AFI Docs Film Festival Audience Award Winners Announced
AFI DOCS FILM FESTIVAL AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS:
Best Feature goes to WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE?
Best Short goes to A CONVERSATION WITH MY BLACK SON
Festival Convenes Global Filmmakers With
U.S. and International Leaders
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Washington, DC, June 22, 2015 — AFI DOCS announced today its Audience Award winners, concluding the five-day festival in the Washington, DC area. This year’s Audience Award for Best Feature went to WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE? directed by Liz Garbus (THE FARM: ANGOLA, USA). This year’s Audience Award for Best Short went to A CONVERSATION WITH MY BLACK SON directed by Blair Foster (TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE, co-producer) and Geeta Gandbhir (BY THE PEOPLE: THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA, editor). With 81 films from 25 countries, the festival brought together artists, national policy and opinion leaders along with global representatives.
AFI DOCS attendees included America’s greatest documentary filmmakers, including Alex Gibney, Barbara Kopple, Stanley Nelson and Morgan Neville.
National leaders in attendance included White House Cabinet Secretary and Chair of MBK Task Force Broderick Johnson, U.S. Representative Steve Cohen, U.S. Representative Ted Lieu, civil rights leader Julian Bond, former U.S. Representative Mary Bono, Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony S. Fauci and former Governor of West Virginia and President of the Alliance for Excellent Education Bob Wise.
Global leaders at AFI DOCS included the Ambassador of Kuwait H.E. Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Ambassador of Jordan Dr. Alia Hatoug Bouran, Ambassador of Lebanon Antoine Chedid and Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Anne Patterson.
Joining the opinion leaders were distinguished journalists: Executive Producer of PBS’s FRONTLINE Raney Aronson-Rath, Margaret Brennan of CBS News, The Atlantic’s Steve Clemons and Ta-Nehisi Coates, former ABC News anchor Sam Donaldson, Bloomberg View’s Al Hunt and PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff.
MORE ABOUT THE WINNING FILMS:
WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE?
Nina Simone earned her moniker as the “High Priestess of Soul.” Trained as a classical pianist in North Carolina when racism was open and rampant, Simone drew upon her struggles as she became one of jazz music’s most beloved and complex figures. Director Liz Garbus offers access into Simone’s most intimate thoughts through her own words as the influential chanteuse became a leading voice for the civil rights movement of the late 1960s. Despite her enormous talent, however, Simone battled worsening demons that ultimately drove her into a life of seclusion in Liberia and France.
A CONVERSATION WITH MY BLACK SON
The short film features a group of racially diverse parents discussing the importance of having a conversation with their young black sons about racism and interacting with the police.
AT&T is the presenting sponsor of AFI DOCS 2015. AFI's official airline, American Airlines, returned as an Official Sponsor of the festival. Official Sponsors include the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, VIZIO and NBCUniversal. The Washington Post is proud to be a major media sponsor and presenter of The Washington Post Film Strand. Additional Major Sponsors include Amtrak, the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands, CYM Media & Entertainment, The Fledgling Fund, Maryland Film Office, PBS, SonicPool and Sony.
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About AFI DOCS
AFI DOCS is the American Film Institute’s annual documentary festival in the Washington, DC area. Presenting the year’s best documentaries, AFI DOCS is the only festival in the U.S. dedicated to screenings and events that connect audiences, filmmakers and policy leaders in the seat of our nation’s government. The AFI DOCS advisory board includes Ken Burns, Davis Guggenheim, Chris Hegedus, Werner Herzog, Barbara Kopple, Spike Lee, Errol Morris, D A Pennebaker and Frederick Wiseman. Now in its 13th year, the festival will be held June 17-21, 2015 in landmark Washington, DC venues and the historic AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, MD. Visit AFI.com/afidocs and connect on twitter.com/afidocs, facebook.com/afidocs and youtube.com/AFI.
About the American Film Institute
AFI is America’s promise to preserve the heritage of the motion picture, to honor the artists and their work and to educate the next generation of storytellers. AFI programs include the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and the AFI Archive, which preserve film heritage for future generations; the AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor for a career in film; AFI AWARDS, honoring the most outstanding motion pictures and television programs of the year; AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies television events and movie reference lists, which have introduced and reintroduced classic American movies to millions of film lovers; year-round and special event exhibition through AFI FEST presented by Audi, AFI DOCS and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center; and educating the next generation of storytellers at the world-renowned AFI Conservatory. For more information about AFI, visit AFI.com or connect with AFI at twitter.com/AmericanFilm, facebook.com/AmericanFilmInstitute and youtube.com/AFI.
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CONTACT:
Gabrielle Flamand, AFI DOCS PR, 202.339.9598 or gabrielle@prcollaborative.com
Liza Ameen, American Film Institute, 323.856.7885 or LAmeen@AFI.com
“TYKE ELEPHANT OUTLAW” at AFI Docs
“TYKE ELEPHANT OUTLAW” A FILM ABOUT A CIRCUS ELEPHANT WHO MADE HISTORY TO HAVE WASHINGTON, DC DEBUT AT AFI DOCS
New documentary film, generating awareness at film festivals around the world, could impact on captive elephants in the way “Blackfish” impacted for orcas
This is the timely, gripping and emotionally charged story of a circus elephant who went on a rampage, killed her trainer and died in a hail of gunfire. Her break for freedom traumatized a city, ignited a global battle over the use of performing animals and raised profound questions about our connection to other species.
