Buyers Be Aware: Notable Projects From Toronto’s Doc Forum

The scene at the Toronto Documentary Forum this morning. Photo by Peter Knegt.

The 2009 Toronto Documentary Forum - the largest doc market in North America - kicked off this morning on the campus of the University of Toronto, with hundreds of filmmakers, producers, broadcasters and distributors gathering to witness twenty-five presentations of documentary projects at various levels of completion. Despite an economic climate that isn’t exactly conducive to stimulating the international co-production financing, the Forum - celebrating its tenth anniversary as part of the Hot Docs International Canadian Documentary Festival - wagered on.

“These last 10 years have seen unprecedented growth in our industry - a growth that has been clearly paralleled with the world’s economy,” TDF director Elizabeth Radshaw, having the unfortunate role of taking on her first year in the position in the midst of a recession, said. “While we have learned that this wider economic growth was built on a shaky foundation, let us not doubt that the growth in appetite for factual content and documentary film couldn’t be more true and lasting.”

Projects ranging from a story of a boy and his quest for a donkey to an examination of the Bush Administration’s war crimes case to a detailing the dark closet of Rock Hudson will fill out the 2-day event, which culminates in the very first Good Pitch event in North America. But first, here’s the lowdown on nine notable projects from the Toronto Documentary Forum:

A Donkeymentary: Through The Eyes of a Donkey
Directors: Arman Yeritsyan, Vardan Hovhannisyan
Producers: Vardan Hovhannisyan, Vahe Ohanan
Country: Armenia
Production Company: Bar Media
Proposed Delivery Date: 12/01/10
Financing Sought: $202,200 (72%)

The Lowdown: “This is a donkeymentary,” the film’s treatment begins.  What this means is that it’s a film that explores the small island of Lamu (off the coast of Kenya), which consists of 24,000 people, 6,000 donkeys, and 2 cars.  “The donkey capital of Africa,” the island is a place where donkey traffic jams occur, where the largest humanitarian organization is a donkey sanctuary, where donkeys are the key to earning a living, and where “a young boy’s fondest dream is to have a donkey of his own.” The film follows 14-year old Shefama as he pursues this dream. After winning a donkey race with a borrowed animal last year, Shefama is determined to provide for his family by owning his own, and winning more races.  As the treatment notes: “Through Shefama’s eyes we will see the traditions of Lamu’s Swahili culture - the festivals, the music, the races and especially the donkey races.”

News » Oscar Doc Shortlist Features » Tim Burton's Big Show News » Sundance's 2010 New Frontier

god Is Not Great Director: Jeff Scheftel Producer: Carolyn Pfeiffer Country: USA Production Company: Magnolia Pictures/Magnet Releasing Proposed Delivery Date: 09/01/2009 Financing Sought: $744,854 (80%) The Lowdown: Closely following Christopher Hitchens’ book of the same name (which spent 19 weeks on the New York Times’ bestseller list), “god” will feature Hitchens’ onscreen persona, and will be divided into sections similar to Hitchens’ book (“The Pantheon of Religious Failure,” for example, which looks at some eccentric sects that never quite made it to the status of “religion”).  The film will feature interviews with figures like Ted Haggerty, once an evangelical superstar but now enjoying his new life post-revelation of his methamphetamine addiction and his use of drugs to enhance sex with gay prostitutes; Tony Blair, who recently converted to Catholicism; and Ayaan Hirsi-Ali, a crusader for the rights of women and the rule of law within both Islamic countries and those Western countries with Islamic immigrants. In the film’s treatment, the producers state that through these interviews, Hitchens “will continue and enlarge his crusade against the sinister intrusion of superstition into the life of our planet.” Page 1 of 3 Next Login to recommend this article » posted on May 6, 2009 Films to Snag Login to Leave a Comment »