HEADLINES

DOC NYC & Craft Ed. Free Webinar: Cash Flow for Filmmakers at Home
Join us for our next free webinar on Tuesday, April 7 at 2pm EDT! How can filmmakers generate income while staying at home? Focused on approaches tailored to the times of Covid-19, this webinar discusses pathways to maintaining cash flow while typical funding and revenue-generating options are on hold for content creators. POV's Asad Muhammad will talk about American Documentary's re-opening of its Artist Emergency Fund for those in the independent documentary community affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Kickstarter’s Elise McCave will discuss the platform’s brand-new initiative, ‘Inside Voices,’ which invites creators to continue to make their work from home with support from the Kickstarter community. And filmmaker Gary Hustwit (HELVETICA, RAMS) will share his insights on crowdfunding and repurposing unused material for new projects and new audiences. DOC NYC Artistic Director Thom Powers will moderate. Participants are invited to chat with fellow registrants before the session goes live, and to submit questions for panelists. The live webinar will be recorded and made available for replay after the event.

AmDoc Re-opens Artist Emergency Fund for Independent Doc Community
Announced via press release: “American Documentary (AmDoc), the nonprofit organization behind the PBS series POV, is launching a COVID-19 Artist Emergency Fund to support the independent documentary community. This adapted fund will provide rapid response grants up to $500 to assist artists with basic needs including food, immediate health needs and insurance premiums. Applications are now open and will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the fund is expired...These one-time grants are a direct response to concerns about sustainability in the documentary field, with overall lack of adequate healthcare alongside loss of livelihood due to canceled production, festivals and theatricals. In its pilot year, the fund distributed over $20,000 and directly supported 25 artists with medical bills, housing and stopgap support amidst career instability.”

Applying for Federal Coronavirus Relief as a Filmmaker: An IDA Webinar
Announced via press release: “Friday, April 3rd, is the first day that small businesses can apply for federally-funded relief programs recently passed by Congress (Small Business Administration). Experts have advised that all small businesses (regardless of being an LLC, S-Corp, sole proprietor, or independent contractor) should apply as soon as possible due to potential demand. These funds are available to businesses as small as one person! The webinar will also provide resources about applying for unemployment benefits as a freelancer. Firelight Media, IDA, and ITVS invite you to an hour-long webinar to learn the basics of applying for the various SBA programs. All webinars will feature presentations by Cornerstone Government Affairs, a bipartisan consulting firm, specializing in federal and state government relations and business advisory services.”

Netflix & Italian Film Commissions Launch Emergency COVID-19 Fund
Vittoria Scarpa noted the funding news for Cineuropa: “A Support Fund for TV and Film during the COVID-19 Crisis, aimed at providing urgent, short-term support to workers and crews in the Italian audiovisual industry who are directly affected by the nationwide shutdown of production due to Coronavirus, has been announced by the online streaming and entertainment giant Netflix and the Italian Film Commissions, an association which unites the 19 film commissions dotted throughout Italy. Endowed with one million euros coming courtesy of Netflix, the fund will be managed by the Italian Film Commissions.”

How the Coronavirus Hit Cinema
Guy Lodge gives an overview for Sight & Sound of all that has transpired in the world of cinema as COVID-19 has spread throughout the world: “It was in the latter days of the Berlin Film Festival, toward the end of February, that coronavirus became a staple of film-business small talk. ‘Do you think Cannes will go ahead?’ we started asking, as if the French festival’s cancellation three months ahead was the imaginable limit of the ruptures to come. Life comes at you fast, as the saying goes. A few days later, the first coronavirus-related bombshell came from Hollywood: the long-awaited, long-delayed new James Bond blockbuster NO TIME TO DIE was booted from its scheduled release in early April, and put back seven months to the supposedly safe date of 12 November. The producers’ official statement made no mention of the pandemic, referring only to ‘a thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace’ – the coyness seems quaint now.”

If AMC folds, are we done going to the movies?
Michael Phillips contemplates AMC's precarious financial situation in The Chicago Tribune: “In times of pandemic crisis and economic catastrophe, we look for words of encouragement. Here are seven words wholly unqualified for that job: ‘Default imminent, with little prospect for recovery.’ On April 2, Standard & Poor’s Global financial analysts downgraded the already discouraging credit rating of the world’s largest movie theater chain, AMC Entertainment, to a CCC — ‘Default imminent, with little prospect for recovery,’ in other words. Does this hold true for moviegoing itself? When AMC’s 11,000 screens in 15 countries worldwide reopen for business, along with the company’s competitors Regal, Cinemark and other currently-shuttered venues, will millions of rattled customers return to moviegoing after months of moviestaying?”

