Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Silverdocs shines in county’s emerging documentary capital
by Agnes Jasinski | Staff Writer
(From left) Dominic Champagne, the writer and director of ‘‘Love,” a Cirque du Soleil show inspired by The Beatles’ music, and Adrian Wills, director of Silverdocs’ opening night film ‘‘All Together Now,” which is about the making of Champagne’s show, arrive with performers from Cirque Monday night in downtown Silver Spring.
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Documentarians and film enthusiasts in Montgomery County say Silver Spring is their source of both inspiration and entertainment this week, as the annual Silverdocs film festival continues to roll out more than 100 shows and a conference series of movie industry-related discussions.
‘‘I think it’s a very exciting time for local documentary makers because the Washington area is continuing to evolve as a documentary-making capital,” said Silver Spring resident Walter Gottlieb, the producer and director of two documentaries: ‘‘Next Stop: Silver Spring” and ‘‘Silver Spring: Story of an American Suburb.”
This is the sixth year the festival, put on by the American Film Institute’s Silver Theatre and Cultural Center and the Discovery Channel, has been held in downtown Silver Spring. The event will feature two additional days of film screenings this year to meet the growing demand for tickets to the documentaries, many of which sold out weeks before the event.
More than 21,000 people attended last year’s festival. Silverdocs, which will run through Monday, had its opening night last Monday with ‘‘All Together Now,” a film that looks at the collaboration with The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil.
Gottlieb, who runs Silver Spring companies Final Cut Productions and nonprofit Silver Spring Media Arts, said the festival films in which he was interested either employed different techniques or showed him new ways of storytelling.
‘‘I go every year and attend the workshops,” he said.
Nina Gilden Seavey, director of The Documentary Center at George Washington University and a founding director of the festival, said Silverdocs was especially exciting for local filmmakers who are able to attend a high-caliber festival in their backyard.
‘‘It’s a very robust community,” said Seavey of Takoma Park, whose latest film ‘‘The Matador” follows bullfighter David Fandilla.
Susan Koch, a Cabin John resident whose film ‘‘Kicking It” about homeless soccer players who compete in an international competition will show at the festival on Saturday, said there was a surprising amount of filmmaking in the region. People in the area are more active and more socially and politically aware, she said, which makes for good documentary material.
Koch said she was looking for a variety of subject matter she may not be able to tackle herself and unique methods of making movies.
‘‘You really do get inspired,” she said. ‘‘It makes you think of things in new ways.”
The festival also serves as a programming model for those interested in screening films. Silver Spring resident Agnés Moon, the director of the Takoma Park Film Festival, said she attends the festival not only to watch the nonfiction films, but to get ideas about which films and filmmakers to pursue when organizing her own event. She said Silverdocs also fills a gap for those looking for a festival devoted to documentary work on a large scale.
Silver Spring resident Richard Jaeggi, the founder of youth media group Gandhi Brigade, said his group was particularly interested in the festival’s conference series. The Gandhi Brigade will be filming the discussions on using media for educational purposes for the festival’s organizers, but also will be posting video blogs on its Web site around the issue of media education.
‘‘We feel so lucky to be so close to it. Every year, it just gets bigger,” Jaeggi said.
