press release

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Announces 2008 Special Programming

15 documentaries Will Screen in Special Programming Strand

DURHAM, N.C. — Full Frame Documentary Film Festival (www.fullframefest.org), has announced Special Programming for the 11^th annual Festival April 3-6 in downtown Durham. Special Programming will include 15 films by notable filmmakers that will bring special guests to the Festival including Phil Donahue and Elvis Mitchell. Additional special guests will be announced in the coming weeks.

The complete list includes:

OPENING NIGHT "Trumbo" (Peter Askin)
Legendary blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo is perhaps best known for his work on Spartacus and Roman Holiday. This U.S. premiere, based on the play by his son Chistopher Trumbo, brings together a remarkable group of actors to read from the screenwriter's famously candid letters, thus revealing a man of great courage, integrity and wit.
CENTER FRAME "The Black List" (Timothy Greenfield-Sanders)
Directed by famed portrait photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Elvis Mitchell conducts riveting interviews with twenty prominent African American artists, CEOs, politicians, and activists. Chris Rock, Vernon Jordan, Toni Morrison, the Rev. Al Sharpton and others reflect, often humorously, on what it means to be on the "blacklist."
CENTER FRAME "Body of War" (Ellen Spiro, Phil Donahue)
"Body of War" chronicles the physical and mental struggles of soldier Thomas Young after he returns home from Iraq paralyzed by a bullet to his spine. Now in a wheelchair, he painfully and courageously transforms himself into an anti-war activist, traversing the country to speak out for peace.
"American Teen" (Nanette Burstein)
This stylish and engrossing film provides an intimate look at the lives, hopes and dreams of four high school seniors living in a small Indiana town.
"The Axe in the Attic" (Lucia Small, Ed Pincus)
Filmmakers Ed Pincus and Lucia Small embark on a cross-country road trip to interview evacuees displaced by Hurricane Katrina and in the process reveal a great deal about themselves.
"Blindsight"(Lucy Walker) Free Student Screeing
Inspired by renowned blind mountain climber Erik Weihenmayer's miraculous ascent to the top of Mount Everest, a group of teenagers from Braille Without Borders in Tibet join him on a physically and emotionally demanding adventure to one of the mountain's highest peaks.
"Diaries (1971-1976)" (Ed Pincus)
In this intensely personal memoir, pioneering documentary filmmaker Ed Pincus shows us how he embodied the utopian hopes, fears and neuroses of the sixties generation when he set out to create an enlightened, unconventional life through his filmmaking practice.
"Encounters at the End of the World" (Werner Herzog)
In his first documentary since Grizzly Man, Werner Herzog travels to the farthest point of Antarctica to film a group of over a thousand unwavering individuals who battle unimaginable conditions in search of scientific discovery.
"Flow: For Love of Water" (Irina Salina)
This timely film offers a terrifying portrait of the growing scarcity and misuses of the world's most essential resource: water.
"Marcela" (Helena Trestikova)
Helena Trestikova spent twenty-six years chronicling the often tragic life of Marcela and the result is a striking example of the raw power of documentation.
"A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman" (Peter Raymont)
Based in part on his own memoir "Heading South, Looking North," this film explores the extraordinary experiences of renowned Chilean-American novelist and playwright Ariel Dorfman, who barely escaped with his life when Augusto Pinochet overthrew the government of Chile's socialist president Salvador Allende on September 11, 1973.
"Sex: The Revolution" (Hart Perry, Richard Lowe)
An excerpt from VH1's provocative series on the sexual revolution of the 1960s and '70s, which takes us from the groundbreaking research of Alfred Kinsey through the impeachment of President Clinton and beyond by intercutting rare footage, classic clips, iconic music, and an extraordinary range of provocative interviews.
"Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story" (Jeffrey Schwarz)
The life and work of schlockmeister William Castle, who ballyhooed his cheapie horror movies into immortality, are celebrated in this delightful tour through the maestro's shoddy masterpieces.
SNEAK PEEK
With revealing court footage and probing interviews, this film masterfully presents the trial of Slobodan Milosevic before the United Nations war crimes tribunal at The Hague.
SNEAK PREVIEW
For the past ten years Billy Pappas has been painstakingly working a single portrait. Now that the piece is finally finished, there is just one more step: show the piece to David Hockney.

Official screening times and venues for these films will be released on Thursday, March 20 at www.fullframefest.org. Recognized as the premier documentary film festival in the United States by both The New York Times and indieWIRE, Full Frame is an arena for documentary filmmakers to showcase their work theatrically in an environment that stimulates conversation and community between filmmakers, industry executives and the general public. For more information on attending the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, visit www.fullframefest.org.

News Facts:

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival (www.fullframefest.org), has announced Special Programming for the 11^th annual Festival April 3-6 in downtown Durham.
Special Programming will include 15 films by notable filmmakers that will bring special guests to the Festival including Phil Donahue and Elvis Mitchell.
Additional special guests will be announced in the coming weeks.
The complete list includes: "Trumbo," "The Black List," "Body of War," "American Teen," "The Axe in the Attic," "Blindsight," "Diaries (1971-1976)," "Encounters at the End of the World," "Flow: For Love of Water," "Marcela," "A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman," "Sex: The Revolution," "Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story" and two sneak screenings.
Official screening times and venues for these films will be released on Thursday, March 20 at www.fullframefest.org.
Recognized as the premier documentary film festival in the United States by both The New York Times and indieWIRE, Full Frame is an arena for documentary filmmakers to showcase their work theatrically in an environment that stimulates conversation and community between filmmakers, industry executives and the general public.
For more information on attending the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, visit www.fullframefest.org.

Quotes:

"We are especially pleased to kick-off the festival with Lucy Walker's extraordinary film 'Blindsight,'" said Robyn Smith, managing director of Full Frame. "In keeping with tradition, the Thursday morning film is free to students and we hope both young and old will come out and join us."

Keywords:

Full Frame, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, City of Durham, Duke University, New Docs, Phoebe Brush, Robyn Smith

Media Contacts:

Patty Briguglio
Kate Catlin
MMI Associates, Inc.
(919) 233-6600
(919) 233-0300 (fax)
patty@mmimarketing.com
kate@mmimarketing.com
PR Firms Raleigh, NC

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is produced by Doc Arts Inc. a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The presenting sponsors are The New York Times and Duke University.

Contact:

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
919.687.4100
info@fullframefest.org