Dilip Barman
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival returns to Durham, NC on Thursday, April 6 through Sunday, April 9. It is the country’s largest documentary film festival with over a hundred films, parties, and events.
This year is a special one for the Full Frame as it celebrates its 20th anniversary. As always, there will be films in competition for various prizes. There is also each year a curated program, where films are selected aligned with a theme. This year is a great opportunity to see some of the best of the films from Full Frame’s past. Artistic Director Sadie Tillery is the curator and is choosing films forming a retrospective of the Festival.
“Full Frame has showcased nearly 2,000 documentaries, from prominent titles to films that may never be shown in a North Carolina theater again,” said Tillery. “It’s the chemistry between these works – between the loud and the quiet, the accessible and the bizarre, the new voices and the legends – that continues to inspire me. It is impossible for a single series to encompass all that this festival has embraced and championed over 20 years. I’ve chosen to reflect on films that remain harder to see, that may not have set box office records, but are essential to the Full Frame canon.”
“We are proud to present 71 new titles at the festival this year,” announced Tillery in mid-March. “These selections represent a wide breadth of current work, and illuminate the many forms that documentary film can take. Festival attendees are in for an extraordinary experience that is fitting of our 20th anniversary.”
The NEW DOCS program includes 48 titles—27 features and 21 shorts—selected from over 1,750 submissions from around the globe. These films are eligible for the Full Frame Audience Award and are shortlisted for a variety of additional juried awards offering a combined value of over $50,000 in cash prizes. Award winners will be announced at the annual Awards Barbecue on Sunday, April 9.
The Invited Program features 23 films—22 features and 1 short— screening out of competition. Included in this program are the festival’s Center Frame screenings, which take place in Fletcher Hall at the Carolina Theatre and include moderated discussions following the films.
The best way to attend Full Frame is to purchase a pass, but this year some passes sold out in hours (as press time, student passes were still available). Tickets for individual films will be on sale beginning on March 30 at 11am, and can be purchased online, by phone, or at the Duke University Box Office. Sales end two hours before show time and cost $16 with a $2 discount available to the Duke community, students, military, and teachers.
There are always free events, including some panel discussions and Friday and Saturday night outdoor film screenings of films from the previous year’s Festival. These screenings are often particularly good for families who are welcome to picnic and enjoy the showing at Durham’s Central Park just a few blocks from the Festival.
It’s important to keep in mind that many films do sell out. If there is a film that you really want to attend but it has “sold out,” there still may be hope. You should plan to go to that film’s “last minute line” at least 30-45 minutes before the film is scheduled to start. Often a limited number of tickets are available for $15 (cash only). Also, some of the invited films are being shown at multiple times, and some of the films chosen for awards reprise on Sunday afternoon. The crowds significantly thin after lunch on Sunday, so tickets should be readily available for those encores.
The Festival features over a half dozen venues, mostly in and around the historic Carolina Theatre in downtown Durham at 309 West Morgan Street. Theatres range in size from 53 to 975.
Because films are shown in parallel, it may very well not be possible to see all that one may want to see. Some films are ultimately released for a theatrical run or perhaps to be shown on television, but this can be months or even a year or more later. Many films only play the festival circuit.
Insightful film discussions, relaxation at parties and around the venues, and dining at the growing number of good restaurants in downtown Durham are all great draws for the Festival. Full details, including the complete schedule of events and film descriptions, are available at www.fullframefest.org.
