News & Events
October 2008
DI Named Top Ten Program
Noting its “outstanding reputation” and its award-winning student films, The Independent recently named the Documentary Institute in its review of the best programs for documentary filmmakers,
The Academics of Documentary: The Top Ten
WIFT Supports Jessie's Dad
A successful pitch to Women in Film and Television in Florida garners a scholarship grant for Jessie’s Dad. Co-director Rebecca Goldman recently learned that she, and co-director Boaz Dvir, will receive $1,500 toward the completion of their student thesis film. Jessie’s Dad has also been invited to screen at a future WIFT event.
September 2008
Featured Alum: Sean Lewis
Sean Lewis
DI Class: 2004
Thesis Film: In the Pit
Current Job: Cameraperson and Editor for True Vision Productions
Sean Lewis works for True Vision Productions in London, England. Since 1996, True Vision has won many prestigious awards for its documentaries, including 7 Emmies.
Q: How long have you been with True Vision?
I have been at True Vision since I arrived in London 3 years ago.
Q: What drew you to True Vision’s approach to documentary?
I have an enormous amount of respect for the films True Vision makes. I believe that the campaigning documentary is incredibly powerful to enact change.
Q: What sort of projects have you been involved with at True Vision?
I’ve worked on the following films:
I4I: 3 Minute Wonders (Online Editor)
Dispatches: Undercover in Tibet (Covert camera design and technical supervisor)
Dispatches: China’s Stolen Children (Covert camera design and technical supervisor)
Bulgaria’s Abandoned Children (Editor, cameraperson)
Building a Dream: The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy (HD production coordinator, cameraperson)
Evicted (Assistant editor, cameraperson)
A World Without Water (Assistant editor)
Q: What are some of the most valuable experiences that you took from the Documentary Institute?
The most valuable things I took from the Documentary Institute would be: 1.) How to construct a good story, 2.) Finding good characters and learning how to get the most out of them, and 3.) A good historical base (it is always good to know what others have done before you).
Q: Are there any moments that you filmed during a project that stand out for any reason?
I am always grateful when we get one of those very intimate scenes with a contributer. I always take pause and think ‘these people are allowing me into their lives in a way that they may not let their own family’.
Q: True Visions films deal with some huge social issues. What has it been like on a personal level delving into such issues and how has it affected you?
You cannot help but be affected by these films. Unfortunately, when you are shooting you have to compartmentalise the emotions that come rushing forward. When I was filming Bulgaria’s Abandoned Children we had a moment when one of the children had a broken leg. The staff being ignorant oafs proceeded to manipulate the fracture. Vaskey (the child) was wailing the entire time, her screams literally echoed of the walls. As an undercover cameraperson I could not step in and throttle the staff as I would have wanted to, so I had to carry on filming. This scene in particular shocked the public here and in every country Abandoned was shown. In the end, the outrage was targeted to enact change. You can watch Abandoned in its entirety here and see what the film has accomplished.
Q: As a cameraperson and editor, what are the relationships you have with the subjects you are filming like?
I always develop a relationship with my contributer. I personally feel that if they are going to be open and honest with me I should do the same. That is not to say I refrain from challenging them.
Q: What has been the most inspiring project you’ve worked on thus far?
Abandoned and I4I _were my favorites (Murka’s film is my favorite). http://www.i4i.org.uk/
DI Day at FLIFF
The Documentary Institute will help kick off the upcoming Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival. FLIFF is hosting a “DI Day” as part of its opening week festivities at Cinema Paradiso on Thursday, October 16.
The event, organized by FLIFF President & CEO and Gator alum Gregory von Hausch, will feature two DI films that are sure to be a hit with a Florida audience. Gimme Green, produced by 2006 graduates Isaac Brown and Eric Flagg, provides a look at America’s obsession with lawns; while Key West Cock Tales, produced by 2005 graduates Christa Carnell, Michelle Phillips and Craig Roberts, is a humorous look at a town divided between chicken lovers and chicken haters, and the subsequent struggles of the nation’s first “Chicken Catcher.”
In addition to being Florida’s top rated festival, The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival is the world’s longest film festival and the oldest consecutively running Florida festival.
