A&E IndieFilms Speakeasy Archive

2017 Speakeasy Conversations

Watch the 2017 A&E IndieFilms Speakeasy Conversations on vimeo

Framing the Conversation
Friday, April 7 — 9:15 am

Moderated by Nancy Buirski, By Sidney Lumet, The Loving Story, Full Frame Founder
Chris Hegedus, Unlocking the Cage,The War Room
D A Pennebaker, Don’t Look Back, Monterey Pop

As part of our 20th anniversary celebration, Full Frame is pleased to launch “Framing the Conversation”, a new series of discussions in the A&E IndieFilms Speakeasy in which individual filmmakers reflect on their work. In this inaugural year, two of the field’s most renowned filmmakers—Chris Hegedus and D A Pennebaker—discuss their careers and the documentary filmmaking profession.

Out of the Echo Chamber
Friday, April 7 — 12:15 pm

Moderated by Deirdre Haj, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Katy Chevigny, E-Team, Deadline
Marshall Curry, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Street Fight
Cynthia Hill, Private Violence, The Guestworker
Farihah Zaman, Field of Vision

Since Donald Trump’s stunning win in the 2016 presidential election, many in the documentary field are asking the same question: Are nonfiction filmmakers, and the profession in general, out of touch with a huge swath of fellow Americans, and if so, where do we go from here?

Advanced Circuitry: 20 Years of Festivals
Friday, April 7 — 3:15 pm

Moderated by Julie Goldman, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, Weiner
Amir Bar-Lev, Long Strange Trip, My Kid Could Paint That
Ryan Harrington, Discovery Communications
Matthew Heineman, City of Ghosts, Cartel Land
Gary Hustwit, Helvetica, Objectified

Full Frame is one of the oldest and largest documentary-only festivals in the United States. Back when we started, there were far fewer nonfiction films and distribution streams than there are now, when there are so many of both. Using the festival as a frame, these esteemed documentary professionals look back at the business of utilizing the festival circuit to promote a film, and how it might work best in the future

Sustainability Now
Saturday, April 8 — 9:15 am

Moderated by Claire Aguilar, International Documentary Association
Justine Nagan, POV
Gordon Quinn, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
Michael Schoenfeld, Duke University
Marco Williams, Two Towns of Jasper

At their recent “Getting Real” conference, the International Documentary Association began a series of conversations on sustainability for the documentary film field. With the NEA, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and PBS once again on the chopping block for federal funding, how do documentary filmmaking professionals respond?

#DocsSoWhite 2.0: Representation, Agency, and Authorship in Doc Film
Saturday, April 8 — 12:15 pm

Moderated by S. Leo Chiang, Out Run, Mr. Cao Goes to Washington
Patricia Benabe,They Took Them Alive, The Hand That Feeds
Whitney Dow, Two Towns of Jasper, Whiteness Project
Yance Ford, Strong Island

Who gets to tell whose story, and how do we diversify the world of documentary filmmaking? This panel, begun at last year’s festival, spawned several national op-eds and articles as filmmakers wrestled with the ethics of representation, as well as building support for colleagues who have less opportunity than those in the ethnic majority. Full Frame advisory board member Leo Chiang participated in last year’s discussion and moderates this year’s group, as panelists discuss an issue that is not evolving quickly.

The In-Between
Saturday, April 8 — 3:15 pm

Documentary filmmaking often creates a feast-or-famine cycle for makers who continue to produce work over the course of many years. After releasing a film, there’s a period of time in which the filmmakers are on the road across the country and the world to promote their work. The next creative phase involves digging into the often-lonely and highly unglamorous development process of bringing nascent ideas to life as new, full-fledged projects. Per filmmaker request, this open space for conversation is about giving “between-projects” creative life, professional support, and focused creative feedback.

2016 Speakeasy Conversations

Watch the 2016 A&E IndieFilms Speakeasy Conversations on vimeo

Beyond the Choir
Friday, April 8 – 9:15 am

Moderated by Molly Thompson, A&E IndieFilms
Margaret Brown, The Great Invisible
Maxim Pozdorovkin, Clínica de Migrantes
Amy Ziering, The Hunting Ground

How do docs with a message reach the unconverted? Filmmakers discuss targeting their work for audiences with a wide range of views.

The New Theatrical
Friday, April 8 – 12:15 pm

Moderated by Brian Newman, Sub-Genre
Jake Craven, Gathr Films
Danielle McCarthy-Boles, Magnolia Pictures
Merrill Sterritt, Cinereach

Distributors discuss methods, both new and traditional, to build audiences for documentary films.

The Glass Ceiling
Friday, April 8 – 3:15 pm

Moderated by Deirdre Haj, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Rachel Boynton, Our Brand Is Crisis
Katy Chevigny, Big Mouth Productions
Carrie Lozano, The Ballad of Fred Hersch

Filmmakers weigh in on the challenges women face in the documentary industry, from gender bias to funding access.

#DocsSoWhite?
Saturday, April 9 – 9:15 am

Moderated by Ian Robertson Kibbe, Raising Bertie
S. Leo Chiang, Out Run
Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes
Sam Pollard, Two Trains Runnin’
Roger Ross Williams, Life, Animated

Is the documentary field more diverse than Hollywood? Directors address questions of representation and opportunity.

Perfect and Otherwise
Saturday, April 9 – 12:15 pm

Moderated by AJ Schnack, Caucus
Chris Hegedus, The War Room
Shola Lynch, Chisholm ’72: Unbought and Unbossed
D A Pennebaker, The War Room
David Van Taylor, A Perfect Candidate

In this conversation around the 2016 Thematic Program, filmmakers reflect on the inherent drama of documenting the electoral process. 

Slippery Truths
Saturday, April 9 – 3:15 pm

Directors who blur the lines between art and artifice open up about their approaches and the constructions inherent in documentary work.