This Thursday sees the start of the
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the world's
biggest documentary festival. IDFA will once again screen nearly 300
documentaries at various locations on and around Amsterdam's Rembrandt Square,
from 19 to 29 November. And, just like last year, IDFA's dedicated new media
programme Doc Lab will be entirely devoted to new forms of documentary.
The Internet and new media are more than
just new ways of, for example, reaching out to audiences and getting them
engaged in film. They offer new opportunities for telling documentary stories
and mapping new realities. Doc Lab 2009 will be presenting a selection of
new media projects ? both online and at live cinema screenings ? along with
presentations, discussions and workshops.
Today sees the launch of the new Doc Lab
website (www.doclab.org), where
visitors can view some of the program online. The website will also be displayed
on large screens in the Doc Lab Lounge for the duration of IDFA.
The
central theme of Doc Lab 2009 is Live Stories. Makers of interactive
web documentaries will be creating new versions of their projects, live in the
cinema in Amsterdam. Doc Lab's special guest is Ira Glass, producer and
presenter of the renowned documentary show This American
Life.
Here are some of the highlights of the Doc
Lab program.
Special Guest: Ira
Glass
Master storyteller Ira Glass will give a
presentation on aural documentaries, and in a live showcase in the cinema he
will screen some of the highlights from This American Life
(www.thislife.org).
Presentation: Saturday 21 November at 1.30pm in the
Escape Club on Rembrandt Square.
Showcase: Saturday 21 and November at
10.30pm in Tuchinski 4.
Man with a Movie Camera, the IDFA
Remake
The American artist Perry Bard is making a
new version of Dziga Vertov's documentary classic Man with a Movie Camera,
together with filmmakers and the IDFA audience. Anyone can take part, at
www.idfa.nl/doclab.
Live Cinema
Screenings
Web documentary filmmakers will each
be creating a live version of their own interactive film. Participants include
Alexandre Brachet (www.gazasderot.com) and David Lynch?s son Austin Lynch
(Interview Project).
21 to 25 November, daily from about 10.30pm (approx.),
Tuschinski 4.
Doc Lab presentation
Presentation led by Hans Maarten van den Brink, featuring the
Yellowbird 360° camera technique, Echt Gebeurd (True Story), the Dutch version
of The Moth, and more.
Tuesday 24 November at 1.30pm in the Escape Club. Free
admission.
Doc Lab Party
IDFA?s new-media party with live performances by the electro-pop
duo Little Pictures (New Zealand) and the mashup DJs Excuse My Tourette
(Belgium).
Tuesday 24 November at 10pm in de Escape
Club.
And lots more besides!
For full details of Doc Lab events and
activities, go to www.doclab.org/events
Yours
sincerely,
Caspar Sonnen (Doc Lab programmer)
Contact
information
For further information about Doc Lab, please visit www.idfa.nl/doclab or contact us at doclab@idfa.nl. For information about IDFA in general and the rest of this year's festival program, please visit www.idfa.nl or contact us at info@idfa.nl.
Follow Doc Lab on Facebook.
Follow
Doc Lab on Twitter.