Doxa (δόξα) is a Greek word meaning common belief or popular opinion

A pleasant surprise for our 3pm screening of Cathleen Smith's 'Here Are the News' about the incredible life of Miss Edith Josie. I would say the theatre was at least half full, and the audience participated in an enjoyable Q&A following the show. Definately a treat for Cathleen after 10 years of working on the project.

http://doxafestival.ca/festival/films/here_are_the_news.html

I was one of 5 editors on this project as it was...challenging. I also ended up with a Co-Producer credit as I helped acquire the completion funding from CBC North with the help of Gary Marcuse while he was still at CBC BC. It also had funding from Canada Council, NFB FAP, and Yukon Film. Apparently all the previous money went into filming (too much footage) and as usual, none saved for proper post-production. Here we are and much still needs to be done. Fingers crossed that Bruce Cowley at the Documentary Channel takes the program.

DOXA is a sweet festival of the documentary skew. After Amsterdam http://www.idfa.nl/ and http://www.hotdocs.ca/ the Vancouver festival of documentary had little new to offer on it's program. Likely this is due to programmers now accessing the IDFA online database of submissions rather than sifting through the thousands of submissions that come off the street.

It is a brilliant process of elimination and I learned much from the slews of people in Amsterdam trying to keep all of the non-fiction straight. (often such complex stories compared to the scripted feature) Being nominated in our category for http://www.petalsthejourney.com/ as well as being in the festival alone got us even further toward the top of the list, and it was an amazing thing to grasp as a filmmaker.

Most screenings at this year's DOXA were well attended, and Vancouver continues to embrace festival of film for the opportunities they provide as far as access to the unusual. Toronto was as supportive of HotDocs and ticket sales inspire me to no end considering how far the genre has come in public opinion.

Next year I hope to take in some more Doxa forum talks and films.

Sorority Wars EPK

Wrapped EPK production on Sorority Wars for Lifetime last night. It is a mentionably wonderful cast they have compiled including Faith Ford, Courtney Thorne-Smith and Lucy Hale. All truly wonderful interviews. The crew's exausted expressions revealed how close they are to wrapping the show and they will see a couple months of well deserved time off. It is a blessing in this case that there isn't another show lined up until the Lifetime mini-series that starts filming on the island mid-August.

Our EPK materials will primarily end up on http://www.mylifetime.com/ and I think we can all learn from their extensive online presence. Considering how much our crew cost for the 2 days, it was a magnificient investment on their part. Not something Canada has really grasped just yet.

This week I complete the edit of the Treaty signing for the Huu-Ay-Aht Nation and clear the plate for next week's show in Vancouver. The end of the epic month of screenings. Hurrah. I'm hoping we can pursue the Huu Ay Aht story with them and work in partnership to produce the story of their journey to this day when they have erradicated the oppressive and racist Indian Act from their lives.

Held over is Vancouver and Toronto is Velcrow Ripper's Fierce Light. I encourage everyone to support this film while it is in theatres as you are doing more by buying your ticket than just going to a show. You are demonstrating Canada's interest in it's own creations. That is worth much more than $10 in our industry. http://www.fiercelight.org/

Vancouver Shows in May

Ahead we are now planning for the Vancouver screening of the Edith Josie film at Doxa http://www.doxafestival.ca/festival/films/here_are_the_news.html

followed up with a performance by our favorite groups http://www.gangagiri.com/ at the Red Room. I turn 28 the night of the 28th and I can't think of any better way to celebrate after this crazy month of screenings.

I would call the test screening of 'I'm a Witch, So What' at the http://www.gaiagathering.ca/ a resounding success. Overall what I heard was that there is much to say, and there has yet to be a definitive documentary made on the subject. I am excited to see what materialized within the community regarding the documentary project that we are witnessing evolve.

Petals has just been invited to screen at the Kos Festival in Greece where we are also hopeful for a television license. Our friend Jan at http://www.filmstransit.com/ is working hard to bring this project to the world and we are all confident in his heralding abilities. For more about Petals please visit http://www.petalsthejourney.com/

The Immortal Beaver Screens in Victoria

Our theatre was sold out well before the scheduled start time and we turned away at least 20 more people at the door. Not only did everyone by 6 people stay for a Q&A afterward but we sold all of the 30 DVDs we brought to the show.



