SILVERDOCS ANNOUNCES FESTIVAL SLATE
ALL TOGETHER NOW Opens Festival THEATER OF WAR to Close
Festival Films Address “1968 and Beyond”, Powerful Women, Politics, Music, Immigration and China
Silver Spring, Maryland, May 22, 2008—SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival announced its full slate of films for the Festival taking place June 16-23, 2008 in the Washington, DC area. SILVERDOCS 2008 will present 108 films representing 63 countries selected from 1,861 submissions with six World, eight North American, six US and seven East Coast Premieres and two retrospective programs. Now in its sixth year, SILVERDOCS and its concurrent International Documentary Conference honors excellence in filmmaking, supports the diverse voices and free expression of independent storytellers and celebrates the power of documentary to enhance our understanding of the world.
Films screen in six sections: US Feature Competition, World Feature Competition (added this year), Best Music Documentary, Silver Spectrum (formerly World View), Short Films, and “1968 and Beyond”, a special thematic side-bar for 2008.
SILVERDOCS encompasses the five day International Documentary Conference which provides fresh perspectives on craft, funding, distribution and audience engagement; this year’s program explores the documentary in action, and has a particular emphasis on youth, education and next generation media artists. Sheila C. Johnson, CEO Salamander Hospitality, President WNBA’s Washington Mystics, philanthropist and executive producer of the documentary A POWERFUL NOISE will be among this year’s featured speakers. Over 1,200 filmmakers and industry professionals will participate, joining 20,000 audience members to screen highly anticipated films from some of the world’s leading documentarians.
“SILVERDOCS 2008 celebrates the best of documentary past, present and future. We are excited to present several seminal films in our side-bar “1968 and Beyond,” and both showcase and serve young storytellers in our Conference, and continue to offer the surprising perspectives on contemporary issues throughout all of our programming that our audiences have come to expect,” said Festival Director Patricia Finneran.
“With classic films from Al Maysles, Alan and Susan Raymond, and Frederick Wiseman, new films from Award winning filmmakers such as Nanette Burstein, Alex Gibney, Werner Herzog, Tom Lennon and Ruby Yang, and special programs introducing new filmmakers to the world, SILVERDOCS is proud to showcase the amazing diversity of the documentary form to the highly engaged audiences and our guests from around the globe,” added Director of Programming Sky Sitney.
Notable filmmakers presenting their work this year include SILVERDOCS’ Charles Guggenheim Symposium Honoree, the renowned Spike Lee (WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE: A REQUIEM IN FOUR ACTS; 4 LITTLE GIRLS; and WE WUZ ROBBED); Alex Gibney (GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON), Nanette Burstein (AMERICAN TEEN); Ellen Kuras (THE BETRAYAL (NERAKHOON)); Al Maysles (GIMME SHELTER, WHAT’S HAPPENING! THE BEATLES IN THE U.S.A); Guy Maddin (MY WINNIPEG); and Patrick Creadon (I.O.U.S.A.).
“Six years ago, we set out to celebrate independent documentary filmmakers and, working with AFI, to create the pre-eminent documentary Festival in the world.” said Carrie Passmore, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Social Responsibility, Discovery Communications. “We’ve done just that, as SILVERDOCS has continued to soar, connecting great stories to broad audiences, offering global perspectives on contemporary issues, and brining together diverse audiences to engage and connect us to each other.”
SILVERDOCS 2008
SCHEDULE OF SPECIAL SCREENINGS AND EVENTS
Monday, June 16, 2008
- OPENING NIGHT: ALL TOGETHER NOW, Adrian Wills’ faithful behind-the-scenes story of the unprecedented partnership between The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil, explores the making of the “LOVE” stage production at the Mirage in Las Vegas. The film captures the collaborations of Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté, LOVE director Dominique Champagne and producers Sir George Martin and his son Giles Martin as they create an homage to the vision and music of The Beatles. Director Adrian Wills is scheduled to attend along with other special guests.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
- Special Programs include a performance by Béla Fleck following the screening of THROW DOWN YOUR HEART directed by Sascha Paladino. The American banjo virtuoso travels to Africa to explore the little-known roots of the instrument and record an album. Fleck’s riveting journey takes him through Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali, where he transcends the barriers of language and culture through a shared passion for music.
- Panel discussion with General Wesley Clark, retired four-star general who commanded Operation Allied Force during the Kosovo War when he was Supreme Allied Commander Europe for NATO following MILOSEVIC ON TRIAL directed by Michael Christofferson. When former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic was on trial for crimes against humanity, he acted as his own counsel; his most masterful move in the trial was when he died from a heart attack.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
- James Orbinski, 1999 Nobel Peace Prize winner on behalf of Doctors Without Borders will participate in a discussion of the film TRIAGE: DR. JAMES ORBINSKI’S HUMANITARIAN DILEMMA directed by Patrick Reed. When most fled Rwanda, Dr. James Orbinski flew in. TRIAGE is a deeply personal film about the man at the center of the imperfect system that our world has devised to care for victims of our political failures.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
- The Charles Guggenheim Symposium honors the legacy of the late four-time Academy Award winning filmmaker, Charles Guggenheim. This year the Symposium celebrates Spike Lee, for his body of documentary work including: WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE: A REQUIEM IN FOUR ACTS (2006); 4 LITTLE GIRLS (1997); and WE WUZ ROBBED (2000). Denver Post film critic Lisa Kennedy will interview Lee following a series of clips from his work.
Friday, June 20, 2008
- Herb and Dorothy Vogel in attendance to see the world premiere of HERB & DOROTHY directed by Megumi Sasaki. He was a postal clerk. She was a librarian. Despite their modest means, the unassuming pair are the most important contemporary art collectors you’ve never heard of. Meet Herbert and Dorothy Vogel, whose shared passion and discipline defied stereotypes and redefined what it means to be a patron of the arts.
- Claire Sardina, AKA “Thunder” from the Neil Diamond tribute couple “Lightning & Thunder” will perform following the screening of SONG SUNG BLUE directed by Greg Kohs. The film follows the sequined couple from their gigs in Milwaukee bars and clubs to a freak accident which leaves Claire immobile and replaces their Vegas dreams with the reality of rehabilitation, unpaid bills, drug addiction and lost hopes.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
- CLOSING NIGHT: THEATER OF WAR, directed by John Walter (HOW TO DRAW A BUNNY), a mesmerising 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.
