2011 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival ($250 value). Selected projects will be notified of their acceptance by January 10, 2011.

Confirmed Participants - William Marcus (General Manager of KUFM/Montana Public Television), Aaron Pruitt, Director of Programming (KUSM/Montana Public Television), Dawn McGee (High Stakes Foundation) and Kim Anderson (Humanities Montana).

Application materials must be submitted to pitch@bigskyfilmfest.org Entry fee must be paid online. More info here.

International Documentary Pitch Session
February 17, 2011 - University Theater/University of Montana campus
Entry Fee: FREE
Submission Deadline: December 23, 2010

Pitch your documentary work-in-progress (WIP) to some of the top commissioning editors and funders for documentary film in North America. All documentary forms (eg. first person, direct cinema, observational, etc.) and all subjects are eligible to submit. The session will be held February 17, 2011 at the UC Theater on the University of Montana campus with a live audience of filmmakers, industry representatives, and students. Commissioning editors will have the opportunity to critique and comment on each pitch. A maximum of 15 projects will be accepted to pitch in this session. Submit a brief (250 words maximum) project summary and an additional one-paragraph project status report. The project summary should concisely describe the focus of the film as well as a brief treatment which should include intended length, shooting format and any other relevant technical details and production credits (if known). The project status should describe the current state of the production (eg. pre-production, production, post, etc.) in some detail. A short (5 minutes maximum) sample reel of the work-in-progress may be submitted in addition to the written application. Work-in-progress reels may be submitted on-line only via vimeo, youtube.com, blip.tv, etc. Do not send DVD screeners as part of your application. Selected projects will have 20 minutes to pitch their project and show a short sample (if available) for the panel. Selected projects will be required to pay an additional $150, which includes the opportunity to pitch and an All Access Pass to all events at the 2011 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival ($250 value). Selected projects will be notified of their acceptance by January 10, 2011.

Confirmed participants - Yance Ford (Series Producer, POV/The American Documentary), Kate Pearson (SVP Programming, The Documentary Channel).

Application materials must be submitted to pitch@bigskyfilmfest.org Entry fee must be paid online. More info here.

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Announces Call For Entries

2010-05-18T19:50:00.000-06:00

Missoula, Montana – The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, the premier venue for nonfiction film in the American West, is seeking submissions for its eighth annual event. From February 11-20, 2011 the festival will screen 100+ films, including world and U.S.premieres, classics, rare and experimental works on Montana's largest screen at the historic Wilma Theater in downtown Missoula, Montana. In addition to ten days of screenings, the event will feature many public and VIP events including panel discussions, galas, receptions and networking round-tables.

The competitive event is open to non-fiction films and videos of all genres, subject matter, lengths and production dates. Awards and cash prizes will be given for Best Documentary Feature (over 50 minutes), Best Documentary Short (15-50 minutes), Best Mini-Doc (under 15 minutes) and best documentary about the American West (the Big Sky
Award).

DVD (NTSC/PAL), VHS (NTSC/PAL), DVCAM (NTSC/PAL), HDV (NTSC), and miniDV (NTSC/PAL) accepted for preview.

Enter via Withoutabox.com

or download an entry form in pdf format

If you would like an entry form emailed to you in pdf format, send a request to callforentries@bigskyfilmfest.org

For more information visit bigskyfilmfest.org

CRUDE filmmakers Berlinger & Bonfiglio Face Subpoena

2010-05-18T16:05:00.000-06:00

We want to draw your attention to a troubling situation faced by two of our colleagues, Big Sky Alums Joe Berlinger and Mike Bonfiglio, the makers of the
film CRUDE, which screened at Big Sky in 2009. Please see below to read part of a correspondence I recently received from Mike Bonfiglio, the producer of CRUDE. Whatever support you can give them would be greatly appreciated.

Best,

Mike Steinberg
Festival Director

FROM MIKE BONFIGLIO:

A few weeks ago, Joe Berlinger and I, as well as the "Crude" production companies, were served with subpoenas by Chevron, demanding that we hand over our 600 hours of outtakes, speculating that somewhere in our dailies they would find material that would help them in their lawsuit in Ecuador. We opposed the subpoena, and on May 6th, a judge ruled against us. We are appealing the decision, and many in the documentary community as well as other journalists have rallied to support us. The IDA issued an OPEN LETTER which has been signed by an extraordinary number of heavy-hitters of the doc world, from Michael Moore to Bill Moyers, Alex Gibney to Morgan Spurlock.

We would greatly appreciate it if you could circulate this petition to your list, and urge people to follow our story, which has the potential to adversely affect the landscape for our fellow documentary filmmakers for many years to come. We'll be updating our BLOG about the case as it happens.

A Look at Iraq Through the Eyes of SEVERE CLEAR

2010-02-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

We interview Kristian Fraga, a young filmmaker whose documentary, Severe Clear, plays at Big Sky on closing night, Sunday the 21st at 4pm.

BSDFF: Give me a little background on the film and how it came about.

KF: It was pretty interesting how this film came together. I was developing a completely different project when Severe Clear literally fell on my lap. Mike Scotti, the Marine our film is about, walked into NYU with a bag full of mini-DV tapes figuring some young filmmaker might find the footage interesting. He ended up bumping into a student who happened to be interning at our production company at the time, and a couple of days later we were all sitting down with Scotti watching his footage and talking about his experience. Right away I knew his was a story I very much wanted to tell.

BSDFF: What is your background in film?

KF: I’m a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a founding partner of Sirk Productions, a New York based film and television production company. Severe Clear is my second feature length documentary. My first, Anytown, USA, was theatrically released by Film Movement in 2005. To be honest, I’m a product of George Lucas , Steven Spielberg, and Francis Ford Coppola so I never thought in a million years I would make documentaries. I’ve always wanted to direct space operas and Indiana Jones pictures, but as an independent filmmaker from New York, I’ve also been inspired by Spike Lee, Oliver Stone, Woody Allen, and Martin Scorsese. For me it all comes down to the story and what’s the best way of telling that particular story. Whether it’s a documentary or a traditional narrative is irrelevant to me. As a filmmaker I’m not too caught up with being pigeonholed as a certain kind of director. These two last pictures happened to be docs because that was the right way to go. I’m currently writing my next feature, which is a narrative and there are other docs I would love to make. Once I fall in love with a story I’ll figure out how to get up on the screen.

BSDFF: Who is your audience for this film, ie who do you hope to reach?

KF: Obviously I’d love everybody to see Severe Clear. The reality of the situation is, this is a tough picture about a subject many people may not be ready to deal with right now. At the end of the day, Severe Clear is really a blue-collar film about these men getting up everyday and doing their job. It’s about what that job represents and everything that goes with a Marine being good at what he does— which is part of the inherent depth and complexity of Mike Scotti’s story. This film asks a lot from its audience and it isn’t a passive experience. We hope to reach an audience who is willing to sit back for 93 minutes and be open to going for a ride. The picture is a tough pill to swallow and it’s the kind of film that’ll stick with you well after you’ve left the theater.

BSDFF: What other festivals have you been to so far, and what is the upcoming schedule looking like?

KF: The film premiered at SxSw and we were an official selection at the Rome International Film Festival where were given a special award for cinematic excellence. Along with Big Sky, Severe Clear was also an official selection at: St. Louis Film Festival, San Diego Film Festival, Palm Beach International Film Festival, Lone Star International Film Festival, Salem Film Festival, IDA Docuweeks Showcase, and the New Films/New Filmmakers Series at the Anthology Film Archives in Manhattan. On top of the festivals coming up we’re releasing Severe Clear theatrically starting in NY and LA in March. So our upcoming schedule is pretty intense.

BDSFF: Do you have any mentors or idols that have helped you or inspired you?

KF: In terms of mentors and idols, I did mention earlier that I am a product of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Francis Ford Coppola. For me, these are the three kings. I could go on and on about other filmmakers who have inspired me but those are the top guys along with Oliver Stone, Tim Burton, Alfred Hitchcock… I can go on and on. I just love film and when making Severe Clear inspiration would come from all sorts of places. I always turn to the films of Victor Fleming or Vincent Minnelli, two guys you’d never in a million years link to documentary filmmaking but their pacing, transitions, story structure, it all influences me.

BSDFF: Why documentary?

KF: Why a documentary? My answer is simply "why not?” It’s all about filmmaking. I’m always amazed at how people like to pigeonhole you within the industry. Certainly Severe Clear is a documentary and I understand, especially with festivals, why films have to be put into a particular category but I never sat down and thought, “well since Severe Clear is a documentary it has to be made this specific way.”

From Saving Private Ryan to Cloverfield, you’re seeing studio pictures using “documentary” techniques to strip away the gloss, allowing an audience to connect deeper with the material and feel the story. What I set out to do with Severe Clear was to take the raw mini-DV footage that Mike shot and put it together in the style of the traditional Hollywood narrative.

I think it’s the fusion of those two opposing styles that gives the film its energy and I think we’ve put something together that many people haven’t seen before. What’s funny was after one of the IDA screenings in LA an audience member came up to me after the screening and said “Wow…that was like a real movie,” as if a Documentary is not a “real movie.” But I totally got what he was saying. Filmgoers have been trained through the years to expect something specific from a Documentary as opposed to a narrative. More and more those lines are bleeding together and it’s exciting because as filmmakers we’re allowed a greater freedom to make the pictures we want to make and not have to worry (so much) about getting labeled as a certain kind of filmmaker.

Tap Water to the Rescue

2010-02-19T18:59:00.000-07:00

There have been handfuls of films released in the past couple years addressing environmental issues--from Food, Inc. to Gasland to King Corn to An Inconvenient Truth--but none of them have tackled the issue of water as aggressively, as honestly and as artistically as Stephanie Soechtig and Jason Lindsey did in 2009's Tapped.

Is access to clean drinking water a basic human right, or a commodity to be bought and sold like any other article of commerce? This feature is an unflinching examination of the big business of bottled water. This timely documentary is a behind-the-scenes look into the unregulated and unseen world of an industry that aims to privatize and sell back the one resource that ought never to become a commodity: our water. Using interviews, quirky graphics and honest imagery, Tapped is made someone who really, truly, genuinely cares about this issue.

This fast-paced, well-narrated, and highly educational film looks at the illegal bottling practices of Nestle, cancer-causing factories and the overall state of the country's tap water. Tapped is definitely a flick that will leave viewers dying to learn more.

2010 Festival Winners Announced!

2010-02-18T21:11:00.001-07:00

The judges of the seventh annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival have selected this year’s award winning films in the four competitive categories: Best Feature, Big Sky Award, Best Short Film and Best Mini Doc (under 15 minutes). The awards were announced Thursday evening at the awards ceremy at the Loft in downtown Missoula.

