2006 festival

Opening Night Film

Sketches of Frank Gehry

(2006. USA. 84min. Directed by Sydney Pollack. Produced by Ultan Guilfoyle. A Co-Production of Mirage Enterprises, Thirteen/WNET's American Masters, Sony Pictures Classics and LM Media GmbH)
A portrait of one of the most daring architects of the twentieth century, this film goes far beyond a biographical picture, delving into the relationship between two of America's most prominent artists and the creative process that connects them. Invited by world renowned architect and friend Frank Gehry to make a film about his work, filmmaker Sydney Pollack expressed that he had never made a documentary and knew very little about architecture. To this, Gehry simply replied "that's why you're perfect." Constructed with images of his buildings, interviews with his colleagues and clients, and most importantly personal conversations with Pollack himself, the film is at once a tribute to Gehry's genius and an affectionate portrait of two friends. Intimate, layered, and luminous, Sketches of Frank Gehry represents the power of the artistic process and reminds us all of the overwhelming grace of creation. –ST
Q & A with Sydney Pollack following the screening.
Screening sponsored Capitol Broadcasting Company

2006 Career Award: Richard Leacock

Full Frame honors the work of legendary filmmaker Ricky Leacock. Colleagues Robert Drew, Albert Maysles, Ross McElwee, and D.A. Pennebaker will join Full Frame in recognizing Leacock's outstanding career as a director and cinematographer. Leacock has described his process of filmmaking as a search rather than a pre-determined process. This search for "the essence" contained in the recorded images requires the filmmaker's involvement in every stage of production—a lesson Leacock learned from working with Flaherty. Leacock's visionary filmmaking seeks to capture the essence of the places and people he comes into contact with and share these with audiences by making visual sequences. Leacock insists that he does not aim merely to record images and create "films" for the widest audience possible. His films demonstrate a gift: the ability to allow the subjects before his camera to reveal themselves, their inner dilemmas and longings, their own truths and their own lies. It is this quality of Leacock's filmmaking that makes his work truly unique and extraordinary. The resulting films involve rather than inform the audience. Leacock films A Stravinsky Portrait, Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment, Jazz Dance, and Toby in the Tall Corn will be featured at the 2006 festival.

Center Frame:

Al Franken: God Spoke with special guest Al Franken

(2006. USA. 83min. Directed by Chris Hegedus and Nick Doob. Produced by Rebecca Marshall & Frazer Pennebaker. Executive Producer D.A. Pennebaker)
Al Franken: God Spoke chronicles Al Franken?s rise to political prominence as the bane of right-wing media and scourge of Republicans everywhere. Once a regular comedian on SNL, Franken's recent appearances are more likely in malls, town halls, and on college campuses where he insists on fact checking media personalities and calling out politicians and pundits on their "misinformation" of the American people. Partly the story of the launch of Voice of America, Franken's liberal radio outlet, and partly the story of why Franken becomes the only Jewish New Yorker to run for Senate in Minnesota, this film offers a nuanced, complicated, and hilarious portrait of a man with a mandate from God himself: to mount a passionate campaign to save America from the Right. –SW
South East Premiere
Sponsored by VH1

Center Frame: For New Orleans with special guests Branford Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis III, & St. Clair Bourne

New Orleans Brass

(1989. USA. 25 min. Produced by St. Clair Bourne)
To highlight our Southern Sidebar Series and pay tribute to the people devastated by Hurricane Katrina, we present a special program featuring Branford Marsalis and Ellis Marsalis III. The program begins with a screening of St. Clair Bourne's New Orleans Brass, a cultural history of the city of New Orleans framed through the development of the brass marching band. A conversation with Bourne and the Marsalis brothers will follow, in which they discuss how Katrina brought class into the public eye and reflect on the troubling fate of the people of New Orleans after the hurricane. The Marsalis brothers, who grew up in New Orleans, share their thoughts on America's lost city and the intersections of politics and art. The event will conclude with a performance by Branford Marsalis in honor of the Katrina victims and New Orleans.

Center Frame:

Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater with special guests Barry Goldwater, Jr. and members of the Goldwater family

(2006. USA. 91min. Directed by Julie Anderson. Produced by CC Goldwater, Tani Cohen. An HBO Documentary Film)
An icon of United States politics, Barry Goldwater is considered by some to have been the founder of contemporary conservatism. Unrestricted and brutally honest, Goldwater was known for his strong opinions and radical policies. In the course of his career he represented Arizona in the Senate for five terms and ran as the Republican Party's presidential candidate in the 1964 election, which he lost to Lyndon Johnson. Narrated by Goldwater's granddaughter, Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater, is an intimate portrait that reminisces the forgotten history of modern conservatism and the man behind the movement. –ST
World Premiere

Time Piece

(2006. Turkey, USA. 110mins. Directed by Nurdan Arca, Özgür Arik, Edet Belzberg, Linda Goode Bryant, Alex Gibney, Nathaniel Kahn, Albert Maysles, Ersan Ocak, Murad Özdemir, Sam Pollard, Sehbal Senyurt, Müstafa Ünlü. Produced by Neda Armian, Margaret Bodde and Nancy Buirski. Associate Producer Sadie Tillery)
Twelve filmmakers, six from Turkey and six from the United States, come together to take part in this omnibus film. Some approaches literal, others more poetic, each artist reflects upon their own cultural backgrounds through a single short film. American and Turkish representations of Daybreak, Morning, Noon, Afternoon, Twilight, and Dark of Night, guide us through a cultural exploration of time. The first film to come out of the Full Frame Institute, Time Piece is a testament to lives lived in detail and the constructs that unite us all as human beings. –ST
World Premiere
Q&A with directors following the screening.