- A ball can change your life. That’s the moral behind KICKING IT directed by Susan Koch, which follows teams from six nations as they prepare for and compete in the 2006 Homeless World Cup. The film 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.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
- Some of the hottest films on the 2008 Festival circuit are scheduled to play on Sunday: MAN ON WIRE, ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD, STRANDED, and ORDER OF MYTHS as well as engaging sports films such as HOLYLAND HARDBALL, and SYNC OR SWIM—most filmmakers scheduled to attend.
Monday, June 23, 2008
- Filmmaker Charles Guggenheim’s 1964 and 1968 campaign films and TV spots for Robert Kennedy remain influential for both their effectiveness and authentic approach to political storytelling. ROBERT KENNEDY REMEMBERED was made following his tragic death in June in time for the Democratic Convention in August of ’68. It captures the best of the prior films, and the essence of a man who captured the hopes of a generation and continues to inspire with his message of hope and commitment to social justice. The panel will feature AFI’s Founding Director, George Stevens, Jr., celebrated journalists Frank Mankiewicz, filmmaker Grace Guggenehim and others.
SILVER SPECTRUM
AMERICAN TEEN / USA, 2008, 90 minutes (Director: Nanette Burnstein)—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. American Teen provides a candid and affectionate view of adolescence on the brink of adulthood.
THE BETRAYAL / USA, 2008, 96 minutes (Directors: Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath)—Beautifully filmed and spanning 23 years, THE BETRAYAL follows a Laotian family who made a harrowing escape from their homeland in the 1970s and eventually settled in New York City. Celebrated cinematographer Ellen Kuras offers a stirring depiction of life in exile and the far-reaching consequences of the Vietnam era.
BI THE WAY / USA 2008, 87 minutes (Directors: Josephine Decker and Brittany Blockman)—How do homosexuals feel about bisexuals? How do bisexuals feel about bisexuals? Does bisexuality even exist? The filmmakers take a cross-country road trip to find answers, and more questions, in this smart, hip, and sophisticated study of sexuality in the 21st century.
BIRD’S NEST: HERZOG AND DE MEURON IN CHINA / Switzerland, 2008, 88 minutes (Directors: Christoph Schaub and Michael Schindhelm)—Acclaimed Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron are selected to design the stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and virtually an entire city in Jinhua. That was the easy part. BIRD’S NEST chronicles the metaphorical bridge they must build between two cultures, two architectural traditions, and two political systems.
DEAR ZACHARY: A LETTER TO A SON ABOUT HIS FATHER / USA, 2008, 95 Minutes (Director: Kurt Kuenne)—A cinematic farewell to a deceased friend begins with fond memories and unfolds as a devastating chronicle of love, obsession, loss, and unimaginable resilience. As much as we might want to look away, we cannot help but cling to the strength of unlikely heroes.
DOCU-CLUB “IN THE WORKS” presents STAGES / USA, 2008, 83 minutes (Meerkat Media Collective)—The DocuClub “In The Works” program lets filmmakers screen rough cuts before an audience of peers and documentary lovers who are encouraged to give constructive feedback. STAGES, by the Meerkat Media Collective, is about a group of older Puerto Rican women and youth of color who unite to create an original play based on their life stories.
DUST / Germany/Switzerland, 2007, 89 minutes (Director: Hartmut Bitomsky)—From a compulsive housewife engaged in an endless battle against particle protrusion, to scientists analyzing the dust from the Twin Towers, to a woman who has created a sophisticated taxonomy of lint bunnies, DUST encourages viewers to ponder the imaginative nature of something that has long escaped imagination.
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD / USA, 2007, 99 minutes (Director: Werner Herzog)—In his first documentary since GRIZZLY MAN, Werner Herzog travels to McMurdo Station on Antarctica as a guest of the National Science Foundation. The resulting account is a lyrical meditation on the stark landscape and a portrait of the researchers who risk their lives and sanity for the sake of science.
FOOTBALL UNDER COVER / Germany, 2007, 86 minutes, (Directors: Ayat Najafi, David Assmann)—The complexities of strict Islamic gender roles play out with surprising zeal in this uplifting film. The Iranian Women’s National Football Team lacks a rival, since under strict Iranian law only men are allowed to participate in sports. But they may have found a German soccer club with a similar "goal" in mind.
FORBIDDEN LIE$ / Australia, 2007, 108 Minutes (Director: Anna Broinowski)—In 2003, Norma Khouri conned the literary world with her bestseller about honor killings. In 2004, she was caught. Now Khouri may be conning the filmmaker documenting her story. This mesmerizing character study struggles to maintain a division between fact and fiction, but it is not entirely immune to the machinations of a sociopath.
GOING ON 13 / USA, 2008, 73 Minutes (Directors: Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and Dawn Valadez)— Over the course of four years, Dawn Valadez and Kristy Guevara-Flanagan documented the growth and challenges of four pre-teen girls of color in Oakland. Their diverse backgrounds and families provide each with their own set of challenges, but as the girls reach the cusp of adolescence, common pressures unite them.
GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON / USA, 2007, 118 minutes (Director: Alex Gibney)—Oscar-winner Alex Gibney (ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM, TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE) cuts through the larger-than-life mythology of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson to present an intimate, illuminating and highly entertaining look at the man who chronicled and personified the rebellious spirit of the 1960s and 1970s.
HOLY LAND HARDBALL / USA, 2008, 89 minutes (Directors: Erik Kesten, Brett Rapkin)—When Boston baker Larry Baras wanted to create an Israeli baseball league, his idea was met with incredulity, dismissal, and even hostility. He did it anyway. HOLY LAND HARDBALL is an engaging account of one man’s dream to bring America’s pastime to the Middle East. World Premiere.
