Finally, after much negotiation, we can confirm the new dates for the Symposium this Autumn: Wednesday 5th – Thursday 6th – Friday 7th November. The venue is still Cardiff and we will shortly issue an update with a call for sessions where GEECT members can make presentations.
Thanks for your patience!
Most of you who signed up for the symposium will already know the latest developments as we have contacted you by email, but the news is that circumstances beyond our control have meant that we have had to postpone the April dates to the Autumn. We are now working behind the scenes with the GEECT Executive to agree on a new date.
The good news is not only that the funding is still in place, but that we have more time to finalise the fine detail of the programme (which will still broadly be based around the themes posted earlier).
We’re also very pleased that, despite the change of date, virtually all CILECT colleagues on our mailing list have responded to say that they wish to attend the symposium – so there is no doubt that the interest and enthusiasm is still there.
Per ardua ad astra
John Burgan
Newport Film School, University of South Wales
Just a quick message to say that although there hasn’t been much happening on this blog, we hope to issue an update soon – so watch this space.
In the meantime, check out Thom Power’s response to Manohla Dargis on the state of independent cinema in the US. Also, in case you missed it, Nick Fraser’s thoughts on The Act of Killing.
Plenty happening out there in the doc world!
Another piece of good news – we’re delighted to report that the Bertha Foundation, which supports a variety of social justice causes and selected initiatives such as Britdoc – has recently decided to give financial backing to the “Teaching Documentary” symposium. As the Foundation’s website explains:
Media has the power to inform, educate and inspire action. We support content creation and help connect that content to audiences who can be mobilized for positive social change. We also support organizations that use media as a tool for social impact. Our aim is to enable information to be more accessible to audiences who can become active on the issues explored. The result is a media landscape that is diverse, relevant and action-oriented.
We’re grateful for the Foundation’s support, particularly at a time when public funding is becoming more and more limited.
Two good pieces of news in one bulletin – we must be heading in the right direction.
Firstly, renowned documentary filmmaker Kim Longinotto has agreed to present a Masterclass for students on the afternoon of Wednesday 9th April. As well as her long career, for many years Kim has also become involved as a dedicated and passionate film teacher at the school she herself graduated from, the National Film & Television School in Beaconsfield. We’re delighted to welcome Kim and are hoping she will find some time in her busy schedule to stay on in Cardiff.
Secondly, we’re also very happy to hear back from Judith Winnan, Head of Factual & Music that BBC Cymru Wales is also on board to support the symposium, citing the international character of the event as one of the many reasons why she and her colleagues at the BBC are keen to be involved. It’s going to be a very full programme!
Crowdsourcing, High Definition, YouTube: the universe has changed massively since the most recent GEECT conference on documentary back in 2000. Twitter, Facebook, smartphones: our students certainly inhabit a very different world to the one we grew up in. But at the end of the day, isnʼt it all still down to the two core elements that should be at the heart of every film school: storytelling and ideas?
The aim of this two and a half day symposium is to take a snapshot of the current state of documentary and documentary teaching.
The draft programme is still being finalised, but here are some highlights:
Bearing in mind the limited time available, we welcome additional proposals for the sessions above, particularly for the ever-popular “Best Kept Secrets”
Seed funding is already in place from GEECT and the National Film & TV School (UK), with additional support being negotiated with other institutions. Weʼll be based at the University of South Wales right in the centre of Cardiff, only minutes from hotels, restaurants and with easy transport links to London and Bristol. As the financial side is still being sorted out, we will announce registration details shortly, but the symposium will be open to all CILECT members. There will be a social event each evening and preferential hotel rates for those that wish to stay on in the Welsh capital over the weekend.
Email us at john[dot]burgan[at]southwales[dot]ac[dot]uk or heidi[dot]gronauer[at]zeligfilm[dot]it so we can add your name to the list of participants – more updates to follow.
This promises to be a memorable gathering of the documentary family!
A new article on the PBS / POV blog entitled “The Future of Documentary Education” takes a look at three new College Programs in the US: The Open Documentary Lab at MIT, the MFA in Experimental and Documentary Arts at Duke University and the forthcoming MFA program at Loyola Marymount University, which is set to start in 2015.
Interviews with Bill Uricchio (MIT), Thomas Rankin (Duke) and Stephen Ujlaki (Loyola).
The UK’s National Film & TV School in Beaconsfield has always had a very high reputation for its documentary course, with a steady steam of graduates such as Nick Broomfield, Kim Longinotto, Molly Dineen and Sean McAllister to name but a few. The school was originally founded by Colin Young in the early 1970’s and the documentary department has been headed by Dick Fontaine since 1995. It is therefore very good news to be able to report that Nik Powell has recently committed the NFTS’ support for the symposium in Cardiff next April.
We’re still working on the details, but the programme is coming together. More news soon…
A welcome ruling in the US concerning copyright issues and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act [DMCA]. More commentary at the IDA website
Teaching Documentary Symposium II 