August Sander

(2002. USA. 44 min. Directed and Produced by Reiner Holzemer)
This film explores the life and times of a renowned documentary photographer whose black and white pictures of townspeople, farmers and laborers create an indelible portrait of life during Weimar Germany. Interviews with Sander's daughter, grandson, curators and other experts are fascinating. Modern-day views of the landscapes Sander documented are set against the stark beauty of Sander?s photographs, so different from the prettified studio style prevalent at the time. –NK
U.S. Premiere

The Drug Years

(2005. USA. 164 min. Directed and Produced by Dana Heinz Perry & Hart Perry. A VH1/Sundance Channel Co-Production)
A groundbreaking, four-part epic on the cultural impact of illicit drug use in the US. In the 1950 and 60s, drug use defined counter-culture movements. By the end of the 60s, though, excessive use characterized in the deaths of icons like Joplin and Hendrix signaled a problem and invited government intervention. The 70s became the heyday of grass smoking hippies, but also marked the rise of cocaine among the elite. Parents started to worry; Reagan took a far different approach to Carter. Starting in the 80s, celebrity misuse and rehab headlined as often as the "War on Drugs." This reflective film features diverse voices: actors, musicians, politicians, as well as former drug smugglers, and former drug enforcement agents. Ultimately it investigates the ways that illegal drugs have changed the cultural landscape and asks hard questions about the future of drug use in America: what should we do now? Can we ever really be drug-free? –SW
World Premiere

The Heart of the Game

(2005. USA. 98min. Directed by Ward Serrill. Produced by Liz Manne and Ward Serrill. Presented in association with Miramax Films)
When Seattle filmmaker Ward Serrill met Bill Resler, a college tax professor who moonlights as a girls' basketball coach, he didn't realize that he was about to embark on an incredible seven-year journey. Serrill, camera in hand, followed Resler into the Roosevelt High School gym and soon discovered a group of girls whose unbridled toughness, passion and energy he came to call The Heart of the Game. Then, one day, onto the Roughriders' court (and into the film) walked Darnellia Russell – a tough, inner-city girl whose off-court struggles would eventually threaten to crash the star athlete's plans to play college ball and be the first person in her family to get a college education. At the center of the film is Darnellia's unforgettable story. With Coach Resler, her team and her family standing by her side, she takes on enormous personal obstacles as well as the ruling body of high school sports in Washington State.
Free Screening for students.

Terry Sanford and the New South

(2006. USA. 55min. Directed and Produced by Thomas Lennon)
It was a pivotal time in American history: the Brown vs. Board of Education decision had been reached, yet segregation still reigned, particularly in Southern schools and public facilities. At this key moment, a young World War II veteran decided to run for governor of North Carolina, got elected, and then proceeded to change the face of North Carolina and the South. The film tells the tale of a white Southern politician who aligned himself with the goals of the civil rights movement. At the very moment when populists like Alabama Gov. George Wallace were making political hay by promising their voters "segregation forever," Sanford navigated a very different path, and managed to avoid political martyrdom as he did so. A tough, bare-knuckle politician who blended lofty ideals with ground-level cunning, Sanford was informed by an optimistic vision of the New South: progressive, prosperous and re-integrated into the main currents of American life.
World Premiere
Panel moderated by Judy Woodruff. Free Screening.
Sponsored by Thirteen/WNET New York, UNC-TV, Duke University and The Center for Documentary Studies

Work-in-Progress

The War

(2006. USA. A Film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick)
Join Ken Burns for a special work-in-progress screening of Episode Five from his newest film series The War. Comprised of seven episodes, The War follows the bottom-up story of four American towns and their sons who descended into the hell that some believe was the greatest cataclysm in history ? the Second World War. Episode Five covers the fall of 1944, when, in the months after D-Day, everyone thought the war would be over by Christmas. ?It wouldn't be.
Q&A with Ken Burns following the screening.

Wide Awake

(2005. USA. 90min. Directed by Alan Berliner. Produced by Lisa Heller and Alan Berliner. An HBO Documentary Film)
Alan Berliner's brilliantly edited exploration of insomnia, the science of sleep, and the challenges of balancing art and family is an idiosyncratic blend of the hilarious and deeply personal. Using archival footage from his vast collection, Berliner creates visual metaphors that evoke the workings of a restless mind. Seeking help for his life-long insomnia from no less than five doctors, the filmmaker exhausts the discussion of conventional "sleep hygiene" and nearly drives his family crazy with this pursuit. The creative process, an obsessive mind and the fear of losing both fuel the filmmaker's search for answers. Only the birth of his first child can get this night owl to consider joining the civilians who make up the day shift. -KH
Q&A with Alan Berliner following screening.

Please sign-up for our Mailing List to receive the most up-to-date information.