I.O.U.S.A. / USA, 2008, 85 minutes (Director: Patrick Creadon)—It’s big. It’s powerful. It’s invisible. It knows no party but it’s all about politics. It’s more than $9.3 trillion, and growing. From the folks who brought you the hit film about crossword puzzles (WORDPLAY) comes a new film about the National Debt. Trust us, it’s gonna be huge. In fact, it already is.
JOURNEY OF A RED FRIDGE / Serbia, 2007, 54 minutes (Directors: Lucian Muntean, Natasa Stankovic)—The romance of the road meets the exhaustion of hard labor in JOURNEY OF A RED FRIDGE. A striking, complex, and charming film, JOURNEY follows a young Nepalese porter named Hari who straps a red Coca-Cola refrigerator on his back and treks through the Himalayas to get it repaired.
KALINOVSKI SQUARE / Estonia, 2007, 73 minutes (Director: Yury Khashchavatski)—Three months before a 2006 election, the Belarussian president Alexander Lukashenko claimed: “You have no choice, you will vote for me!” It wasn’t an answer that satisfied Belarussians. This unexpectedly humorous film tracks the mounting opposition struggle during those heady post-election days. US Premiere.
KICKING IT / USA, 2008, 98 minutes (Director: Susan Koch)—A ball can change your life. That’s the moral behind KICKING IT, which follows teams from six nations as they prepare for and compete in the 2006 Homeless World Cup. The film raises awareness of the 1 billion homeless people worldwide with a unique sense of purpose and a vision of dignity regained by team sports.
LETTER TO ANNA / Switzerland, 2008, 83 Minutes (Director: Eric Bergkraut)—The 2006 assassination of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya reminded us that there is a high price for speaking truth to power. Her fearless reporting of Moscow-supported atrocities against Chechen civilians aroused the respect of her peers and the ire of the very politicians who may have been involved in her murder. US Premiere.
LOST HOLIDAY / Czech Republic, 2007, 84 minutes (Directors: Lucie Králová, Zuzana Zabkova )— A Czech tourist traveling in Sweden finds a suitcase containing 22 rolls of undeveloped film. She develops the negatives, revealing 756 fascinating snapshots of six unknown Chinese businessmen. Then, she sets off to see if it is possible, in today’s interconnected world, to trace someone merely from lost photographs.
LUCIO / Spain, 2007, 93 Minutes (Directors: Aitor Arregi, Jose Mari Goenaga)—Revolutionary. Anarchist. Counterfeiter. Bricklayer? By day, Spanish expatriate Lucio Uturbia worked to put food on the table. By night, he fought for social justice, even managing to cripple the largest bank in the world.
MAN ON WIRE / United Kingdom, 2007, 90 Minutes (Director: James Marsh)—Like the Twin Towers that suspended Philippe Petit’s unauthorized high wire in 1974, two pillars support this film: Petit’s supreme love for his art and our nostalgia for the architectural marvels of the World Trade Center. The result is bittersweet as we celebrate a tightrope walker’s success and mourn the loss of such carefree bravado.
MY MOTHER’S GARDEN / USA, 2008, 70 minutes (Director: Cynthia Lester)— Eugenia Lester is a hoarder whose mental illness has endangered her physical health and her relationship with her children. Now municipal code violations might cause her to lose her house.
MY WINNIPEG / Canada, Year, 80 minutes (Director: Guy Maddin)—In his most hilarious and personal film to date, iconoclastic Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin makes a 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.
ON THE WAY TO PARADISE / Denmark, 2007, 58 minutes (Director: Suvi Andrea Helminen)—Danish couple Inge and Holger built a life together, and they filmed almost all of it. As the aging couple packs up to move into the last apartment they will share, the process triggers memories both positive and heartbreaking.
ORDER OF MYTHS / USA, 2008, 97 minutes (Director: Margaret Brown )—The first North American Mardi Gras was not in New Orleans but in Mobile, Alabama in 1703. To this day, it is true to its roots—perhaps too true. Native daughter Margaret Brown explores the oldest, and still segregated, Mardis Gras in the U.S. and guides us through the parallels at the heart of the each of these two city’s juxtaposed celebrations.
PINDORAMA: THE TRUE STORY OF THE SEVEN DWARVES / Brazil, 2007, 80 Minutes (Directors: Roberto Berliner, Leonardo Crivelare, Lula Queiroga)—Blame Disney for burning onto your brain a picture of dwarves as cute, benign, and asexual. Now bury those images, and enter the world of Pindorama, a circus run by seven Brazilian siblings whose identities rest as much on their physical stature as they do on their absolute normalcy. North American Premiere.
A POWERFUL NOISE / USA, 2008, 90 minutes (Director: Tom Cappello)—“One person can make a difference, and every person should try.” John F. Kennedy’s famous words live on in Nada Markovic, Bui My Hanh, and Jacqueline “Madame Urbain” Dembele. We follow these women through Kosovo, Vietnam and Mali, watching their extraordinary achievements as they go about the daily business of seeking justice in the world.
SEAVIEW / Ireland, 2008, 82 minutes (Directors: Nicky Gogan and Paul Rowley)—On the beautiful Irish coast lies a holiday resort whose glamour and amusement park atmosphere has long since faded. Today, it houses asylum seekers from around the globe, offering a surreal and incongruous backdrop to their stories. Lyrical and deliberately displacing, SEAVIEW gives a poignant portrayal of the modern immigrant experience. US Premiere.
STRANDED: I’VE COME FROM A PLANE THAT CRASHED ON THE MOUNTAINS / Uruguay/France, Year, 113 Minutes (Director: Gonzalo Arijon)—October 1972: A plane crashes on a frozen glacier in the Andes; 16 passengers defy all odds, staying alive for 72 days before they are rescued. STRANDED recounts one of the most extraordinary survival tales of all time — also immortalized in the book Alive — through the stories of the survivors themselves.
SYNC OR SWIM / USA, 2008, 86 minutes (Director: Cheryl Furjanic)—Synchronized swimming is often dismissed as a lightweight sport––if a sport at all––but SYNC OR SWIM shows that it requires real athleticism – the blood, sweat, and tears of serious competition. Cheryl Furjanic takes us inside the selection and training of the 2004 U.S. team to meet the athletes behind the performers. East Coast Premiere.
