ACT ONE, SCENE TWO

EXT. DAY. WASHINGTON, DC (hot, HUMID!)

INT. DAY GEO. WASHINGTON UNIV. ELLIOT SCHOOL FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

(FANTASTIC!!)

The Documentary Center at GWU hosted an exciting and extremely interesting gathering of filmmakers, film students, and international programming experts for the all-day meeting. The State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (BECA) staff were there along with Betsy McLane and Susan Ruch to lead us through the day-long seminar and briefing.

About a third of the 2010 American Documentary Showcase filmmakers and experts were on hand--Karen Rodriguez ("Notes on Liberty"), Aaron Wolf ("King Corn"), Kim Snyder ("Welcome to Shelbyville"), Doan Hoag ("Oh, Saigon"), M.K. Asante, Jr., David Novack ("Burning the Future: Coal in America"), Niklas Vollmer ("Reading the Water"), and Oscar Nominee, Rebecca Camissa ("Which Way Home"). A few of the 2009 filmmakers were there, too! Ben Niles ("Note By Note: The Making of Steinway L1037"), Alex Rotaru, Alice Elliot ("Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy), and of course, me.

We began with the AmDoc filmmakers gathering in a circle--and each doc-maker introducing themselves, their films, a bit about their own personal history, and plans for the Showcase. Several of the experts and filmmakers have already traveled abroad on behalf of the program and each took a turn talking about their experience. Since the program is offered to Embassies worldwide, each much not only select the film title and filmmaker, but must also pro-offer a program of activity that maximizes exposure of the work and its author(s). The entire thrust of the effort is to engage artists as cultural diplomats--bridging political and culture gaps through the shared (and universal) language of film.

[ The "expert" is there to facilitate discussion that helps place the films in the context of documentary cinema, as well as highlight the fact that many controversial subjects/issues are shared by people worldwide (such as health care, environment, immigration). The filmmaker is there to discuss her/his work and, hopefully, engage the audience in a way that can have lasting ("transformative") effects. When more than one film is chosen, but the filmmaker is not present the "expert" takes over and promotes that film as well.]

We learned that once, in-country, the delegation is usually scheduled back-to-back for events that include screenings at high schools, universities, film festivals, as well as workshops and other gatherings that are open to the public. Staff from the Embassy escort the delegations from one location to another and where necessary, security is provided. We were told our medial/health coverage begins from the moment we stepped onto the plane to the moment we returned. And of course, all shots, passport and Visas preparations have to be dealt with in as far in advance as possible by each delegate.

The Embassy provides funds for meals and hotels (receipts for everything!) and of course everyone was asked to take pictures and video to document their stay but to also keep journals for a final report each delegate was obliged to make. (We were treated to a lot of the photos and several videos while the sessions progressed.) It was also stressed how important it was for each member of a delegation to do their homework on the host country; its cultures, geography, film schools, filmmakers--and that once confirmed, commitment to the schedule of dates is a serious one because Embassy staff and their partners go to great lengths to put these activities together.

Most of the delegations who traveled were interviewed by local media, so part of the briefing was conducted by the State Department's Media Relations group manager. Again and again it was stressed that we're not "policy makers" but as citizens we have the right to our own opinions--and certainly the divergent subject matter of the films underscores that the notion that we're there to engage different communities in dialogue about film. There was a strong interest in taking advantage of any opportunity that might arise to meet with local and/or regional documentary makers--and the ADS and State staff were much interested in making that a permanent part of the experience.

After a box lunch break the folks at GW brought in student fellows from the International Documentary Fellowship program. Now this was interesting--you have some of the top documentary filmmakers in the country in the same room with some of the top student filmmakers from abroad! Burkina Faso, Nicaragua, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Brazil, Armenia, Lamlaysia, Kenya, Pakistan, South Africa, Columbia, Egypt, Nepal, Cambodia, Chana, Kyrgyzstan, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, and--Rwanda! So--another round of introductions and off we go again!

I met this interesting young man from Rwanda (Olivier Uwayezu) who traveled many many miles to take part in this fellowship program. I hope to stay in contact with him as we come nearer to our arrival in his home country. All serious filmmakers they have just 6-weeks to research, produce, and edit a short documentary that will be screened in important venues in DC and NYC, as well as attend workshops and discussions, including the SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival, and the International Documentary Festival in the latter part of June. The young many from Zimbabwe (Simon deSwardt) was working on a film about folks who were organizing an effort to gather human hair to be used to help combat the oil spill in Louisiana. What a timely subject!

So after a full and exhausting (in a good way) day, I headed back to my hotel. Somewhere around M Street I got a call that dinner had been moved up from 7 PM to that moment, so I U-turned and found Besty, Susan (from State) Sandra, Niklas, and Alex at a nice little Italian restaurant across from the their hotel.

So...a day late (updating the Blog) but not a dollar short! Now off to the DC Historical Society to begin research on another documentary!