Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

Last updated

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is an annual non-fiction film festival held in Missoula, Montana each February. [1] The event showcases documentary films from around the world. The festival first began in 2003 as a seven-day event. It is now a ten-day event. The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is the largest cinema event in Montana. The festival presents an average of 150 non-fiction films annually at the historic Wilma Theater, The Top Hat, The Roxy Theater, and Crystal Theater in downtown Missoula.

BSDFF hosts DocShop an industry-focused feature of the festival that offers documentary filmmakers opportunities for networking, discussion, and professional development. The schedule includes workshops, Work-In-Progress presentations, panels, and the annual Big Sky Pitch session. DocShop's participants have included: HBO Documentary Films, Participant Media, BBC Storyville, CNN Films, ITVS, POV, PBS, Tribeca Film Institute, Sundance Doc Fund, Chicken & Egg Pictures, The Fledgling Fund and Catapult Film Fund.

Recent award winners at the festival have included Last of the Elephant Men (Daniel Ferguson, Arnaud Bouquet), Siblings are Forever (Frode Fimland), A World Not Ours (Mahdi Fleifel), Blood Brother (Steve Hoover), Slomo (Joshua Izenberg), Chasing Ice (Jeff Orlowski), This Way Of Life (Thomas Burstyn), Last Train Home (Lixin Fan), and Gasland (Josh Fox), Rough Aunties (Kim Longinotto), Sweetgrass (Ilisa Barbash & Lucien Castaing-Taylor), Jimmy Rosenberg: The Father, The Son, and the Talent (Jeroen Berkvens), Favela Rising (Jeff Zimbalist), The Cats of Mirikitani , (Linda Hattendorf), Citizen King (Orlando Bagwell & W. Noland Walker), and Horns and Halos , (Michael Galinsky & Suki Hawley).

Special retrospective programs have included: Agi Orsi, Barbara Kopple, Brendan Canty, Caveh Zahedi, Christoph Green, Chuck Workman, Dana & Hart Perry, Doug Pray, Jerry Blumenthal, Joe Berlinger, John Cohen, Kartemquin Films, Les Blank, Lucy Walker (director), Maysles Brothers, Ondi Timoner, Robert B. Weide, Ron Mann, Sam Green, Stanley Nelson, and Steve James.

Special guests have included Indy Rock legends Yo La Tengo, Grant Hart, and Lydia Loveless. Comedians Tig Notaro and Chris Fairbanks.

Films shown at the 2024 event included !Aitsa, Bring Them Home / Aiskótáhkapiyaaya, Iniskim-Return of the Buffalo and Final Vows.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missoula, Montana</span> City in Montana, United States

Missoula is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot and Blackfoot rivers in western Montana and at the convergence of five mountain ranges, and thus it is often described as the "hub of five valleys". The 2020 United States census recorded the city's population at 73,489 and the population of the Missoula Metropolitan Area at 117,922. As of 2023, the estimated city population was 77,757. Missoula is the second largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Montana. Missoula is home to the University of Montana, a public research university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam</span> Film festival

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheffield DocFest</span> Documentary festival in Sheffield, England

Sheffield DocFest is an international documentary festival and industry marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England.

The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June 2020. In addition to the annual festival, Hot Docs owns and operates the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, administers multiple production funds, and runs year-round screening programs including Doc Soup and Hot Docs Showcase.

International Documentary Association (IDA), founded in 1982, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that promotes nonfiction filmmakers, and is dedicated to increasing public awareness for the documentary genre. Their major program areas are: Advocacy, Filmmaker Services, Education, and Public Programs and Events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EBS International Documentary Festival</span> Documentary film festival in South Korea

EBS International Documentary Festival also known as EIDF, is an annual film festival hosted by the Educational Broadcasting System of South Korea since 2004. It is "Asia’s prestigious documentary festival", with focus on highlighting documentary films on Asia or made in Asia. It is open to countries from around the world. In addition to screenings and broadcasts, EIDF events also include master classes and workshops.

