CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY
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A Letter From Our Executive Director:
2017 is coming to a close, and it is time to sum up this year; to rejoice at our successes and to analyze where we need to improve. It is a time to reckon with this year’s cost, both to the budget as well as to our organization itself. A time for reflection and a time for opportunity.
2017 brought us a major loss with the passing of CID’s long time Executive Producer Fred Simon in February. Fred had been at CID since 1982, and his contribution to the organization was profound and grew out of his own work as an independent filmmaker. He is greatly missed.
Over the course of this year, we have been adjusting our staffing and procedures as we re-evaluate the work that we do and the mission of the organization. In 2018, we have much to look forward to. We will be working on board development for the organization, working on saving LGBTQ history on our Pride of the Ocean Film Festival Cruise in February, starting up a new series of lunch-time workshops for our filmmakers via phone and web conferencing, and having another great week up in Vermont at our Annual Kopkind/CID film camp and seminars in August.
We’d like to congratulate all of our filmmakers on the work they have been doing this year. We hope you will take a moment and visit our beautifully redesigned website to learn more about their work, to find out how to view it, and to participate in the production of the works in progress (
www.documentaries.org).
We want to thank everyone who donated to CID this year, to both our films and to our programs. Your support has meant the world to us. As we come to the end of the year, we hope that you will consider making a final year end gift to CID. Your year-end gift helps make possible our day to day operations—so vital to the production of so many films.
I would also like to personally thank everyone for the support and patience that you have given me and my family during this difficult year. On behalf of everyone here at CID we wish you the very best for 2018.
Susi Walsh
Executive Director
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Have you checked out our new and improved site?! Take a minute to do so - and welcome to our new Director of Marketing, Mira Simon, who is responsible for the re-design! If your CID sponsored film is not up on our new site, please
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Pride Of The Ocean Film Festival:
Tickets On Sale NOW
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Tickets are on sale now for this year's Pride Of The Ocean Film Festival, "Saving History". The festival will explore how LGBTQ archivists, filmmakers, and the public have been working to save LGBTQ history, and how they're making that history available for film and television.
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The Massachusetts Cultural Council Recognized For Their Support
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At the Mass Media Expo on November 4th, CID was thrilled to have the opportunity to present the Massachusetts Cultural Council with an award recognizing this early and crucial supporter of the MPC and of the industry.
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The Upcoming Holiday MPC Meeting on December 11th
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On Monday, December 11th, The Massachusetts Production Coalition will be holding a special Holiday Meeting at District Hall.
Click here
to learn more and register for a fun night of cocktails and presentations.
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CID FILM PRODUCTION UPDATES
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'Voices Combating Homophobia' In Uganda is completed!
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Tim McCarthy's, "Voices Combating Homophobia In Uganda" is completed! The film will be showing in Provincetown, MA soon - stay tuned for details!
Click
here to view the trailer
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Update On 'The Buddy System'
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THE BUDDY SYSTEM, the (not so) little documentary that could, keeps chugging along, building awareness and compassion for the autism community. The film has screened at multiple festivals across the country, won “Best Film” at AutFest and was chosen as the closing night event at the U.S. Autism & Asperger Association World Conference (Autism activist, Dr. Temple Grandin was the key note speaker and it was an honor to spend time with her).
We had an extra special experience at the Global Peace Film festival in Orlando. We attended shortly after Hurricane Irma wreaked her havoc and felt privileged to bring light and life to a community that was still recovering. We were also fortunate to have brought Cubby, a young autism assistance dog, along with us, because he brought comfort and many smiles to festival attendees.
We’ve also been doing local community screenings at area libraries and schools and will have our Washington, D.C. area premiere this month at the Alexandria Film Festival. We’re about to kick off a year-end fundraising effort and are working towards a Gala Screening during Autism Awareness month in April 2018, which we will be followed by general distribution of the film on a television network and/or streaming platform. The “Be A Buddy” educational initiative is in development and designed for use in schools and support organizations. We’re still actively seeking supporters, sponsors, underwriters, and advisors, so if you’d like to help—in any wayplease feel free to get in touch with director/producer Megan
Smith-Harris at: megansmithharris@gmail.com
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'The Youth And Gender Media Project' is on the road!
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Jonathan Skurnik of The Youth & Gender Media Project has been traveling to colleges and conferences to screen his films about trans and gender expansive youth, accompanied by professional development trainings on how to create more inclusive classrooms for all children, regardless of their gender identity or expression. In addition, our film Creating Gender Inclusive Schools recently won the award for Best Documentary at the CMG Film Festival in West Hollywood.
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'A Call To Remember: The David Schaecter Story' at The Miami Jewish Film Festival
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"A Call To Remember: The David Schaecter Story" will be premiering at the Miami Jewish Film Festival on January 14th.
Click
here to read more about the film.
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'Getting High'
Available For Free Streaming
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"Getting High" premiered at the (In)Justice For All Film Festival in Chicago in April.
A Note From The Filmmaker, Victor Silverman:
"Given the current efforts of the Justice Department to reemphasize punitive responses to problematic drug use, we need discussions around alternative forms of intervention as much as ever. To that end, I am now making 'Getting High' available for free viewing on Vimeo. Please share the link below with your friends, social networks and organizations.
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- PBS viewers in Georgia and Chattanooga, TN can watch Lake Of Betrayal on Tuesday, December 5th at 9pm on Georgia Public Broadcasting.
- On Wednesday, December 6th at 7pm, the Newton Public Library will be hosting a special screening of the PBS American Masters documentary film Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive. Following the screening, there will be a Q&A with director Eric Stange, Paul Lewis, the president of the Poe Studies Association and Boston College English professor, and Pulitzer Prize winning biographer Megan Marshall. Includes an exhibit of production photos by Liane Brandon (on display 12/2 to 12/28/17). More details here.
- On Thursday, December 7th at 7pm, STAR will be sponsoring a screening of The Buddy System at The Darien Library in Darien, CT. More details here
- On Tuesday, December 12th at 6pm at the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School, there will be a free public screening of Circle Up in honor of Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month. The film will be followed by a community discussion facilitated by filmmaker Julie Mallozzi, film subjects Janet Connors and Clarissa Turner, and other survivors of homicide victims. More details here.
- Screenings of Just One Drop in Waterville, ME, Grand Rapids, MI, Osseo, MN, and Arlington, MA. More details here.
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FEATURED RESOURCE OF THE MONTH
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The LEF Foundation Newsletter
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Check out the December issue of the LEF Foundation newsletter. It's an invaluable resource for screenings, workshops, and grants/funding opportunities for filmmakers!
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We are grateful for the generous support of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
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Center For Independent Documentary | 1-888-220-0918 | www.documentaries.org
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