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Full Frame Receives $20,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

Full Frame has been approved for a $20,000 Grants for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)! The funds will go toward compensation for participating artists and programming committee members, screening fees, and efforts to make the festival more accessible to all attendees. “Now more than ever, we believe in the immense power of documentary film and its ability to impact communities. We are grateful to the National Endowment for the…

8 Films for the Middle of Winter

With striking landscapes, muted pastels, and the juxtaposition of a season filled with both hardship and hibernation, winter often integrates itself uniquely into visual stories. Whether becoming a silent character, enhancing a film’s themes or the  thoughts of the protagonists, or providing a silent, snowy moment of reflection for the audience, filmmakers have used the icy months to create compelling, layered, and memorable work over the years. As we lean into the wintry season, Full…

Five Festival Alums Make Oscars Shortlists

Five Full Frame Documentary Film Festival alums are recognized on the Oscars shortlists! Two features and three short films from the 2021 event have been recognized, including Full Frame’s Grand Jury award-winner Faya Dayi (dir. Jessica Beshir). As an Academy Award-qualifying event, the recipient of Full Frame’s Jury Award for Best Short becomes eligible for Oscar-qualification. This year, Three Songs for Benazir (dirs. Elizabeth Mirzaei, Gulistan Mirzaei) became eligible after receiving the jury award and is included…

December Staff Pick | Shirkers

“In true indie spirit, Sandi Tan manages to take pieces of her lost work and transform them in to something new and imaginative. With an editing and visual style that can only be classified as a kaleidoscope of color, and a story that emanates DIY-punk rock energy, Shirkers is an imaginative exploration into how dreams from our youth shape us into the people we become. If only the unfinished original film survived!” says Emily Foster,…

Full Frame Goes Virtual in 2022!

The 25th annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, a program of the Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) at Duke University, will be presented entirely online April 7–10, 2022. There are no plans for in-person screenings or events during the event in April. Organizers of the Academy Award®-qualifying event cite the ongoing and unpredictable realities of the coronavirus pandemic as the primary factor for holding a virtual festival. “Nothing can replace the magic of screening films together…

November Staff Pick | Alive Inside

This month, Full Frame’s Development Assistant Angie Potiny shines a spotlight on the 2014 festival film Alive Inside (dir. Michael Rossato-Bennett) for the November Staff Pick. Angie says about the film, “Alive Inside is a film that stays with you, long after the credits roll. The wonderful people featured in this film and the undeniable power of music is incredible to watch. I walked away from Alive Inside inspired and hopeful, despite the huge rollercoaster…

IDA Award Nominees Announced

Seven festival alums and two Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant recipients have been nominated for IDA Awards! Faya Dayi received three nominations, including Best Feature, Best Director, and Best Cinematography. Also nominated for Best Feature is In the Same Breath. Aguilas and E14 have been nominated for Best Short, Homeroom received a nomination for Best Editing, and The Doll is recognized with a David L. Wolper Student Documentary nomination. Previously announced, Garrett Scott Grant recipient…

Cinema Eye Honor Nominations Include 9 Full Frame Alums

Congratulations to all of the Full Frame alums nominated for Cinema Eye Honors this year! The 2021 Full Frame Grand Jury award-winner, Faya Dayi, has been nominated for five awards, including Outstanding Nonfiction Feature and Outstanding Direction. Also nominated for multiple awards includes In the Same Breath, Homeroom, and City So Real. Try Harder! and Fruits of Labor are both nominated for awards. Short film alums nominated include Águilas and Three Songs for Benazir, the…

2022 Call for Entries Now Open

Submissions are now open for the 25th annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival! Short and feature documentaries completed after January 1, 2021 are eligible to submit for Full Frame 2022. For complete guidelines, please visit the Call For Entires page. All submission materials are due December 3, 2022.

October Staff Pick | The Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975

Full Frame’s Production Director, Dan Partridge, has chosen Göran Hugo Olsso’s The Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 (Full Frame 2011) as this month’s Staff Pick! Dan says: “I chose this documentary, because of the unforgettable scene from Angela Davis’s 1972 interview filmed during her unjust 16 month incarceration in California State Prison. Her words are profoundly powerful, and testify to her personal history and the intrinsic struggle of fighting for justice in America. Rewatching this documentary…