special industry
INCLUDING SCHEDULE
WED 25 & THU 26 NOV
#4
For more news & full industry programme, see www.idfa.nl/industry
Talking sound: Morgan Knibbe (right), whose refugee doc Those Who Feel the Fire Burning has been entered for Oscar consideration, and his sound designer Vincent Sinceretti, discuss the role of sound in the documentary at the IDFA Friends’ event in the VIP Lounge in Tuschinski on Monday. photo: Bram Belloni
Lestrade steps up Oscar-winning French director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade was in attendance at the Forum on Monday to launch Staircase III, the second feature in his series of works revolving around the case of Tennessee writer and politician Michael Peterson, who was convicted of murdering his wife in 2003.
Peterson, now 71 years old, was freed after the 2011 trial but faces a final, decisive trial early next year. He has always proclaimed his innocence and is asking for all charges to be dropped. The prosecutor, however, is pushing for a plea deal for simple assault, which would result in the case being closed and Peterson avoiding jail. Lestrade said an explosive and unexpected – but potentially plausible – theory to explain the wife’s death is set to be introduced at the new trial, which would bring fresh drama to the story. “I started following this story at the end of 2001,” says Lestrade. “I like to finish the work I’ve begun. I don’t really make documentaries anymore, but this is a story I’d like to follow to its conclusion. The series and film were incredibly popular around the world
Docs for Sale 1 Sonita
Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami
2 A Family Affair Tom Fassaert
By Melanie Goodfellow
Lestrade has been following the twists and turns of the case for more than a decade, kicking off with the original trial of Peterson for the murder of his wife, who was found at in a pool of blood at the bottom of a staircase in 2001. The new work follows on from Lestrade’s 2004, HBO-backed hit miniseries The Staircase, capturing the original trial, and the 2011 one-off documentary The Staircase – The Last Chance, about a retrial after new evidence emerged.
Top TEN
and audiences want to know what happens next.” The second feature will be produced by Lestrade’s long-time producer Matthieu Belghiti of Paris-based What’s Up Films with the support of the documentary department of French pay-TV giant Canal Plus. IDFA winner Leonard Retel Helmrich was also among the directors presenting at the Central Pitching session on Monday. He unveiled footage of The Camp – about an official Syrian refugee camp on the Lebanese border with Syria, in his characteristic up-close style. “There are no voiceovers. It will just be me shooting like I normally do,” says Retel Helmrich. The project, produced by Amsterdambased Pieter van Huystee with the backing of Dutch broadcaster EO, was one of the most warmly received titles at the Forum this year. Other projects prompting strong interest included Chinese director Hao Wu’s US-produced People’s Republic of Desires, about China’s craze for virtual showrooms in which impoverished youngsters convince wealthy shoppers to buy them virtual gifts. The Forum continues on Wednesday with one-on-one and round table meetings as well as a special session devoted to children’s films.
3 A Strange Love Affair with Ego Ester Gould
4 Thy Father’s Chair Antonio Tibaldi, Alex Lora
5 Holy Cow
Imam Hasanov
6 Among the Believers
Hemal Trivedi, Mohammed Ali Naqvi
7 Ukrainian Sheriffs
Roman Bondarchuk
8 A Syrian Love Story Sean McAllister
9 Walls
Pablo Iraburu, Migueltxo Molina
10 Th ru You Princess Ido Haar
As of 4 pm, Tuesday 24 November
Wild West A theatrical release remains king for America’s A-list doc makers, but it’s a matter of time before SVOD players like Netflix change the release landscape, John Sloss, founding head of New York-based film and media company Cinetic told an IDFA industry talk on Sunday, entitled ‘How to Be Successful in the American Market.’
“You have people like Netflix paying more than anyone for some documentaries and putting more money behind awards…. Then you have people like Amazon with a different model which hasn’t really got into documentary yet, but I believe will do so in 2016; when that happens it’s going to be like the Wild West in the US. There’s a tremendous amount of subscription money for films and it’s going to challenge films that really want theatrical.” Sloss talked about his journey from being an entertainment lawyer to founding film finance, sales, distribution and management company Cinetic Media, which has handled films such as Boyhood, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Amy and Cartel Land. “I saw an imperfect system that rewarded producers who were good at finding money and penalised producers who were good at creative aspects and logistically producing movies. That seemed like an inherent inefficiency to me, because finding money is not the greatest qualification for producing movies.” “I said OK. All the other lawyers I see are very passive and waiting for people to bring them a deal they can document, but I have relationships with all these people who finance movies and distribute movies, so why don’t I go to my clients who I think are valuable and talented and say I would like to be proactive in seeking money for films. The first people I did this for were director John Sayles and Maggie Renzi on City of Hope and that started me on a path.” MG