THE THIRD COAST INTERNATIONAL AUDIO FESTIVAL / USA, 2008, 75 minutes (Various)—Documentary film salutes documentary audio. In a darkened room, listen to the best, most compelling, and most entertaining documentary programs made for the radio and the Internet.
THIS WAY UP / France, Year, 63 Minutes (Director: Georgi Lazarevski)—Separation and isolation cast a shadow over a Catholic nursing home as an Israeli dividing wall creeps up around it. As the wall grows, residents find it increasingly difficult to see their family members and are left without recourse. This sober examination of political barriers manages to find levity amid the oppressive circumstances. East Coast Premiere.
TRIAGE: DR. JAMES ORBINSKI’S HUMANITARIAN DILEMMA / Canada, 2007, 88 minutes (Director: Patrick Reed)—When most fled Rwanda, Dr. James Orbinski flew in. Such bravery earned him the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Doctors Without Borders. TRIAGE is a deeply personal film about the man at the center of the imperfect system that our world has devised to care for victims of our political failures. East Coast Premiere.
UNDER OUR SKIN / USA, 2008, 103 minutes (Director: Andy Abrahams Wilson)—Chronic Lyme Disease is an emerging epidemic with thousands of undiagnosed or misdiagnosed cases each year. Told through the stories of patients fighting for their lives and physicians struggling for their practices, UNDER OUR SKIN reveals a healthcare and disease classification system run amok.
UP THE YANGTZE / Canada, 2008, 93 minutes (Director: Yung Chang)—A cruise ship glides along the Yangtze River, offering foreign passengers an impressive view of China in transition. But 16-year-old Yu Shui only sees her life being submerged. Yung Chang’s exquisitely photographed and richly detailed film about the Three Gorges Dam project captures modern China at the crossroads of rich tradition and blind progress.
WAR CHILD / USA, 2008, 93 minutes (Director: Karim Chrobog)—Former Sudanese child soldier Emmanuel Jal is an international rap artist on the rise. He sings about his past but brings a message of peace to the world. First-time director Chrobog travels with Jal back to Sudan, and follows Jal on tour as he bonds with audiences around the globe.
YIDISHE MAME / Israel, 2008, 63 minutes (Director: Fima Shlick and Gennady Kuchuck)— Zena, an immigrant from the former Soviet Union to Israel, has longed dreamed of the day that her son Gnadi would marry a nice Jewish girl. When he announces his engagement to his girlfriend Nurit, an immigrant from Ethiopia, Zena feels that her dream is crumbling and embarks on a campaign to put a stop to what she thinks is her son’s biggest mistake ever. North American Premiere.
1968 AND BEYOND
GIMME SHELTER / USA, 1970, 91 minutes (Directors: Albert Maysles and David Maysles)— When the Maysles set out to document the Rolling Stones’ 1969 U.S. tour—a mere four months after Woodstock had defined the Love Generation—they couldn’t anticipate the violence that would plague the concert at Altamont. The Maysles captured what began as a flower-power love-in and degenerated into a near-riot.
GENERATION 68 / France, 2007, 53 minutes (Director: Simon Brook)—Student protests, political art, actor activists, sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll—1968 was the year everything changed. Featuring Milos Forman, Vaclav Havel, Dennis Hopper, Mary Quant and others, the film explores the cultural moment from a European perspective, adding to our understanding of what Newsweek called “the year that made us who we are.” North American Premiere.
IN THE YEAR OF THE PIG / USA, 1969, 103 minutes (Director: Emile de Antonio)—Released at the height of the U.S. war in Vietnam, IN THE YEAR OF THE PIG elicited both high praise and outrage for its staunch opposition to U.S. policy. Allowing the architects of the war to speak for themselves, the filmmaker uses the liberties of independent cinema to counter the corporate censorship of television news.
LAW AND ORDER / USA, 1969, 81 minutes (Director: Frederick Wiseman)—A master of direct cinema, Frederick Wiseman is revered for films that document the impact of social institutions on society. In LAW AND ORDER, we see the Kansas City police department’s daily routine, with interactions that range from comedic and benign to undeniably bigoted and violent. LAW AND ORDER reveals the violence that results from a deeply ingrained social crisis of racism and poverty.
ROBERT KENNEDY REMEMBERED / USA, 1968, 30 minutes (Director: Charles Guggenheim)—ROBERT KENNEDY REMEMBERED was made following his tragic death in June in time for the Democratic Convention in August of ’68. It captures the essence of a man who inspired the hoped of a generation with his message of hope and commitment to social justice.
SHORTS
52 PERCENT / Poland, 2007, 20 minutes (Director: Rafal Skalski)—In ballet, ambition is irrelevant if your physical structure falls short of perfection. 52 PERCENT is a chilling observation of one Russian girl’s attempt to enter a ballet academy. The film reveals how young girls’ bodies are weighed, measured, twisted and stretched to determine if they meet an almost impossible standard.
THE APOLOGY LINE / United Kingdom, 2007, 10 minutes (Director: James Lees)—Noir cityscapes, dimly lit rooms, and anonymous voices set the tone for James Lees’ study of secular confession. Telephones replace priests as liars, cheaters, thieves, burdened souls, and even vehemently unrepentant people dial the apology line and say they’re sorry—or not—to no one in particular.
THE ART OF KARAOKE / USA, 2008, 8 minutes (Director: Will Hartman)—Art found his inner singer at age 60. Now 80, he entertains crowds at karaoke night. His hair is white and he covers Sinatra, but he has his stable of adoring groupies—with his wife’s consent, of course. Art’s story confirms that you’re never too old to find your calling.
BEGINNING FILMMAKING / USA, 2008, 23 minutes (Director: Jay Rosenblatt)—In this endearing portrait of a very young artist, an enthusiastic father discovers truth in the cliché “creative differences” when he attempts to teach his 4-year-old daughter about filmmaking. Ella learns what she wants to, discards what she doesn’t, and is determined to be a star in her own mind.
BOB’S KNEE / USA, 2007, 4 minutes (Director: Mike Attie)—You cannot appreciate the mechanics of a human body until you try to build one. Bob’s knee injury motivates him to construct a model knee, and the process leaves him humbled by the intricate form and function of our moving parts.