2010 FESTIVAL WINNERS

Best Feature: Lixin Fan's Last Train Home
Artistic Vision for Best Feature: Josh Fox's Gasland

Big Sky Award: Joseph Aguirre's Next Year Country
Artistic Vision for Big Sky Award: Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Ilisa Barbash's Sweetgrass

Best Short Film: Charlene Music's Danza Del Viejo Inmigrante
Artistic Vision for Best Short: Kelly Anderson's Never Enough

Mini-Doc (under 15 minutes) Award: Paramita Nath's Found
Artistic Vision for Mini-Doc: Tony Donoghue's A Film About My Parish-6 Farms

There were also four Programmer’s Choice Awards, awarded by the Big Sky
programming staff. Michael Angus’s Salt and Robert Drew’s The Sun Ship Game both
received awards for Excellence in Cinematography. Rainer Komer’s Milltown, Montana
received an award for Excellence in Editing. And Briar March’s There Once Was An
Island was awarded the Natural Facts Award for its artistic rendering of a vital
environmental issue (climate change) and its effect of human life.

The Best Feature and Big Sky Award films will receive a guaranteed broadcast deal from
Free Speech TV. Both shorts categories will receive a broadcast guarantee and generous
licensing fee from The Documentary Channel.
Several of the award winning films will play again at the Wilma Theatre over the closing
weekend of the festival. The schedule is as follows:

Friday, February 19 at 7:30
Danza Del Viejo Inmigrante
Never Enough
Found
A Film About My Parish – 6 Farms
Dark Light: The Art of Blind Photographers*
Anonymous Rebellion*
(* Rescreened due to technically difficulties)

Saturday February 20 at 7:30
Next Year Country
Milltown, Montana
Salt

Sunday February 21 at 8:00
Last Train Home
Sweetgrass

This year's jury: Jeanie Finlay, Cliff Froehlich, Tim Huffman, Thomas Phillipson, Doug Pray, Rick Prelinger, Gordon Quinn, Shirley K. Sneve, Richard Saiz

Doug Pray Plays the Hits

2010-02-18T12:20:00.000-07:00

Documentary filmmaker Doug Pray has made movies about surfers, truck drivers, graffiti artists, hip hop DJ's, grunge rockers and advertising gurus. But while his maverick subjects vary in profession, Pray says they all play roles as "fiercely independent individuals" in search of the certain rush that comes with defying the status quo.

"They're all celebrating what is meaningful," he says, "but they're working in different ways.

To continue Big Sky's annual tradition of showcasing a collection of work by a distinguished documentary filmmaker, Pray's retrospective kicks off today with his most recent work, Art & Copy. The 2009 film deals with the creative minds behind some of the most famous advertising campaigns ever. Lee Clow of Apple, Dan Wieden of Nike and George Lois of Tommy Hilfiger, among others, discuss their work and how they approached the task of successfully selling a product to an entire society.

What this film ISN'T, says Pray, is a look at the 98% of what he calls bad, manipulative mediocre and demeaning advertising that exists today. Nor is it a social critique or an attack on advertising companies. What it IS, however, is a "celebration of that rare 2% of really good advertising that can actually inspire people."

The dozen or so artists interviewed in the film were all given one arduous task: to create a reason for people to buy a certain product. This movie explores their passions, methodologies and reasons behind working like they did. The question here is: "When you are given a job, how can you do it in a way that's better and more interesting?"

"Advertising isn't going away," says Pray. So why not do it well?

The subjects of Pray's work may at first glance seem divergent. But through his observant lens, the films explore the known (and unknown) boundaries of their respective subcultures and feature the top tier of practitioners with the group, those that have stepped fully into the fold and aren't afraid to look back.

These inspiring portraits of artists, revealed in films like Hype! (about the grunge scene in Seattle in the late 80's, early 90's), Scratch (about Hip-Hop Dj's), Veer (about 6 Londonites), Feel Your Heart Race (about NASCAR nation), Surfwise (about a family of surfers), Big Rig (a look at America through the eyes of truck drivers), Infamy (a look at graffiti artists) and Art & Copy, will all be screened starting today at the Wilma. SCHEDULE HERE.

Sweetgrass Gets Monster Turnout

2010-02-17T19:36:00.001-07:00

Whether it's ranchers or farmers, locals or urbanites, the crowd here tonight at the Wilma is KILLER. And it's all for a little film by Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor called Sweetgrass. The theatre is packed and the energy is high, all in anticipation of one of the festival's major draws.
Don't you wish you were here?

Sweetgrass and Let Your Feet Do the Talkin' Deliver Tonight!

2010-02-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

The 6th day of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival delivers the most talked about film of the festival: Sweetgrass. The film mercilessly follows the cowboys of the American West on their annual trip into the Absaroka-Beartooth Mountains with their sheep. This astonishingly beautiful yet unsparing film reveals a world in which nature and culture, animals and humans, vulnerability and violence are all intimately meshed. Heralded as being "majestic," "breathtaking," "bracing" and "astounding," and reviewed by such publications as the New York Times, Variety and Slate, this film will make its Montana premiere in the historic Wilma Theatre on Wednesday at 7.30pm.

Stewart Copeland's newest short film will show with today's Shorts Program, "Some Dreamers."

Copeland won for Best Mini-Doc for his film "Jennifer" at the 2009 festival, and his films are proven to be some of the festival faves.

Check out "Let Your Feet Do the Talkin,'" a short film about Buck dancing in the South, at the Wilma Theatre on Wednesday at the 5.45 Shorts Program.

The Historic Wilma

2010-02-16T15:31:00.001-07:00

Great Photos up at flickr.com/bigskydocfilm

The Mormons Cut It Out in Cleanflix

2010-02-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

Cleanflix is a documentary about the phenomenon started by the Mormons in Utah who edit violence, sex and profanity from certain films so they are "clean" enough for their people to watch. Is this sanitization process acceptable? What about the artists whose films are being censored?

Josh Ligairi of Cleanflix, screening as a U.S. Premiere Tuesday night at 7.45pm, talks with Big Sky Film Fest about his connections to the Mormon culture, his struggle with objectivity and the relationships he fostered with his subjects.

BS: How did you hear about this subject matter of censored videos?

JL: We both lived in Utah when we decided to make the film, and edited movies were kind of in their hayday. You couldn't miss them. Andrew had a lot of experiences with them in college; his roommates watched them all the time. I think seeing Steven Soderbergh's Traffic edited, which is one of his favorite films, was a pretty traumatic experience. I had never actually seen one before we started the film, but it was a subject that interested me a great deal. For me, the most interesting aspect when we began was the notion of self-censorship.

BS: Are you Mormon? Did you grow up around Mormons?

JL: We both grew up Mormon, but not in Utah. We both moved around a lot growing up, Andrew in places like Georgia and Michigan, me in places like California and Idaho. We both eventually made it to Utah.

BS: What drove you to make a film about this topic? Was there a personal connection?

JL: Neither of us were supporters of edited movies. We both had Mormon heritage and we were both filmmakers (not to mention huge cinephiles), so all of that played into it. However, I'm not sure either of us felt any specific personal connection. For me, I just saw a story and it was a story that I knew I could tell. Still, I do think our experience with Mormon culture was a huge help when making the film.

First, we understood the mindset of the people who were editing the movies, even though we didn't necessarily agree with their point of view. I think it would be really easy to paint this issue black and white, but I feel like being able to empathize with the culture made for a much stronger, much more nuanced film. For some people that is a problem with the film. They want to feel superior to these people whose actions they disagree with. We didn't want it to be that simple.

The other advantage is that we had access. I think these guys would have been a lot more suspicious of outsiders than they were of us. That familiarity with the culture gave us a lot of freedom and opened up a lot of doors that a complete outsider could have never opened.

BS: Why do you feel this topic is an important one to show the public?

JL: There are so may issues at play here. First, again, it is just an interesting story. It is entertaining. It is real human drama. If you wrote it, nobody would believe it.

Second, the film deals with questions for which there are no easy answers. Should corporations be able to tell us how to use their products if we have purchased them? Is it different if those products are also art? What if censorship comes into play? These are really grey areas that I struggled with for three years while we made the movie and I want the audience to struggle with them, too, because they are not going away once our film is over. As we become immersed in the digital age, people are going to be re-mixing and re-mashing their media in ways that we haven't yet imagined. How will artists respond? How will copyright holders respond? Cleanflix could be seen as a little test case of things to come.

BS: Where is most of the film shot?

JL: Well, 90% of the film was shot in Utah Valley, commonly known as "Happy Valley." We also went to California, Idaho, New York, and Washington DC during our journey, but we kept coming back to Utah. There were edited movies in other places, and there are certainly similar attitudes in other places, but, as I've said a lot when talking about the film, we focused on Mormons in Utah because it took that culture to create edited movies.

BS: What do the subjects think of your film? Have they seen it?

JL: Unfortunately, we haven't yet been able to show the film to many of our subjects. We have contacted Daniel Thompson, who kind of emerges as the main character in the second half of the film about showing it to him. Hopefully that will happen this week. Ray Lines and Allan Erb, the main guys behind CleanFlicks, don't watch R-rated movies, so we plan on getting them a toned-down version as soon as we have time to create it.

BS: Do you feel as if you shot the film objectively?

JL: When telling a story there is no such thing as complete objectivity, but we really made an honest effort to tell it like it was. Which was hard because you start to form relationships with your subjects when you spend two years filming them, you become friends and you feel bad including footage that you know may hurt them, but we always approached Cleanflix with strict journalistic integrity, and I hope they will all appreciate that as much as Robert did.

BS: Did many of your subjects comply immediately or did they resist your interviews?

JL: It was really hard to get some of these interviews and even harder to find out the truth behind what they were telling us. A lot of these guys were operating illegally and we were trying to figure out how the whole operation worked. Sometimes I am a little sad that we present the information so matter-of-factly because, until the film came out, we were literally the only people that knew most of this stuff. In the end, we made the choice to keep ourselves out of the film, and I am glad that we did.

BS: Why documentary?

JL: I love being transported to a part of the world that I have never been to. And I mostly appreciate a filmmaker who is willing to stay back behind the camera and let the subjects speak for themselves. Cleanflix shines a light on a very specific segment of the culture and I think there is a lot to be gleaned from that. The more specific it is, the more universal it becomes.

You can find more information and view the Cleanflix teaser trailer at cleanflixthemovie.com

*images take from cleanflixthemovie.com

Tuesday's Flicks

2010-02-16T10:18:00.000-07:00

Three extraordinary programs featuring everything from pilots to Mormons to Montana highlight day five of the festival, presented at the historic Wilma Theatre in downtown Missoula.

The Sun Ship Game directed by Robert Drew Director in attendance
World Premiere
85minutes 5.45pm

Drew, the founder and creator of the modern documentary movement - Cinema Verite, as it became known - began his career in the early 1960s and has since produced and directed films including seminal work such as PRIMARY (1960) CRISIS (1963) and ON THE ROAD WITH DUKE ELLINGTON (1974).

THE SUN SHIP GAME (1969) is about George Moffat and Gleb Derujinsky, master glider pilots in competition for the 1969 U.S. National Soaring Championship in Marfa, Texas. Suppressed for over 40 years due to copyright issues, the presentation of THE SUN SHIP GAME, marks the World Premier public screenings of a lost masterpiece.