“TYKE ELEPHANT OUTLAW” recently had its world premiere at the 2015 Sarasota Film Festival – where it was met with passionate demonstrations on both sides of the issue – and has screened or is set to screen at high-profile/prestigious festivals including Documentary Edge Festival in New Zealand, Sydney Film Festival in Australia, Sheffield Doc/Fest in the UK, and the Melbourne International Film Festival.
NOTE: Animal rights advocates are pushing for state and federal action. And as a result of growing public awareness, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, recently announced that it plans to phase out the use of performing elephants in its shows. Over 20 years after Tyke incident, the governor of Hawaii recently proposed banning the use of wild performing animals. These are two steps advocates believe may be the beginning of change in the U.S. industry, which is just one part of a global issue. Today’s global circus industry is a multibillion-dollar business that continues to feature elephants in its shows. The DC-debut of “TYKE ELEPHANT OUTLAW” is expected to bring new attention to the issue on Capitol Hill.
SCREENINGS @ AFI DOCS:
Thursday, June 18 at 12:00 PM
Landmark E Street Cinema 6 - Washington, DC
Saturday, Jun 20 at 9:15 PM
AFI Silver 3 - Silver Spring, MD
Festival site/tickets:
http://afi.com/afidocs/features.aspx#tyke-elephant-outlaw
Official film website:
http://tykeelephantoutlaw.com/
Synopsis: Honolulu, Aug 20, 1994, Tyke the circus elephant goes on a rampage in front of thousands of horrified onlookers. Her break for freedom will leave a city in shock and spark a global battle over our use of wild performing animals. Going back to find out what made Tyke snap, we meet her former trainers and handlers, witnesses to her rampage, circus industry insiders and animal rights activists for whom Tyke became a rallying cry. Combining trauma, outrage, insight and compassion, Tyke Elephant Outlaw dramatically explores our deep and mysterious connection to other species.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
• STEFAN MOORE – PRODUCER/DIRECTOR
Stefan Moore is a producer/director and executive producer of documentaries in the USA, Britain and Australia. His documentaries have received four Emmys and numerous other awards. Recent films he has directed include Mysteries of the Human Voice (2012) for Nat Geo and Arte, Honeybee Blues (2009) about the world’s disappearing honeybees (Sydney Morning Herald TV Critics’ award for ‘Best Australian Documentary of the Year’), The Cars That Ate China (2008) about China’s car revolution (Dendy Awards nominee at Sydney Film Festival), and the National Geographic TV special Race Against the Killer Flu (2007). From 2001-5, Stefan was the Executive Producer of Science and History at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and prior to that he was an Executive Producer at Film Australia where he commissioned critically acclaimed documentaries and series such as Dennis O’Rourke’s controversial Cunnamulla, Facing the Music and Bush Mechanics. As co-director of TVG Productions in New York, he produced and directed award-winning documentaries including the 8-part PBS/BBC/ABC series The Trouble with Medicine, Trouble on Fashion Avenue about organized crime in New York’s garment industry, Presumed Innocent about pre-trial detention at New York’s infamous Rikers Island, and The Irish Tapes which is now part of the Donnell Library permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art. Stefan was an artist-in-residence at WNET’s TV Lab in New York and is a Guggenheim Fellow.
• SUSAN LAMBERT – PRODUCER/DIRECTOR
Susan Lambert’s award-winning film and television work has been broadcast and distributed in Australia and internationally. Her experimental documentary feature Landslides (1990) was screened theatrically in Australia and her feature film Talk was released theatrically in both in Australia and USA in 1995. Susan’s work includes the critically acclaimed observational television series Under the Hammer (ABC), Risky Business (SBS), and DIY Law and Love and Money (both for ABC). In 2001 her controversial Tokyo Bound: Bondage Mistresses of Japan was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK and SBS. In 2004 Lambert directed Deadly Enemies for ABC and Channel 5 (UK). In 2006 her documentary The Good, The Bad and The Ugg Boot was one of the highest rating programs in the ABC’s history. In 2007 Lambert co-produced The Cars That Ate China, a co-production between ABC, NDR Germany, CICC China, Electric Sky UK and Jumping Dog Productions. She has recently directed episodes of two major ABC series: The Making of Modern Australia and the landmark observational courtroom series On Trial. In 2011 she produced the award winning docu-drama Recipe For Murder, a top-rating Australian documentary for ABC. Recently she directed episodes of Outback Coroner for the History Channel and My Big Fat Bar Mitzvah for ABC. Susan’s films have been screened in major international film festivals including London, Toronto, Chicago, Seattle, New York, Cannes, Oberhausen, San Francisco, Edinburgh, Tynside, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane.
Credits:
Director/Producer: Stefan Moore, Susan Lambert
Co-Producer: Megan McMurchy
Editor: Denise Haslem ASE
Director of Photography: Simon Smith
Composer: Antony Partos