Deadline's For the Love of Docs virtual event series concludes its 10-week run this week with a screening of the Oscar-nominated documentary flashdirected by Edmund Stenson and Academy Award winner Daniel Rohr (Navalny).
No film invited to participate in FTLOD pays a participation fee; The series was conceived as a way for Deadline to support the documentary field, which faces increasing distribution challenges even as the quality and quantity of nonfiction films rises significantly. Deadline is teaming up with National Geographic Documentary Films to present the series.
Films featured in For the Love of Docs in recent years include Oscar finalists A house made of fragmentsdirected by Simon Learning Wilmont; Beyond utopiadirected by Madeleine Gavin; Bobby Wine: The People's President“, directed by Christopher Sharp and Musa Boyo; To kill the tiger“, directed by Nisha Pahuja; Fire of lovedirected by Sarah Dossa, and many other notable films including Richland, City of Kokomo, The disappearance of Cher Haight, Journalist killedand Hidden beauty.
This is the fifth season of FTLOD, curated by independent documentary producer James Costa, former co-chair of the International Documentary Association's Board of Directors. We recently caught up with Costa at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) to explore what For the Love of Docs is all about.
Documentary producer James Costa
James Costa
Delivery time: How did you choose the ten films included in For the Love of Docs?
JC: It is a very difficult process. I try to have something for everyone. You may not view all 10 [in the series]but I'm really trying to keep it nice diverse, so that if we can get someone interested in one movie, it'll be like, “I wonder what the other movies are?” Then they can learn about other topics there. If you look at films this year, I tried to focus on the women in them. And I just listen to what's going on in the world and when I go to all the film festivals and see all the films, to really make time for what's going on in the world.
Delivery time: In some cases, after a film is selected for series, it may be distributed. I think about The soundtrack to the coupWhich was eventually picked up by Kino Lorber and won many awards. It's definitely a big part of the Oscar conversation. But I don't think Kino Lorber is an entity that can spend a lot of money on an awards campaign.
“Coup soundtrack”
Kino Lorber
JC: I talk to a lot of filmmakers and everyone says it's very expensive to do campaigns. When distributors look to certain types of films and they don't fit their category, it makes it more difficult to try to get your film noticed. Whether you have a sale or not, [being chosen for FTLOD] It is something that can help raise it. But a film that you can watch, enjoy and learn from is paramount to me with the choice of films and that there is something for everyone in the city. Maybe you're saying, “I've always wanted to see that.” And now you have the opportunity to watch it and say, “Wow, I ignored this movie.”
Another exciting part for me is interviewing the filmmakers, which is a big boost for them. And having a Deadline Hollywood article stay online is a great reference tool. So, if there are distributors or other people looking, they can just go to the site and see the interview. It's another credit to [documentarians] To help move their film forward because they are part of a select group that entered [to FTLOD]. It doesn't cost them anything. Again, this is not therapy, but we can feel like we are paying attention to what is happening in society. And this pluscinemaz.comin Hollywood sees the need for that and allows that to happen which is huge because careers are really essential for documentary filmmakers. We don't enter the people Magazine Do you know what I mean? In general, we rely on deals to help promote our films. So, it's going above and beyond that Deadline is making this series for filmmakers.
Delivery time: To reiterate, the filmmakers are not being charged.
JC: Which is great for Deadline Hollywood because they're part of the community. And when you're in the community, you have to give back sometimes. I think this is a great way for them to show their interest in documentaries. Everyone loves documentaries. So why not upload some things that people may not have heard of or don't have the budget to see?
DEADLINE: FRIDA It was interesting for For the Love of Docs this year because it did lack distribution. It is powered by Amazon MGM Studios. But it fits with what you were saying about highlighting women filmmakers. This is by Carla Gutierrez, an amazing editor. This is her first feature-length documentary that she has directed.
Director Carla Gutierrez
John Lambarski/Getty Images
JC: When I cast it, it already had a distributor, a major distributor, and it was at Sundance. But I enjoyed the movie, and it came at the right time. It was very timely… and I loved all the creativity in the film, and the artistry in it.
I ask others: “What movies do you like?” I don't just listen to myself. I'm definitely listening to other voices to try to vet this and see who has something to say and that it's a well-told, fun film for people to watch.
Delivery time: Two films in the series this year come from National Geographic Documentary Films, which is presenting FTLOD with Deadline. sugar-cane and flash.
JC: NatGeo always asks me, are you OK with these two choices or this one? These are usually great films that I would have chosen anyway.
Delivery time: How did you get interested in the documentary?
JC: I always say that documents can change the world. And for me, watching docs growing up, I was always drawn to stories and the way they were told. The state of the world and the issues I feel strongly about inspired me to want to do this. My first document was about school lunches [Lunch Hour]And I had no idea what I was doing, so I did it anyway, and I can go back and get frustrated watching it sometimes…but people are still watching this movie, and it came out in 2011. Teachers are buying it, schools are buying it. And so I know that this movie affects people.
I have a lot of documentaries coming up – four now and six next year. I just think people want to be informed about what's going on in the world. So, now we have to keep making films that hopefully change minds and make the world a happier place.
Delivery time: To be clear, you don't choose the films you make for For the Love of Docs.
JC: Oh, never, never. No, I try to be as thoughtful as I can with it and make it as fair as I can because there's enough drama in this industry and I'm really trying to be the best I can. I know a lot of people in the industry, but I don't say, “Oh, do me a favor and I'll put you on this series.” No, I see what's going on and I'm trying to be as fair as possible.
I care about all festivals. I look at foreign and domestic, it doesn't matter. I really, again, try to pick movies that have a chance, that kind of bubble, that just need that little kick are the movies that I pick, because I think they make everyone at the top feel a little bit nervous so it's really competitive – that Bubbles can form and it's really a competition for them. And that's how you kind of mix it up. You shake him a little.
Note: These are the films selected for the 2024 edition of For the Love of Docs, in order of their appearance in the schedule:
sugar-cane (Directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Casey)
Maya and the wave (Directed by Stephanie Jones)
Cuba 71 (Directed by Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine)
Black Box Diaries (Directed by Shiori Ito)
Frida (Directed by Carla Gutierrez)
Invisible nation (Directed by Vanessa Hope)
hollywoodgate (Directed by Ibrahim Nashat)
The soundtrack to the coup (Directed by Johan Grimonprez)
Never look away (Directed by Lucy Lawless)
flash (Directed by Edmund Stenson and Daniel Rohr)