______

Cleanflix directed by Joshua Ligairi and Andrew James Director in attendance

US Premiere and Feature Competition nominee

90minutes

7.45pm

This film that hits close to home geographically deals with Utah Mormons and their "sanitization" of violence, sex, profanity and nudity in DVD's. Outraged bythe unauthorized editing of their work, prominent filmmakers began to speak out, thrusting the two groups into an intense legal, theoretical, and moral battle that would last six years before coming to a shocking conclusion. CLEANFLIX explores the ethical questions raised by the marketing of morality by taking audiences behind the scenes of the sanitized movie industry and shedding light on the Mormon culture that spawned it.

________

*Fire in the Garden and *Next Year Country

Big Sky Award Competition nominees and World Premieres

directed by Montanans Zach Kienitz/Alex Thomas and Joseph Aguirre
15 minutes and 56 minutes
9.30pm
Directors for both films in attendance

Also relevant to the area is Fire in the Garden, directed by Montana natives who examine thought-provoking questions and issues of the American West. Intelligently shot and narrated, this short (15 minutes) is having its world premiere at Big Sky Film Fest.

Next Year Country (56 minutes) looks at three Montana families who hire a rainmaker to bring water to their drought-stricken farms. As their way of life disappears, they somehow remain optimistic. By way of interviews and beautifully shot landscapes, their heartfelt story is conveyed. Also a world premiere.

The Buzz

2010-02-14T20:52:00.001-07:00

Here's a few of the movies people have been buzzing about.

Monday: There Once Was an Island, The DOC Challenge, and Gasland
Tuesday: Panorama Ephemera and Cleanflix
Wednesday: Shorts Program "Some Dreamers," Sweetgrass and Pinned
Thursday: Wounded Knee and Art and Copy
Friday: Full Signal and One Fast Move or I'm Gone
Saturday: Smile Till It Hurts, Tapped and Special When Lit
Sunday: Racing Dreams and Severe Clear and the AWARDS SCREENING

Festival Video #1

2010-02-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

The 2010 festival life. from Big Sky Documentary Film Fest on Vimeo.

Valentine's Day in Russia

2010-02-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

Man With a Movie Camera will play Sunday night at 8pm. The avant-garde, silent film by Dziga Vertov is a 1929 montage of images of every-day life.

But while the film is great, the soundtrack is even better.

The Alloy Orchestra, a nationally-renowned trio who accompanies silent film, will play their original score to the movie.

The best part about this orchestra is their rack-o-junk, a collection of, er...things that make music, which may include any or all of the following:

2 or 3 gongs
4 horseshoes
2 truck springs
random bells
metal pipes used as chimes
a metal bedpan
a real drumset torn apart and spread out
cakepans used as untuned steel drums
Pots
pans
cowbells
a giant xylophone made of 2x4's

Alloy never fails to put on a good show, so come and show your love, because it is, after all, Valentine's Day.

Visual Pleasure: An Interview with Archivist Rick Prelinger

2010-02-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

What makes Rick Prelinger such an interesting filmmaker is his dislike for production and his affinity for editing. His goal is simple: to share with the world years of unseen archival footage that deals with everything from agriculture to advertising, conservation to California, and probes to plastics. What he's brought to the festival are three films, two of which he made especially for Big Sky.

Prelinger's interest lies in taking films apart as well as the collection of original elements--elements like home movies that get the viewer back to the first generation of production where one can look through the eyes of the so-called "naïve maker." Prelinger says that home movies leave "room for the unconscious" and thinks it fantastic "when you find an uninhibited filmmaker" like those who shoot the films.

Besides making collections to show on screen, Prelinger's company not only sells stock footage through Getty images, but they also run a library out of San Francisco where the public is free to capture their collection of print images by way of camera, copy machine or scan.

"It's counter-intuitive to give things away," says Prelinger, "but it's life-changing; it creates great collaborations."

Archives Meet the People (Saturday 13th at 1.15pm) and America: From Capitalist Realism to Consumer Republic (Monday 15th 11.15am). His third, Panorama Ephemera, was made five years ago, and shows on Tuesday the 16th at 2pm.

We need Volunteers! Can you help?

2010-02-12T12:53:00.000-07:00

The list below has the dates and times of shifts with vacancies. The final column is the number of volunteers needed to fully staff the shift. Any help you can lend would be appreciated. E-mail volunteer@bigskyfilmfest.org if you are available.
Thanks.
J.

13-Feb	12:30p-3:45p	BoxOffice	1
13-Feb	10:15p-close	Operations	2
14-Feb	6:15p-9:30p	Operations	5
14-Feb	9p-close	Operations	2
15-Feb	noon-3:30p	Operations	1
17-Feb	9a-1p	Lounge	1
18-Feb	1:30p-3:45p	Operations	1
19-Feb	1:30p-5p	BoxOffice	1
21-Feb	9:30a-12:30p	Operations	1
22-Feb	noon-4p	Lounge	4

BSDFF Education Outreach

2010-02-10T16:07:00.000-07:00

We believe documentaries are so awesome that we bring directors of our films right to the kids. We show the flick then do a discussion after, presenting students with topics and ideas they may not have been exposed to otherwise. Here's a list of the films and their directors that are being featured at schools around the area. Nice work to our Education Director, Nicole Payton, and thanks to the directors for taking time to chat with young Missoulians.

Andrew Wainrib of Cohen on the Bridge at Hellgate HS

Jan Shelby, Stewart Copeland and Mike Workman at Big Sky HS

Briar March of There Once Was an Island at Big Sky HS

Chico Colvard of Family Affair to UM *

Briar March of There Once Was an Island at Sentinel HS

Tracy Rector of Unreserved at BSHS

Tracy Rector of Unreserved at Willard HS

Andrew James of Cleanflix at Big Sky

Tracy Rector of Unreserved at Arlee HS & MS

Richard Boehm of Sold American at UM

Steward Copeland of Let Your Feet Do the Talkin' at Sentinel HS

Patrick Norman of Pinned at Big Sky HS

Tracy Rector of Unreserved at UM

Rainer Komers of Milltown, Montana at Sentinel HS *

Stewart Copeland of Let Your Feet Do the Talkin' and Maria Foritz Morse at Hellgate HS

Talal Jabari of Full Signal at Big Sky HS *

Patrick Norman of Pinned at Sentinel

*Still tentative

Uke-can Do It!

2010-02-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

We interview Tony Coleman, co-director of Mighty Uke, playing opening night (Friday the 12th) at the fest.

BS: What made you interested in making this film? Do you have a musical background? Did you simply find it an engaging story you wanted to tell?

TC: I was a professional musician in my salad days, but got in film-making so I wouldn't starve. My big sister was a nursery school teacher and played ukulele for her kids. She passed away about a decade ago and I inherited her ukulele. The music coming out the darn thing was so joyful, I couldn't put it down. When I started searching the net for more info about it, I discovered this secret world of players and fans that just kept growing and growing. My partner Marg and I had been looking for a project to work on together and voila, MIGHTY UKE presented itself to us.

BS: Any interesting tidbits about the film?

TC: We originally intended to make a short film about the revival of the instrument. Then one day we were in a coffee shop in our hometown Toronto having our morning espresso when documentarian Ron Mann walks in. Jacked up on caffeine I shamelessly introduced myself and started blabbing on about this uke film we were making. Ron was intrigued and asked us to send him what we had. He liked it and suggested that he could get some broadcasters interested. Not long after, we had two broadcast deals and real money to make the first definitive doc about the ukulele.

When we started this film a couple of years ago, one of the first things we did was set up a google news alert for the word "ukulele". At first, we would get one or two notices a week, telling us that the word had appeared in a newspaper or magazine. Today we get between 10 and twenty a day.

Marg and I shot, recorded, edited, animated, and produced the film in our living room in HD and surround sound. I still marvel that this is all possible with a Mac and a couple of very affordable HD cameras.

BS: Where else is the film showing this year?

TC: Toronto, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, Honolulu, New York, Melbourne Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan and many more.

BS: Do you, in fact, play the uke?

TC: I do play and have had the opportunity to lift the tricks of some of the greats of the instrument in our film. I would edit with the uke within arms reach. Marg had no musical background but started playing because of the film. Now she is a wonderful player with her own rhythm and style.

BS: Why documentary?

TC: I have edited feature films, tv shows, music video and documentaries for the CBC in Canada. I find docs to be the most creative and interesting of all of these types of media. The magic happens in the edit suite to a much greater degree.

Mighty Uke, a film about the resurgence of ukulele playing, will screen this Friday at 10pm.

Festival Passes Available

2010-02-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

Pick up All Access & All Screening Passes online HERE

Robert Drew added to Big Sky line up

2010-01-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

This just in...

Documentary legend Robert Drew will present a special screening of THE SUN SHIP GAME at the 2010 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.

Drew, the founder and creator of the modern documentary movement - Cinema Verite, as it became known - began his career in the early 1960s when he formed Drew Associates, and hired freelance cameramen and filmmakers, some of whom, such as D.A. Pennebaker, Richard Leacock and Albert Maysles, went on to define the form. For over 50 years, Drew has produced and directed films including seminal work such as PRIMARY (1960) CRISIS (1963) and ON THE ROAD WITH DUKE ELLINGTON (1974).

Unavailable in any form until now, Drew's 1969 film THE SUN SHIP GAME about George Moffat and Gleb Derujinsky, master glider pilots in competition for the 1969 U.S. National Soaring Championship in Marfa, Texas, will screen at BSDFF on Tuesday, Feb 16, 2010 at 5:45 PM. The film features breathtaking photography and uncommon intimacy, voyaging with both pilots into the sky at a regional contest in Vermont and into wild weather with eighty three other competitors in Marfa, Texas. Through eight days of hard flying in skies alternately filled with brilliant beauty and black violence, their two approaches arrive at a dramatic conclusion and one of them is named the U.S. Champion. Suppressed for over 40 years due to copyright issues, the presentation of THE SUN SHIP GAME, marks the World Premier public screenings of a lost masterpiece. Robert Drew will be on hand for Q&A following the screening.

Calendars Ready!

2010-01-20T16:02:00.001-07:00

Start planning your fest with the FESTIVAL SCHEDULE now!

Follow Us!

2010-01-14T22:08:00.001-07:00

Won't you please?
From those Missoula residents to filmmakers in Thailand to small fests in Ann Arbor, MI., @BigSkyDoc Twitter is your source for info during the fest! Follow now! Or forever hold your peace.
You want the Buffalo!

Big Sky Announces Official Selections for 2010 Festival

2010-01-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival has announced the Official Selections for the seventh annual festival in Missoula, Montana, February 12-21, 2010. Culled from 1000 entries, the ten-day event, which will be held at the historic Wilma Theatre in downtown Missoula, features 130 short and length non-fiction films from over thirty countries.

Special features at this years event include Indigenous Visions: Film By Native American Filmmakers (Sponsored by The Academy Foundation, Humanities Montana, The Native American Studies Department of The University of Montana, ITVS & NAPT) a retrospective of films by prolific filmmaker Doug Pray (Art & Copy, Scratch, Hype!) a presentation of ephemeral documentary shorts by archivist Rick Prelinger, and live musical accompaniment to Dziga Vertov’s Soviet propaganda classic Man With A Movie Camera (1929), performed by Alloy Orchestra.

Along with parties, receptions, panel discussions, industry events and filmmaker visits to area high schools and university classrooms, the festival anticipates an audience of 10,000 for this year’s event.