Iranian Filmmaker Mehrdad Oskouei Awaits a Prison Sentence in Quarantine
Filmmaker Mehrdad Oskouei relayed his story to Bilge Ebiri at Vulture: “Three days before the announcement of the coronavirus coming to the city of Qom in Iran, I organized a one-day documentary-film workshop in which more than 80 people participated. My hotel was right in front of the Fatima Masumeh holy shrine. Early in the morning, around 4 a.m, pilgrims who had come from different cities began shouting loudly in the corridors as they prepared for pilgrimage. After class, I went to the shrine, and some of my students accompanied me; it was so crowded. There was no word yet on the virus’s arrival in Iran. After two days, they announced that the coronavirus had entered Iran, and that a Chinese citizen and an Iranian businessman traveling to China had tested positive. The following week, I had a workshop in Qom that I immediately canceled, and my wife, Mandana, and I quarantined ourselves. People in Tehran had not yet taken the virus seriously, but I would not leave the house at all.”

Kartemquin Co-founder Gordon Quinn Slowly Recovering from COVID-19
Daniele Alcinii shared the update on Quinn’s health at Realscreen: “Kartemquin Films co-founder and HOOP DREAMS producer Gordon Quinn is on a ‘slow and steady’ road to recovery weeks after being diagnosed with COVID-19. The 77-year-old Chicago documentary filmmaker was admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and placed on a ventilator on March 18 after seemingly contracting the novel coronavirus during a trip to Australia for the Australian International Documentary Conference, according to former Kartemquin partner Jenny Rohrer. AIDC took place in Melbourne from March 1-4. On March 29, Quinn was removed from the intensive care unit and began physical therapy before being placed back on a ventilator a day later (March 30) ‘due to some fluid buildup in his lungs. A couple of hours later, they were able to determine the source of and correct the fluid problem,’ reads an update from Maggie Bowman on the charitable non-profit site CaringBridge. A further update shared by Quinn’s wife, Meg Gerken, on April 1, however, noted that the filmmaker is in ‘stable condition’ and remains on a ventilator.”

Documentary Filmmaker Giles Walker Dies of Cancer at 74
Realscreen staff reported Walker’s passing: “Oscar-nominated filmmaker Giles Walker has passed away after a 10-year battle with cancer. Announced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) earlier this week, Walker died in Toronto on March 23 with his wife veteran film editor Hannele Halm by his side. He was 74. The Scottish-born writer, director and producer started his career as a documentary filmmaker with the NFB in 1974. He was known as a key figure in the public film and digital media agency’s development of alternative dramas – films that combined dramatic storytelling with non-professional actors and documentary techniques – with a trilogy of films on male-female relationships, such as the feature 90 DAYS, according to the organization.”

ON THE FESTIVAL CIRCUIT
 

The 23rd Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Official Selections
Announced via press release: “The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival announces the official feature and short film selections for the festival’s 23rd edition. The NEW DOCS program and Invited Program includes 44 features and 12 shorts from 26 countries, and include 4 world premieres, 6 North American premieres, and 2 U.S. premieres. The films were selected from nearly 2,000 submissions to the 2020 annual event. Originally scheduled to take place April 2-5 in downtown Durham, the four-day event was cancelled amid COVID-19 public health and safety concerns.”

Prime Video Presents the SXSW 2020 Film Festival Collection
Announced via press release: “Amazon Prime Video and SXSW are joining forces to launch ‘Prime Video presents the SXSW 2020 Film Festival Collection,’ following the unprecedented cancellation of the SXSW Conference and Festivals by the City of Austin due to concerns surrounding the Coronavirus. ‘Prime Video presents the SXSW 2020 Film Festival Collection’ offers filmmakers in the 2020 SXSW Film Festival lineup an invitation to opt in to take part in this online film festival, which will play exclusively on Prime Video in the U.S. for 10-days. The one-time event will be available in front of the Prime Video paywall and free to all audiences around the country, with or without an Amazon Prime membership, all that is needed is a free Amazon account. Filmmakers who choose to participate will receive a screening fee for streaming their film over the 10-day period. The launch date is yet to be announced, but SXSW and Prime Video are targeting a late April date. SXSW has shared details on the opportunity with 2020 filmmakers, who can opt in starting today.”

Tribeca Together, Apart
Announced via press release: “The Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T, was created in adversity, born out of the ashes of 9/11 to breathe life into New York City’s devastated downtown. In the nearly two decades since, our annual little neighborhood festival has become a springtime symbol of resilience and rebirth, creating jobs, helping small businesses and reaffirming the creative spirit that makes New York the world’s greatest city in the world. Along the way, it’s also grown into a lion of the film festival circuit: surfacing talent, launching careers, celebrating beloved creators and establishing a platform for world-class storytelling. Like all true New Yorkers, hanging tough, looking out for our neighbors and never backing down from a challenge is just in our DNA. The story of Tribeca is about the spirit of New York. So in that spirit — while New York City is hurting once again and we don’t yet know when we’ll be able to share that ineffable, magical experience of being in a theater together — we’re bringing the Festival experience to your doorstep. We’re thrilled to announce the debut of select 2020 Festival programming online,  so that storytellers and audiences can continue to experience Tribeca together — apart.”

