Cinematical reviews the Iraq War documentary Body of War, directed by former talk show host Phil Donahue and filmmaker Ellen Spiro. Read an interview with the filmmakers, along with Tomas Young, the Iraq War veteran who is the subject of the film, at Democracy Now!
The New York Times reviewed Benson Lee's Planet B-Boy, a documentary about break dancers who compete in an international competition. The Times calls the film "fun, sometimes thrilling and packed with illuminating details and striking personalities." In a longer review, film blog The House Next Door describes the various rivalries that erupt at the international break dancing championships, and says that Lee's "sense of pacing may be straight out of an ESPN highlight reel, but his dramatic scope is novelistic." Planet B-Boy is playing in New York and Los Angeles.
PBS program Frontline is airing Bush's War, a two-part special that tells the story of how the Iraq war began and how it has been fought, both on the ground and deep inside the government. Watch the full program on Frontline's website.
Independent Magazine has a number of articles on distribution for independent filmmakers. Michele Meek reviews four few internet distribution venues, including MovieFlix and Jamon, to gauge how favorable they are to filmmakers. Erin Trahan interviews Patrick Kwiakowski, CEO of indie distributor Microcinema, about how to get a short film distributed, and why he still believes in DVDs. Finally, Cynthia Close, the executive director of Documentary Education Resources, writes an open letter to filmmakers seeking distribution with useful advice about doing their research and submitting to festivals.
And finally, SpoutBlog interviews AJ Schnack, founder of the Cinema Eye Awards, and Jason Kohn, maker of the Cinema Eye Award-winning Manda Bala, on its podcast, FilmCouch.
WATCHING
MediaStorm presents Rape of a Nation, Marcus Bleasdale's photos from the D.R.C.
Growing Up Online Is the Internet changing the experience of childhood? Frontline looks at the way kids are spending their time online..
READING
Pirates of Sundance: Columbia Law prof Tim Wu recommends indie filmmakers look to BitTorrent for distribution. Via Slate.com
Rabbi "live-blogs" the PBS documentary The Jewish Americans on his blog The Unorthodox Rabbi (from PBS Engage)
AJ Schnack reflects on some of the music documentaries he saw at Sundance, including Patti Smith: Dream of Life.
WATCHING
Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita Frontline looks at the stem cell research debate.
Comedian Mark Malkoff lived in an IKEA store for six days and six nights.
READING
Sundance 2008 Deals
Frequently updated list of films that have found distribution at Sundance (From Spout blog)
P.O.V. alum Alex Rivera (The Sixth Section, 2003) is one of Variety's 10 Directors to Watch.
Taxi To the Dark Side director Alex Gibney talks to The Reeler about his film, which looks at the U.S. military's use of torture.
Sundance shrinks from the web as online video explodes (from Wired)
Each week, we'll highlight links from the "Watching" and "Reading" sidebars on the right side of the page.
WATCHING
9500 Liberty
Thanks to the Utne Reader blog for pointing out this extraordinary interactive documentary that truly "elevates the immigration debate." Watch videos.
Frontline
Examine why the 2000 Oslo Accords almost succeeded, and ultimately failed in "Shattered Dreams of Peace."
Mortal Kombat
MIT academic Henry Jenkins weighs in on the controversial new documentary about violence and video games that is roiling gamers.
READING
IndieWire
P.O.V. alumna Jessica Yu (In the Realms of the Unreal, P.O.V. 2006) talks about her latest documentary project, Protagonist, which opened in New York City on November 30.
With so much video and multimedia on the web, how do you figure out what to watch? P.O.V. Blog's Media Guide is here to recommend some of our favorite online videos.
If you're looking to watch online journalism at its finest, a good place to get started is with the list of winners from the recent News and Documentary Emmy Awards, which recognized outstanding achievements in journalism for broadband.
Mediastorm's Kingsley's Crossing won the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary/Nonfiction Programming for Broadband. In a beautifully produced piece, Kingsley, a 23-year-old lifeguard from Cameroon, takes the viewer through the process of leaving Africa for a chance at a better life abroad. The scale and intimacy of Kingsley's Crossing works especially well as an online piece, as it uses still photographs, video, title cards and first-person narration to create an engaging 20-minute segment. Photojournalist Olivier Jobard, who captured the photographs and videos used in the piece, clearly established a trusting relationship with Kingsley, and their collaboration has created a thought-provoking online documentary.
More Emmy winners after the jump...