Official Selections:

Opening Night Film (sponsored by HBO Documentary Films)

Sergio (Dir. Greg Barker)

Feature Competition

Antoine (Dir Laura Bari)
Cleanflix (Dir. Andrew James & Joshua Ligairi)
Family Affair (Dir. Chico Colvard)
Full Disclosure (Dir. Brian Palmer)
Gasland (Dir. Josh Fox)
H2Oil (Dir. Shannon Walsh)
Deep Down (Dir. Jen Gilomen & Sally Rubin)
There Once Was an Island (Dir. Briar March )
Last Train Home (Dir. Lixin Fan)
Pinned (Dir. Patrick Norman & Mike Norman)
Special When Lit (Dir. Brett Sullivan)

Big Sky Award Competition

Fire in the Garden (Dir. Zach Kienitz)
Joseph (Dir. Andy Wilson)
Milltown, Montana (Dir. Rainer Komers)
Next Year Country (Dir. Joseph Aguirre)
Sweetgrass (Dir. Ilisa Barbash & Lucien Castaing-Taylor)
Unreserved (Dir. Tracy Rector)

Short Film Competition

Born Sweet (Dir. Cynthia Wade)
Cohen on the Bridge - The Entebbe Rescue (Dir. Andrew Wainrib)
El Loco De La Catedral (Dir. James Rogan)
Danza Del Viejo Inmigrante (Dir. Charlene Music)
Let Your Feet Do the Talkin' (Dir. Stewart Copeland)
My Name is Sydney (Dir. Melanie Levy)
Never Enough (Dir. Kelly Anderson)
Salt (Dir. Michael Angus)
Team Taliban (Dir. Benjamin Kegan)

Mini-Doc Competition (under 15 min)

Close To Home (Dir. Theo Rigby)
A Film from My Parish: 6 Farms (Dir. Tony Dognoghue)
Fledgling (Dir. Tony Gault & Elizabeth Henry)
Found (Dir. Paramita Nath)
Ginseng Empire (Dir. Ryan Spence)
Heartland Transport (Dir. Cody Stokes)
Notes On The Other (Dir. Sergio Oksman)
The Reed Trains (Vozovi Svirac i) (Dir. Amir Husak)
Richmond (Dir. Christoph Rainer)
A Sentence Apart (Dir. Jason Sussberg & Theo Rigby)
Shelter (Dir. Jason Sussberg)
Simple Nature (Dir. David Alvarado)
Trash-Out (Dir. Maria Fortiz-Morse)

Special Programming

Indigenous Visions: Films By Native American Filmmakers

Century of Genocide (Dir. Rosemary Gibbons)
Indian (Dir. Darryl Nepinak)
Miss Navajo (Dir. Billy Luther)
Reel Injun (Dir. Neil Diamond)
Trail Of Tears (Dir. Chris Eyre)
Trudell (Dir. Heather Rae)
Unreserved (Dir. Tracy Rector)
Weaving Worlds (Dir. Bennie Klain)
Wounded Knee (Dir. Stanley Nelson)

Doug Pray Retrospective

Art & Copy
Big Rig
Feel Your Heart Race
Hype!
Infamy
Scratch
Surfwise
Veer

Mr. Prelinger’s Amazing Archive

A sampling of films from the Prelinger Archives, a collection of 60,000 advertising, educational, industrial, and amateur films - artistic, historical and cultural oddities ranging from propaganda to artist bios, health class films, civil defense instructional films, highway safety scare flicks and more. Hosted by Rick Prelinger

Man With The Movie Camera (Dir. Dziga Vertov)
With Live Musical Accompaniment by the world renown Alloy Orchestra

Selections from The 2009 International Documentary Challenge (Doc Challenge)

200 Block (Dir. Andrew Sobey & Kate Lain)
Dark Material (Dir. Maile Martinez & Lane Stroud)
Forty Foot (Dir. Leticia Agudo, Aoibheann O’Sullivan & Paul McGrath)
Fragile Ground (Dir. Polar Star Films)
The Greasy Pole” (Dir. Emile Doucette, Tom Papows, Michael Pallazola
A Healing Art (Dir. Ellen Frick)
Lorelei Lee (Dir. Simone Grudzen & Jesse Kerman)
Pipe Dream (Dir. Lindsie Reitz)
Time Well Spent (Dir. Jon Miller, Alice Chang, Grace Statwick & Stanton Wong)
Uncommon Sense (Dir. Tonya Easbey & John Ansotegui)
The Violin Maker (Dir. Greg Brotherton)
Wu Tang Gran (Dir. Patrick Carr)

Big Sky Youth Program Films

AERIE:Internationally Connecting (Dir. Makenzie Enich)
An Anonymous Rebellion (Dir. Michael Workman)

New Doc City: Non-Fiction Films From Around the World

Shorts

Aeric: Internationally Connected (Dir. Mackenzie Enich )
An Anonymous Rebellion (Dir. Michael Workman )
Arresting Ana (Dir. Lucie Schwartz)
Barber's Dozen (Dir. Tara Manandhar)
A Circle and Three Lines (Dir. Jan Selby)
Les Grands Penseurs (Great Thinkers) (Dir. Karina Garcia Casanova)
Long Distance (Dir. Moritz Siebert)
Mezzanotte Obscura (Dir. Lori Petchers)
Presidio Modelo (Dir. Pablo Alvarez-Mesa)
Sense of Sport (Dir. Creda Wilson)
The Commoners (Dir. Jessica Bardsley & Penny Lane)
The Damned (Dir. Till Passow)

Features
65 Red Roses (Dir. Nimisha Mukerji)
9500 Liberty (Dir. Annabel Park & Eric Byler)
An American Journey (Dir. Philippe Seclier)
Anne Perry Interiors (Dir. Dana Linkiewicz)
Breath Made Visible (Dir. Ruedi Gerber)
Children of the Amazon (Dir. Denise Zmekhol)
Chuck Close (Dir. Marion Cajori)
Dark Light: The Art of Blind Photographers (Dir. Neil Leifer)
Freedom of Space (Dir. Steve Olpin & Tim Irwin)
Full Signal (Dir. Talal Jabari)
Garbage Dreams (Dir. Mai Iskaner)
Ghost Bird (Dir. Scott Crocker)
Girls on the Wall (Dir. Heather Ross)
Good Fortune (Dir. Landon Van Soest)
Intangible Asset #82 (Dir. Emma Franz)
Journey From Zansker (Dir. Fredrick Marx)
Junior (Dir. Jenna Rosher)
La Danse - Le ballet de l'Opéra de Paris (Dir. Frederick Wiseman)
The Last One(Dir. Neal Hutcheson)
Mi Chacra (My Land) (Dir. Jason Burlange)
Mighty Uke (Dir. Tony Coleman)
Mine (Dir. Geralyn Pezanoski)
My Name Is Smith (Dir. James Allen Smith)
Neil Young Trunk Show (Dir. Jonathan Demme)
Neshoba (Dir. Micki Dickoff & Tony Pagano)
No Greater Love (Dir. Michael Whyte)
Nollywood Babylon (Dir. Ben Addelman & Samir Mallal)
One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur (Dir. Curt Worden)
Only When I Dance (Dir. Beadie Finzi)
Orgasm Inc. (Dir. Liz Canner)
Panorama Ephemera (Dir. Rick Prelinger)
Prisoner of Her Past (Dir. Gordon Quinn & Jerry Blumenthal)
Racing Dreams (Dir. Marshall Curry)
Severe Clear (Dir. Kristian Fraga)
Smile 'Til It Hurts: The Up With People Story (Dir. Lee Storey)
Sold American (Dir. Richard Boehm)
Sons of a Gun (Dir. Greg O'Toole & Rivkah Medow)
Super Art Market (Dir. Joran Soloman)
Sweet Crude (Dir. Sandy Cioffi)
Tapped (Dir. Stephanie Soechtig)
Tehran Has No More Pomegranates (Dir. Massouo Bakhshi)
The Tiger Next Door (Dir. Camilla Calamandrei)
Until the Light Takes Us (Dir. Aaron Aites, & Audrey Ewell)
Waiting For Hockney (Dir. Julie Checkoway)
Who Killed Chea Vichea? (Dir. Bradley Cox)
Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs The New York Knicks (Dir. Dan Klores)

Official Sponsors of the 2010 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, HBO Documentary Films, Sony Electronics, Humanities Montana, The Montana Film Office, Morris & Helen Silver Foundation, The L.E.A.W. Family Foundation, Northwest Energy, First Security Bank, Montana Environmental Information Center, Green Light, Kleen Kanteen, Clark Fork Coalition, The Documentary Channel, ITVS, Native American Public Telecommunications, Rocky Mountain School of Photography, Missoula Art Museum, Montana Pubic Television, The Missoula Independent, Montana Public Radio, Blossom Bed & Breakfast, Red Lion Inn, Holiday Inn, Doubletree, Best Western Grant Creek, Campus Inn, Stay at the Wilma, Motel 6, Docurama, Big Sky Brewery, Kettlehouse, Thomas Kemper Soda.

Big Sky to Host Live Pitch Session with Richard Saiz of ITVS

2009-12-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 3, 2010

Missoula, MT - Big Sky Documentary Film Festival will host a special pitch session with Richard Saiz, Senior Program Manager at ITVS on Friday, February 19, 2010. Saiz, who serves as a liaison with producers and ITVS, one of the largest and most important funders of independent documentary work in the U.S. will hear fifteen live pitches during the session at the 7th Annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.

BSDFF is currently accepting proposals to pitch. The deadline for receipt of proposals is January 1, 2010. There is no charge to submit.

Proposals for independently produced documentaries, in-progress, of any length on any subject should include the following: a one-paragraph description of the project, which should include information about the subject of the film, the style/form of the film, basic technical details (shooting format), the current status of the project, including any funding sources secured to-date, and a ball-park total budget for the film. Addition information required: a website for the filmmaker (if available), personal filmography/film credits (if available), contact info - email/phone number.

Fifteen (15) pitches will be selected to present on February 19. Filmmakers selected for the pitch session will be notified of acceptance by January 15, 2010. Those accepted in the session are required to pay a non-refundable $45 registration fee. Presenting filmmakers will be able to show clips or trailers of their Works-In-Progress (if available) as part of their pitch. Each pitch will be limited to 10 minutes total, which can include not more than 3 minutes of WIP material, and not more than a 4 minute pitch. This will be followed by discussion and questions from Richard Saiz.

The live pitch session is open to the general public for observation for $5 at the door, and free to Big Sky Documentary Film Festival All-Access Pass holders (1st come first serve).

Proposals should be sent to programming@bigskyfilmfest.org They must be received no later than January 1, 2010.

We'd Like to Thank the Academy...

2009-11-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 11, 2009

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival has received a generous $10,000 grant from The Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The grant will be used to support special programs at the 2010 Festival (February 12-21 in Missoula, MT), including filmmaker retrospectives and a special sidebar entitled “Indigenous Visions: Films by and about Native Americans”.

The Academy Foundation awarded $450,000 to 24 U.S. film festivals for the 2010 calendar year. “We are extremely grateful to The Academy for their support,” said Big Sky Festival Director Mike Steinberg. “Without their generosity this sort of programming would simply not be possible.”