The event will begin with a reception at 5 p.m., followed by introductions and film screenings at 6 p.m.
A Generous Gift to the Institute
Students honor professor emeritus Mickie Edwardson.
The annual Documentary Institute dinner party is always a highlight of the Fall semester, but this year’s event was even more memorable as DI faculty and students took the opportunity to thank a special guest, professor emeritus Mickie Edwardson. Upon hearing the news earlier this year that the DI would suffer a budget cut due to the state’s financial crisis, Edwardson stepped forward and generously contributed $20,000 to the funding of student films. She noted her support of the Institute was prompted by her appreciation of the documentary genre, and by the success the DI program has achieved in a relatively short period of time.
In a very tight budget year, Edwardson’s gift makes it possible for the Institute to continue funding student thesis projects. “Mickie Edwardson introduced documentary to the College of Journalism and Communications,” said co-director Churchill Roberts. “I don’t need to say how supportive she has been. Her actions speak louder than words.”
DI Grad at Urbanworld
2002 DI graduate, Bianca White’s latest production,URSULA RUCKER: POET, recently premiered at the 2008 Urbanworld Film Festival in New York.
August 2008
DI Production Awarded Yavitz Foundation Grant
When Col. Ilan Ramon, Israel’s first astronaut, climbed aboard the ill-fated Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003, he carried a moonscape drawing by Petr Ginz, an artist and writer who perished as a teenager at Auschwitz.
To help the Documentary Institute produce a film about Ginz, whose diary surfaced after the Columbia explosion, the Miami-based Jerome A. Yavitz Charitable Foundation has pledged $200,000.
“We hope the story of Petr Ginz will inspire children around the world,” said Sandra Dickson, co-director of the Institute. “In the midst of the Holocaust, Petr showed how the human spirit can prevail. His writings and drawings are his legacy and his gift to the world.”
Foundation trustee Stephen Cypen, a 1965 UF graduate, will become executive producer of The Last Flight of Petr Ginz, which the institute plans to complete in two years.
“Steve Cypen is a great friend of UF,” said Churchill Roberts, co-director of the institute. “He’s given to the Jewish Studies program, to the restoration of Newell Hall, to Hillel of Gainesville. We couldn’t ask for a better fit.”
A Cool Summer
Lindsey Clark shows off her new Nat Geo accessories.
Not every DI student decides to do a summer internship, but those who decided to do so this summer landed some pretty cool stints. DI students interned for esteemed filmmakers such as Errol Morris and Barbara Koppel as well as with independent producers and National Geographic. Here’s what the students had to say in their “letters home.”
Lindsey Clark
I’m interning at National Geographic in Washington, D.C. in the editorial development department for television. My main task is research. Anything from finding fast facts on sharks to finding experts on Hainan gibbons. I am also participating, with a group of interns, in a talent search to find a new host for a new series.
Shooting Begins on Ginz Film
DI Co-Director Sandra Dickson interviews Chava Pressburger, the sister of Petr Ginz.
After months of rights negotiations and research, a group of DI faculty recently traveled to Israel to begin principal shooting on the latest Institute film, The Last Flight of Petr Ginz. The film will tell the story of artistic and literary prodigy, Petr Ginz. By 14 he had written five novels and penned a diary about the Nazi occupation of Prague. By 16 he had produced 120 drawings and paintings, edited an underground magazine in the Theresienstadt Ghetto, written numerous short stories and had walked to the gas chamber at Auschwitz.
The crew went to Israel to interview Chava Pressburger, the sister of Petr Ginz, and Jehuda Bacon, one of the last people to see Petr before he died at Auschwitz.
June 2008
SilverDocs Get Together
DI faculty, students and alumni took time out at Silverdocs to participate in an informal reunion. The gathering allowed alums like Development Director Genevieve Croteau and Producer Annie Danzi (above) to renew old ties and provided DI students interning in the area with the opportunity to meet several of the alums working in and around DC. For the DI faculty, it was a chance to get an industry insiders perspective from their former students now working at both large production entities such as National Geographic and at smaller independent productions houses.
