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Back for its eagerly anticipated third year, the Doc Salon
programme offers an informal space to meet and mingle with some of the documentary
industry’s most interesting filmmakers and collaborators to discuss issues
relevant to the art.
Documentary filmmakers are in the unique position of working with and creating
from reality, which means there are consequential ethical, practical and creative
choices to be made from the very beginning of the process through to the completion
of the film. Documentary filmmakers have fascinating insights to share and the
Doc Salon programme provides the forum for this exchange.
This year, Doc Salon covers a range of important issues, from
the ins and outs of buying and selling your documentary films in a climate of
renewed interest in non-fiction, to the present and future state of political
documentaries and the tricky nature of the relationship between filmmakers and
their subjects.
Doc Salon is supported by the National
Film Board of Canada.
All programming is subject to change. Please visit the Up
To The Minute page for all programming and schedule changes.
Sign up
for Industry Alerts to receive up-to-the-minute information on dates,
events and programming.
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2004
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
SAGE RESTAURANT
1033 BAY STREET
In its opening weekend, Michael Moore’s FAHRENHEIT 9/11 (04)
broke box office records worldwide for non-fiction film. More
documentaries are playing theatrically than ever in the history
of cinema. It has become clear to the industry that docs are popular,
offering great moneymaking potential. What do you do if you’ve
made a documentary and are ready to sell it both internationally
and domestically? How do you navigate this active marketplace and
make a deal that will both satisfy your business commitments and
set the groundwork for your next project? Talk to some of the sales
agents that have brokered the deals for some of this year’s
most popular doc releases.
MODERATOR: |
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 MICHAEL
MCNAMARA
WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER, MARKHAM STREET FILMS INC.
Michael McNamara, an award-winning filmmaker based in Toronto, runs
Markham Street Films Inc. together with partner Judy Holm. Specializing
in projects that are edgy, smart, provocative and funny, their recent
titles include the documentaries THE GENUINE ARTICLE (03), FLATLY
STACKED (04) and MEET THE SUMDEES (04). They are shooting a documentary
called PENIS DEMENTIA and developing the feature-length documentary
100 FILMS AND A FUNERAL. With first time writer/director David Bezmozgis,
they are also producing the fiction feature VICTORIA DAY.
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| GUEST SPEAKERS: |
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 JOSH
BRAUN
CO-PRESIDENT, SUBMARINE ENTERTAINMENT
Josh Braun is a partner at Submarine Entertainment, a New York film
and television production, sales and distribution company. As a sales
consultant, Braun represents feature films and documentaries such
as SPELLBOUND (02), SUPER SIZE ME (04) and many others. Braun was
the executive producer of the documentary features EASY RIDERS, RAGING
BULLS (03) and KILL YOUR IDOLS (04), and is currently an executive
producer on A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, directed by David Cronenberg. |
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 ANDREW
HERWITZ
PRESIDENT, THE FILM SALES COMPANY
Andrew Herwitz is president of The Film Sales Company, the New York
based domestic sales agent/producer’s representative that specializes
in securing domestic distribution for English- and foreign-language
finished films (both fiction and documentary) as well as financing
for English-language packaged projects. Recent completed films sold
include FAHRENHEIT 9/11 (04), CSA/CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA (04)
and MY ARCHITECT (03). Prior to establishing this company, Herwitz
was at Miramax for six years, most recently as co-head of the film
acquisitions department. |
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 PHILIPPA
KOWARSKY
MANAGING DIRECTOR, CINEPHIL DISTRIBUTION & CO-PRODUCTIONS
Philippa Kowarsky graduated with an M.A. in Communication Policy Studies
from the City University of London. Since 1993 she has been working
in the Film and TV industry in various fields such as production,
development and sales. In 1997, Kowarsky established her own distribution
and co-productions company, Cinephil, which is a home to independent
Israeli, Palestinian and foreign productions and a contact for international
co-productions such as TREMBLING BEFORE G-D (01). Cinephil also exclusively
represents the Sam Spiegel Film & TV School – Jerusalem. |
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 JAN
ROFEKAMP
PRESIDENT AND CEO, FILMS TRANSIT INTERNATIONAL
Founded in 1982 by Jan Rofekamp, Films Transit is one of the world’s
leading international distributors of quality documentaries, specializing
in the worldwide release and marketing of high profile, theatrical
feature documentaries. Films Transit is based in Montreal and has
offices in Amsterdam and New York. |
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2004
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
SAGE RESTAURANT
1033 BAY STREET
Over the past decade many documentaries have proven to be financially
viable ventures for all involved. They have captured the attention
of the general movie-going public, thus creating an appetite the
industry must feed. This Doc Salon will share some
perspectives on this phenomenon from the theatrical distributors
who have successfully released some of the genre’s most talked
about films onto the big screen.
