The Good Pitch and SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival

8 days • 100+ films representing more than 60 countries • 25,000 festival attendees from around the globe • a 5 Day Conference • 1,200 international media professionals • 80 workshops + Seminars • Networking events

…and a special GFEM Funder Dinner on Tuesday, June 16th
Join other funders over dinner and drinks to discuss the day's offerings in a casual, yet engaging dialogue.
To register for the GFEM Dinner, please contact Joy Moore at jnmoore@gfem.org.

SILVERDOCS is an eight-day internationally recognized documentary film festival created through a unique alliance between the American Film Institute and the Discovery Channel and held every year near Washington, D.C. Started in 2003, SILVERDOCS celebrates independent thinking, supports the diverse voices and free expression of independent storytellers and fosters the power of documentary to enhance our understanding of the world.

SILVERDOCS, taking place June 15 – 22 in Silver Spring, Maryland, is an internationally recognized film festival that celebrates independent thinking and generates global media attention. A unique convening of documentary filmmakers, private and public media, educators, distributors, development executives, media innovators, and the philanthropic community, SILVERDOCS supports the diverse voices and free expression of independent storytellers and fosters the power of documentary to enhance our understanding of the world. www.silverdocs.com

Of special interest to funders, for the first time in the U.S., SILVERDOCS presents The Good Pitch. Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation, working in partnership with the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, created The Good Pitch to give filmmakers a unique opportunity to pitch social-issue documentary projects with associated campaign strategies to NGOs, foundations, advocates, advertising agencies, broadcasters, and media. Films selected to be presented at The Good Pitch cover topics incuding the environment, human rights, hunger, workforce development, politics, democracy, journalism and more. The Good Pitch will be featured at the SILVERDOCS on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 – the same day as the GFEM Funder Dinner.

This year SILVERDOCS will honor Albert Maysles. Join Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Barbara Kopple, and other special guests to fete “Dean” of documentary filmmaking. Maysles has directed over 35 films and was the cinematographer on 64, creating (in collaboration with his late brother David and other filmmakers) some of the most influential and memorable non-fiction films ever produced. Three of his films reached cult status: SALESMAN (1968), capturing the bygone era of a door-to-door Bible salesman; GIMME SHELTER (1970), a powerful account of the Rolling Stones’ 1969 American tour culminating in their infamous free concert at the Altamont Speedway; and GREY GARDENS (1976), an intimate portrait of high society dropouts, Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, “Little Edie” - reclusive cousins of Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis. THE GATES (2007) Maysles’ fifth collaboration with artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, co-directed by Antonio Ferrera, follows the artists for over two decades as they attempt to realize their dream of transforming New York City’s Central Park into an art piece. View the original trailer for GREY GARDENS at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mumWYU5aHBU