PA NE L S FILM AS MEMOIR
Kleinert/James Center Sun Oct 4 12:00pm
We read so many memoirs in print, but what about memoirs in film format? What is it that differentiates a film as a memoir, and what is it in its craftsmanship, thought process and production that turns it into a unique work of art? The Film as Memoir panel is comprised of some of the most influential and talented filmmakers who specialize in films in the first person and have taken the concept to its highest level. Find out what motivates them, what it takes to make an impactful and successful memoir film, and how their cohorts feel about being on screen and exposed. Moderator Simon Kilmurry is the executive director of the International Documentary Association (IDA), where he oversees all IDA programs and operations, including filmmaker services, educational programs, the IDA Awards, and advocacy. Prior to IDA, he served for nine years as executive producer of POV, the PBS documentary series where he received 13 Emmy Awards, more than 60 Emmy nominations, five Peabody Awards, and four Du Pont Columbia Awards. He also served as chief executive of American Documentary (AmDoc), POV’s non-profit parent organization. Prior, to becoming executive Alan Berliner Doug Block Gayle Kirschenbaum producer and CEO, he was AmDoc’s chief operating officer from 1999-2006. Panelists: Doug Block is an internationally acclaimed documentary director, producer and cameraman. His credits as director/producer include: 112 Weddings, The Kids Grow Up, 51 Birch Street, Home Page, and The Heck With Hollywood! Producing credits include Silverlake Life, Jupiter’s Wife, Paternal Instinct, A Walk Into the Sea, The Edge of Dreaming, and Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles. Block is also the founder and co-host of The D-Word (www.d-word.com), the leading online community and discussion forum for documentary professionals worldwide.
Gayle Kirschenbaum is an Emmy-winning filmmaker/TV producer/blogger and personality. Called “the Nora Ephron of documentaries,” Gayle has turned the camera on herself in her recent feature documentary, Look At Us Now, Mother! is about the transformation of a highly charged mother/ daughter relationship from Mommie Dearest to Dear Mom. This is the “larger version” of her short film, My Nose, in which we follow her mother’s relentless campaign to get her to have a nose job. Prior, Kirschenbaum made A Dog’s Life: A Dogamentary, about the human/canine bond.
ANIMATION: WHAT MAKES ANIMATION SO … ANIMATED?
PANELS
Alan Berliner’s uncanny ability to combine experimental cinema, artistic purpose and popular appeal in compelling film essays has made him one of America’s most acclaimed independent filmmakers. The New York Times has described Berliner’s work as “powerful, compelling and bittersweet... full of juicy conflict and contradiction, innovative in their cinematic technique, unpredictable in their structures… Berliner illustrates the power of fine art to transform life.” Berliner’s films are part of the core curriculum for documentary filmmaking and film history classes and are in the permanent collections of many colleges and museums.
Kleinert/James Center Sun Oct 4 2:00pm
What is it about an animated story that can make us laugh, or shiver with fear, or well up with tears in a uniquely profound way? From hand drawn animation by independent filmmaker, Academy Award®-nominee Bill Plympton, to computer animation and studio production by two-time Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Mark Osborne, this panel will delve into the thought process behind the artistry and the intense labor that goes into creating the final pieces. The audience will be treated to special clips from the panelists’ works, including clips from Osborne’s upcoming, highly anticipated animated film The Little Prince. Moderator Signe Baumane was born in Latvia, educated in Moscow and now lives in Brooklyn, NY. She has made 15 animated shorts and the feature film Rocks in My Pockets.
Panelists: Bill Plympton is considered the King of Indie Animation, and is the first person to hand draw an entire animated feature film. Bill began his career creating cartoons for publications such as The New York Times and National Lampoon. In 1987, he was nominated for an Oscar® for his animated short Your Face. In 2005, Bill received another Oscar® nomination, for his short Guard Dog. After producing many shorts, Bill turned his talent to feature films, making ten feature films. Seven of them, including The Tune, Hair High, and Cheatin’, are animated.
2015
Two-time Academy Award®-nominated director Mark Osborne has been telling stories with animation for more than twenty-five years. In addition to directing the first animated feature film adaptation of the classic French novella The Little Prince, released in 2015 worldwide, he was one of the directors of the critically acclaimed animated summer 2008 blockbuster Kung Fu Panda. This film broke box office records worldwide and was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature. Osborne teaches and lectures on the subject of animation worldwide and all over the US. Linda Beck is a producer and development scout with a passion for connecting artists and executives. She has produced content for children (Nickelodeon, Disney) and grown ups (History Channel, A&E, PBS) and is equally at home in both animation boutiques and major networks. Linda is co-president of ASIFA-East, the east coast chapter of the International Animated Film Association. Linda also illustrates, sews, builds props, makes art, writes, directs, animates, and is a SAG-AFTRA voiceover artist.
WoodstockFilmFestival.com
Bill Plympton
Mark Osborne
Linda Beck
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