2022 DOC CHICAGO
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WHAT IS DOC CHICAGO?
Doc Chicago is an annual gathering for and by Midwest documentary filmmakers that provides a space to connect with each other, learn, and share ideas. Filmmakers representing every career stage are welcome to attend! We are so grateful to our presenters who will be sharing their deep knowledge of documentary filmmaking with us – check out their bios here. In 2022, Doc Chicago will unfold as a compact, in-person gathering on Sat, Nov. 5 at the Chicago Cultural Center. The event is FREE to attend, but please pre-register via Eventbrite. We'll cap off the day with the Doc Chicago Short Film Showcase, a great sampling of locally produced short docs followed by a Q+A with the filmmakers at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Separate admission applies – a discount for Doc Chicago attendees will be available. |
Chicago Cultural Center – Studio Theater
The Studio Theater is located just off the Randolph Street lobby 77 E. Randolph Street, Chicago |
DOC CHICAGO SCHEDULE – SATURDAY, NOV. 5, 2022
Noon: check-in & social time Mingle and meet other documentary filmmakers, share what you're working on and potentially find new collaborators. Please note that there will be other short breaks for mingling and connecting throughout the afternoon which are not listed on this schedule. 12:30pm: Welcome + Conversation Circles Join our topic-driven version of “speed-dating”! Each corner of the room will have one or two expert presenters who will engage in small group conversations about a specific topic (e.g. documentary producing or editing). At the ten minute mark, audience members will be asked to move to a different corner to engage with another presenter and topic. This will be a fun way to meet new people while learning from accomplished filmmakers. Among the presenters will be documentary producer Risé Sanders-Weir, editors Susanne Suffredin and Ryan Gleeson, and accessible media advocate and documentary editor Matt Lauterbach (For the Left Hand). Tip: bring your business cards! |
1:20pm: The Art of the Cut – A Conversation with Documentary Editors
Documentary editing is a highly specialized craft that presents unique storytelling challenges that are quite different from editing fiction films. Learn from some of Chicago's leading doc editors how they approach their art form and what they wish directors would know about the process before they start a project. Panelists include Kartemquin Films' Director of Editing Leslie Simmer, Rubin Daniels Jr (Philly D.A.), and award-winning doc director/editor Paloma Martinez. Panel moderated by veteran documentary editor/director and DePaul University faculty member Susanne Suffredin.
Documentary editing is a highly specialized craft that presents unique storytelling challenges that are quite different from editing fiction films. Learn from some of Chicago's leading doc editors how they approach their art form and what they wish directors would know about the process before they start a project. Panelists include Kartemquin Films' Director of Editing Leslie Simmer, Rubin Daniels Jr (Philly D.A.), and award-winning doc director/editor Paloma Martinez. Panel moderated by veteran documentary editor/director and DePaul University faculty member Susanne Suffredin.
2:20pm: Your Budget Tells a Story
Documentaries are rarely fully funded from the get-go. As we discuss sustainability and ethics in our field, how do we decide who gets paid and who doesn’t? And how do we address a potential power differential between filmmakers and participants, when traditional journalism (and by extension documentary) standards have prohibited paying interview subjects? Panelists are Will Miller, who produced The Territory, which currently plays in theaters and follows the Uru-eu-wau-wau Indigenous community in Brazil, who were compensated and were producers on the film; Jiayan "Jenny" Shi (Finding Yingying), an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker and video journalist; and Juneteenth Productions' founder Judith McCray, a multiple Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist and documentary filmmaker. Conversation moderated by filmmaker and Doc Chicago founder Ines Sommer.
Documentaries are rarely fully funded from the get-go. As we discuss sustainability and ethics in our field, how do we decide who gets paid and who doesn’t? And how do we address a potential power differential between filmmakers and participants, when traditional journalism (and by extension documentary) standards have prohibited paying interview subjects? Panelists are Will Miller, who produced The Territory, which currently plays in theaters and follows the Uru-eu-wau-wau Indigenous community in Brazil, who were compensated and were producers on the film; Jiayan "Jenny" Shi (Finding Yingying), an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker and video journalist; and Juneteenth Productions' founder Judith McCray, a multiple Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist and documentary filmmaker. Conversation moderated by filmmaker and Doc Chicago founder Ines Sommer.
3pm: Fair Use and the new Copyright Claims Boards
"Fair use is a key part of the social bargain at the heart of copyright law, in which as a society we concede certain limited individual property rights to ensure the benefits of creativity to a living culture. – Best Practices in Fair Use, American University, Center for Social Media. This short session will discuss the principles behind the ability to use materials without licensing or seeking permission from the copyright owners and how the new U.S. Copyright Claims Boards might or might not impact documentary filmmakers' fair use claims. Presenter: documentary producer/director Risé Sanders-Weir.