MODERATED BY: |
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 PETER
LYNCH
DIRECTOR
Peter Lynch is a Toronto-based filmmaker whose short film ARROWHEAD
(94) received the Gemini Award for best short film in 1994. His films
also include the acclaimed documentaries PROJECT GRIZZLY (96), THE
HERD (98) and CYBERMAN (01), as well as the musical short ANIMAL NIGHTMARES
(03), all of which screened at the Festival. A Real to Reel presentation,
WHALE OF A TALE (04) is the fifth of his films to screen at the Festival. |
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| GUEST SPEAKERS: |
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 HUSSAIN
AMARSHI
FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, MONGREL MEDIA
Before founding Mongrel Media, a film distribution company based in
Toronto, Hussain Amarshi worked in many capacities in the film industry
such as founding and co-ordinating the Kingston International Film
Festival (1988-1992). Mongrel aims to bring the best of world and
domestic cinema to Canadian audiences with a library of over two hundred
features and documentaries from thirty countries including TASTE OF
CHERRY (97), AFTER LIFE (98), TALK TO HER (02) and THE CORPORATION
(03). Since 2002, Mongrel has distributed Sony Pictures Classics titles
in Canada. |
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 BOB
BERNEY
PRESIDENT, NEWMARKET FILMS
Bob Berney has been a pre-eminent force in the independent film world
for more than two decades. Since Berney launched Newmarket with his
partners William Tyrer and Chris Ball, the company has released such
films as Mel Gibson’s record-breaking THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
(04), which has earned more than $370 million, the critically acclaimed
MONSTER (03), which garnered Charlize Theron a Best Actress Academy
Award®, and WHALE RIDER (02), for which thirteen-year old Keisha
Castle Hughes earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. |
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 EAMONN
BOWLES
PRESIDENT, MAGNOLIA FILMS
Magnolia Pictures specializes in independent and foreign films. As
President, Eamonn Bowles has released the Academy Award®-nominated
CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS (03) and many other successful films. While
president of Shooting Gallery Pictures, he distributed acclaimed works
by Bahman Ghobadi, Pawel Pawlikowski and Marziyeh Meshkini, all of
whom are presenting new films at this year’s Festival. He was
also an active film programmer and Head of Distribution at The Samuel
Goldwyn Company and Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Marketing
with Miramax. |
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 MARK
URMAN
HEAD OF U.S. DISTRIBUTION, THINKFILM
Mark Urman heads THINKFilm’s U.S. Theatrical division and his
releases thus far have included Peter Care’s THE DANGEROUS LIVES
OF ALTAR BOYS (02), Gus Van Sant’s GERRY (02), Jeffrey Blitz’s
Academy Award-nominated SPELLBOUND (02), José Padilha’s
BUS 174 (02) and Jonathan Demme’s THE AGRONOMIST (03). Previously,
Urman served as Co-President of Lions Gate Films Releasing, Senior
Vice-President at Dennis Davidson Associates and spent nearly six
years as Vice-President of East Coast Publicity at Columbia Pictures. |
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2004
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
SAGE RESTAURANT
1033 BAY STREET
The world’s knowledge of political events has become increasingly
reliant on the visual media. Thanks to the constant streaming of
live reports from battlefields and endless reportage of government
scandals, the form that political content takes is always changing.
Given this climate, it seems appropriate to re-examine the political
documentary with questions like: What is a political doc? How has
it evolved? What is its function, and has that changed? Now more
than ever are we looking to documentaries to present a balanced
view of world crises and conflicts? Director George T. Butler has
chosen a specifically political, timely topic for his film GOING
UPRIVER: THE LONG WAR OF JOHN KERRY (04). Director Zev Asher analyzes
the details of a high-profile animal cruelty case in his thought-provoking
CASUISTRY: THE ART OF KILLING A CAT (04). Join Butler, Asher, director,
journalist and writer Avi Lewis, and Peter Broderick, founder of
www.filmstoseebeforeyouvote.org,
as they tackle some of the relevant issues in the history and evolution
of the political documentary.
GUEST SPEAKERS: |
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 ZEV
ASHER
DIRECTOR, CASUISTRY: THE ART OF KILLING A CAT (04)
Zev Asher was born in Montreal and is a musician, filmmaker,
freelance editor and cat lover. He is a former artist-in-residence
at both the Vancouver Film School and the Canadian Film Centre’s
Medialinx Habitat. He made his directorial debut with the short
documentary RAT ART: CROATIAN INDEPENDENTS (97). His first feature
documentary, WHAT ABOUT ME: THE RISE OF THE NIHILIST SPASM BAND
(00), played as part of the Festival’s Perspective Canada
programme in 2000; his second feature, CASUISTRY: THE ART OF KILLING
A CAT, is a Real to Reel presentation.
