By Brett Shaw
The Iowa City International Documentary Film Festival returns to the enjoyment of local filmmakers and moviegoers. From today through Saturday, various screenings, competitions, and guest speakers will grace Iowa City, a press release announced.
ICDOCS is organized by University of Iowa students enrolled in a cinema course structured around the history, theory, and practice of underground film exhibition. Through showcasing work by local and international filmmakers, the students gain the experience of running their own festival.
“ICDOCS is unique in that it is run by a group of university students,” said festival Director Emily Drummer in the press release. “We are passionately engaged with the work we are doing not because we will profit from it but because we truly believe both in these films and in the community that collectively viewing them will nurture in Iowa City and beyond.”
The festival welcomes two esteemed film artists, David Dinnell and Azadeh Navai, to serve as jurors and to screen their films.
Filmmaker and film programer Dinnell has organized hundreds of film programs and exhibitions. He worked with the prestigious Ann Arbor Film Festival as film programmer and as program director for many years. He will screen his films and potentially discuss his thriving career in curating and programming at FilmScene at 3 p.m. Friday.
Navai is a filmmaker born in Iran who creates 16-mm and digital films with a focus on visual memory. One of her current documentary projects depicts her memories following the 1979 Iranian revolution. Navai’s films have been featured around the world in venues such as the New York Film Festival and International Film Festival Rotterdam. She will screen her films at FilmScene at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Various methods of experimental nonfiction cinema will be presented from filmmakers with diverse backgrounds and experience who each exhibit their fresh ideas and unique modes of film production.
“This year, any festival-goer will interact with diverse perspectives and ideas from these films, some of which cannot be found anywhere else,” said UI student Nicole Matos, a member of ICDOCS’ community outreach, in the press release.
Throughout ICDOCS, various competitive program sessions will be held in which screenings of submitted short nonfiction films will be evaluated. An award ceremony will be held on the final evening of the the festival. Competitors and moviegoers can unwind as each night of festivities concludes with a celebratory after-party.
