SATURDAY HIGHLIGHTS AT SILVERDOCS:
SILVERDOCS PRESENTS CLOSING NIGHT FILM:
THEATER OF WAR
KICKING IT Screening and Scrimmage
LETTER TO ANNA Screening and Panel Discussion
STERLING AWARDS CEREMONY
Silver Spring, Maryland, June 21, 2008—CLOSING NIGHT: THEATER OF WAR, directed by John Walter (HOW TO DRAW A BUNNY), a mesmerizing examination of the intersection of art and politics at the creation of The Public Theater’s 2006 outdoor performance of Bertolt Brecht’s anti-war play Mother Courage and Her Children. The play, directed by The Public Theater’s George C. Wolfe from a new translation by Tony Kushner features Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline. THEATER OF WAR offers an intimate glimpse into the creative process and offers a raw and powerful exploration of war and capitalism. Director John Walter is scheduled to attend. Special guests to be announced.
- WHAT:
- SILVERDOCS Presents THEATER OF WAR Followed by Reception
- WHO:
- Lisa Schwarzbaum, Moderator, Entertainment Weekly
- John Water, Director
- WHEN:
- Saturday, June 21, 2008
- 6:45 p.m. – Step and Repeat
- 7:00 p.m. – Film
- 8:30 p.m. – Panel
- WHERE:
- AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center
- 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD
Space is limited for screening and reception. Not all media can be accommodated. Media wishing to attend event or red carpet arrivals should RSVP to Georgia Koch at georgiakoch@gmail.com.
OTHER SATURDAY EVENTS:
9:00 a.m. Filmmaker Juan Manuel Sepúlveda presents the US Premiere of THE INFINITE BORDER, a visually stunning yet unromantic account of migrants journey on the road from Central America to Mexico and finally to the United States.
9:30 a.m. SILVERDOCS presents “The View From Below,” a free showing of short films featuring THE APOLOGY LINE, CITY OF CRANES, GENTLE CREATURES, HOW TO SAVE A FISH FROM DROWNING, LEAVE YOUR MIRACLE HERE, and WHAT WOULD THE DROP KNOW ABOUT THAT.
9:30 a.m. SILVERDOCS Conference-BASEMENT TAPES – An Open Source Experiment.
9:45 a.m. SILVERDOCS presents the World Premiere of THE RED RACE, a film which examines the Chinese passion for gymnastics against the backdrop of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and escalating international condemnation over Chinese policies from Tibet to Darfur.
11:30 a.m. Filmmaker Susan Koch presents KICKING IT, a film which raises awareness of the 1 billion homeless people worldwide with a unique sense of purpose and a vision of dignity regained by team sports. Stick around after the film for a scrimmage with featured film subjects and DC team members vying to represent the US at the next Homeless World Cup, 2:00 p.m. on the turf.
11:30 a.m. SILVERDOCS presents “All In a Day’s Work,” a free showing of short films featuring BOB’S KNEE, BREADMAKERS, NOT SACKS, SELF PORTRAIT WITH COWS GOING HOME AND OTHER WORKS: A PORTRAIT OF SYLVIA PLACHY, THE TAILOR, and YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM ALLAH.
11:30 a.m. SILVERDOCS Conference-Cinematography Master Class with Ellen Kuras.
11:30 a.m. SILVERDOCS Conference-“How To Pitch” Seminar with Cynthia López, American Documentary/P.O.V. and guests.
11:45 a.m. Filmmaker Eric Bergkraut presents the US Premiere of LETTER TO ANNA, which examines the life of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, whose 2006 assassination reminds us that there is a high price for speaking the truth. Panel Discussion to follow screening featuring the filmmaker, Maura Reynolds, White House correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, and moderated by Kevin Klose, NPR President and former Moscow correspondent for The Washington Post.
12:30 p.m. AN AMERICAN FAMILY discussion featuring filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond and moderated by Ron Simon, Curator, The Paley Center for Media.
1:45 p.m. Filmmaker Cheryl Furjanic presents the East Coast Premiere of SYNC OR SWIM, which takes us inside the selection and training of the 2004 U.S. synchronized swimming team and meet the athletes behind the performers.