“Indigenous Visions” will feature new and historic work that conveys the depth and beauty of Native American life. The program will include guest artists and panel discussions throughout the ten day event. The program is being currated by Steinberg, filmmaker Gita Saedi Kiely, and Angelica Lawson, a professor in Native American Studies at the University of Montana.

The full slate of films and events, along with the Official Selections of the 7th Annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival will be available in early January at http://www.bigskyfilmfest.org/

Passes for the ten-day event are available now on line at http://www.bigskyfilmfest.org/tickets.html

For more information:

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
131 South Higgins Ave. Suite 3-6
Missoula, Montana 59802
(406) 541-3456
info@bigskyfilmfest.org

2010 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Submission Deadlines

2009-10-19T14:26:00.000-06:00

Final Entry Postmark Deadlines Approaching for the 2010 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival:

Final Deadline - October 20, 2009
Rough Cuts and Works In Progress are accepted ONLY for this Final Deadline

Special Extended Entry Deadline- October 31, 2009
This Special Deadline is for WITHOUTABOX ENTRIES ONLY

The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, the premier venue for nonfiction film in the American West, is seeking submissions for its seventh annual event. From February 12-21, 2010 the festival will screen 100 films, including world and U.S. premieres, classics, rare and experimental works on Montana's largest screen at the historic Wilma Theater in downtown Missoula, Montana. In addition to ten days of screenings, the event will feature many public and VIP events including panel discussions, galas, receptions and networking round-tables.

The competitive event is open to non-fiction films and videos of all genres, subject matter, lengths and production dates. Awards and cash prizes will be given for Best Documentary Feature (over 50 minutes), Best Documentary Short (15-50 minutes), Best Mini-Doc (under 15 minutes) and best documentary about the American West (the "Big Sky Award").

VHS (NTSC/PAL), DVD (NTSC/PAL), DVCAM (NTSC/PAL), HDV (NTSC), and miniDV (NTSC/PAL) accepted for preview.

Enter via Withoutabox.com http://www.withoutabox.com/login/3969

or download entry form in pdf format http://www.bigskyfilmfest.org/entries.htm

If you would like an entry form emailed to you in pdf format, send a request to callforentries@bigskyfilmfest.org

For more information visit http://www.bigskyfilmfest.org

We look forward to viewing your films!
BSDFF

2009-05-11T13:41:00.000-06:00

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
Announces Call For Entries

May 11, 2009

Missoula, Montana - The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, the premier venue for nonfiction film in the American West, is seeking submissions for its seventh annual event. From February 12-21, 2010 the festival will screen 100 films, including world and U.S. premieres, classics, rare and experimental works on Montana’s largest screen at the historic Wilma Theater in downtown Missoula, Montana. In addition to ten days of screenings, the event will feature many public and VIP events including panel discussions, galas, receptions and networking round-tables.

The competitive event is open to non-fiction films and videos of all genres, subject matter, lengths and production dates. Awards and cash prizes will be given for Best Documentary Feature (over 50 minutes), Best Documentary Short (15-50 minutes), Best Mini-Doc (under 15
minutes) and best documentary about the American West (the “Big Sky Award”).

DVD (NTSC/PAL), VHS (NTSC/PAL), DVCAM (NTSC/PAL), HDV (NTSC), and miniDV (NTSC/PAL) accepted for preview.

Enter via Withoutabox.com Here

Download entry form in pdf format Here

If you would like an entry form emailed to you in pdf format, send a request Send Email

For more information visit bigskyfilmfest.org

Big Sky Announces 2010 Festival Dates

2009-03-26T12:24:00.000-06:00

The 7th Annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival will be held February 12 - 21, 2010 in Missoula , MT. Open call for entries begins later this spring. Keep an eye on the website for further details.

Thanks again to all the amazing filmmakers and volunteers that made BSDFF 2009 such a tremendous sucess.

Closing Statement

2009-02-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

With an estimated 10,000 filmgoers this year, attendance at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival has noticeably increased within the past five years. But the fest is over, and out-of-town volunteers, visitors and filmmakers have all returned to their respective homes, only to prepare for next year's 10-day doc binge.

Final Word: While I had the ability to watch as many as 100 documentary films in their entirety, I didn't because, as I've stated before, I suffer from some sort of weird distraction thing. And, of course, because I was blogging half the time. But, that said, I did see one film (a short) in full that I will say was very, very good.
I Love Alaska is much like a slideshow in that it showed stills of the state's scenery while a woman's AOL searches were read outloud. The woman is introduced as a case number--one of thousands whose search histories were exposed and posted publicly online after a glitch in the AOL server--and referred to as that case number throughout the story. If one were to read the transcript of this film, it would be bullet points, though all structured in a narrative manner, describing this woman's life as represented by these phrases and words entered into the internet search engine.
While the entire idea is conveyed within the first 15 minutes (runtime is about 40), the concept is so novel and concise and heartbreaking (she has hypochondriac tendancies and researches divorce, lesbianism, social stigmas and the effects of extramarital affairs) that it pulls you in, leaving you wanting more of this obsessive web-browsing. And it makes you think about tracking your own Google searches and how much they reveal about your own state of mind.
Highly recommended.

See you next year! Thanks for reading and thanks for rocking, Missoula, MT.

2009-02-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

I talk with Doug Hawes-Davis, founder of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, about this year's turn-out, the state of documentary, and his position as programming director.

______

T: How many submissions did you receive this year?

DHD: About 1000 from over 30 different countries

T: Is that more or less compared to last year?

DHD: Perhaps a couple of hundred more than 2008.

T: What about the turn-out? How does that compare to last year's and in years past?

DHD: Total numbers are not in yet, but it's looking like about a 25% increase over last year.

T: What is your association this year compared to last year?

DHD: I'm still very involved, but Mike is handling a large chunk of the programming - both the open call and the retrospectives. I was significantly involved in programming and will continue to be, but it'll be more of a team effort from here on out I reckon. We've now got a festival director with major programming experience, so it only makes sense to take advantage of that.

T: How many people do you work with who help choose which films get in the festival?

DHD: There are six of us:

Mike Steinberg
Dru Carr
Gita Saedi
Doug Whyte
Jenny Rohrer
and yours truly

T: What do you think about the future state of documentaries? Where is this genre going?

DHD: Anybody's guess, but I don't see it being replaced by so-called "reality TV" or social issue video games. Nevertheless, the marketing, production, and funding of non-fiction film is a rapidly changing landscape.

Oscar-Nominated Film Screens Today at Big Sky

2009-02-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

From the ashes of the 1992 L.A. riots, the South Central Farmers have nurtured the nations largest urban farm. They have created a miracle in one of the country's most blighted neighborhoods. Growing their own food. Feeding their families. But now bulldozers are poised to level their 14 acre oasis. THE GARDEN is an unflinching look at the struggle between these Latino farmers and the City of Los Angeles and a powerful developer who want to evict them and build warehouses. Leaving the farmers to ask 'Where is our 'Justice for all'?'

The Garden is nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category and screens this afternoon at 2.45pm in Wilma 1.

Missoula and Its Flare

2009-02-21T13:11:00.000-07:00

shot by Brendan Canty

Whatever It Takes at Big Sky

2009-02-21T12:22:00.000-07:00

When Chris Wong's friend, Edward Tom, decided to become an educator after working for years at Saks Fifth Avenue, Wong knew he had to tell his story.

Whatever It Takes chronicles Tom's first year as principal at a high school in the Bronx while focusing almost primarily on his interaction with Sharifea Baskerville, a struggling ninth-grader.

While the film's subjects are an African American student and an Asian American (two races that are not typically known to get along in the inner-city environment), Wong says the film "isn't about racial conflict, because that issue really doesn't pop up, but I think that's definitely an interesting aspect....seeing them work hand-in-hand is pretty revolutionary."

Wong says the first two or three weeks of filming was difficult because the students wanted to be on screen all the time, but "once they realized they weren't going to be on the news or MTV, they sorta relaxed."

"I think it's pretty evident from the film that no one notices the camera...that they aren't acting for the camera."

Editor Zeb Smith agrees.

"That's one of the benefits to a long-term project, when you spend a year on the story, they get used to you being around. I also think in that kind of community, there's a sense of adaptation to their surroundings."

"It also takes a special person to adjust to the camera," adds Wong. "They're kind of raw...they say and do what they want without thinking. I think that's always the kind of character you want for a documentary film. We got lucky."

Any why did they decide to sneak preview it here?

"We chose to bring Whatever It Takes to Big Sky because had heard a lot of good things about the festival," says Wong. "It seems to have a good reputation and we love being in a place which focuses purely on documentaries, that way we don't get lost."

Whatever it Takes screens today at 1.30pm.

Next stop is the World Premiere at the Asian American Film Festival in San Francisco. And Wong's current project about game shows and its fandom (Wheel of Jeopardy) is due out within the next couple years.

Joe Berlinger and his Q&A's at Big Sky

2009-02-21T11:03:00.000-07:00

At 12.3o today Big Sky will present another one of Berlinger's great films, Gray Matter, a contemporary story that illuminates one of history's darkest periods. It's a compelling tale of murder, conspiracy, guilt and redemption. It accounts Berlinger's hunt for 89-year-old Dr. Heinrich Gross, one of Austria's leading forensic psychiatrists and alleged murderer of hundreds of handicapped children. A Q&A will follow the film.

At 2.30 plays Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, an in-depth portrait of the most successful heavy metal band of all time, as they faced monumental personal and professional challenges while recording their first studio album of original songs in five years. The film trades rock-star posing for truthful introspection, and reveals an intimate portrait of the individuals behind a legendary band and their unique creative journey. A Q&A will follow the film.

New Wilco Film from the Makers of Burn to Shine

2009-02-20T13:03:00.000-07:00

What Brendan Canty and Christoph Green have created with their Burn to Shine project is a way for artists to gather in one spot and create something that can never be recreated.

It began in 2004 when a friend offered them a house given to him by an old woman who had recently died. The friend wanted to honor the woman, and Green and Canty came up with this idea, which eventually became Burn to Shine--the first one was shot in Washington D.C., when many of the bands there were in flux. Other featured cities include Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, and Chicago.

"I thought it'd be interesting, like that photo in Harlem with all the jazz bands," explains Canty. "Then when you look at it in 20 years, it illuminates the relationships that people had. My idea was to film a bunch of people who were connected...a community of musicians in one day...not to create a full-blown documentary, but just to create a portrait."

Green: "On a visceral level, it's emotional when you actually watch one (of the Burn to Shine films)...at the end, when the house comes down you have a sort of feeling for the house, oddly enough."

The Seattle installment of Burn to Shine will screen on Saturday, but the real draw this weekend is Friday night's World Premiere of Ashes of American Flags, a definitive Wilco concert film. As a huge Nels Cline fan (the newly- installed guitarist for the band), Canty said making the film was an ultimate pleasure. Ashes follows Wilco on their southern tour and captures the band's performances, the fans, and the band's thoughts on each other and the changing American landscape. Even if you aren't a Wilco fan, say Canty and Green, you'll like this film.