<i>Marwencol</i> (film) 2010 American documentary film about the work of artist and photographer Mark Hogancamp

Marwencol is a 2010 American documentary film that explores the life and work of artist and photographer Mark Hogancamp. It is the debut feature of director Jeff Malmberg, produced through his production company Open Face. It was the inspiration for Welcome to Marwen, a 2018 drama directed by Robert Zemeckis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Sundance Film Festival</span>

The 27th annual Sundance Film Festival took place from January 20, 2011 until January 30, 2011 in Park City, Utah, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ogden, Utah, and Sundance, Utah.

The culture of Missoula, Montana is influenced by the nearby University of Montana in art, sports, and music with the city's location in a mountain river valley also encouraging outdoor events and recreation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Sundance Film Festival</span>

The 2014 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 16, 2014 until January 26, 2014 in Park City, Utah, United States, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance Resort in Utah. The festival opened with Whiplash directed by Damien Chazelle and closed with musical drama Rudderless directed by William H. Macy.

Big Sky High School is an American public high school in Missoula, Montana, United States, opened in 1980. The school made Missoula the first city in Montana to have four secondary schools. It is a part of the Missoula County Public Schools.

Doc NYC is an annual documentary film festival in New York City. Co-founded by Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen, the festival is the country's largest documentary film festival with over 300 films and events and 250 special guests. By 2014, DOC NYC had become America's largest documentary film festival and voted by MovieMaker magazine as one of the "top five coolest documentary film festivals in the world". The festival takes place over 9 days in November at the West Village's IFC Center, Village East by Angelika, and SVA Theater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi</span> American film director

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi is an American documentary filmmaker. She was the director, along with her husband, Jimmy Chin, for the film Free Solo, which won the 2019 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film profiled Alex Honnold and his free solo climb of El Capitan in June 2017. Their first scripted film venture was Nyad, a biopic chronicling Diana Nyad's quest to be the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida.

<i>A Dog Named Gucci</i> 2015 American film

A Dog Named Gucci is a 2015 documentary film by Gorman Bechard that chronicles the story of an Alabama puppy set on fire, and the man who came to his rescue. The film made its American festival debut in February 2015 at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missoula Public Library</span> Building

The Missoula Public Library is the public library of Missoula, Montana. The library provides free resources for residents and guests of Missoula County, Montana. A library card is free, and available, to all Montana residents.

<i>Flee</i> (film) 2021 animated documentary film

Flee is a 2021 independent adult animated documentary film directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen. An international co-production with Denmark, France, Norway, and Sweden, it follows the story of a man under the alias Amin Nawabi, who shares his hidden past of fleeing his home country of Afghanistan to Denmark for the first time. Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau serve as executive producers and narrators for the English-language dub version.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Independent Film Festival</span> Annual festival held in San Francisco, California, U.S.

The San Francisco Independent Film Festival, known as San FranciscoIndieFest, is an annual film festival that recognizes contemporary independent film. Established in 1998, it is run by SF IndieFest, a non-profit organization, and based at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco, California.

The CWRU Film Society Science Fiction Marathon, held by the CWRU Film Society at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), is the longest-running 24-hour annual movie marathon event, attracting more than 100 customers annually. The Science Fiction Marathon is a weekend of back to back science fiction movies, trailers, and surprises. This event was started in 1976 and is attended by CWRU students, the Cleveland community, and people from out of state and from other countries. The Marathon takes place every spring semester starting the Friday after the first day of classes.

Big Sky Pride is the current gay pride celebration held annually in Montana. Known as the Montana Pride Celebration from 2004–2013, Big Sky Pride took over from the Montana Pride Network in 2014.

Aitamaako'tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun is a 2023 Canadian documentary film, directed by Banchi Hanuse. The film profiles Logan Red Crow, a young Siksika woman who is preparing to compete in the male-dominated Indian Relay horse race.

References