Ava DuVernay, Steve James to Deliver Keynotes at Getting Real ’16 Documentary Filmmakers Conference

Filmmakers Ava DuVernay and Steve James will serve as keynote speakers at Getting Real ’16, a biennial filmmaker conference presented by the International Documentary Association and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The conference will take place Sept. 27-29 at the Academy’s Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study and other locations in Hollywood. This year, the conference, which was first launched in 2014, has as its theme “Art, Diversity and Sustainability.”

DuVernay, whose next film is documentary The 13th, producer-director Shola Lynch and James, whose credits range from Hoop Dreams to Life Itself, will appear Sept. 27, while Marcia Smith, president and co-founder of Firelight Media, will deliver a keynote Sept. 28.

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Other participants at the conference will include filmmaker Ezra Edelman as well as Oscar-winner Roger Ross Williams in a conversation with award-winning producer Julie Goldman.

The program will include a focus on international issues; case studies on the craft of documentary film to be held at the NeueHouse in Hollywood; a VR Doc Summit bringing together VR makers; and one-on-one mentorship meetings between filmmakers and industry mentors.

“Getting Real represents the coming together of a diverse and dynamic community, not just to celebrate individual films, but to strengthen the connections within the field,” Simon Kilmurry, IDA’s executive director, said. “While passion for the truth through documentary storytelling drives many of us, it is only through building community and strengthening infrastructure can we forge an industry that thrives.”

The Conference will feature three special events open to the public: Digital Diaspora Family Reunion with Thomas Allen Harris; Adventures and Discoveries in Early Documentaries: Kukan (1941) and Aloha Wanderwell Baker; and StoryWorks: The Overnighters, which will explore the intersection of documentary film, investigative journalism and live performance.

A partial lineup of events, speakers and panels is available at http://www.documentary.org/gettingreal16 and conference passes are available for purchase at www.documentary.org/gettingreal.