As a major fan of Woody Allen, this is truly the documentary we’ve all been waiting for. We’re given an opportunity to look inside the life of Woody through interviews with the auteur himself and other famed actors that have worked with the filmmaker over decades of creating classics like Match Point, Annie Hall, Manhattan, and his most recent Oscar winner Midnight in Paris. Weide takes us on a journey through Woody’s childhood as a joke writer, his writing habits as an adult, his contributions to the New Yorker, his relationships with actors/actresses on his films, and even his stint as a clarinet player in a New Orleans jazz band. “He never refused a request and he never declined to answer a question,” says Weide.

So now to the details. To enter to win a DVD of the PBS Documentary Woody Allen: A Documentary

1. Follow @documentaryclub and @newvideodigital on twitter

2. Go on over to twitter and tweet:

“I want to win a free copy of @WoodyAllenDoc from @DocumentaryClub and @NewVideoDigital! http://tinyurl.com/WAGiveaway”

Can’t wait to see if you’ve won? Head on over to Amazon to buy the DVD! Click here to purchase the film.

Giveaway Guidelines: Tweeting from multiple accounts is discouraged. Please do not post the same tweet repeatedly. One entry per person, per day. (This is per Twitter’s guidelines.) Make sure to include the entire tweet. User must meet both criteria (the two follows and RT) to be eligible for the prize.  The prize is one DVD of Woody Allen: A Documentary. Giveaway ends on Sunday March 4th at midnight EST. Winner will be drawn at random. No purchase necessary.

Join us at Wisdom Lounge in Washington, DC on November 20th at 7pm for an opportunity to see the filmmaker’s progress, hear Rebecca and Call’s amazing story, learn about mental health and abuse issues, and join in a discussion with the filmmaker afterwards via Skype.

From the film’s website – http://www.asisterscall.com:

“In 1977, Call Richmond disappeared. 20 Years later, his sister Rebecca found him homeless, alone and suffering from severe paranoid schizophrenia. Filmed over thirteen years, A SISTER’S CALL follows Rebecca’s journey to “bring her brother back” from the depths of his homelessness and schizophrenia, all while confronting the issues of their dark past and overcoming the complicated family dynamic that comes with caring for the mentally ill.”

Date/Time: November 20th, 2011 at 7pm, Discussion at 8:30
Location:  1432 Pennsylvania Avenue Southeast  Washington, DC 20003
Phone: (202) 543-2323
Nearest Metro: Potomac Ave. Metro (SE)
The Official Website: www.asisterscall.com
Tekiela Creative Website: www.tekielacreative.com
Wisdom’s Blog: www.gintender.com

Presented by Docs In Progress
Co-Sponsored by the Charles Gilchrist Center for Cultural Diversity

Thursday, July 28, 2011
6:30 Reception
7:00-8:30 pm Screening
at the Silver Spring Civic Building
1 Veterans Place
8523 Fenton Avenue on GPS
Silver Spring, MD 20910

This event is FREE and OPEN to the public.

RSVP here.

via Join us for Silver Spring Stories Film Festival July 28.

As an antidote to the documentary filmmaker working in isolation, DocuMingles brings together filmmakers to foster support networks, mentoring relationships, and perhaps even collaborations. It’s a documentary filmmaker brainstorming, networking, and support group all wrapped up in one. This program is open to Docs Insiders, Docs in Progress Alumni screening and program and other area documentary filmmakers. This is an opportunity to meet and mingle with others in the documentary community, share the progress of your film, and tell the latest tales of the journey to getting a documentary completed.

How is this different from other Docs In Progress programs?

Docs In Progress programs for emerging and established filmmakers have focused mostly on very public screenings such as the Work-in-Progress Screenings, formalized feedback sessions such as Peer Pitch, and informal networking opportunities such as the Alumni Happy Hours and Open Houses. These programs are all been led by staff efforts. DocuMingles is is entirely alumni-initiated and enhances these programs to include focused but broader opportunities for networking and sharing. At the DocuMingles Meet-Ups, Docs In Progress Vice President Simone Fary and alum Rouane Itani will facilitate a discussion group where each participant will have a chance to share their latest successes, challenges, or tips in documentary filmmaking.

See link below for full schedule.

via Docs In Progress.

Sweetgrass is a true-life western with the last of modern-day cowboys leading their flock of sheep into the breathtaking and often dangerous Montana mountains for summer pasture. Filmmakers Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor present a riveting and poetic portrait of the American West just as one of its traditional ways of life dies out.

via POV Newsletter: “Sweetgrass” Airs Tonight on Most PBS Stations.

In celebration of the visit of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama and his Washington, D.C. Kalachakra teachings, the nonprofit organization Project Happiness will be presenting a special two-night screening of the film, PROJECT HAPPINESS at the West End Cinema. This award-winning documentary follows students on a quest for lasting happiness and culminates in a rare private interview with the Dalai Lama. The screening will be followed by a Q&A discussion with PROJECT HAPPINESS creator, Randy Taran, as well as a panel of special guests.

PROJECT HAPPINESS documents the lives of ordinary young people on an extraordinary journey to explore the nature of lasting happiness. The film focuses on four teens from Santa Cruz, California. Each faces personal obstacles to happiness: loss, alienation and the everyday challenges of being a teenager passing into adulthood. PROJECT HAPPINESS introduces them to their peers in Nigeria and India and quickly leaves lectures and books behind. In addition to connecting with each other, the teens engage in conversations with cultural icons George Lucas, Richard Gere and groundbreaking neuroscientist Richard Davidson. At the end of their year together, the three groups converge in India for a rare private interview with the Dalai Lama—an event that rocks their expectations, brings more questions than answers and marks a new chapter in their lives.

