Jan Bieringa
managed the Film Progam at the Arts Council of New Zealand for six and a
half years and was responsible for funding and programming of short film,
experimental work and documentary. Jan is currently working with a group to
set up a small documentary conference in NZ in 1996.
Alan Bookbinder
is an Executive Producer for the BBC, who is responsible for travel and
anthropology programs.
Norbert Bunge
has been working as an independent filmmaker (author, cameraman, director,
producer) since 1970. He has made many films for cultural institutions as
well as for television, including "You Kissed the Devil's Rear" and
"Forbidden Sounds; degenerate music of the Third Reich".
sponsored by the Goethe Institut
Steven Burns
is Director of Production at Discovery Channel, US. In this position Burns
oversees the production of ongoing series, original and co-produced
programs for DSC-US production. Prior to joining Discovery, Burns served as
producer, director and cinematographer of National Geographic Television,
making over 30 films in a span of nine years. He has won 13 awards for
excellence and is considered by his peers as one of the best
cameraman/directors in film and television.
Young Joo Byun
Korean feminist filmmaker Byun's first documentary, "A Woman Being in
Asia", exposed the Japanese sex tour industry on Cheju island in Korea.
Continuing her work as an activist filmmaker, she brings to the conference
"The Murmuring", a powerful document about Korean women survivors (the so
called 'comfort women') who have begun to speak out about their suffering.
sponsored by the Australia - Korea Foundation
Sagari Chhabra
makes films which can be used as a catalyst for discussions and change. Her
accomplishments include two masters degrees in communications and social
welfare, along with writing, teaching, research and numerous film credits.
Working through her own production company, Alternatives in Media, she has
made films on women's development, human rights, environment and other
social issues. Her documentary "Global Warming" (1990) was honoured by the
United Nations Food and Agriculture Association. Making "Now I Will
Speak", she worked relentlessly for two years, travelling to different
parts of India to interview rape victims. Her film received an Award of
Excellence from the North Indian Film Association
sponsored by
the Australia - India Council
Dong Cheng-Liang
was born in 1961 in the Kinmen islands. These islands are occupied by
Taiwan, but lie just off mainland China. He has made several documentaries
that focus on his home islands including "The Feeling of Coming Home"
(1990), "See You, Kinmen" (1991) and "The History of the Counter-Attack"
(1993). His latest film, "Every Odd-Numbered Day (Dan Da, Shuang Bu Da) ,
was made with donations from over 300 residents and tells the island's
hidden history from an ordinary citizen's point of view.
sponsored by
the Australia - China Council
Jon Dovey
A writer, producer, and teacher, John Dovey currently lives in Bristol and
lectures at the University of the West of England in Media Arts. As a film
and TV programme maker, his most recent broadcast credit is as Associate
Producer on the series "Reel Truths". Previous credits include writing the
BFI film "Zygosis", researching and writing for the series "Spitting
Image", and several multi media pieces. Fractal Dreams, an edited
collection of essays on the politics of New Media, is his latest
publication.
Peter Doyle
is Creative Director at Arri Digital in Munich. He started at the ABC in
Australia and progressed to become one of the world's foremost digital post
production and compositing specialists. He was one of the pioneer
developers of the Kodak Cineon system and has directed a number of exciting
digital film and projects.
sponsored by the Australian Film, Television & Radio School
Steve Fagin
is a key figure in video art, having helped to shape the medium and
continuing to push at the limits of its expressive possibilities. His
video tapes form an intensive body of work organized around particular
historical figures in the literary, art and media worlds. They have been
exhibited widely in the United States and Europe, with retrospectives,
installations and one person shows at major museums. He currently teaches
at the University of California, San Diego.
John Heyer
is one of Australia's elder statesmen of documentary film. His film for the
Shell Film Unit, "The Back of Beyond" (1954), was nominated for an Oscar
and won the Grand Prix Assoluto at the Venice Biennale. John, whose films
for Shell and the Commonwealth Film Unit have garnered in excess of twenty
international awards, was also one of the facilitators of Australia's
vibrant film society movement and in 1970 was awarded an OBE for his
achievements in cinema.
sponsored by
the Shell Company of Australia
Naomi Kawase
is the Japanese documentary discovery of the 90s. Her intensely personal
films shimmer with delicate beauty and emotion. Brought up by her
grandmothers, she searches for the father she never knew in "Like Air". The
diary format, deep sensitivity to everyday surroundings and Super-8 film
are all used to stunning and significant effect. At age 26, she is part of
a new generation of Japanese filmmakers whose work validates the personal,
individual and everyday.
sponsored by the Japan Foundation
Hara Kazuo
Since 1972, Hara Kazuo has been making scandalous films about scandalous
people. One of his early works, "Extremely Private Eros, Love Song 1974"
was a story about his own lover who leaves him to live with an African
American GI. His most sensational film, "The Emperor's Naked Army Marches
On" (1986) focused on a former imperial soldier, determined to reveal
cannibalism in the last days of the Pacific war. In his new film "A
Dedicated Life", Hara continues to reveal how true life stories are
constructed across the border between fiction and reality. Hara recently
published a book entitled "Fumikoeru Camera" (The Overstepping Camera)
which thoroughly discusses his filmmaking techniques, and this title
captures his basic principle by which he 'oversteps' the boundaries often
set by society and approaches his subjects in close-up.