BREADMAKERS / Scotland, 2007, 10 minutes (Director: Yasmin Fedda)—Small-scale breadmaking is an inherently beautiful craft, and in BREADMAKERS it is also a fruitful enterprise for the developmentally disabled. With quiet certitude, this small group finds purpose in routines and dignity in labor.
THE CHAMP / USA, 2007, 7 minutes (Director: Peter Jordan)—Fatima’s petite frame and pretty face complement her pink boxing gloves, but her story is far from rosy. She is the protégé of Johnny, a trainer who teaches at-risk youth to channel their aggression in the boxing ring. Johnny helped Fatima get her act together, and now she helps others do the same.
CITY OF CRANES / United Kingdom, 2008, 14 minutes (Director: Eva Weber)—Crane operators narrate this captivating short but the real stars are the cranes themselves, towering over London with the nobility of oversized sculptures. They enter and exit the frame with a grace not usually attributed to machinery, but with the aid of Eva Weber’s sophisticated style, we gaze upon them with awe.
FAREWELL PACKETS OF TEN / Ireland, 2007, 3 minutes (Director: Ken Wardrop)—As smoking in movies wanes, we can sit back and enjoy the sharp Irish banter of two women—the filmmaker’s middle-aged mother and a 79-year-old neighbor—reflecting on their dangerous but thoroughly enjoyable habit. Joking about smoker’s cough and chiding themselves for their habit, they have no discernible regrets.
THE FIRST DAY / Poland, 2007, 20 Minutes (Director: Marcin Sauter)—The first day of school can be either exhilarating or terrifying, but it is always about socialization. For children plucked from their families on the remote tundra and placed in a Russian boarding school, the first day signifies the erasure of unique cultures and the reinforcement of the official one.
GENTLE CREATURES / USA, 2007, 11 minutes (Director: Kelcey Edwards)—This is a beautifully restrained tale of two California cowgirls who trade in their shady pasts for a pair of well-worn boots. Leaving behind broken hearts and lives, they find acceptance, redemption and restoration in their trusty mares, who accompany them without judgment through their sordid pasts and towards their hopes for the future.
GROUND FLOOR RIGHT / Denmark/United Kingdom, 2007, 5 minutes (Director: Marlene Schiött Rasmussen)—Exquisite shots of birds contrast sharply with equally exquisite shots of their droppings in this brief but poignant peek into the lifestyle of Fang, a bird hoarder. Narrated by Fang as an amused and unashamed confession, GROUND FLOOR RIGHT navigates his cramped apartment to show us how a hobby can consume a life.
HOW TO SAVE A FISH FROM DROWNING / Scotland, 2007, 13 minutes (Director: Kelly Neal)—The wise words of elderly men huddled over an ice fishing hole echo through a barren, icy town in North Dakota. Corporate farming, job outsourcing, and the resulting exodus of younger people are killing the town. Stunning cinematography propels this unsettling contemplation of life without youth.
IF IT HAPPENS / Poland, 2007, 39 minutes (Director: Marcel Lozinski)—In this Academy Award short-listed documentary, acclaimed Polish director Marcel Lozinski returns along with his son Tomek to their favorite park. The film cuts between past and present, revealing how in the naiveté of Tomek’s now distant youth he was able to access deep truths about facing one’s own mortality.
KICK LIKE A GIRL / USA, 2008, 25 Minutes (Director: Jenny Mackenzie)—After a Utah girls’ soccer team enters the boys’ league to get a taste of real competition, the adults slowly recognize their complicity in planting the seeds of sexism. How refreshing to see children playing soccer for the fun of it and learning a lesson about gender politics in the process.
KIDS + MONEY / USA, 2007, 32 Minutes (Director: Lauren Greenfield)—When parental love is expressed through consumer goods, the advertisers have won. In this dissection of the modern family, the parents of means are out of control, their kids are cunning beyond their years, and only the poor are grounded in reality because only the poor seem to exist within it.
THE LADIES / USA, 2007, 13 minutes (Director: Christina Voros)—Mimi and Vali are two lifelong friends who have outlived silly distractions like men and sex. Living together in their twilight years, they take care of each other and bicker as only best friends can. They share a unique past, a skill for dressmaking, and an unbreakable bond.
LEAVE YOUR MIRACLE HERE / Mexico, 2007, 10 minutes (Director: Mario Vázquez)—Catholics in Zacatecas believed the sculpture of El Santo Niño de Atocha (baby Jesus) was such a reliable miracle worker that it was removed from the grip of La Virgen and placed in a niche of its own. Now, massive pilgrimages that bypass the revered Virgin to reach the Holy Child show the power of the Mexican culture to customize Catholicism.
LEFT IN BAGHDAD / USA, 2007, 12 Minutes (Director: Peter Jordan and John Kane)—Ross Graydon loses his left arm in Baghdad. His driver loses his life. Upon returning to his family in Kentucky, the veteran must transition into civilian life while searching for a sense of completeness. Transcending cold statistics, LEFT IN BAGHDAD impresses upon us the toll that the war has impressed on soldiers.
NOT SACKS / United Kingdom, 2007, 10 minutes (Director: Fiona Collins)—Real men do embroider. In a Southwest London prison, a group of convicts learn quilt-making. Serving sentences for a variety of crimes, these disparate men find unexpected solace in the newfound hobby that takes their minds off the day-to-day monotony of prison life and gives them something tangible to look forward to.
ONE DAY / Denmark, 2007, 30 minutes (Director: Ditte Haarlov Johnsen)—Intimate close-ups conceal faces but reveal sordid circumstances in ONE DAY, a complex short about a West African woman working as a prostitute in Denmark. She finds both solace and sacrifice through her cell phone, connecting with the family and daughter she hasn’t seen in six years, yet always remaining available to clients.
PETER AND BEN / United Kingdom, 2007, 10 minutes (Director: Pinny Grylls)—Peter and Ben were outsiders who abandoned their peers and found each other. But when Ben grew old and difficult to care for, Peter tried to sever a connection that ran deeper than he imagined. Director Pinny Grylls teaches us that some bonds are unbreakable, even when they are between a man and his sheep.
