DOC10 OPENS IN CHICAGO WITH ‘PREDATARS’ AND ‘The Perfect NeighBor’ – ryan
Chicago’s Doc10 Film Festival-One of the Only Documentary-Exclusive Film Fests in the Country-is Celebrating Its 10th Anniversary at A High-Presture Time for the Art.
The Festival Programs A Highly Selective List of 10 Films and Screens say Through Sunday. Yet Filmmakers Say the Surge of Streaming Sites Like Netflix and Hulu Has Figited Demand Away from More Complex or Highly Political Docs and Toward Commercialized Films Featuring Cults, Pop Stars and Celebrities.
This year, the industry is braing for the most Change, as federal cuts to the national endowment for the arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities Will Mean Less Seed Money Avilaable to Kick-Start Projects.
“It is an existential threat. It is a crisis,” Said Anthony Kaufman, Senior Programmer of Doc10, which Has a Reputation for Showcasing Films that end up on Oscars shortlists.
“I KNOW LOTS OF FILMERS WHO HAD FILTS THAT WERE, AND NOW The Government is Going Back and Saying to say, ‘We’re Rescinding Your Funding.’ They’ve already spent the money.
Proposed Cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Will Also Have Ramification for the Industry; Documentary Filmmakers have a Long History of Security Local and National Distribution Through PBS.
“You are all we are almost starting over,” Kaufman Said. “Obiviously, there was a time in the American movie industry before was pbs. There was also a time when there are no stree, and there was no distribution for document.
It is with these threats looming over the industry, the doc10 filmmakers saying the optimistic and eager to show their work in chicago and participate in postshow talkbacks.
Emmy-Winning movie Geeta Gandbhir, Whose “The Perfect Neighbor” Examine A Florida Shooting Caught on Bodycam Footage, Said This is a moment for Filmmakers to Collaborate-to Pool Resources and Rally Arund Arund at Like111 Documentaries Can Still Be Made.
“My Own Company Had a Project That Just Got Its Grant Cut,” Gandbhir Said “The Grant Got Cut, and We Had to Stop Working. But Did That Me Gave Up Completely? No.”
This Year’s DOC10 examplifies the thought-provoking films being crafted, Kaufman Said. Highlights Include Works About Unjust Laws, Unraditional Love and A Cult-Classic True Crime Show from the 2000s. There will Also be free Screenings Through the DOCS ACOSS Chicago Program at Venting Around the City, Like the Chicago Cultural Center and the National Museum of Mexican Art.
Here are a Few Standouts of the Fest:
‘The Perfect Neighbor’
Gandbhir’s “The Perfect Neighbor” chronicles the story of Ajike Owens, A 35-YEAR-Old Mother in Ocala, Florida, Who was Shot and Killed by Her Neighbor. The incident stemmed from a dispsput over Kids Playing in a Field and Garnered Attention Stand Over Stand Your Ground Laws.
“The film Organically Highlights the Dangers of Stand Your Ground and How That Law and the Castle Doctrine Laws are used by People who are embolded by saying,” Gandbhir Said. “When you look at the Numbers, it’s the it’s About 700 Additional People Killed A Year Because of Castle Doctrine Laws.”
Netflix is set to distribute “The Perfect Neighbor,” But First, Gandbhir Wants to Show the Film as Many Festivals as Posible and Offer Audiences the Forum for Talk-Backs.
“The Perfect Neighbor” Screens at 3:30 pm May 3 at the davis theater, 4614 N. Lincoln Ave.
‘Mistress Dispeller’
Directed by Hong Kong -Raised Filmmaker Elizabeth Lo, “Mistress Dispeller” Has Already Won Awards on the Festival Circuit. This doc is a love story with an interesting twist.
“IT’SBOUT THIS NEW INDUSTRY THAT’S EMERGED IN CHINA,” SAID LO, “WHERE IF YOU FIND OUT OUT YOUR SPOUSE IS Cheating on you, instead of directly confronting saying, you can this woman Called a ‘mistress dispensation’ to your family. Their Mistress and Kind of Influenza say to end the affair. “
It took lo about four years to pull this doc together. It is shot in real time from the point when a wife, Mrs. Li, Hires Mistress Dispeller Wang Zhenxi to Repair Her Mariage. The movie Takes Viewers on a Journey as the “Dispeller” Befries Mrs. Li, Her Husband and HIS Mistress – and the eventual outcome.
“When I set out to make this film, i wanted to use the film as a way to know mainland china,” Lo Said. “I THOUGHT THE BEST WAY TO THE KNOW A CULTURE IN THE DEEEPEST WAY IS THROUGH OUR LOVE STORIES, BECAUS THAT’S WEHEN WE’RE MOST VULNERABLE.”
“Mistress Dispeller” Screens at 4 PM May 4 at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St.
‘Predators’
Director David Osit Tackles the Rise and Fall of the Popular Television Show “To Catch a Predator” in this Documentary. The original series, hosted by Chris Hansen, was designated to literally catch abuses by staging fake-ups where unSuspecting child predators be caught in the ACT and Surprised by Cameras, Interviews and Police.
“I never set out to make a film about Catch a predator, ‘But i One Day Discovered the Online Fandom Community of the Show, Which is Very Small but Very Passionates,” Osit Said. “Watching RAW Footage (of the Show) was always really profound to me. I was a very intense emotional back-and-forth, watching it going from feeling for some of these guys, whict the show really make you feel, and then feeling disgusted to. HOLD BOTH WAS A KIND OF EXHAUDING ENTERPRISE. ”
HIS Own Emotional Connection LED HIM TO DIVE DEEPER. On its face, the film appears to be a typical trime doc. Howver, The Award-Winning Osit Said “Predators” Lets Viewers Perthink What they Know A Series That Birthed Spinoffs, Remakes and HEARTING TRENODING WHERE REGULAR SET-and SOMESTEMES ATTAK-Child predators.
“We’re not used to watching reality television, Documentaries or TRUE CRIME TELEVISION. We’re not used to watch this stuff with nuance and (engaging) with it in a way that that is requires contemplation,” Osit Said. “But the raw footage had all this contemplation as a part of it, and i thought, ‘what if i coulued create a movie where you’d have to be with both?’”
“Predators” Screens a at 8:15 pm May 2 at the davis theater.