2010 American Documentary Showcase Demonstrates Power of Genre

[Sue Smith]

A touring program of about 60 independently produced documentaries is traveling to almost 25 countries worldwide, where U.S. filmmakers and film experts will introduce the films and conduct seminars and workshops on filmmaking and emergent media at U.S. embassies, international film festivals, universities and other venues. Curated and administered by the University Film and Video Association, the American Documentary Showcase (AMDOCs) is funded by the U. S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

 

“People around the world have enthusiastically responded to documentaries in the Showcase, because film speaks a universal language,” says Project Director Betsy McLane, Ph.D. “These films offer a broad, diversified look at life in the United States and the values of a democratic society as seen by independent American filmmakers.”

 

Films chosen for the 2010 Showcase have earned Oscar® and Emmy® nominations and awards at Sundance, Tribeca and other film festivals.

 

The documentaries cover diverse topics ranging from the story of a Puerto Rican American Muslim hip-hop star (”New Muslim Cool”) to the integration of immigrants into a rural Southern town (”Welcome to Shelbyville”); from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (”Trouble the Waters”) and the effects of mountain-top coal mining (”Burning the Future”) to the story of two expatriates from communist Hungary who became iconic Hollywood filmmakers (”No Subtitles Necessary”).

 

The 2010 American Documentary Showcase is scheduled to travel to Angola, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burma, China, Columbia, Ecuador, Egypt, Honduras, Kenya, Mongolia, Morocco, Nigeria, Namibia, Paraguay, Poland, Russia, Rwanda, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

 

For more information, visit www.ufva.org/showcase.