Deadline’s For the Love of Docs virtual event series concludes its 10-week run this week with a screening of the Oscar-contending documentary Blink, directed by Edmund Stinson and Oscar winner Daniel Roher (Navalny).
No film invited to participate in FTLOD pays a fee to take part; the series was conceived as a way for Deadline to support the documentary field, which faces increasing distribution challenges even as the quality and quantity of nonfiction films has risen significantly. Deadline partners with National Geographic Documentary Films to present the series.
Films featured in For the Love of Docs in recent years include eventual Oscar nominees A House Made of Splinters, directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont; Beyond Utopia, directed by Madeleine Gavin; Bobi Wine: The People’s President, directed by Christopher Sharp and Moses Bwayo; To Kill a Tiger, directed by Nisha Pahuja; Fire of Love, directed by Sara Dosa, and many other notable films including Richland, Kokomo City, The Disappearance of Shere Hite, The Killing of a Journalist, and Invisible Beauty.
This is the fifth season of FTLOD, curated by independent documentary producer James Costa, a former co-president of the board of the International Documentary Association. We met up with Costa recently at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) to explore what For the Love of Docs is all about.
Documentary producer James Costa
James Costa
DEADLINE: How do you choose the 10 films included in For the Love of Docs?
JC: It’s an extremely difficult process. I try to have it be something for everyone. You may not watch all 10 [in the series], but I really try to make it a nice variety, so that if we can get someone interested in one film, it’s like, “I wonder what the other ones are?” And then they can learn about other subjects in there. If you look at this year’s films, I tried to be women-centric on it. And I just listen to what’s going on in the world and when I go to all the film festivals and I see all the films, to really have it be timely for what’s happening in the world.
DEADLINE: In some cases, after you choose a film for the series, it may land distribution. I think of Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, which eventually Kino Lorber picked up and it’s getting many awards. It’s definitely a big part of the Oscar conversation. But I don’t think Kino Lorber is an entity that can spend a lot of money on an awards campaign.
‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’
Kino Lorber
JC: I talk to so many filmmakers and everybody says it’s so expensive to do campaigns. And when distributors are looking towards certain types of films and it doesn’t fit their category, it just makes it all the more difficult to try to get attention to your film. And whether you have a sale or not, [being chosen for FTLOD] is something that could help lift it up. But a film that you can watch, enjoy, and learn something from is really crucial to me with the selection of films and that there’s something for everybody in the town. You may have been like, “I always wanted to see that.” And now you have the opportunity to watch it and then say, “Wow, I had overlooked that film.”
Another exciting part for me is that you interview the filmmakers, which is a huge boost for them. And having a Deadline Hollywood article that stays online, it’s like a great reference tool. So, if there are distributors or other people looking, they can just go on the site and see the interview. It’s another asset for [documentarians] to help push their film along because they’re part of a select group that got in [to FTLOD]. And it doesn’t cost them a thing. Again, it’s not the cure, but we can feel like we’re paying attention to what’s going on in the community. And that Deadline Hollywood sees the need for this and allows this to happen is tremendous because the trades really are necessary for doc filmmakers. We’re not getting into People magazine, you know what I mean? By and large, we rely on the trades to help promote our movies. So, this is just going above and beyond, having Deadline do this series for filmmakers.
DEADLINE: And to reiterate, the filmmakers are not being charged.
JC: Which is great for Deadline Hollywood because they’re part of the community. And when you’re in the community, you have to give back sometimes. And I think this is a fantastic way for them to show that they care about documentaries. Everybody loves documentaries. So, why not lift some up that maybe people didn’t hear about or that just don’t have the budget to get seen?
DEADLINE: Frida was an interesting for For the Love of Docs this year because it did not lack distribution. It’s backed by Amazon MGM Studios. But it fits in what you were saying about highlighting women filmmakers. This is by Carla Gutiérrez, a terrific editor. This is her first documentary feature that she directed.
Director Carla Gutierrez
John Lamparski/Getty Images
JC: When I chose it, it already had a distributor, a major one, and it was at Sundance. But I just enjoyed the film, and it was timely. It was very timely… And I loved all the creativity to the film, the artistry to it.
And I ask other people, “What films are you liking?” I’m not just listening to myself. I definitely listen to other voices to try to just sift through this and figure out who has something to say and that it’s a film that’s told well and entertaining for people to watch.
DEADLINE: Two films in the series this year come from National Geographic Documentary Films, which presents FTLOD with Deadline. Sugarcane and Blink.
JC: I’m always asked by NatGeo, are you okay with these two selections or this selection? And they’re usually terrific films that I would’ve probably chosen anyway.
DEADLINE: How did you get interested in documentary film?
JC: I always say that docs can change the world. And for me, watching docs growing up, I always gravitated towards the stories and the way they’re told. The state of the world and issues that I feel strongly about just inspired me to want to do that. And my very first doc was about school lunches [Lunch Hour], and I had no idea what I was doing, did it anyway, and I could go back and cringe watching it sometimes… But people still watch this movie, and it came out in 2011. Teachers buy it, schools buy it. And so I know that that film influences people.
I have a ton of documentaries — I’ve got four out now and six out next year. And I just believe that people want to be informed about what’s going on in the world. So, now we just have to keep making movies that hopefully can change minds to make the world a happier place.
DEADLINE: And to be clear, you don’t pick films for For the Love of Docs that you produced.
JC: Oh, never, never. No, I try to be as thoughtful as possible with it and make it as fair as humanly possible because there’s just enough drama in this industry that I really try to be the best I can. I know so many people in industry, but I’m not like, “Oh, do me a favor and I’ll put ya in this series.” No, I see what’s out there and just try to be as fair as possible.
I pay attention to all the festivals. I look at foreign, domestic, it doesn’t matter. I really just, again, try to pick films that have a chance, that are sort of bubbling under, that just need that little kick are the ones that I pick, because I think it makes everyone that’s in the top get a little nervous so that it’s really a competition — that those ones bubbling could bubble over and really be some competition for them. And that’s how you sort of mix it up. You shake it up a bit.
Note: These are the films selected for the 2024 edition of For the Love of Docs, in order of their appearance on the schedule:
Sugarcane (directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie)
Maya and the Wave (directed by Stephanie Johnes)
Copa 71 (directed by Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine)
Black Box Diaries (directed by Shiori Itō)
Frida (directed by Carla Gutiérrez)
Invisible Nation (directed by Vanessa Hope)
Hollywoodgate (directed by Ibrahim Nash’at)
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (directed by Johan Grimonprez)
Never Look Away (directed by Lucy Lawless)
Blink (directed by Edmund Stenson and Daniel Roher)