Facing Realities: Dialogues in Boston Documentary Filmmaking

The LEF Foundation is pleased to announce a second event as part of its film screening series, Facing Realities: Dialogues in Boston Documentary Filmmaking. A co-production with the ICA, this program pairs two major Boston filmmakers and two exciting films: Ross McElwee with his rarely screened Backyard (1984, 16mm, 40 min), and Nina Davenport with the Boston premiere of Operation Filmmaker (2007, HDCAM, 95 min).

Facing Realities: Dialogues in Boston Documentary Filmmaking
Institute of Contemporary Art, Barbara Lee Family Foundation Theatre
6:30pm Backyard by Ross McElwee
7:10pm Q&A with Ross McElwee
7:30pm Break with refreshments
8:00pm Operation Filmmaker by Nina Davenport
9:40pm Conversation with McElwee and Davenport

The evening will begin with Backyard, an inspired, lyrical take on the South, family, black and white relations, and the documentary form itself. Following a discussion with McElwee about Backyard, the program continues with the Boston Premiere of Nina Davenport's Operation Filmmaker. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the AFI Film Festival, Davenport's film chronicles the journey of an Iraqi man featured on MTV following the bombardment of his film school.

This screening will be followed by a dialogue with Davenport and McElwee, as they discuss their works, the legacy of Boston documentary filmmaking, and the moral and artistic challenges of filming "the other."

In a recent conversation, Ross described this unique program, "think of Backyard as a sort of self-reflexive appetizer before the feature length feast of Operation Filmmaker. Both films are autobiographival, and both present portraits of filmmakers in trouble. In fact, in Nina's film, there are two filmmakers in trouble - one in front of the camera and one behind the camera. What a bargain - a total of three troubled filmmakers in two films for the price of one ticket!"

For complete details on this event, please visit the project's website: filmandreality.org
Operation Filmmaker opens its Boston theatrical run at the Brattle Theatre beginning June 20th.
For more information, please email info@facingreality.org