Documentaries - Part 4

Festivals

The Oscars isn't the only institution to recognize documentaries. Far from it. The Sundance Film Festival gives both a grand jury and audience award to this category. There are also numerous influential festivals devoted entirely to documentaries.

The Doubletake Documentary Film Festival just concluded its third year. Filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus received a Career Award, and the new Industry Award was given to HBO's Shelia Nevins.

The Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival, the nation's oldest and largest showcase for international documentaries, is currently accepting submissions for its 2000 festival. Special themes for 2000 are: Chicana/o Cinema, Indian (South Asian) Film & Video, Representations of Science in Cinema, Children, Outer Space.

Online

Documetaries are available round the clock at escreeningroom.com. This web site offers free full length documentaries as seen on PBS, Discovery channel, and la cinquime.

Highly Recommended

For first-rate reading about documentaries, dig into FEED magazine's special issue. In-depth thinking that seems to be getting more and more rare on the net.

Related Features

Netlink Library - Documentaries
Foreign Film and Documentary at the Oscars
How to Rent a Great Movie

The Forum

Tell other About.com readers (and me!) about your favorite documentary--the one that nobody but you rented from the back of the videostore.