"Fair use is a key part of the social bargain at the heart of copyright law, in which as a society we concede certain limited individual property rights to ensure the benefits of creativity to a living culture. – Best Practices in Fair Use, American University, Center for Social Media. This short session will discuss the principles behind the ability to use materials without licensing or seeking permission from the copyright owners and how the new U.S. Copyright Claims Boards might or might not impact documentary filmmakers' fair use claims. Presenter: documentary producer/director Risé Sanders-Weir.
3:45pm: Storytelling: Up Close & Personal
What are the challenges in making personal documentaries, this most intimate form of storytelling? How much do you reveal? And how do you transcend the personal to open up the story for others? The speakers on this panel have all wrestled with these questions. Northwestern University professor and playwright Zayd Ayers Dohrn spent his childhood underground because his parents, who were part of the Weather Underground, were on the run from the FBI. His riveting audio documentary Mother Country Radicals won the Audio Storytelling award at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival. Filmmaker Dinesh Sabu was only six years old when he lost his parents. His moving documentary Unbroken Glass uncovers silenced family history and confronts the stigma of mental illness. Donald Conley’s lyrical documentary Matriarch celebrates his two grandmothers, both Southern Black women hoping to maintain their independence during what could potentially be the final year of their lives (see Doc Chicago Short Film Showcase). Conversation moderated by documentary filmmaker Cindy Martin, who is at work on a personal feature documentary.
What are the challenges in making personal documentaries, this most intimate form of storytelling? How much do you reveal? And how do you transcend the personal to open up the story for others? The speakers on this panel have all wrestled with these questions. Northwestern University professor and playwright Zayd Ayers Dohrn spent his childhood underground because his parents, who were part of the Weather Underground, were on the run from the FBI. His riveting audio documentary Mother Country Radicals won the Audio Storytelling award at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival. Filmmaker Dinesh Sabu was only six years old when he lost his parents. His moving documentary Unbroken Glass uncovers silenced family history and confronts the stigma of mental illness. Donald Conley’s lyrical documentary Matriarch celebrates his two grandmothers, both Southern Black women hoping to maintain their independence during what could potentially be the final year of their lives (see Doc Chicago Short Film Showcase). Conversation moderated by documentary filmmaker Cindy Martin, who is at work on a personal feature documentary.
Grab a bite to eat before joining us for the
DOC CHICAGO SHORT FILM SHOWCASE, 6pm-8pm
Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N State Street, Chicago, IL 60601
Q+A with the filmmakers to follow the screening. Purchase tickets here.
A discount for Doc Chicago attendees will be available.
This thought-provoking collection of Chicago-produced short documentaries includes Donald Conley’s lyrical documentary Matriarch, which celebrates his two grandmothers, both Southern Black women hoping to maintain their independence during what could potentially be the final year of their lives. While her son studies abroad in Poland, a suburban Chicago mom befriends a baby squirrel and raises him as if he were her own child in Tom Krawczyk' award-winning, humorous My Duduś. Meditative and carefully observed, Dinesh Sabu's Srkana takes us to rural Oklahoma, where a truck stop run by a Punjabi family is a nexus for a small but growing community of Indian long-haul truck drivers. In the fearlessly frank and personal Spontaneous, director Lori Felker relives the tangle of emotions she felt while attempting to hide a miscarriage in plain sight. Erika Valenciana's La Mitad del Mundo/The Middle of the World incorporates stop motion animation to explore the harrowing and painful stories of young survivors of sex trafficking in Ecuador.
DOC CHICAGO SHORT FILM SHOWCASE, 6pm-8pm
Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N State Street, Chicago, IL 60601
Q+A with the filmmakers to follow the screening. Purchase tickets here.
A discount for Doc Chicago attendees will be available.
This thought-provoking collection of Chicago-produced short documentaries includes Donald Conley’s lyrical documentary Matriarch, which celebrates his two grandmothers, both Southern Black women hoping to maintain their independence during what could potentially be the final year of their lives. While her son studies abroad in Poland, a suburban Chicago mom befriends a baby squirrel and raises him as if he were her own child in Tom Krawczyk' award-winning, humorous My Duduś. Meditative and carefully observed, Dinesh Sabu's Srkana takes us to rural Oklahoma, where a truck stop run by a Punjabi family is a nexus for a small but growing community of Indian long-haul truck drivers. In the fearlessly frank and personal Spontaneous, director Lori Felker relives the tangle of emotions she felt while attempting to hide a miscarriage in plain sight. Erika Valenciana's La Mitad del Mundo/The Middle of the World incorporates stop motion animation to explore the harrowing and painful stories of young survivors of sex trafficking in Ecuador.