ROZ (AND JOSHUA) / USA, 2007, 3 Minutes (Director: Charlene Music)—A mother’s longing for her child can create optimism even in the face of extreme destitution. That all-consuming love pushes Roz to liberate her heart and mind from the suffocating confines of her daily struggle. The result is hope, which resonates as strength in Roz’s voice in this minimalist film buoyed by black-and-white imagery.
SCORING / Ireland, 2007, 3 minutes (Director: Ken Wardrop)—Transcending the prudish simplicity of Thomas Edison’s 1896 short THE KISS, SCORING’s bold, black-and-white images of intense kissing elevate the act to an abstract level of intimacy. When those shots commingle with the moving story of a man whose disability limits his sexual interactions, the meaning of “scoring” transforms inexorably.
SELF-PORTRAIT WITH COWS GOING HOME AND OTHER WORKS: A PORTRAIT OF SYLVIA PLACHY / USA, 2008, 11 minutes (Director: Rebecca Dreyfus)—Peering into an artist’s mind can reveal a treasure trove of motivations and insights. SELF-PORTRAIT captures refreshingly informal and personal moments with renowned photographer Sylvia Plachy.
SHIKASHIKA / Peru/USA, 2008, 11 minutes (Director: Stephen Hyde)—Music provides the narration for this eye-opening tale of a Peruvian family’s demanding business. The entire family treks up the Andes to collect enormous blocks of ice, which they haul back down and sell at the Sunday market. Think about that as you sip on your cold soda at the theater.
SMILE PINKI / India, 2008, 40 minutes (Director: Megan Mylan)—Pinki, a rural Indian girl, does not go to school because she has a cleft lip. A simple surgery could fix her problem, but instead she must suffer extreme social ostracizing. Pinki’s destiny changes when she meets a social worker gathering patients for a hospital that provides free surgery to thousands each year.
THE TAILOR / Spain, 2007, 32 Minutes (Director: Oscar Perez)—In one Pakistani tailor’s cramped store in Barcelona, the customer is always wrong. This brief meditation on a man of incredibly ill temperament brings to mind every belligerent personality you have ever battled fruitlessly. It also offers the slightest glimpse of humanity hiding within an exploitative curmudgeon.
TONGZHI IN LOVE / USA, 2008, 30 minutes (Director: Ruby Yang)—Oscar-winner Ruby Yang offers a riveting examination of repressed homosexuality in modern China. Torn between the lure of big city life and the obligations of Confucian culture, three men must keep their desires secret and bear the burdens passing on the family name in China’s "one child per family" culture.
VIRTUAL FREEDOM (PODLOVE) / Australia, 2006, 6 Minutes (Director: Gef Senz)—The Internet may seem boundless, but geopolitics can always interfere with love. When a Burmese man living in Australia begins an online romance with a Burmese woman visiting China, he realizes that connectivity, though intimate, is not universal.
WHAT WOULD THE DROP KNOW ABOUT THAT? / Germany, Year, 13 Minutes (Director: Jan Zaeil)—How can we affect the system if we are only exposed to incomprehensible fragments of it? Foreign-born custodial workers at The Reichstag in Germany guide us through this stunning contemplation of the significance—or insignificance—of one person amid institutions and nation-states.
YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM ALLAH / Pakistan, 2007, 13 minutes (Director: Peter Lom)—After driving a taxi in Washington DC for 20 years, Pakistani immigrant Ihsan Khan hit a $54 million lottery jackpot—so he returned to his home village < name> and became Mayor. Kahn now faces a litany of complaints and must fight the perception that his money will solve all of the town’s problems.
YOUNG ARABS / USA, 2007, 18 minutes (Directors: Michael Graziano and Ernie Park)—While Western mass media images of Arab males offer a limited and often disconcerting view, YOUNG ARABS introduces us to a group of Arab students attending an all-boys school in Cairo who defy those stereotypes. The film allows us a glimpse into their political and personal views, and reveals a surprising appreciation for Oprah Winfrey.
RETROSPECTIVES
AN AMERICAN FAMILY Series / USA 1973 840 minutes (Directors: Alan and Susan Raymond)—In 1973, 10 million viewers tuned in to PBS to watch the Louds become the first “reality TV family” in history. The 12-hour cinema verite series chronicled the family’s life and captured sensitive moments, including the husband and wife filing for divorce and the eldest son’s affirmation of his homosexuality. SILVERDOCS presents the rarely-seen series in its entirety.
FOUR LITTLE GIRLS / USA, year, 102 minutes (Director: Spike Lee)—On September 15, 1963, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed in a terrorist attack by white racists opposed to integration. Sunday school pupils Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley—all 14 years old—and Denise McNair, 11, were killed. In his acclaimed Academy Award-nominated film, Spike Lee turns a sharp focus on the tragedy by giving us an intimate look into the lives of the four murdered children and those who were left behind to grieve for them.
WE WUZ ROBBED / USA, 2002, 10 minutes (Director: Spike Lee)—The presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore in November 2000 is re-enacted through first person accounts of campaign workers, advisors, confidants and Al Gore ‘s speechwriters. The confusion over the Florida polls is deconstructed to explain the event that some experts have called the first American presidential “selection.”
WHAT’S HAPPENING! THE BEATLES IN THE U.S.A. / USA 1964, 81 minutes (Directors: Albert Maysles and David Maysles)—A lively, humorous and candid account of The Beatles’ arrival in America in 1964. The Maysles use their signature verité style to chronicle the Fab Four’s lives as fame descended upon them. We see the crazed arrival at JFK airport, unguarded moments in the Plaza Hotel, and the band’s frenzied homecoming.
WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE: A REQUIEM IN FOUR ACTS / USA, year, 240 minutes (Director: Spike Lee)— Considered by many to be the definitive documentary on Hurricane Katrina, this film earned acclaimed filmmaker Spike Lee the much-deserved Peabody Award. WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE is a masterful, riveting and devastating document of this modern American tragedy and an elegy for the lost culture of New Orleans.
