How a Small Maine Town Turned Into a Mecca for Awards-Seeking Documentary Filmmakers :

How a Small Maine Town Turned Into a Mecca for Awards-Seeking Documentary Filmmakers

Following premieres in their ultra-modern documentaries at main awards-circuit festivals, veteran filmmakers Liz Garbus, Robert Greene, and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi headed to a small, faraway village at the coast of Maine – hours from the main airport. The trio made the trek so they might attend the seventeenth version of the Camden Intl. Film Festival. Each delivered with them their Oscar-contending docus — “Becoming Cousteau,” “Procession” and “The Rescue,” respectively. Fresh off showings at Telluride and the Toronto movie fests, Garbus’ ‘Becoming Cousteau” kicked off CIFF, which changed into held in-individual Sept. 16-19 and keeps on line till Sept. 26. During its first weekend, a who’s who of the docu community — consisting of Oscar winner Alex Gibney, Cinetic Media founder and essential John Sloss, former Sundance Institute CEO Keri Putnam, NBC News Studios’ head of documentary Molly O’Brien and POV government director Erika Dilday — will be visible at numerous competition venues withinside the Penobscot Bay cities of Camden, Rockport and Rockland. Kathryn Everett, XTR head of movie, served as a panelist on CIFF’s Points North Fellowship pitch session, wherein six groups of filmmakers decided on for this system pitch their works-in-development to funders, manufacturers and distributors. It’s one in every of many fellowship applications tied to the competition each year. “Every platform and streamer is right here,” says Everett. “Big enterprise is going on right here.” Two styles of enterprise take place at Camden: securing budget and/or distribution and Oscar campaigning. “Because Camden is this type of lovely area there are lots of AMPAS individuals right here and there's a large documentary department access,” explains Everett. “So filmmakers get face time with folks who will be massive advocates in their movie.” In addition to “Becoming Cousteau” and “The Rescue,” National Geographic Documentary Films, that's a CIFF sponsor along Showtime Documentaries, additionally delivered Max Lowe’s “Torn” to CIFF. About mythical climber Alex Lowe, who died through avalanche, “Torn” premiered in advance this month at Telluride. Kinema head of movie Ryan Harrington government produced all 3 Nat Geo projects. Like Everett, he has noticed “increasingly more AMPAS individuals”” in attendance on the fest. But he notes that “this competition is truely an possibility to rejoice filmmakers in an idyllic, on hand placing in the front of a movie loving community.” While there's an detail of kumbaya at CIFF, there's additionally a choice amongst filmmakers to face out. “There’s a glut of films, frankly,” says Greene. “So Camden’s a extremely good vicinity to highlight a number of the first-class documentaries accessible proper now.” Camden marks Greene’s 2d competition screening of “Procession,” which garnered Oscar buzz after premiering in advance this month at Telluride. About six survivors of youth sexual abuse with the aid of using Catholic priests, “Procession” changed into obtained with the aid of using Netflix much less than per week ago. “Our (AMPAS) documentary department is truely filmmaker driven, and right here, in Camden, filmmakers come to the screenings and I suppose that that matters,” Greene says. “Obviously, we need nearby audiences to peer our movie and feature larger conversations, however it’s interesting that ultimate night time we had a packed theater (for “Procession”), complete of a number of my preferred manufacturers and directors. That supposed loads and I suppose that’s who receives enthusiastic about it and also you want the ones oldsters to get excited.” Ben Fowlie, government and creative director of the Points North Institute and founding father of CIFF, says that he wasn’t being strategic whilst he selected to maintain the fest on the release of award season. “At one factor the competition changed into later in October,” says Fowlie. “The pass to mid-September changed into truely to assist the nearby financial system bridge a season among Labor Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Later we observed that it’s a truely extremely good time due to the fact we're going on at some stage in the second one weekend of TIFF and you've lots of U.S. premieres landing. So we’ve caught with that mid-September date and truely attempted to be a counterbalance to the TIFF experience.” This year, greater than 60 filmmakers and Points North fellows had been in attendance at CIFF. While Fowlie says that this year’s software is -thirds the scale of what it might generally be, up to now CIFF 2021 is one in every of the most important in-individual documentary gatherings for the reason that begin of the pandemic

In addition to “Becoming Cousteau” and “The Rescue,” National Geographic Documentary Films, that's a CIFF sponsor along Showtime Documentaries, additionally delivered Max Lowe’s “Torn” to CIFF. About mythical climber Alex Lowe, who died thru avalanche, “Torn” premiered in advance this month at Telluride. Kinema head of movie Ryan Harrington government produced all 3 Nat Geo projects. Like Everett, he has noticed “increasingly AMPAS members”” in attendance on the fest. But he notes that “this competition is without a doubt an possibility to have fun filmmakers in an idyllic, available placing in the front of a movie loving community.”