2:00 p.m. Filmmaker Sigrid Faltin presents LA PALOMA which follows Sebastián de Iradier’s 1861 song, La Paloma, from the Basque country to Latin America, Hawaii, back to Europe, and finally to Africa.
2:30 p.m. Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne presents DEAR ZACHARY: A LETTER TO A SON ABOUT HIS FATHER, a cinematic farewell to a deceased friend begins with fond memories and unfolds as a devastating chronicle of love, obsession, loss, and unimaginable resilience.
2:30 p.m. SILVERDOCS Conference-The Cutting Edge of Distribution- Plenary Session with Featured Speaker: Peter Broderick.
4:00 p.m. Director Andy Abrahams Wilson presents UNDER OUR SKIN, a film told through the stories of patients fighting chronic lyme disease. Passholder Screening.
4:00 p.m. Co-directors Dawn Valadez and Kristi Guevara-Flanagan presents GOING ON 13, which documents the growth and challenges of four pre-teen girls of color in Oakland. Ariana Harris, one of the four girls will be in attendance.
4:30 p.m. Megumi Sasaki presents HERB & DOROTHY, a film exploring the modest means of Herbert and Dorothy Vogel, art collectors, whose shared passion and discipline defied stereotypes and redefined what it means to be a patron of the arts. Panel discussion following the screening will feature the filmmaker and subjects.
4:45 p.m. Filmmaker Eric Metzgar presents LIFE.SUPPORT.MUSIC, which documents the struggle of Jason Crigler, a music maker stuck in a vegetative state. Performance by Jason Crigler will follow the screening.
5:00 p.m. STERLING AWARDS CEREMONY
6:30 p.m. Celebrated cinematographer Ellen Kuras presents THE BETRAYAL, which follows a Laotian family who made a harrowing escape from their homeland in the 1970s and eventually settled in New York City.
7:00 p.m. Filmmaker John Walter presents THEATER OF WAR, a mesmerizing examination of the intersection of art and politics at the creation of The Public Theater’s 2006 outdoor performance of Bertolt Brecht’s anti-war play Mother Courage and Her Children.
7:15 Geoffrey Smith presents THE ENGLISH SURGEON, which tells the story of British neurosurgeon Henry Marsh, who spends several weeks a year in Ukraine performing surgeries with the crudest of tools. Director and subject will participate in Q&A following the film.
8:45 p.m. Filmmaker Anna Broinowski presents FORBIDDEN LIE$, a mesmerizing character study of con artist and author Norma Khouri.
9:00 p.m. Co-director Michael Tucker presents BULLETPROOF SALESMAN, a film about an armored vehicle salesman whose business acumen provides in a disturbingly simple and unsentimental context in which to understand international conflict and suffering.
9:45 p.m. Nahid Persson presents the North American Premiere of FOUR WIVES – ONE MAN, a poignant, occasionally hilarious, often harrowing glimpse into an institution oft undertaken but rarely understood—marriage.
9:45 p.m. Nanette Burstein presents AMERICAN TEEN, the documentary hit of this year’s Sundance Film Festival follows the lives of four teenagers in small-town Indiana as they traverse the highs and lows of their senior year in high school. Director and subject Hannah Bailey will participate in Q&A following the film.
11:15 p.m. Greg Kohs presents SONG SUNG BLUE + SHORT (THE ART OF KARAOKE). The film follows Mike & Claire Sardina, AKA “Lighting & Thunder,” as they struggle with rehabilitation, unpaid bills, drug addiction and lost hopes.
11:30 p.m. SILVERDOCS presents MY WINNIPEG, iconoclastic Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin’s foray into “docu- fantasia” with a film that is both an homage and admonition to the icy hometown that has enchanted and intoxicated him since birth.
11:45 p.m. Filmmakers Josephine Decker, Martha Blockman, and Brittany Blockman present BI THE WAY, which documents the filmmaker’s cross-country road trip to find answers, and more questions, in this smart, hip, and sophisticated study of sexuality in the 21st century.