STERLING US, STERLING WORLD, AND MUSIC DOCUMENTARY AWARD COMPETITION
During the Festival select films will compete for the Sterling US Feature Award; Sterling World Feature Award; Sterling Short Award, Music Documentary Award; Witness Award; Cinematic Vision Award, WGAW Documentary Screenplay Award and the American Film Market/SILVERDOCS Award. Winners will be announced at the SILVERDOCS Award presentation on Saturday June 21, 2008. All films are also eligible for Audience Awards for Best Feature and Short, which will be announced on Sunday, June 22, 2008. As previously released, the following films will be in competition:
US FEATURE COMPETITION
BULLETPROOF SALESMAN / USA, 2008, 70 minutes (Directors: Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein)—For civilians, diplomats, and soldiers, roadside bombs in war-torn areas are a constant scourge. For Fidelis Cloer, they are a check in the mail. Cloer sells armored vehicles to the highest bidder, and his business acumen provides a disturbingly simple and unsentimental context in which to understand international conflict and suffering.
CHEVOLUTION / USA, 2008, 90 minutes (Directors: Luis Lopez and Trisha Ziff)—Songs and films pay tribute to Ernesto “Che” Guevara, but he lives on most famously through Alberto Korda’s photograph of his somber yet fiercely proud face. This vibrant study of the image that has outlived the man traces the construction of a mythology launched by a revolution, adopted by worldwide rebellion, and exploited by capitalism.
FOUR SEASONS LODGE / USA, 2008, 109 minutes (Director: Andrew Jacobs)—For decades, a group of Holocaust survivors has met every summer at a bucolic Catskills bungalow colony, despite their ever-dwindling ranks. In what may be their final season together, the lodgers cook, flirt, argue, dance and share stories of loss and survival, while the fate of their community remains uncertain. World Premiere.
THE GARDEN / USA, 2008, 95 minutes (Director: Scott Hamilton Kennedy)—Rising up from the ashes of 1992’s devastating L.A. riots is a 14-acre oasis in one of the country’s most blighted neighborhoods. The South Central Farmers created the garden to provide fresh produce for low-income people. Now, as bulldozers are poised to level it, the farmers won’t give up without a fight. World Premiere.
HARD TIMES AT DOUGLASS HIGH / USA, 2007, 112 minutes (Directors: Alan and Susan Raymond)—A year inside Baltimore’s Frederick Douglass High School shows the parts of a broken public education system: dedicated administrators, harried—but present—teachers, and students trying to get by. But isn’t the shaky foundation of the social system outside the school’s walls—marked by poverty, broken homes and lack of opportunity—a set-up for failure? World Premiere.
HERB & DOROTHY / USA, 2008, 85 minutes (Director: Megumi Sasaki)—He’s a postal clerk. She’s a librarian. Despite their modest means, the unassuming pair are the most important contemporary art collectors you’ve never heard of. Meet Herbert and Dorothy Vogel, whose shared passion and discipline defied stereotypes and redefined what it means to be a patron of the arts. World Premiere.
IN THE FAMILY / USA, 2008, 83 minutes (Director: Joanna Rudnick)—Would you surrender your ability to give life if you knew it might save your own? A genetic test has told 27-year-old Joanna Rudnick that she will most likely develop breast and ovarian cancer. Now she must decide if she will take the pre-emptive step of having her breasts and ovaries removed. US Premiere.
KASSIM THE DREAM / USA, 2008, 87 minutes (Director: Kief Davidson)—Kassim Ouma was born in Uganda, kidnapped by the rebel army and trained to be a child soldier at age 6. After a decade of warfare, he defected and began a new life in the U.S., quickly becoming a world champion boxer. Kief Davidson captures Ouma’s passions, tragedies, victories, and emotional and geographic journeys.
PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL / USA, 2008, 72 minutes (Director: Gini Reticker)— An inspiring chronicle of the thousands of Liberian women who peacefully ended the war in their country that killed over 250,000 people. Non-violent protests, sit-ins, and organizational acumen resulted in disarmament and the 2005 election of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
TROUBLE THE WATER / USA, 2008, 95 minutes (Directors: Tia Lessin and Carl Deal)—Kimberly Roberts bought a camcorder off the street for $20 just a week before Hurricane Katrina hit her hometown of New Orleans. Veteran filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal weave together Roberts’ footage with their own into an evocative dialogue that reveals a powerful, heart-wrenching, infuriating and ultimately inspiring survival story.
WORLD FEATURE COMPETITION
COMEBACK / Germany, 2007, 79 minutes (Director: Maximilian Plettau)—German boxer Jürgen Hartenstein is a 35-year-old former middleweight champion hoping to re-enter the sport in this quiet and lovingly crafted film. Max Plettau’s camera unobtrusively follows Hartenstein as he struggles to revive his career. Hartenstein’s gentle demeanor and unassuming lifestyle elevate his ambition to a noble quest that we are privileged to witness. North American Premiere.
CORRIDOR #8 / Bulgaria, 2008, 74 minutes (Director: Boris Despodov)—The saying “you can’t get there from here” never rang more true than in this fabulously droll road trip across Bulgaria, Albania and Macedonia on Corridor #8—the Balkan antithesis of Route 66. This massive infrastructure project, commissioned by the EU, was designed to connect the Black and Adriatic seas and lift the economic hopes of the working-class residents along its route. But a decade and millions of euros later, little progress has been made.
THE ENGLISH SURGEON / United Kingdom/Ukraine, 2007, 94 minutes (Director: Geoffrey Smith)—British neurosurgeon Henry Marsh resides in South London, but he spends several weeks a year in Ukraine performing surgeries with the crudest of tools in a country where neurosurgery barely exists. His skills have saved innumerable lives, yet Dr. Marsh refuses to slow down until he’s saved every possible life. East Coast Premiere.
FOUR WIVES – ONE MAN / Iran, 2007, 76 minutes (Director: Nahid Persson)—A poignant, occasionally hilarious, often harrowing glimpse into an institution oft undertaken but rarely understood—marriage. As the title suggests, this is no conventional marriage, with four wives, dozens of children, and one domineering mother-in-law, all competing for the attention of one man. North American Premiere.