Heide Larson
is Project Officer for Social Mobilisation, UNICEF.
Allie Light & Irving Saraf
This multi award winning filmmaking team have been making fine
documentaries together for many years. Allie Light is a poet, writer and
filmmaker who has lectured in film at San Francisco City College and in
Women's Studies at San Francisco State University. She is the editor of an
anthology of women's writings and the author of a book of poems, The
Glittering Cave. Irving Saraf taught film at San Francisco State University
for many years, was founder and head of the KQED-TV film unit, and the
former manager of Saul Zaentz Production Company where he constructed a
state-of-the-art film post-production facility. As a producer, director
and editor he has over 150 films to his credit. As a team, the pair have
made "Mitsuye and
Nellie" about two Asian American women poets and "Visions of Paradise",
five half-hour films about contemporary American folk artists. Their best
known films in Australia are the Academy Award winning "In the Shadow of
the Stars" and the Emmy Award winning "Dialogues With Madwomen".
Jayne Loader
Before entering the multi-media field, Jayne Loader co-produced, directed
and edited the celebrated documentary "The Atomic Cafe". She also wrote two
books: Between Pictures, a tawdry Hollywood novel, and Wild America, a
collection of short stories, both published by Grove Press. In the summer
of 1994 - "next to a swimming pool in Texas, over far too many margaritas"
she formed EJL Productions to produce her first CD-ROM, "Public Shelter".
It contains 40 minutes of video, 400 photographs, 18 original songs, 12
hours of audio and 1400 text files all pertaining to atomic weapons and
energy, from the Trinity Test to the present.
Kim Longinotto
has been directing and doing camerawork on documentaries since 1975. She
established herself as a director of talent while training at the National
Film School in London. After leaving the NFS, she worked as freelance
camera-operator on a variety of documentaries, and raised money to make her
own films. These include: "Underage", about a group of unemployed teenagers
in Coventry; "Fireraiser", a drama documentary about Sir Arthur 'Bomber'
Harris; "Eat the Kimono", about Japanese dancer and activist Hanayagi
Genshu; "Hidden Faces", a film about an Egyptian woman
which won numerous prizes including 'Best Documentary' at the Melbourne
Film Festival; "The Good Wife of Tokyo", about Japanese women in a changing
world, and "Dream Girls" about Japan's Takarazuka Revue.
David Monaghan
Australian filmmaker David Monaghan has never shied away from controversy.
As a student in the Sydney suburbs, he wrote controversial editorials,
including one against corporal punishment, for the High School newspaper.
This earned him a cadetship at the Sydney Morning Herald where he worked
for eight years. In 1990 he moved to London and worked for three years with
documentary maker and mentor Chris Oxley, before starting his own
production company. His projects since have included undercover
documentaries on drug dealing and "The Killing Sett" which exposes the
cruelty of badger baiting. Despite charges of sensationalism, his most
recent video "Executions" is intended to put a strong argument against the
death penalty: "When people are shown and can understand such
horrors...they will come round to the right course."
Dommie Yambo Odotte
Producer, video trainer, media consultant, and founder and managing
director of her own production company - these are some of the many roles
that Dommie Yambo Odotte plays in her country of Kenya. She started
shooting films as a student at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communications.
On graduation, she joined the Kenya Institute of Education where she worked
for six years in the film/video department. In 1988 she decided to set up
her company, Zebralink Communications. Originally a one-woman show, the
company now employs four full time staff. Programs focus on women's issues
and African culture. "If Women Counted", a 1993 short film, documented
women's participation in the democratisation process during the Kenyan
elections. "The Chosen One" shows the rich culture of the Maasai and
records the installation of a Maasai chief in the foothills of Kilimanjaro.
She is currently researching is a documentary aimed at curbing wildlife
poaching.
Anand Patwardhan
Violent divisions in Indian society are confronted with startling
directness by Anand Patwardhan, one of India's leading documentarians. His
film "In the Name of God", about the temple/mosque conflict in Ayodhya,
generated great interest at the 3rd Australian Documentary Conference in
Sydney. His latest work, "Father Son and Holy War", took seven years to
complete and chronicles India's growing tide of anti-Muslim Hindu
fundamentalism.