Ashes of American Flags won Big Sky's 2009 Programmer's Choice Award for Best Editing.

The Rolling Stone gives props to the film, Ashes of American Flags, premiering tonight at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, MT at 9.30pm. Read More.

"Any positive feedback is like a light at the end of the tunnel."--Brendan Canty (pictured above)

The Money Fix

2009-02-20T10:30:00.000-07:00

I talk with Alan Rosenblith, director of The Money Fix, about his background, the state of the economy, the evolution of Twitter and the truth about where our money is made.

The Money Fix screens tonight at its WORLD PREMIERE at 4.45pm.

___________

T: What inspired you to make such a film?

AR: A few years ago, I was pretty heavily involved in the sustainability movement in Santa Fe NM. It suddenly occurred to me that every major problem the folks in my community were trying to address always came back to money. Why do we clear-cut forests? To make money. Why do some corporations exploit workers in developing countries? To make money. Etc. etc. As I realized this, I also realized that neither I nor any one I knew knew anything at all about money: what it is, where it comes from, etc. So I started doing some research, and I discovered that even a lot of so-called experts in economics had no idea. So, clearly there was a need for a documentary about it.

T: What does your company have to do with the message your film conveys?

AR: Since making the film, I have been involved in several efforts to bring community currency into mainstream usage. The film details how communities don't have to be dependent on the dollar in order to prosper, and I became so passionate about that I jumped to the other side of the camera so to speak.

I founded Community Prosper as an Oregon based non-profit whose purpose is to promote the use and development of peer-to-peer based currency (one type of currency design). Recently, I have been working with a Twitter-based start-up that uses Twitter to make payments in micro-currencies called "Twollars." I think this kind of direct audience engagement is how to ensure financial success for social-purpose documentaries in today's Internet-based media climate.

T: Do you have a filmmaking background?

AR: No. I got into filmmaking by accident, and to be honest I think of filmmaking as only one tool in a broader toolkit to promote human evolution. So to the degree filmmaking serves that purpose, I am involved with it. Not to say I don't love films, but my role is first and foremost as an agent for creating cultural mind shifts.

T: What is the biggest misconception people have about money?

AR: There are so many it's hard to list. The first is that dollars come from the government. They don't. They are issued by private banks as debt, so if everyone payed off their debt, there would be no money left.
The second misconception is that money is a THING in the sense that there is only so much of it. Money is actually nothing more than information about who owes who what. And this is a very good thing. Right now, we are experiencing a "credit crunch" which means money is disappearing. But think about it, we are still all here with the same talents and resources. The only thing that is missing is money to enable exchange. The problem is that, as a culture, we make something that is inherently just information (and therefore sufficient) into something scarce. This is in fact the sole function of our financial system. Think about it, if you have to make money to live, you have to compete for it. That is not something inherent, but rather something that is there by design.

T: How did Big Sky get to be the place you premiered your film?

AR:ichard Beer suggested I submit it. Also, I was interested in a less commercially-driven festival since these ideas can really upset people with a large financial stake.

T: Who do you hope to reach with this film? Who is your audience?

AR: I suppose I was aiming this film at what has been termed "Cultural Creatives." The film requires that people have open hearts and minds. I have been really surprised by who has reacted well and who hasn't. Money is one of those things that stirs up a lot of emotions in people, and for some, finding out how the whole monetary system is really nothing more than a poorly designed game, really shakes their foundations...I think a lot of people are much more open to hearing this news now that the economy is in crisis.

T: Any future projects?

AR: I am really passionate about using filmmaking as a catalyst for human evolution (particularly in the domain of money), so I am working on a series of follow-up pieces to THE MONEY FIX that will get into greater depth. The issues around money go VERY deep, and I think there could be several more feature length films worth of material there.

Fest Winners and Screening Schedule

2009-02-19T23:01:00.000-07:00

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Announces Award Winners

Best Feature: Rough Aunties by Kim Longinotto

Artistic Vision: In A Dream by Jeremiah Zagar

Best Short: Bronx Princess by Musa Syeed & Yoni Brook

Artistic Vision: The First Kid to Learn English From Mexico by Peter Jordan

Best MiniDoc: Jennifer by Stewart Copeland

Artistic Vision: The Secret Life of Beards by Melanie Levy

Big Sky Award: Red Gold by Travis Rummel & Ben Knight

Programmer’s Choice Awards

Best Editing: Crude by Joe Berlinger

Best Cinematography: Ashes of American Flags by Brendan Canty & Christoph Green

Best Music Doc: The Choir by Michael Davie

AWARD SCREENING SCHEDULE

Fri. Feb 20, 2009 at 7 pm - In A Dream, Jennifer & The Secret Life of Beards

Sat. Feb 21, 2009 at 7 pm - Red Gold; Bronx Princess; The First Kid to Learn English From Mexico,

Sun. Feb 22, 2009 at 8 pm - The Choir & Rough Aunties

Thanks to the nine-member festival jury:
Richard Beer
Joe Berlinger
Mike Bonfiglio
Brendan Canty
Kristen Fitzpatrick
Brett Ingram
Anna Rau
Dawn Smallman
Chris White

Crude Independence

2009-02-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

Several days after reading an article in the "New York Times" about an oil boom in North Dakota, Wesleyan University senior Noah Hutton flew west and began his preliminary research for what would later become the feature-length documentary, Crude Independence.

Hutton, a neuroscience and art history major, had never made a documentary, much less a film, but felt the issue was topical and was compelled to expose a story about the newest and deepest oil discovery in the United States.

He returned to North Dakota that following May (in 2006), when news of the oil discovery began to peak. Hutton and his crew of two, with a budget of $10,000 (all tracked on an Excel spreadsheet by their "finance manager"), produced an account of what he describes as an "historical moment."

Just in the past years, says Hutton, the North Dakota landscape has transformed from a flat, uninhabited wasteland to a sprawling scene of power lines, trailers and "bobbing creatures" digging 10,000 feet for one of the world's most precious resources. The state had a surplus of $1Billion last fiscal year and is hugely profiting from this boom; there are hundreds of jobs for the transient workforce, but housing is scarce.

The film just won Best of Fest at the Oxford Film Festival and will go on tour after leaving Big Sky.

Hutton hopes to make his next film about artificial intelligence and a process to measure its existence, called the "Turing Test."

Harrod Blank and his crazy, wacky art cars

2009-02-19T12:09:00.000-07:00

Harrod Blank created a film called Wild Wheels back in the day, but has now come out with something even more wild: Automorphosis!

It's a straightforward piece about people and their art cars--nothing more, nothing less. What drives people to decorate their cars? Is it ego? Insecurity? Obsession? After 13 years, Blank (son of filmmaker Les Blank), may have figured it all out.

The film played Wednesday night to a very inquisitive crowd whose favorite car was this one.

At the discussion panel today, Blank spoke about the business of documentary filmmaking and how his passion outweighs his desire to make money. While he's reluctant to go the online digital route ("highway robbery") of screening his work, he understands that by selling to Netflix or to Amazon, you can reach a different audience you might not reach if you tour the festival circuit. Blank is about getting his film seen--not about "selling out."

Check out Blank's cool site here. He's currently working working on a film about The Burning Man Festival (shot on 16mm) due out in the Fall of 2010.

Joe Berlinger Retrospective

2009-02-19T11:53:00.000-07:00

Award-winning filmmaker, journalist and photographer Joe Berlinger has created some of the most compelling non-fiction films of the last thirty years. Whether exploring the dark terrains of child murder and siblingcide or the complications of a heavy metal group's therapy, Berlinger's films go deep into the complex topography of humanness.

He has also directed and produced numerous hours of television, including the Sundance Channel series, Iconoclasts.

Berlinger joins Big Sky 2009 for an intimate look at his work.

Thursday

CRUDE 5pm

Friday
BROTHER'S KEEPER 11.45am

PARADISE LOST: THE CHILD MURDERS AT ROBIN HOOD HILLS 2pm

Saturday
REVELATIONS: PARADISE LOST 2 10am

GRAY MATTER w/ICONOCLASTS 2.30pm

"We Need to Make Films to Feel Alive."--Erin Hudson

2009-02-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

Members of today's discussion on short-form documentary give their advice to anyone seeking a career in doc filmmaking.

Start small; if it needs to grow, let it grow.

Work in scenes to determine length, but include as many scenes as needed to convey your story.

What should drive you is content.

Think of it as making lots of little shorts put together when making a feature.

Let the subject determine the length.

Things to consider:

There seems to be more paying work in doc filmmaking than in fiction filmmaking.
Consider trimming your feature down--it may work better that way.
Posting online may affect its possibility of being widely distributed.
Wear lots of hats; learn to do one or more thing in the business.

Questions to ask yourself:

Are people's attention spans shortening or are they just more hungry for solid content?
How do you feel about posting your shorts for free?
Who would want to watch this film?
What's the film's niche market?

____

Thursday's panel is on the business of documentary--how to distribute your independent work in the world of mass media. Moderated by Chris White. 2pm at the Crystal Theatre.

Photo by Cathrine Walters

Boy Interrupted

2009-02-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

Today at 6.45, HBO Documentary Films presents a feature-length doc about the life, bi-polar illness and suicide of Evan Perry from the point of view of his mother. In the film she describes his struggle and the effect his death had on those who loved him the most.

Boy Interrupted, 92 minutes, 6.45pm at the Wilma.

Wednesday's Panel

2009-02-18T09:09:00.000-07:00

Today Doug Whyte, director of the International Documentary Challenge, comes to us from Portland, Oregon to discuss short-form documentary and its place in a market driven by high-profile documentary features. What are the broadcast, exhibition and internet options for short-form docs?

Join us at the Crystal Theatre, 515 Higgins Avenue, at 2pm.

FREE and open to the public.

Panel Wrap-Up

2009-02-17T16:13:00.000-07:00

The big question: Is realism the truth?

Today's discussion focusing on the art of documentary film welcomed seven panelists whose films ranged from the debated "art doc" to more formulaic pieces and features by amateurs to works about "cultural collision."

Michael Murphy of the Media Arts Department at the University moderated and talked about proper venues for these documentaries and the emotional/physical processes of creating a film in this genre.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

How do you get at the truth in your filmmaking process?
How much of your own tone, interpretation and subject-to-director interaction goes into that process?
How truly objective can a documentary be?
How many varieties of documentary film are there within the genre? ie Post-modern, avant garde, fly-on-the-wall, directorial inclusion, etc.

_______

Wednesday's panel at 2pm focuses on short-form documentary and is hosted by Doug Whyte at the Crystal Theatre.

Photo by Cathrine Walters

Panel Discussion 2pm @ The Crystal Theatre

2009-02-17T01:11:00.000-07:00

What is the relationship between Art & Commerce in Non-Fiction film? I there a home for the so-called Art Doc in the wide fields dominated by issue-driven cinema? Come to this informative discussion and decide for yourself.

Panel members will include Richard Beer of Film Action Oregon; John Kane, director of the short Frontier Youth; Lisa Whitmer of No Strings Attached; and Mike Murphy of the Media Arts Department at U of M.

