SILVERDOCS Announces Special Program on 'Filmanthropy' to Launch Annual International Documentary Conference

SILVERDOCS Announces Special Program on 'Filmanthropy' to Launch Annual International Documentary Conference

Keynote Speaker: Business Leader, Philanthropist and NANKING Producer Ted Leonsis

War/Dance, The Devil Came On Horseback Among Films Highlighted

SILVER SPRING, Md., April 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival announced the first of several special programs to take place during the fifth annual Festival and named the keynote speaker for the International Documentary Conference (June 13 - 16, 2007). Select films to be highlighted in the program were also announced. The SILVERDOCS Conference is at the center of content, advocacy, funding and distribution and will explore "Filmanthropy" -- a new wave of links between documentary, non-profits and advocacy groups.

The keynote address will be given by Ted Leonsis, NANKING producer, media leader (Vice Chairman, AOL, LLC) and a leading philanthropist who has turned his attention to documentary film as a means of raising awareness of important social issues.

The Filmanthropy program will feature public screenings and symposia along with an invitational workshop for a cross-section of leaders from the media, funding and philanthropic communities. The program will address the challenge of balancing "story vs. message" in this genre of issue-oriented filmmaking and is co-presented with the American University Institute for Strategic Communication for Non-profits. Presenters will include: President and CEO, AFI Jean Picker Firstenberg; AU School of Communications Dean Larry Kirkman; Discovery Communications Senior Vice President for Corporate Affairs and Social Responsibility, Carrie Passmore; Participant Productions, Executive Vice President for Social Action and Advocacy, John Schreiber and SILVERDOCS Festival Director Patricia Finneran.

In addition to the much-touted Participant Productions release AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, recent examples of Filmanthropy include the Academy Award- winning documentary THE BLOOD OF YINGZHOU DISTRICT, about the HIV/Aids crisis in China from filmmakers Ruby Yang and Tom Lennon, who will participate in the program. THE BLOOD OF YINGZHOU DISTRICT had its World Premiere at last year's SILVERDOCS.

"Filmanthropy" is more than a buzzword, "said Ted Leonsis, "It is at the center of an on-going international discussion on how to engage the public in civic discourse and leverage existing and new media channels while creating funding opportunities for social issues. Increasingly, social-issue documentaries include non-profit partners and involve creative strategic marketing campaigns, which fully capitalize on the streaming media and social networking possibilities of Web 2.0. Filmanthropy is an idea that promises to generate significant impact far beyond the documentary community. I am excited to participate in SILVERDOCS where filmmakers, funders, distributors, and nonprofits are converging to explore this theme."

"The SILVERDOCS Festival and Conference extends AFI's mission to celebrate excellence in filmmaking as we explore the future of storytelling in the digital age." said Jean Picker Firstenberg, President and CEO, AFI, "Ted Leonsis' leadership in digital media has empowered audiences to shape their entertainment experience in new ways. We are pleased to welcome his passion and perspective to our premier documentary program."

The Conference will include discussions of several films from the Festival that fall under the rubric of "Filmanthropy" because they were funded or marketed by a non-profit advocacy organization, commissioned or financed by an entity or donor as a means to engage audiences and change public opinion. Among the films are: WAR/DANCE directed by Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine, which follows former child soldiers in northern Uganda empowered by the collaborative nature of a music and dance competition, funded by Shine Global; THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK directed by Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern, an expose of the violence and tragedy of the genocide in Darfur seen through the eyes of a lone American witness; and NANKING directed by Bill Guttentag (AFI alumni '79) and Dan Sturman and created, produced and funded by Ted Leonsis, in an effort to raise awareness about an important and tragic moment in Chinese history.

The 4-day SILVERDOCS International Documentary Conference features 110 professional panelists at 60 sessions over four days. Additional confirmed Conference panelists to date include: Ford Foundations's Orlando Bagwell; ThinkFilm's Mark Urman; PBS Chief Content Officer John Boland; Sundance Institute Documentary Fund Director Cara Mertes; Alice Myatt, Executive Director, Grantmakers in Film and Electronic Media; and filmmakers featured in the Festival.

Participants from the non-profit world include: ACE-Animal Content in Entertainment; Amnesty International; CARE; Center for Environmental Filmmaking; Global Fund for Children; and WITNESS. All have been deeply involved in either funding long-form storytelling or using audiovisual media for strategic communication.

In addition to Discovery Communications, participating media at this year's Conference include: Arte, BBC, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, HBO, IFC Films, Magnolia Films, Miramax, National Geographic, PBS, Picturehouse, and The Weinstein Company, among others.

The full Conference Highlights will be announced in the coming weeks. The full Festival slate will be announced May 17, 2007.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: SILVERDOCS

CONTACT: Jody Arlington, +1-202-316-4316, jarlington@AFI.com, or Tammy
Shea, +1-240-662-6506, Tammy_Shea@Discovery.com, both of SILVERDOCS

Web site:

http://www.silverdocs.com/
http://www.afi.com/
http://www.discovery.com/

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