Why Can't Cannes be Like the Silverdocs?

45 of the around 100 films unspooling at the festival are directed or co-directed by women

Published: June 22, 2012 @ 9:35 am

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By Aviva Kempner

Cannes could learn from the premiere Silverdocs film festival that rolled out its 10th anniversary opening night with Ramona Diaz's crowd pleasing doc, "Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey."

"Don't Stop Believin'" is a Cinderella story about Filipino singer Arnel Pineda, who was invited to front the arena rock band Journey after bandleader Neal Schon discovered him in a YouTube video in 2007. What's especially significant about this film -- -- and 44 other of the around 100 films unspooling at the festival is that they are directed or co-directed by women.

Amazing that Silverdocs director Sky Sitney and her crew get it so right by featuring the works of dynamite female directors, while Cannes had such a dismal record showcasing works by female directors.

Certainly there are more female doc directors, but Cannes could do better than they did this year.

Women documentary filmmakers make up half of that world and Silverdocs totally gets it. Go to http://silverdocs.com/ to learn more.

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Description

Aviva Kempner investigates non-stereotypical images of Jews in history and focuses on the lesser-known stories of Jewish heroes. Her latest feature documentary, "Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg," is available on DVD. She previously wrote, directed and produced "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg," a documentary feature about the Jewish slugger who fought anti-Semitism in the 1930s and '40s. It was awarded top honors by the National Society of Film Critics, the National Board of Review, the New York Film Critics Circle and the Broadcast Film Critics Association. The film received a George Peabody Award and was nominated for an Emmy. Kempner received the 2009 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival's Freedom of Expression Award in July. She also produced and co-wrote 1989's "Partisans of Vilna," a documentary on Jewish resistance against the Nazis, which recently came out in DVD for its 20th anniversary.

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