Hosted by the Crystal Theatre, 515 S. Higgins Avenue, Missoula
2pm on Tuesday, February 17th

*FREE and Open to the Public

Montana Filmmaker Comes Out

2009-02-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

Kimberly Reed's Prodigal Sons, at its core, is about her brother Mark's mental illness due to a head injury, her own sexual transition and how those facets fit into their family dynamic. She views tonight's screening as a homecoming, with dozens of people (including many family members) driving in from Helena to see her "coming out" in both senses of the word: as a filmmaker with a Montana premiere and, of course, as a woman.

As a teenager growing up in Helena, Paul McKerrow (now Kimberly Reed) was a popular high school hunk and athlete. He left his hometown after graduation and moved to the Bay area and then to New York, only to return home years later as a woman.

She reconnected with old friends at her father's funeral in 2003, then began shooting the film at her high school reunion in 2005. While the film explores sexuality, her adopted brother's unique family associations, and mental illness, Reed says that it's mostly about a family who is faced with restructuring itself.

"We get a chance to reinvent ourselves," says Reed. "I think Mark and I have become these symbols for people moving and changing and reinventing ourselves and coming home."

Reed says the film could be "a bit disturbing" due to its level of family intimacy, but knows that the story, no matter how difficult it is to tell or watch, can potentially help other people struggling with the same issues.

"If you have this dark secret you don't want anyone to know...whether that's me and my issues of gender or whether it's our family and this issue of mental illness...you want to keep it buried."

But Reed describes her experience making the film as "liberating" and somewhere therapeutic in the sense that it helped her face what she needed to face with regard to both herself and her family.

___

The Montana premiere of Prodigal Sons screens tonight at 5.45pm in Wilma 1. Attendance is expected to be high.

Push for the Doc Shorts

2009-02-16T00:41:00.000-07:00

I have a short attention span.

That is why I like the SHORTS PROGRAMS.
____

Monday at 1.15pm SHORTS PROGRAM #3 New York Stories

Monday at 9.45pm SHORTS PROGRAM #4 Some Dreamers

Tuesday 6.30pm SHORTS PROGRAM #5 Wide Open Spaces II

Wednesday 5pm INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY CHALLENGE FILMS

Sunday 3.15pm SHORTS PROGRAM #6 What Work Is

Know Your Ron Mann

2009-02-15T14:40:00.000-07:00

Ron Mann's Favorite Beer: Guinness

Ron Mann's Favorite Silent Film: The General

Ron Mann's Favorite Bald Man: His former sound man who intimidated Bukowski

Ron Mann's Favorite City: Tie between Missoula and Barcelona, Spain

Ron Mann's Favorite Essayist: Chuck Klosterman

Ron Mann's Favorite Magazine: "Stop Smiling" out of L.A.

The best (and only) conversation Ron Mann's had with Michael Moore: MM said to RM, "3rd Floor Please."

What Ron Mann likes:

Kombucha and yoga. Lapel buttons from Berlin. Pilsner beer, loves 1960's music and Big Sky Film Festival

The scoop on Ron Mann:

The Canadian filmmaker has been working for over 25 years in the documentary field and has collaborated with people like Chubby Checker (Twist), Pete Townsend, John Goodman (Ran Fink), Woody Harrelson (Go Further) and Jim Jarmusch (Know Your Mushrooms).

Ron Mann's Problem:

"The problem with editing is that there's no end. You either run out of money or run out of energy, and I certainly run out of both."

But with a collection of 10 ("I don't know, though, I've sorta lost count") feature-length films, several shorts and some music videos, he apparently hasn't run out of either.

And why has he chosen documentary filmmaking?

"Why am I doing this? No one really asked me to do this...but I feel a responsibility to history. And I know I'm doing the right thing."

Mann recently finished his retrospective at Big Sky, lives in Toronto and once lived on a commune.

Get Your Alloys Right!

2009-02-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Roger Ebert has called the Alloy Orchestra "the best in the world" at what they do, and, after their musical accompaniment the 1919 silent film, South, those in the audience tonight might feel the same way.

The Boston-based Alloy Orchestra has been around since 1991 when Ken Winokur and Terry Donahue united their unique percussion backgrounds with a pianist who was later replaced by the current pianist, a trained compositionist and a former punk rocker, Roger Miller, nearly 11 years ago. Their premiere film was the Fritz Lang classic Metropolis. (The man who asked them to provide the score apparently didn't like the 1980's Freddy Mercury version.) The ensemble insists on using only the best prints available, and has travelled as far as New Zealand and Sweden to play their compositions made for both short and feature-length silent films.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the band is the "rack of junk" that travels with the trio to every gig. Depending on the airport stipulations, however, the number of instruments may vary.

The rack of junk may include any or all of the following:
2 or 3 gongs
4 horseshoes
2 truck springs
random bells
metal pipes used as chimes
a metal bedpan
a real drumset torn apart and spread out
cakepans used as untuned steel drums
Pots
pans
cowbells
a giant xylophone made of 2x4's

Terry Donahue, a percussionist, has also picked up the accordion and the musical saw, or what he calls the "poorman's theramine," a rare instrument typically used in the early 1900's. He uses the saw because "has a lot of traits that work much better for us. It is much more durable to travel with and lends itself to the junk thing very well."

"We anticipate we'll be together for a long time, so it's been worth our learning instruments and learning styles of music that we can bring into the band," says Ken Winokur, the second percussionist.
He picked up the clarinet 8-10 years ago because he felt the group needed more melodic instruments.
"I figured it was warm and pretty instead of the harsh metal stuff."

Roger uses sheet music, but leaves room for improvisation, while Terry tries to memorize as much as possible, but phases it out as quickly as he can. Kerry composes a kind of "complex storyboard." For him, it's all about reading ahead and anticipating which sticks he needs for which drum or cymbal at which time.

While the musical compositions aren't too difficult to sort out, Winokur explains that choosing films is not as easy as it looks, and that being "commissioned" is usually not an option.

"We typically will figure out what we want to do or get asked by a film festival, so the trick for us is to figure out what will represent our tour for a year or more," says Winokur. "Because we don't want to do one film just once...if we're gonna do it, we're gonna do it a lot."

Donahue agrees.
"So that's the trick: finding a film that we wanna play and that people want to see that can be accessible. Some festivals want the really obscure ones."

"When we were asked to do it [Metropolis], we did it the way we thought it should be done," says Donahue. "We didn't look back at the old scores and think of it as something old...we still try to think of these things that work as pieces of art that will stand the test of time. We just try to play music we think is appropriate to the film."

One the trio's toughest challenges is their likelihood as a percussion-based band to overwhelm the score with drums and too much noise even when the scene is soft and quiet.

"I think what's difficult for us is that we have a tendency to be large and exciting
and powerful, I mean, that's our style, but all the films don't call for that, and all the scenes don't call for that, so I think it's important to keep control of ourselves and bring the volume down, and bring the emotion qualities," says Winokur.

"The best example of that is Blackmail (Hitchcock, 1929)," adds Donahue. "We want to be drummers and we want to hit'em and Blackmail is so...suspenseful. It's one of the hardest ones just for that reason, because everytime you wanna play something, you gotta pull back and say no, i only have to play a quarter of what I want to play."

"But on the other hand I think that adds to what makes the score really work for it. Because our feeling of tension of pulling back translates into a feeling of suspense which is perfect for a Hitchcock movie. Mostly we try to find the feel and vibe and the rhythm of the movie, try not to overplay it then go from there. Sometimes it's easier said than done."

Audiences ("little kids, hipsters and grandparents") continue to be moved by their compositions and follow their work around the world. Their next project, Man with a Movie Camera, will premiere in St. Petersburg, Russia in April.

Jennifer Screens Today at 3pm

2009-02-15T11:31:00.000-07:00

In the short film 'Jennifer,' filmmaker Stewart Copeland explores his relationship with his mother through a recorded conversation between eighth-grade students and astronauts aboard the international space station.

It plays at 3pm today in Wilma 1 with the shorts series.

Director Stewart Copeland hails from Tullahoma, Tennessee and graduated from Webster University with a degree in film production. He continues to shoot photography and short films, adding to his repertoire of visual arts.

Interview with Virginia Lee Hunter of Carny

2009-02-13T12:43:00.000-07:00

I talk with photographer Virginia Lee Hunter about carnivals, train hopping and her inspirations.

Hunter assisted Alison Murray with her film, Carny, which screens at 11.15am on Monday, February 16th in Wilma 1.

________

T: Tell me a little about your involvement in the film. How did you meet Alison Murray?

VLH: I met Alison at a hobo convention in Britt Iowa in 1999. She was making her first doc called ‘Train on the Brain’ about riding freight trains across Canada. At the time we met, I too was riding freight trains but my main photographic focus was working on a personal photo project documenting the pop culture of carnivals as Americana and the subculture of carnival workers. I had often felt this project would be a good documentary film but I had no experience in telling a moving picture story. I admired the way she handled her subjects with great empathy and wit in ‘Train on the Brain’ and thought one day we might be able to team up and turn my project into a documentary.

T: In what capacity were your photos helpful for the making of her film?

VLH: Alison and I kept in touch and in 2005 I asked her if she’d like to make a documentary with me based off the work I had been doing on my carnival project. Although we had never collaborated before, we were willing to see if we could make this happen and throw caution to the wind, so to speak. We each brought elements to the film that the other was lacking--her creativity in crafting compelling story lines as a film and my in roads to this elusive sub culture that is traditionally sensitive towards any media attention as well as my visual aesthetics on a subject I had dedicated several years to...we both gained respect and trust in each’s input and in the end, the film speaks for itself in the richly, compelling stories and vivid visual capturing of the carnival.
During that time we were working on the film I had my photographs published in a book titled, ‘Carny; Americana on the Midway,' published by Umbrage Editions which I guess makes this endeavor I began so many years ago complete.

T: What drove you to shoot Carnival people? What is it about carnies that intrigues you?

VLH: I became interested in exploring carnivals as how they relate to modern Americana when I went to a carnival in the early '90s. As I wandered around the midway I saw myself, when I was a teen, marauding throughout the midway with my girlfriends, flirting with the town boys and the carnies, who to us were dark and mysterious outsiders. Those were my distinct memories. As I recognized my own, I thought if I had memories what are others around me and their memories? I began to see others, old, young, couples, with families, laughing, and creating their own memories , as they were repeatedly unfolding over time.

It was my own memory and seeing others’ that inspired me to photograph the carnival as nostalgic homage to Americana. They are America’s gypsies. I wanted to give them a chance to tell their stories as so many tales and impressions, and not all kind, have been told about them. The Carnival Midway then becomes a very unique and bizarre autonomous zone complete with whirling twirling lights and zany cacophony. Very strange and magical.

T: Have you been influenced by Arbus or Meiselas? If so, in what way?

VLH: Perhaps subconsciously, in my earliest years exploring my voice and vision in photography, I was influenced by Arbus. However, it was on the eve of my first trip to photograph carnivals in 1996 that I was introduced to and given Meiselas’ book ‘Carnival Stripper’. Everything she had done in the book; style of shooting, the gritty black and white, even the interviews transcribed, I had envisioned to be my approach to capturing the essence of carny life. I was both disheartened and inspired. Disheartened because it had been done before me, and inspired because I knew I was on then, the right path as I related to that book. I since added color imagery to define the pop culture of the carnival midway so the end body of work is not mimicking Meiselas’ ‘Carnival Strippers’, but certainly, I was inspired.