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 PETER
BRODERICK
PRESIDENT, PARADIGM CONSULTING AND FOUNDER, WWW.FILMSTOSEEBEFOREYOUVOTE.ORG
Peter Broderick is President of Paradigm Consulting, which provides
consulting services to filmmakers and media companies. His recently
launched website is designed to harness the power of film to impact
elections. He was founder and President of Next Wave Films, a company
of the Independent Film Channel, which helped launch several careers
through financing filmmakers. The company also financed digital features
through its production arm – Agenda 2000. Broderick played a
key role in the growth of the ultra-low-budget feature movement and
is a leading advocate of digital moviemaking.
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 GEORGE
T. BUTLER
DIRECTOR, GOING UPRIVER: THE LONG WAR OF JOHN KERRY
George T. Butler was born in Chester, England and studied and the
University of North Carolina and at Hollins College in Virginia. He
began his career as a reporter and photographer before co-editing
the book “The New Soldier” in 1971. His first film was
PUMPING IRON (77), based on his own best-selling book. His subsequent
films include PUMPING IRON II: THE WOMEN (85), IN THE BLOOD (89) –
which played at the Festival in 1989, THE ENDURANCE: SHACKLETON’S
LEGENDARY ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION (00) and GOING UPRIVER: THE LONG WAR
OF JOHN KERRY (04). |
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 AVI
LEWIS
JOURNALIST, WRITER & DIRECTOR, THE TAKE
Prior to directing, Avi Lewis was the host and producer of CounterSpin
on CBC Newsworld, where he presided over more than five hundred nationally
televised debates. In the nineties, he hosted “The New Music”
on CityTV and pioneered MuchMusic’s political “uncoverage,”
winning a Gemini Award in 1993. In 2002 he directed, filmed and edited
GUSTAVO BENEDETTO: PRESENTE!, a short film about a young man who was
shot and killed at his first protest in Buenos Aires. THE TAKE (04)
is Lewis’s feature-length directorial debut. |
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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2004
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
SAGE RESTAURANT
1033 BAY STREET
Integral to the success of any documentary is the relationship
between the filmmaker and the film’s subject; a relationship
that can be riddled with ethical and aesthetic challenges. Whether
the filmmaker is documenting a very personal event in their subject’s
lives or presenting a politically contentious argument, how the
director negotiates the information is a vital part of the filmmaking
process and key to the shape of the story. Filmmaker Don Boyd was
faced with the challenge of presenting the touching and sensitive
(both emotionally and politically) love story of a gay couple, Andrew
Thomas and Jeremy Stafford, who recount the details of their romance
as they make preparations to marry in the incredible ANDREW AND
JEREMY GET MARRIED (04). In DOUBLE DARE (03), director Amanda Micheli
takes on the world of Hollywood stunt women through the inspirational
stories of veteran and pioneer Jeanne Epper and ingenue Zoe Bell.
Join the filmmakers and subjects of both films as they address some
of the issues that came up in the telling of their fascinating stories.
MODERATED BY: |
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 SILVA
BASMAJIAN
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, NATIONAL FILM BOARD
OF CANADA, ONTARIO CENTRE
Silva Basmajian has worked as a producer, writer and researcher on
more than fifty productions. She has won more than forty awards, including
a Peabody Award in 2001 for MY FATHER’S CAMERA (01), the 2001
Women in Film and Television Outstanding Achievement Award and the
Donald Brittain award for Best Social/Political Documentary for DEEP
INSIDE CLINT STAR (99) at the 2000 Gemini Awards. One of her most
recent films, THE LAST ROUND: CHUVALO VS ALI (03), won the Special
Jury Award at the 2003 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary
Festival and was nominated for a 2003 Genie Award. |
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| GUEST SPEAKERS: |
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DON BOYD
DIRECTOR, ANDREW AND JEREMY GET MARRIED
Don Boyd was born in Scotland and graduated from the London Film School.
He has directed short films, television series and documentaries and
has served as a producer on such films as Lindsay Anderson’s
LOOK BACK IN ANGER (81) and Derek Jarman’s THE TEMPEST (79),
THE LAST OF ENGLAND (87) and WAR REQUIEM (88). His directing credits
include TWENTY-ONE (91), KLEPTOMANIA (95), LUCIA (98), MY KINGDOM
(01) and ANDREW AND JEREMY GET MARRIED (04). |
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AMANDA MICHELI
DIRECTOR, DOUBLE DARE
Amanda Micheli was born in Boston, studied filmmaking at Harvard University
and currently lives in San Francisco. Her credits as a cinematographer
include Jonathan Karsh’s award-winning MY FLESH AND BLOOD (03)
and Jocelyn Glatzer’s THE FLUTE PLAYER (03). She shot and directed
the documentaries JUST FOR THE RIDE (95), which she also edited and
which received the silver medal for best documentary at the 1996 Student
Academy Awards7, and DOUBLE DARE. |
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| ZOË BELL, SUBJECT, DOUBLE DARE
JEANNIE EPPER, SUBJECT, DOUBLE DARE
JEREMY STAFFORD, SUBJECT, ANDREW AND JEREMY GET MARRIED
ANDREW THOMAS, SUBJECT, ANDREW AND JEREMY GET MARRIED
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