This weekend Durham's most popular millimeter will be 35 as the world-renowned Full Frame Documentary Film Festival returns to Bull City for its 11th year. Founded in 1998 by Nancy Buirski, a former Duke Dewitt Wallace Fellow, Full Frame works to showcase over 100 documentary films each April in the hopes of raising consciousness by educating its viewers on social issues both widespread and obscure.
Buirski began her career in the arts as a painter but transferred her medium of choice to photography as a result of her desire to be more interactive with the world. This focus in photography led Buirski to 15 successful years at The New York Times where her love of documentary photography and photo journalism were further inspired as she rose to the title of foreign photo editor. In 1996, Buirski studied at Duke University as a Dewitt Wallace Fellow, a program that "provides experienced journalists with the opportunity to expand their skills and interests in the role of the news media in democracies."
It was during this residency that Buirski met her current husband and Chapel Hill-native Ken Friedlan. Leaving New York for North Carolina, Buirski brought along her newfound infatuation with documentary film and Full Frame was born.
Now heralded as the largest documentary film festival in the United States, Full Frame plays host to over 1,100 submissions and some 26,000 audience members. In its first five years as the Double Take Documentary Festival, the event thrived under the sponsorship of Duke's Center for Documentary Studies before switching to the independent support of the nonprofit company, Doc Arts Inc. However under the supervision of President Richard Brodhead in 2005, Duke regained its personal connection with Full Frame, becoming a presenting sponsor of the festival alongside The New York Times.
"There's growing interest in the arts at Duke, from the opening of the Nasher Museum of Art to the recent establishment of new arts facilities on Buchanan Street. The arts are essential to the education of our students and to the fabric of the University, as well as to the surrounding community. We expect this new partnership with Full Frame to strengthen Duke's presence in the arts, both on campus and beyond," said Provost Peter Lange in 2005 to Duke News.
Duke's sponsorship allowed for discounted tickets for students and employees as well as the creation of the Full Frame fellows program, a unique opportunity for 25 Duke students to receive a first-hand glimpse into the world of documentary film through panels and workshops with the filmmakers and members of the industry.
Once a two-and-a-half day affair, the Full Frame Festival now fills seven venues over four days and has brought big names to Durham, such as Academy Award-winner Martin Scorsese, chair of the festival's advisory board, and acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. The festival is divided into six categories: New Docs, the career award series, a curated series, a siderbar, special programming and panels and workshops.
Having served as the chair of the selection committee since the festival's inception, Program in Film/Video/Digital Director David Paletz said the choice to continue to house the festival in Durham brings a heightened sense of community to the experience.
"Durham is close enough to a film industry center such as New York but not too far in that it is easy to get to, and once there, most festival-goers remain for the full four days," Paletz said.
Thus similar to film festival retreats such as Sundance, Full Frame succeeds in removing its audience members from the unrest of city life in order to obtain their full attention. But in our blockbuster world, why the sudden interest in the documentary? Surely our buck would be far better spent on an hour and a half of today's most stimulating Hollywood effects? Wrong.
"Documentaries illuminate subjects for their audiences that are seldom examined in today's feature films. Anyone with a camera of any sort can take pictures, but the best of these candid recordings transform the process into art," Paletz said.
This cinematic achievement, as well as the originality of the subject matter of festival submissions, serve as the main criteria for Paletz and his committee when they determined the works that will be screened this weekend.
Highlighted in this years Full Frame selection are innovative oeuvres such as Glass: A Portrait of Phillip in Twelve Parts, an intimate look at composer, Philip Glass; Lioness, a work that examines the place of female soldiers in Iraq; Daughters of Wisdom, an exploration of the lives of female monks in a Buddhist monastery, and Academy Award-nominated La Corona (The Crown), which observes a beauty contest in a Colombian prison. An awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, the final day of the festival, to honor the outstanding documentaries in various categories. Thanks to Duke's connection to the festival, the winners will be archived in Lilly Library.
Although Buirski stepped down as artistic director of the festival in 2007, she remains an ambassador and curator to the sidebar portion of the event.
"Using film as a catalyst-a language that is shared by all-we connect people in an effort to create greater understanding, heal conflicts and strive towards peace," Buirski said. And with the Full Frame Festival's astounding success so far, it seems she is well on her way to realizing this mission.
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