T: Where do you shoot mostly? In what cities? Do you follow one circus in particular?

VLH: I’m most interested in the rural areas the carnivals travel through as it seems the carnival plays a more significant role in rural American entertainment and celebration. When Alison and I made CARNY, we settled on one show out of North Carolina that traveled up into New York State and back down again into North Carolina. We needed to stay with the stories of our subjects and the show they were traveling with, but in my approach for the book I was going for a broader swath to portray the carnival life as ‘Americana’. In my own project, I traveled across the western states, Appalachia and into upstate New York.

Filmmakers Bring their Work to Hellgate High School

2009-02-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

Kathy Corley, director of Secret: The Josephine Baker FBI Files, speaks to students at Hellgate.

Education Coordinator Niki Payton has networked with several high schools to bring Big Sky documentaries and their filmmakers to area students. The first day of the Festival, Kathy Corley (Secret: The Josephine Baker Files) and Eran Barak (Bloomfield or Childhood Memory) showed their respective short films to classes in the auditorium then answered questions from students.

Zach Stauffer speaks with students after screening his short, A Day Late in Oakland

Ron Mann Retrospective

2009-02-12T11:54:00.000-07:00

This year at Big Sky, the work of Canadian filmmaker Ron Mann will be presented as one of the festival's three retrospectives. Mann has been making films for more than 25 years, and presents 6 documentaries from his vault that embody his reputation as a "cultural historian."

Ron Mann screenings at the Wilma Theatre:

COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL (1988)
Saturday 2/14 @ 10am

TWIST (1991)
Saturday 2/14 @12pm

GRASS (1999)
Saturday 2/14 @1.45pm

TALES OF THE RAT FINK (2006)
Sunday 2/15 @10am

POETRY IN MOTION (1982)
Sunday 2/15 @11.40am

IMAGINE THE SOUND (1981)
Sunday 2/15 @1.40pm

More about Ron Mann:

HERE
&
HERE

Missoula Independent Features Big Sky Doc Film Festival

2009-02-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

Up and Coming

2009-02-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

Cloudy and 27F here in Missoula. Snowing intermittently.
VIP goodie bags filled.
Final screening questions answered.
Bicycle for blogger provided.
Filmmakers trickling in from airport.
Twitter updated, Flickr updated.

On tap for tomorrow:
--HBO's special presentation of Thriller in Manila at 6pm (FREE public admission)
--Kickoff Party at 8pm (FREE to All-Access Pass holders, or $5 admission)

Interview with Paige Browning, Big Sky Intern

2009-02-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

I talk with Paige Browning, current intern for Big Sky and student at UM in Radio-Television and Environmental Studies, about The Oscars, her position at the fest, and her history with film fests.

________

T: How did you get involved with the festival?

PB: One of my professors last semester, Gita Saedi, is a Programming Director for the Festival. She briefly talked about the festival and the High Plains Film Institute in our class. I knew immediately that I wanted to be involved because I hope to make documentaries or work with festivals in the future. Gita got me in contact with the people in the Festival office, and the rest is history.

T: What event or film are you most excited about this year?

PB: I am really excited for several of the films this year. My interest isn't necessarily related to just the topic, just the filmmaker, or production style, but a mix of everything. I look forward to seeing "At the Edge of the World", "Ask Not", and the "Dhamma Brothers" in particular.

I also really look forward to the Wrap Party at the end of the week. It should be a pretty fun way to end the week, and meet some of the people involved in making the documentaries.

T: What's the best part about working with Big Sky?

PB: The Big Sky staff is awesome. I love working with them because they teach me new things all the time. I've learned a ton about what works and what doesn't in a documentary, how to network within the community, and a great detail of how to put on a good festival (from the Filmmakers lounge to the screening times of films).

T: What does your position as "intern" entail?

PB: I've had several projects throughout the past couple of months. I don't really have one job, but mostly do work with maintaining info on our website, putting together our VIP bags, advertising around town, creating festival passes for all attendees, and helping work on details of just about all projects within our office. I do a lot of the footwork for things that our Program Director or Coordinator are working on.

T: How did you get the gig?

PB:After I showed interest in the Festival to my professor Gita Saedi, she put me in contact with the Festival Director/Programmer Mike Steinberg. We chatted via email a couple of times in December and I started interning in January.

T: Is the position as cool as you thought it'd be?

PB: This position not only keeps me busy with fun projects, but has taught me a lot. So, yes, it's definitely as cool as I thought it would be. I've been able to help with all the things I wanted to and more, including some basic editing and Photoshop assignments.

T: What's your history in the film scene? Have you worked at fests before?

PB: I really don't have any history. This is my first experience with a film festival, and with the documentary industry. Working at the festival is really a starting point for me to be much more involved in the future.

T: Do you think Heath Ledger is going to win the Oscar?

PB: I sure do. People loved him. It will be more of an award in memory of him than for his talent in acting. (but I do think he did a dang good job as the joker).

Goth Cruise

2009-02-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

What first struck me about Jeanie Finlay was her shoes: ankle-cut healed lace-ups. She wore them with tights and a long skirt and a flowing top. She had just arrived from England to present her newest film, Goth Cruise, to the audience at the Webster Film Series in St. Louis. Jeanie was engaging and articulate and friendly. And her movie rocked.

Goth Cruise is a film about, well, exactly what you'd think it's about: a cruise inhabited by Goths. Finlay found the subjects for her "Gothumentary" in both the UK and the USA, and follows them on their journey to organize and ultimately enjoy their time on the Caribbean cruise of 150 Goths and 2,500 "norms." The feature length film documents the lifestyles, traditions and outside perceptions of this seemingly controversial group of people, and presents it in a way that's intriguing and informative.

There's the guy whose coworkers have no idea about his after-hours appearance.
The man who dresses in Goth drag.
The woman who never fit in and finds comfort in dressing Goth.
The couple who brings their child along on the cruise.

Finlay shows them packing everything from their sunscreen to their head dresses to their horns, then captures the reaction of the other attendees ("norms") as they board the ship, party, and take advantage of all the amenities cruise ships offer--like shuffleboard and buffets. The contrasts presented are striking, and the impressions of the elderly on-lookers is, at times, heartbreaking; but, overall, the film realistically explores the side of everyday people whose penchant for piercings, darkness, leather and make-up ultimately has an effect on the attention (negative or positive) they receive from those different than themselves.

The pace, the soundtrack, the intimacy of the interviews, the colorful portraits and the extraordinary cinematography (Finlay is also a photographer) make this film one of the must-sees at Big Sky this year.

Goth Cruise screens Sunday, February 15th at 9pm in Wilma 1.

Finlay's previous film, Teenland, looks at the life of 4 teenagers in their bedrooms. It aired on the BBC two years ago. Above photo from Finlay's Flickr site documenting the cruise.

Delta Rising filmmaker Michael Afendakis

2009-02-06T16:03:00.000-07:00

I talk with Michael Afendakis, filmmaker of Delta Rising, a story about blues in Clarksdale, Mississippi, about inspiration, Morgan Freeman and future projects.

Delta Rising is a Big Sky Official Selection and makes its Northwest premiere at 3pm on Monday, February 16th at the Wilma.
______

T: How did you come upon the small town and its claim of blues ownership?

AF: Delta Rising grew out of a story about a musician named Chris Cotton, an incredibly talented San Francisco bluesman that plays in a style that hasn't really been done in 40 or 50 years. Chris was introduced to me by one of the producers - Matthew Goff back in 2003. Well Chris went to Clarksdale, MS to record an album entitled "I watched Devil Die" and we went along to document that process. It was an eye opening, wildly pleasurable experience and we spent a lot of time in juke joints and at front porch parties getting to know the local folks and musicians in that town. This is a place where folks like John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, BB King, Ike Turner, Sam Cooke, Son House and many others reign from - it is definitely ground zero for the delta blues scene.

T: What inspired you to research the topic?

AF: I wasn't really a blues fan at the time I agreed to do the film, but I definitely am now. Chris was really the inspiration for doing the film but it was experiencing this place, Clarksdale, MS and the people and history of the place that really took us to the next level. It was during this exploration that we discovered Morgan Freeman owned a blues club, called Ground Zero there and we began to see if we might have him engaged in the film. It took about 9 months but our schedules finally aligned and we got to interview him about what the area means to him, what this music means to him - it was really terrific. He has a great quote - The Blues is America's Classical Music - and I agree.

T: How long did it take you to shoot and complete the film?

AF: Most of the shooting happened in 2006-2008 though, some of it in 2003/4. It doesn't seem like 6 years, and the interesting thing about documentaries, at least this one for sure is - you could do it forever, there is always more to get, but at some point though you know you have your story down and it is complete.

We didn't really plan, shoot, edit in that order, we kind of shot, plan, edit, edit, edit, shoot, plan, plan edit edit. It was an iterative process and I think gave us something that feels like a tapestry or a collage about the delta blues rather than a story about one particular thing.

T: How has the making of this film changed you?

AF: I'm a much better filmmaker now than I was when I started, I have an appreciation for the south, especially Mississippi, that I didn't have before which I really cherish. The real truth is - that most of the people I spend time with now all came out of this project, they are my friends and associates - this is an entire cast of folks that I never would have met otherwise. My life feels so much richer because of this project because of all these terrific relationships that have come out of it.

T: What other sorts of projects have you worked on?

Delta Rising introduced me to Morgan Freeman and his business partner Bill Luckett. Bill, an amazing Renaissance kind of man, introduced me to Laura Bernieri (Next Stop Wonderland, Kettle of Fish) who is now one of my producer partners in this project, both Laura and Bill have really helped open a lot of doors for me.

We are currently working on a television show with Rob Long (writer/producer - Cheers) and Morgan about this town and the people that live there and how the history of place and time can influence the present. As for other projects we are in production on another music documentary called ToTimbuktu which is about Vieux Farka Toure (talented son of musical legend Ali Farka Toure) and his journey from Mali Africa (Timbuktu) to the US. We have also initiated a project called "Men in Green" about the Boston Celtics. Both of these projects I am working on with Laura Bernieri.

T: How was your film received at the Victoria Film Festival, where it was last played?

AF: The film screened there on February 1st to a sold out audience of 400 which was thrilling. I actually have a short 4 minute video that captures some of that feeling that is on the blog for the Big Sky Festival hosted by b-side. It is always nerve racking and thrilling to screen your own work in front of strangers and get the reaction. It was very positive and if you like documentary, and music you'll have a really good time with the film and that is what we tend to find.

The audiences really seem to like the film and what they pick up from it, you get your toe tapping and get to experience a place many people don't know too well. One comment a person made that I really appreciated was how much they enjoyed the intimate performances people gave us. That is particularly satisfying to me because that was something we purposely did - getting these amazing musicians to play us a song or two in their home, on their porch, on the street - we have a lot of blues club performance too but folks seem to like that intimate experience with the musicians up close and personal. It has been a really amazing journey and I hope that people at the festival enjoy it too.