John Pilger
is a journalist, filmmaker and playwright, was born and educated in Sydney,
Australia. Twice he has won British journalism's highest award, Journalist
of the Year, for his work as a war correspondent. He has also been
International Reporter of the Year and winner of the United Nations
Association Media Peace Prize. His documentary films have won major prizes
in the United States, including the George Foster Peabody Award, considered
the highest honour in American broadcasting as well as an American Academy
Award and an 'Emmy'. In 1991 The British Academy of Film and Television
Arts awarded him The Richard Dimbleby Award for a life time of excellence
in television journalism and documentary filmmaking. He lives in London.
gaylene preston
was born in New Zealand in 1944. She became interested in directing while
setting up one of Britain's first art and drama therapy workshops. She
returned to New Zealand in 1977 working on documentaries, dramas and
television commercials. She completed her first feature film, Mr Wrong,in
1985. Her second feature, 'Ruby and Rata' (1989-90) screened at the 1991
Sydney Film Festival. In 1993, Preston's four-part series 'Bread and
Roses', premiered at the Wellington Film Festival and its lead actor,
Genevieve Picot, was awarded Best Performance in the New Zealand Film and
Television awards.
Muhammad Rivai Riza
Filmmaker Rivai 'Riri' Riza is one of Indonesia's emerging talents. In 1993
he graduated from the department of Film and TV, Jakarta Institute of the
Arts (IKJ) where he majored in directing. His diploma film "Sonata Kampung
Bata" (Merry go round) screened in several international festivals, and won
a 3rd prize at Oberhausen. He has worked as production manager and
assistant director on many documentaries, music videos and TV commercials,
as well as directing his own films on Indonesian artists and writers.
Peter Salmon
is the Head of Factual Programs for Channel Four television in the UK.
Charles Schuerhoff
President of CS Associates, has had 22 years experience distributing
documentary programs of all types to all types of broadcast and
non-broadcast media in the US and abroad and securing co-production or
pre-sale funds from these same sources. He started, and for seven years ran
the distribution office of WGBH TV/Boston, a major center for the
production of PBS Programming. Founded in 1980, CS Associates represents
many independent producers such as Ken Burns as well as a few larger
production companies such as WGBH TV, exhibiting at all the major
international tv markets each year.
Ellen Spiro
Hot on the heels of "DiAna's Hair Ego" and "Greetings From Out Here", Ellen
Spiro comes to the conference with her newest work "Roam Sweet Home", about
"the quirky, colourful and adventurous old folks in the US who live
permanently in motion in their caravans." A North American video activist
who has worked with groups like DIVA TV (Damned Interfering Video Activist
Television) and ACT UP, she loves to turn people on to the merits of using
small format video. For "Greetings From Out Here" she set out with her Hi-8
camera, dog and VW camper van to travel the back roads of the American
south, in search of gay southern life. Ellen makes work that is sometimes
serious, sometimes funny, but always entertaining.
Diane Tammes
A graduate of the National Film School, Diane Tammes has been working as a
director, producer and camera person on drama and documentary programs for
British television for nearly twenty years. Among her numerous credits are
"Sacred Hearts", "Innocent as Hell" and "Glasgow by the Way" for Channel
4, "Partners in Crime", "Culloden", and "Surf Patrol" for the BBC. As a
director of the company "Partners in Production", she has several projects
currently in development, and is in production on "Schizophrenia" for
Channel 4's Cutting Edge series.
John C. Welchman
is a member of the Visual Arts Department at the University of California
and recently a visiting professor in the Department of Visual and
Environmental Studies at Harvard University. He is co-author of "The Dada
and Surrealist Word-Image", author of an innovative study of the relation
between naming and institutional space in the late 19th and 20th centuries,
and editor of "Rethinking Borders". He has been a columnist, editor and
contributor to numerous journals, and has written catalogue essays for the
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the Tate Gallery, London, and the
Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp, among others.
Fred Wibowo
Indonesian actor, writer, and director Fred Wibowo studied film and
television production in London, worked with the Philippines Educational
Theatre Association in Manila, and learned about video in the Kuangchi
Service Program in Taipei-Taiwan. He has made a number of documentaries on
environmental themes which have won awards. These include "Belajar dari
Borobudur (Learning from Borobudur)", which won a special award in Berlin,
and "Air Bersih Untuk Keluarga (Clean Water for the Family)". Together with
his colleagues in the city of Yogyakarta (Central Java), he has set up a
production studio.
Wynette Yao
is Head of Co-Productions at National Geographic Television.
Zhang Yuan
is best known for his two features, "Mama" (1990) and "Beijing Bastards"
(1992) With Duan Jinchuan, he co-directed "Guangchang (The Square)". On
the surface it quietly documents Tiananmen. There is no commentary and
nobody mentions the 1989 massacre. Tiananmen in shown as the people's
square, open to all, symbol of the People's Republic. However, an ominous
pattern gradually emerges to suggest there are competing uses and that some
people have to give way to other people.