Tibet Today calls PROJECT HAPPINESS “a remarkable journey of self-discovery”. His Holiness, the Dalai Lama says of PROJECT HAPPINESS that it “provides an opportunity for people to look beyond narrow self-interests, to find out and consider what is of interest and benefit to others.” And filmmaker and educational activist George Lucas calls PROJECT HAPPINESS “a wonderful film and amazing achievement.”

PROJECT HAPPINESS is an Official Selection at several upcoming film festivals throughout the world including the Seoul Youth International Film Festival and the WorldKids International Film Festival in Mumbai, India. In June, PROJECT HAPPINESS won the Indie for Feature Documentary from The Indie Fest in La Jolla, CA. Inspired by the film, creator/producer Randy Taran has created a nonprofit called Project Happiness that teaches kids and young adults social and emotional life skills through after school and university programs, a workbook and an international outreach that is touching thousands of lives.

PROJECT HAPPINESS documentary screeningIncludes Q&A discussion with Project Happiness creator Randy Taran and special guests.

Sponsored by: The West End CinemaEvent Date: Sunday, July 10th and Monday, July 11th, 7:30 p.m.

Location:The West End Cinema2301 M Street NorthwestWashington, D.C. 20037202 419-3456

Tickets: Adult – $11| Senior/Student – $9 | Children 12 & under – $8Tickets can be purchased at the door or advanced tickets can be ordered for this screening at: http://boxoffice.printtixusa.com/westendcinema/advance?v=4142&i=10803

via PROJECT HAPPINESS Opens in Washington, D.C. in Celebration of Dalai Lama’s Visit to… — WASHINGTON, July 5, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ –.

Additional Distinguished Awards Go to THE LOVING STORY and LIFE IN A DAY

Competitive Grants Go To THE GREAT INVISIBLE, BLUESPACE and THE TILLMAN STORY INTERACTIVE EDITION

Special Jury Mentions to THE BULLY PROJECT, WHEN THE DRUM IS BEATING

Winners to receive $76,500 in Cash and In-Kind Prizes

via | News & Links | SILVERDOCS ANNOUNCES AWARD WINNERS SILVERDOCS.

My Perestroika is an intimate look at the last generation of Soviet children. Five classmates go from living sheltered childhoods to experiencing the hopes of Gorbachev’s reforms and the confusion of the USSR’s dissolution, to searching for their places in today’s Moscow. With candor and humor, the punk rocker, single mother, entrepreneur and married teachers paint a picture of the challenges, dreams and disappointments of those raised behind the Iron Curtain. Through first-person testimony, vérité footage and vintage home movies, this beautifully crafted documentary reveals a Russia rarely seen on film. A co-production of Red Square Productions/Bungalow Town Productions and ITVS International in association with American Documentary | POV. (90 minutes)

Click here to sign up for a reminder to watch the premier.

Read more about the film here at the POV site.

And the best part…POV gives you lots of ways to interact with the film.

• Join a live chat with filmmaker Robin Hessman on Wednesday, June 29, 2011 at 2 PM ET.
• Watch the film again for a limited time on POV’s website starting Wednesday, June 29, 2011, then go behind the lens with an exclusive extended interview with filmmaker Robin Hessman.
• View a gallery of Soviet propaganda posters with audio commentary by Russian history author Abbott Gleason.
• Brush up on your knowledge of the Cold War with our interactive timeline, from the rise and fall of the Soviet Union to today’s Russia.
• What is perestroika? Do the names Samantha Smith and Yuri Andropov ring a bell? If not, check out our Cold War glossary for a who’s who of key figures and a list of terms from the era.
• Then, test your knowledge with our “Are You a Cold War Kid?” quiz.
• Visit POV’s My Perestroika companion site for more interactive features, and come back to POV each week for cool film prizes.

Synopsis

My Perestroika is an intimate look at the last generation of Soviet children. Five classmates go from living sheltered childhoods to experiencing the hopes of Gorbachev’s reforms and the confusion of the USSR’s dissolution, to searching for their places in today’s Moscow. With candor and humor, the punk rocker, single mother, entrepreneur and married teachers paint a picture of the challenges, dreams and disappointments of those raised behind the Iron Curtain. Through first-person testimony, vérité footage and vintage home movies, this beautifully crafted documentary reveals a Russia rarely seen on film. A co-production of Red Square Productions/Bungalow Town Productions and ITVS International in association with American Documentary | POV. (90 minutes)

POV – My Perestroika . Film Description | PBS.

WHAT: A special screening of the documentary Pig Business with remarks by Robert Kennedy, Jr., followed by a panel discussion with leading experts on the effects that large factory pig farming operations have on workers; the environment, notably our waterways; food safety; independent pig farmers and rural communities; and animal welfare.

WHO: The Center for Food Safety CFS is hosting the event in collaboration with Congressman Dennis Kucinich D-OH with the support of leading environmental, animal rights, food, consumer safety, and agricultural NGOs, including the National Family Farm Coalition, Friends of the Earth, the Humane Society of the United States, and the Waterkeeper Alliance.

WHEN: Wednesday, March 9, 2011, at 6p.m.

WHERE: U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, North Orientation Theater, U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.The main entrance is located on the East front of the Capitol at First Street and East Capitol Street, NE

via Center for Food Safety to Host Pig Business Documentary Screening Washington, D.C..