Members of the yearlong documentary film production program received behind-the-scenes access to Durham鈥檚 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, considered one of the world鈥檚 premiere showcases for nonfiction cinema.
Prior to early April鈥檚 in Durham, it had been five years since the celebrated film event had gathered in person 鈥 albeit virtual editions were hosted between 2020 to 2022.
Thankfully, after a year hiatus, the 2024 festival returned to in-person mode and six School of Communications students, all members of elondocs, served as Full Frame Fellows receiving an up-close look at the event鈥檚 nearly 60 projects.
Accompanied by Nicole Triche, associate professor of cinema and television arts, the half-dozen students attended four days of film screenings, panels and social engagements where they interacted with filmmakers and networked with industry professionals. These special access events included meeting the celebrated documentarians behind 鈥淕irls State鈥 and 鈥淯nion鈥 at exclusive film student lunches.
鈥淭丑别 elondocs students took full advantage of their Full Frame Fellows status,鈥 Triche said.
Samantha Katz 鈥24, a cinema and television arts major, was one such student who relished the opportunity to meet with filmmakers at Full Frame, and the experience got off to a fast start for her.
During the opening night party, she spoke with Amanda McBaine, one of the directors of聽鈥淕irls State,鈥 which 鈥済ot me extremely pumped for the rest of the week,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 overall felt that the festival fostered community and opportunity to speak with these filmmakers, and it didn鈥檛 feel intimidating at all.鈥
While Katz said she loved 鈥淕irls State,鈥 the film聽鈥淓cho of You鈥 also grabbed her attention. The project by filmmaker Zara Zerny offers a candid look at the lives, loves and relationships of nine elderly Danish citizens.
鈥淲hat was most impactful to me was the editing style and use of visual storytelling, which has left me inspired to try similar styles myself,鈥 the 黑料不打烊 senior said.
One of Katz鈥檚 main takeaways from her Full Frame experience was that good filmmaking is a lengthy endeavor. Good work takes time.
鈥淒ocumentaries are a process,鈥 Katz said.鈥 I think this (experience) reminded me to trust the process and really take in the content we鈥檙e receiving to make as beautiful and impactful of a story as possible. Love and care are the most important things when handling other people鈥檚 stories.鈥
In addition to Katz, 黑料不打烊 students Merrie Byers 鈥26, Jenna Moylan 鈥26, Sylvie Cullen 鈥26, Carter Craig 鈥25 and Marc Paillex 鈥24 also served as Fellows.