Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
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Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is an annual non-fiction film festival held in Missoula, Montana each February.[1] The event showcases documentary films from around the world. The festival first began in 2003 as a seven-day event. It is now a ten-day event. The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is the largest cinema event in Montana. The festival presents an average of 150 non-fiction films annually at the historic Wilma Theater, The Top Hat, The Roxy Theater, and Crystal Theater in downtown Missoula.
BSDFF hosts DocShop an industry-focused feature of the festival that offers documentary filmmakers opportunities for networking, discussion, and professional development. The schedule includes workshops, Work-In-Progress presentations, panels, and the annual Big Sky Pitch session. DocShop's participants have included: HBO Documentary Films, Participant Media, BBC Storyville, CNN Films, ITVS, POV, PBS, Tribeca Film Institute, , Chicken & Egg Pictures, and .
Recent award winners at the festival have included Last of the Elephant Men (Daniel Ferguson, Arnaud Bouquet), Siblings are Forever (Frode Fimland), (Mahdi Fleifel), (Steve Hoover), Slomo (Joshua Izenberg), Chasing Ice (Jeff Orlowski), (Thomas Burstyn), Last Train Home (Lixin Fan), and Gasland (Josh Fox), Rough Aunties (Kim Longinotto), Sweetgrass (Ilisa Barbash & Lucien Castaing-Taylor), (Jeroen Berkvens), Favela Rising (Jeff Zimbalist), The Cats of Mirikitani, (Linda Hattendorf), Citizen King (Orlando Bagwell & W. Noland Walker), and Horns and Halos, (Michael Galinsky & Suki Hawley).
Special retrospective programs have included: , Barbara Kopple, Brendan Canty, Caveh Zahedi, , Chuck Workman, , Doug Pray, , Joe Berlinger, John Cohen, Kartemquin Films, Les Blank, Lucy Walker (director), Maysles Brothers, Ondi Timoner, Robert B. Weide, Ron Mann, Sam Green, Stanley Nelson, and Steve James.
Special guests have included Indy Rock legends Yo La Tengo, Grant Hart, and Lydia Loveless. Comedians Tig Notaro and .
References[]
- ^ "Big Sky Documentary Film Festival announces 2021 competition winners". KULR-TV, February 25, 2021.
External links[]
- Documentary film festivals in the United States
- Film festivals in Montana
- Culture of Missoula, Montana
- 2003 establishments in Montana
- Tourist attractions in Missoula, Montana
- Film festivals established in 2003
- American film festival stubs