Presentation of the 2016 School of Doc film Blackspace

The School of Doc, launched in 2011, is a completely free program (including meals) serving Durham teens who participate in the five-week intensive summer course taught by professional filmmakers. The program is held in Full Frame’s theater and classroom space, where students work as a crew to produce a professional documentary film. Coursework includes all technical elements of the craft: camera, lights, sound, editing, and special effects, as well as pre- and post-production considerations such as rights and clearances, graphics and credits. Each School of Doc student spends time working in each of these areas.

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?

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.

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.

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?

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.

2013 Speakeasy 5: The truth can be tricky: Thoughts on Amir Bar-Lev’s Thematic Program.

2013 Speakeasy 5: On explicit footage: How do filmmakers choose what, and what not, to show?