International Documentary Association Announces Jury Selections for DocuWeek(TM)

International Documentary Association Announces Jury Selections for DocuWeek(TM)

Theatrical Documentary Showcase Helps Qualify Docs for Oscar(R) Consideration

LOS ANGELES, July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Documentary Association (IDA) is featuring 15 documentaries in its Ninth Annual Theatrical Documentary Showcase, DocuWeek (formerly InFact). A dozen feature length documentaries and three short non-fiction films will be shown on two screens at the ArcLight(R) Hollywood from August 19-25 before traveling to other venues across the country.

"Our goals are to help deserving filmmakers qualify for Oscar(R) consideration by providing theatrical platforms where their films can be seen, and to encourage exhibitors to dedicate more screens to non-fiction films," says IDA Executive Director Sandra Ruch.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' rules require documentaries to be exhibited on theatrical screens for paid admissions in either Los Angeles County or Manhattan for at least seven consecutive days, as well as in four other cities.

Since its inception eight years ago, 15 films featured in the showcase have gone on to be nominated for Academy Awards(R) with four films winning Oscars(R), including this year's Best Documentary Feature BORN INTO BROTHELS.

Three of the features making their Los Angeles debut at DocuWeek are: DARWIN'S NIGHTMARE, which reveals the story of the Nile Perch, an animal that was introduced in the heart of Africa in the 1960s. Its fillets are now exported around the world. Ex-Soviet cargo planes come daily to collect the catch in exchange for their southbound cargo -- Kalashnikovs and ammunition; PROTOCOLS OF ZION, which examines why millions around the world blame a Jewish conspiracy for 9/11 despite all the evidence to the contrary. Award-winning filmmaker Marc Levin takes to the street to challenge one of the most persistent, insidious conspiracy theories of all time; TOUCH THE SOUND, which is the latest film from Thomas Riedelsheimer, the critically acclaimed director of RIVERS AND TIDES. TOUCH THE SOUND explores the connections between sound, rhythm, time and the body by following the nearly deaf, world- renowned percussionist Evelyn Glennie.

DocuWeek will also feature the world premiere of WHO GETS TO CALL IT ART?, which documents the outrageous, politically brash, pop art scene in 1960s New York through the eyes of legendary Metropolitan Museum of Art Curator Henry Geldzahler. The film features some of the first artists to create an American art style including Mark Di Suvero, David Hockney, Larry Poons, James Rosenquist, and Frank Stella.

The other features selected for DocuWeek are: 39 POUNDS OF LOVE, which follows Ami, a man weighing 39 pounds, who is unable to move any part of his body, yet still manages to move those around him; BALLETS RUSSES, which offers a rare glimpse into the remarkable merger of Russian, American, European, and Latin American 20th century dance companies; FROZEN ANGELS investigates the "future" as it exists today in Los Angeles through personal stories surrounding assisted human reproduction; I LIKE KILLING FLIES focuses on Kenny Shopsin, a self-taught chef in his tiny family-owned New York City restaurant; THE LAST CAMPAIGN, a sequel to the 1972 film, IF ELECTED..., covers the 2004 campaign for the re-election of Justice Warren McGraw to the West Virginia Supreme Court; LOST CHILDREN documents the lives of four children who successfully escape the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda only to return home branded as killers; OCCUPATION: DREAMLAND is an unflinchingly candid portrait of a squad of the United States Army's 82nd Airborne deployed in the doomed Iraqi city of Falluja; THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN profiles a maverick Midwestern farmer who succeeds in creating a revolutionary form of agriculture in rural America.

DocuWeek also features the following short films (40 min or less): FAMILY PORTRAIT revisits the Fontenelle family, which was featured in Gordon Parks' 1968 Life magazine photo essay on race and poverty; GOD SLEEPS IN RWANDA reveals the spirit of women survivors who overcame the 1994 genocide's legacy of grief; and POSITIVELY NAKED profiles one of Spencer Tunick's nude installation photographs.

A complete schedule and additional information will be available on the IDA website at www.documentary.org.

Tickets and Showcase passes for the Hollywood run of DocuWeek are available at the ArcLight Hollywood box office (6360 Sunset Blvd.) beginning July 29, 2005, or at www.ArcLightCinemas.com. General admission is $11.

In addition to its premiere run in Hollywood, DocuWeek will be shown at Hot Springs Behind the Mall Theater Cinema in Hot Springs, Arkansas (September 24-25); the Magic Lantern Cinema in Ketchum, Idaho (October 3-6, 10-13, and 17-18); the Teton Theatre in Jackson Hole, Wyoming (November 2-10); and Landmark's Crossroads Cinema in Boulder, Colorado (Nov. 18-21).

Source: International Documentary Association

CONTACT: Media, Sally Christgau or Satosha Patterson, +1-760-438-5250,
CCSPR@aol.com, both of CCS PR for The International Documentary Association

Web site: http://www.documentary.org/
http://www.arclightcinemas.com/

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