HEAD WIND / Iran, 2008, 65 minutes (Director: Mohammad Rasoulof)—If satellite dishes are illegal in Iran, then why are so many Iranians watching Hollywood blockbusters? This fascinating film reveals a fast-growing subculture determined to gain access to Western media by any means necessary. Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Rasoulof illuminates the growing disparity between what Iranians want and what their Islamic leaders will allow.
THE INFINITE BORDER / Mexico, 2007, 90 minutes (Director: Juan Manuel Sepúlveda)—Some migrants exude a determination that points less to the promise of a bright future and more to an escape from a troubled past. In this visually stunning yet unromantic account of their journey, migrants face starvation and dismemberment on the road from Central America to Mexico and finally to the United States. US Premiere.
MECHANICAL LOVE / Denmark, 2007, 79 minutes (Director: Phie Ambo)—How far we are prepared to go when human intimacy becomes a rare commodity? Robots promise to make our lives easier, but for some people they can be a stand-in for human affection. This fascinating film explores the intimate and complex relationships between people and therapeutic robots. US Premiere.
MILOSEVIC ON TRIAL / Denmark, 2007, 69 minutes (Director: Michael Christofferson)—When former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic was on trial for crimes against humanity, he acted as his own counsel; his most masterful move in the trial was when he died from a heart attack. Michael Christoffersen captures the trial and its defendant, from its historic beginnings to its bizarre end.
MY LIFE INSIDE / Mexico, 2007, 120 minutes (Director: Lucia Gaja)—The tragic story of Rosa, a Mexican citizen living illegally in Texas, addresses the contentious issue of illegal immigration and the pitfalls of the judicial system. Accused of murdering a child under her care, Rosa must battle a system that is as foreign to her as she is to it.
THE RED RACE / China/Germany, 2008, 70 minutes (Director: Chao Gan)—Against the backdrop of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and escalating international condemnation over Chinese policies from Tibet to Darfur, THE RED RACE presents a microscopic insight into the Chinese passion for gymnastics. In training centers, there’s no time for childish games as these aspiring Olympians carry their parents’ and their country’s dreams on their tiny shoulders. World Premiere.
BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY AWARD
HI MY NAME IS RYAN / USA, 2008, 78 minutes (Directors: Paul Eagleston and Stephen Rose)—Cherubic 19-year-old alt-culture renaissance man Ryan Avery is the best thing that happened to the downtown Phoenix art scene since native son Alice Cooper. Though Avery seems destined for an artist’s life, he’s grappling with a different calling. A devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he has chosen to forgo his madcap antics for a religious mission. Yet, with what some might call a god-given gift, Avery must learn to reconcile his two competing callings. North American Premiere.
LA PALOMA / Germany/France, 2008, 88 minutes (Director: Sigrid Faltin)—Long before corporate distribution and file-sharing fused music with globalization, songs traversed the globe. LA PALOMA follows Sebastián de Iradier’s 1861 song, La Paloma, from the Basque country to Latin America, Hawaii, back to Europe, and finally to Africa. In each country, the tune remained while the meaning changed dramatically.
LIFE. SUPPORT. MUSIC. / USA, 2008, 79 minutes (Director: Eric Daniel Metzgar)—At 34, Jason Kriglin has found his calling: making music. He’s still working at making a living, but he’s found the love of his life. Suddenly, a massive stroke leaves him in a vegetative state. This is a story of his tenacity, the power of familial love, and how music inspires and gives voice to that which words cannot.
SONG SUNG BLUE / USA, 2008, 87 minutes (Director: Greg Kohs)—Decked out in sequined outfits, Mike & Claire Sardina, AKA “Lighting & Thunder,” play to hooting crowds at Milwaukee bars and clubs. But when a freak accident leaves Claire immobile, their Vegas dreams are replaced by a reality of rehabilitation, unpaid bills, drug addiction and lost hopes. Will Lightning only strike once?
THROW DOWN YOUR HEART / USA, 2008, 97 minutes (Director: Sascha Paladino)—American banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck travels to Africa to explore the little-known roots of the instrument and record an album. Fleck’s riveting journey takes him through Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali, where he transcends the barriers of language and culture through a shared passion for music.
WILD COMBINATION / USA, 2008, 71 minutes (Director: Matt Wolf)—This visually absorbing film looks at the seminal avant-garde composer, singer-songwriter, cellist and disco producer Arthur Russell. Before his AIDS-related death, Russell created music that spanned pop and the transcendent possibilities of abstract art—a legacy that richly deserves this hip and hypnotic visual tone poem.
2008 SPONSORS. Founding: CPB; Leadership: Comcast, Entertainment Weekly; Official Providers: American Airlines, Courtyard by Marriott; Downtown Silver Spring; Gibson Guitar; Lipton Pure Leaf; Toyota; Official Media: Current TV; The Gazette; Maryland Public Television; WAMU-88.5; Washington City Paper; Washington Life
About SILVERDOCS
The SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival honors excellence in filmmaking, supports the diverse voices and free expression of independent storytellers and celebrates the power of documentary to improve our understanding of the world. Now in its sixth year, the festival runs June 16-23 at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in the Washington, DC area, and has expanded by two days to meet growing demand. The 2007 Festival featured 100 films from 43 countries presented to over 21,000 attendees, including the influential audiences of the nation’s capital and media professionals from around the world. The concurrent five-day SILVERDOCS International Documentary Conference presents thought-provoking presentations and engages a diverse group of over 1,000 filmmakers and industry leaders concerned with the future of non-fiction storytelling, production and distribution. For more information, go to www.SILVERDOCS.com.
About the American Film Institute
AFI is a national institute providing leadership in screen education and the recognition and celebration of excellence in the art of film, television and digital media. Additional information about AFI is available at AFI.com.
About Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications is the world’s number-one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 170 countries. Discovery empowers people to explore their world and satisfy their curiosity through 100-plus worldwide networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Investigation Discovery and HD Theater, as well as leading consumer and educational products and services, and a diversified portfolio of digital media services including HowStuffWorks.com. Discovery Communications is owned by Discovery Holding Company (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB), Advance/Newhouse Communications and John S. Hendricks, Discovery’s founder and chairman. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.