Hot Docs Forum Announces 21 Project Selections
Announced via press release: “Hot Docs is pleased to announce the 21 proejcts that will be presented during this year's online edition of the Hot Docs Forum. Selected from over 463 submissions, this year's projects represent 18 different countries, with women making up 17 of the 26 directors. Recognized as North America's essential market for the international documentary community, the Hot Docs Forum will take place on Tuesday, May 5, and Wednesday, May 6...Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's Hot Docs Forum will have pitch teams present their project live online via a remote conferencing service to top decision makers, who will then provide their comments and feedback. Afterwards, the video captured pitches and feedback will be posted on the Doc Shop for All-Access Online Industry pass holders to view.”

Sheffield Doc/Fest Alter Plan, Move To Virtual Edition
Announced via press release: "Due to the current COVID-19 crisis, we announce that this year’s edition will not take place in its original form. Our pitching forums, the MeetMarket and Alternate Realities Talent Market, will both proceed in June via virtual means. As part of a series of weekends throughout the Autumn, we aim to present film screenings, talks, panels, artists’ events and community engagement activities. We will announce a full programme in due course. Doc/Fest is an essential moment for the city of Sheffield, for the film industry and for all the international guests who join us, and its collective character is at the heart of the festival’s purpose. We strongly believe that people coming together to watch, to talk and to imagine the world through art is a transformative experience that produces change.”

The Film Comment Podcast: True/False 2020
Nicolas Rapold reported from Columbia, MO for Film Comment: “Right now, movie theaters are temporarily closed, and we’ll have to wait a while before we can all sit together again and look up at the big screen. But before the curtain dropped on moviegoing, Film Comment Editor-in-Chief Nicolas Rapold made his annual pilgrimage to the True/False Film Fest. True/False is a reliably energizing festival of nonfiction film, curating the best from around the world. It’s also a place to take the Film Comment Podcast on the road, taking part in Toasted, the late-night event that closes out the festival. This year, Rapold spoke with another rotating lineup of filmmakers, critics, and film professionals, about movies at the festival as well as the nitty-gritty of filmmaking and working with people in front of and behind the camera.”

Going Virtual in the Pandemic Age: CPH:DOX 2020, The Digital Edition
Lauren Wissot covered the digital festival for Filmmaker Magazine: “Hard to believe just a few weeks back I was eagerly preparing for my annual pilgrimage to Copenhagen to begin the spring doc fest season. Well, we all know how that turned out. Or not. As a deadly virus forced festivals the world over to cancel, CPH:DOX, long a champion of outside-the-box filmmaking, counterintuitively decided the show must go on. Rather than cut losses and hunker down in social isolation, festival director Tine Fischer and her scrappy team did the exact opposite, reaching out online to actually expand the CPH:DOX audience on a global scale. Picking up and relocating to the virtual realm, they live streamed (as well as uploaded to YouTube) free daily talks, debates, and even the five-day CPH:CONFERENCE. And they made this risky pivot mere days before the event’s opening date (which they not only stuck to but then proceeded to stretch the fest for an extra week) — and all of this amidst the chaos of fast-moving government restrictions and cascading flight cancellations (mine included). Someone should give this festival its own DOX:AWARD.”

CPH:DOX Says It’s Seen ‘Overwhelming’ Demand for Online Screenings
Wendy Mitchell spoke with festival director Tine Fischer for Screen: "CPH:DOX has seen 'an overwhelming number of people watching films' at its new online platform, festival director Tine Fischer has told Screen. With the new platform only streaming titles to those with Danish IP addresses, Fischer said the response from Danish audiences has saved the festival from financial ruin. 'If we had completely cancelled the festival then we would have seriously looked into a year with a difficult, very delicate financial situation,' she said. 'Of course we will never have the same numbers as last year, but the online streaming platform means we are perhaps halving the loss we could have had, or maybe cutting it by 70%.' The online offerings meant Denmark’s entire population could take part for the first time, with films priced at €6 per stream. The festival has negotiated film rights to keep the online platform running longer than the original festival would run, until April 5."

DAFilms Launches in the US, With Films From 7 European Nonfiction Festivals
The folks at Filmmaker Magazine noted the news: “DAFilms is a VOD platform run by the DocAlliance, which (per their press release) is ‘a creative partnership between seven of the major European documentary festivals.’ Those seven are CPH:DOX, Doclisboa, Millennium Docs Against Gravity FF, DOK Leipzig, FIDMarseille, Ji.hlava IDFF and Visions du Réel. As of March 30, America-based streamers can start streaming for the site for $6.99/month (or $4.99/month with an annual subscription, with individual rental fees for certain titles). While the exact catalogue has yet to be determined, the plan is to showcase some of the best titles from these festivals, both old and new, with future collaborations with American festivals to be determined. Already available to browse: a good amount of Agnès Varda’s filmography, a selection of nonfiction work (co-) directed by women including Sofia Bohdanowicz’s MAISON DU BONHEUR and the seminal Harvard Sensory Ethnogoraphy Lab works LEVIATHAN and MANAKAMANA, and a spotlight on Iranian film. Forthcoming are retrospectives devoted to Alanis Obamsawin and Peter Mettler. Now streaming through tomorrow: the Bernie Sanders 2016 campaign doc A CAMPAIGN OF THEIR OWN. It’s worth noting that, per the festival, rights holders get 60% of the profits.”