The audience was conducting a collective conversation in advance of the screening, and we soon realized that we were amongst a large number of aviation legends.


We had the pleasure of meeting the daughter of one of the designers of the plane and invited her along with one of the film's characters, Ted Gerow, Director of Aircraft Maintenance at Viking Air, to join us for the post screening discussion. The feedback was wonderful and it feels like a film this is a film of importance in Canada's archive.

www.theimmortalbeaver.com

HotDocs

A week that didn't dissapoint in Toronto. My favorite festival was a little slim on the open bar, dance floor receptions this year but it was temendous none-the-less. http://www.hotdocs.ca/

The 2 films I managed to see were remarkably groundbreaking.

http://burmavjcom.title.dk/

http://schedule.hotdocs.ca/index.php/2009/film/antoine

The forum was packed with great projects and every talk was inspiring and eye openning. I encourage anyone interested to view them on the hot docs website as they did a good job of documenting everything.

Man on Wire on Fire

Oestre weekend saw many films pass in front of me (thank you rainy weather) and I am still thinking about www.manonwire.com .  Superb filmmaking.  Absolutely superb.  James Marsh is my new idol.  He's crafted a film unlike many in terms of form and content, reinventing storytelling for the documentary genre, and with relatively few credits to his name.   I feel my theories about instinctive filmmaking are being proven by Marsh.  Or maybe it's the editing background that lends to a director's eye?   I can hope...

Now Religulous on the other hand...

I had high hopes for this film, as it is a topic obviously of interest to me, and full of potential.  Lazy jump cuts, lousy journalism, and absolutely zero verisimilitude.  Larry Charles took the words of his subjects and contorted this film into a one-sided narrative that rarely lets anyone speak but Maher.  Only in a few moments is anyone actually allowed to discuss any of his points and the one time he was stooped (by Jesus, no less) he rebutted in the car the next day.  Hardly fair?

Not that anyone can really disagree with his rant, but in this medium there are many more ways to make a point more powerfully than with an approach that can only be aimed at audiences already on side.  And what's the point of that Bill?  They wondered why they didn't win an Oscar?  I'd say it was because their egos and budgets were too high to allow for the creative spirit to run through.

And so last week's announcement of the implementation of the plan for the Great Bear Rainforest was not smothered all over the news as it could have been.  Yet we have now completed revision of the previous video we produced on the project 3 years ago for www.bcfii.ca .   

"Filmmaking" in Victoria

The universe has decided we will not screen our Doc Challenge entry at Hot Docs. Or maybe it was really the judges decision. A very strong US showing in the programming and only 1 Canadian doc. The point of these competitions for me is more about initiating production, and that we did- so I count it a success.

I'm not sure of the future for this wee glimmer of documentary, but I'm sure a reason will appear for our non-selection sometime in the future.

Perhaps at the Pagan conference http://www.gaiagathering.ca/ happenning this year in Vancouver at UBC. (conveniently located next to my favorite beach) "I'm a Witch - So What?" has been invited to screen in a longer version that I have yet to create - the evening of May 18. It will take a good think to make this 7 minute film into 20 specifically because it is a Pagan audience and from what I can tell, they truly enjoy discourse.

Meanwhile, it is the fiscal year end here in BC's capitol city. It's that special time of year where any leftovers in the coffers are spent in a hurry, often on small video projects.

This year also coincides with a rather monumental announcement for our friends at http://www.moresbyconsulting.com/ who have been involved in negotiating a plan for the Great Bear Rainforest for well over 10 years now. It's one of my favorite corporates from what we've done. You can watch it at http://www.coastforestconservationinitiative.com/mini_site.html and I will post the revised one here in the next couple of weeks. It's amazing that this deal was reached between industry, environmental groups (almost all of them) and First Nations and everybody is happy.

The media blitz is currently underway at the Parliament Buildings. While the crew covers that I tinker away at a training program for Aboriginal Health Care = filmmaking in Victoria.