The Museum of Television & Radio Announces Dates for the Seventh Annual Documentary Festival

Monday, June 26, 2006

New York, NY—The Museum of Television & Radio will present its seventh annual Documentary Festival in New York beginning on October 12 and running through October 22, 2006. This year's Festival will premiere approximately twenty of the season's most noteworthy documentaries. Each screening will be introduced by the filmmaker and followed by the lively Q&A sessions that have become a hallmark of the Festival. In addition, there is once again a call for submissions for both Festival premieres and workshops.

Along with the slate of premiere screenings, the Festival will feature seminars and panel discussions exploring issues critical to the craft and content of the documentary, including the ever-popular workshop, The Art of the Documentary Pitch. Other confirmed special events will include the panel The Art of the Cut: Editing the Documentary, a Master Class with direct cinema pioneer Albert Maysles, and A Tribute to filmmaker Jerome Liebling, hosted by Ken Burns.

The complete Festival schedule will be announced at a later date. Past Festival highlights have included the New York premieres of such acclaimed films as Marshall Curry's Street Fight, Dan Klores's Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story, Zana Briski and Ross Kaufman's Born into Brothels, and Ken Burns's Jazz, among others.

Call for Entries

Entries are now being accepted for both the premiere screenings and The Art of the Documentary Pitch Workshop. Complete submission guidelines and entry forms can be found at www.mtr.org/festivals/mtrdocfest2006/index.htm. There is no entry fee. Submission materials will not be returned.

Premiere Screenings

Nonfiction, feature-length documentaries of any subject or genre are acceptable. Films may not have screened in New York prior to October 31, 2006. Applicants must submit a DVD or VHS screener of the film, any available press materials, and a completed and signed entry form no later than August 1, 2006.

The Art of the Documentary Pitch Workshop

Five preselected, emerging filmmakers will have the opportunity to pitch a documentary idea to a panel of television executives and producers. The winner will receive a $5,000 grant, sponsored by American Documentary Inc., the producers of the award-winning P.O.V. series for PBS. Applicants must submit a DVD or VHS sample of their project, a synopsis of the concept, and a completed and signed entry form no later than August 15, 2006.

For additional information, go to www.mtr.org.

The Museum's Documentary Festival was inaugurated in 2000 with the mission of bringing exemplary documentaries and works of nonfiction to the public. Over the past six years, the Festival has hosted screenings and dialogues that have included such participants as Jon Alpert, Peter Arnett, Ken Burns, Ric Burns, Glenn Close, Robert Drew, Eve Ensler, Liz Garbus, Taylor Hackford, Eugene Jarecki, Sebastian Junger, Susan Lacy, Rory Kennedy, Al Maysles, Michael Moore, Gordon Parks, Alexandra Pelosi, DA Pennebaker, Alvin Perlmutter, Sam Phillips, Alan and Susan Raymond, Gore Vidal, Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Weide, and Gideon Yago.

The Documentary Festival Advisory Committee members are Jon Alpert, Downtown Community Television Center; David Fanning, Frontline; Paola Freccero; Liz Garbus, Moxie Firecracker Films; Chana Gazit, Steward/Gazit Productions; Rena Golden, CNN International; David Grubin, David Grubin Productions; Diana Holtzberg, Films Transit International; Marjorie Kaplan, Discovery Kids/Discovery Communications, Inc.; Lynne Kirby, Sundance Channel; Barbara Kopple, Cabin Creek Films; Susan Lacy, American Masters; Lauren Lazin, MTV Networks; Ruby Lerner, Creative Capital; Beni Matias, Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers; Al Maysles, Maysles Films, Inc.; Cara Mertes, P.O.V.; Stanley Moger, SFM Entertainment, LLC; Nina Henderson Moore, BET; Sheila Nevins, HBO; Thom Powers, Filmmaker; Steve Rosenbaum, Magnify Media; Vivian Schiller, Discovery Times Channel; Prof. George Stoney, Tisch School of the Arts; Molly Thompson, A&E; Rosalind P. Walter; Susan Werbe, The History Channel; Christopher Wilcha, Filmmaker; and Kristal Brent Zook, Columbia University.

The Museum of Television & Radio, with locations in New York and Los Angeles, is a nonprofit organization founded by William S. Paley to collect and preserve television and radio programs and advertisements and to make them available to the public. Since opening in 1976, the Museum has organized exhibitions, screening and listening series, seminars, and education classes to showcase its collection of over 120,000 television and radio programs and advertisements. Programs in the Museum's permanent collection are selected for their artistic, cultural, and historic significance.

The Museum of Television & Radio in New York, located at 25 West 52 Street in Manhattan, is open Tuesdays through Sundays from noon to 6:00 p.m. and until 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays. The Museum of Television & Radio in California, located at 465 North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills is open Wednesdays through Sundays from noon to 5:00 p.m. Both Museums are closed on New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Suggested contribution: Members free; $10.00 for adults; $8.00 for senior citizens and students; and $5.00 for children under fourteen. Admission is free in Los Angeles. The public areas in both Museums are accessible to wheelchairs, and assisted listening devices are available. Programs are subject to change. You may call the Museum in New York at (212) 621-6800, or in Los Angeles at (310) 786-1000. Visit the Museum's website at www.mtr.org.