Kirby Dick to Give Keynote at WESTDOC Documentary Conference

Documentarian Kirby Dick will give the second day keynote address at WESTDOC: The West Coast Documentary and Reality Conference, it was announced Tuesday by conference co-founders Chuck Braverman and Richard Propper.

The film producer, director, editor and writer was nominated for an Oscar in 2004 for directing Twist of Faith, about sex abuse in the Catholic Church. His 2009 film Outrage, about gay conservative politicians who won’t come out of the closet, was nominated for an Emmy.

Dick’s 2006 documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated exposed the inner workings of the MPAA movie rating system and led to changes in the system. His most recent film was The Invisible War, about the epidemic of rape in the armed forces. It won the Audience Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

“Kirby Dick is one of the few people successfully and consistently producing theatrical documentary films today,” said Braverman.

The third edition of WESTDOC takes place from Sept. 9 to 12 in Culver City. Dick will do the keynote on Tuesday, the second day. The opening keynote, as previously announced, will be by National Geographic Channels president Howard Owens.

WESTDOC also announced its schedule, which is available at thewestdoc.com.