Though it “only” lasts for 3 days, BritDoc, set on the storied campus of Oxford University (think Pimms clubs and croquet games), was as stimulating a festival I have ever attended. Almost too much went on to recap, from the opening night dinner in the Harry Potter-esque dining hall, where I had the pleasure of sitting with Matt Dentler (formerly of South by Southwest and now a major player at Cinetic ); David Courier, head Documentary Programmer at the Sundance Film Festival; and Ben Kim of Channel 13/WNET.
(Maxyne Franklin of BritDoc and Ryan Harrington of IndiePix Studios, taken by Ingrid Kopp)

(Danielle DiGiacomo of Indiepix and Sandra Whipman of MoreFour, taken by Ingrid Kopp)

Meanwhile, new IndiePix Studios head Ryan Harrington , whose job here was announced as an IndieWire alert just a few days ago, was dragged away from the table to entertain BritDoc keynote speaker Larry Charles, the man behind Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. I also had a lovely smoke break (I don’t smoke; I just support!) with Sheffield Doc/Fest’s corset-clad Heather Croall and wonderful force of nature Debbie Zimmerman , for whom I interned at Women Make Movies 10 years ago! Before dinner, bloggstress extraordinaire Pamela Cohn (whose fine BritDoc recap can be read here and I ran into a newer pal, the filmmaker Chris Kelly , who I was lucky enough to meet at the Guth Gafa Film Festival this past May. We found an adorable Oxford treasure, tucked in an alleyway, called the Turf Tavern, where we spent many hours and pounds hunched over pints and discussing films. The following day was an entertaining and productive one, starting out with another viewing of one of my favorite docs of last season, Yung Chang’s award-winning Up The Yangtze. While I blogged about the film already at this year’s Sundance the second viewing made me even more appreciative of Chang’s skill as a filmmaker, and in particular the restraint he shows in letting the characters shine through, telling the story and conveying the subtle emotions of their lives without underlining them with narration or direct interviews. This is really one of the must see’s of the year. (And have I ever mentioned what a lovely guy Yung is???). After this, it was off to the Big Pitch , where a panel including Cara Mertes of Sundance, Sandra Whipham of Channel 4, Cynthia Kane of ITVS, and Courtney Sexton of Participant Media, among others. A range of pitches, from a film about torturer-gangsters in Indonesia to one about a man facing up to his Colombian kidnappers were met by articulate comments and feedback, the majority of which was positive. Then, I was off to do my Surgeries for an hour and a half, which consisted of 6 15-minute meetings with filmmakers. All of the projects presented to me looked promising, but I was particularly taken with Erasing David , a highly personalized and comedic look at the British government’s surveillance of its citizens, and Afghan Star , which tracks the popularity of Afghanistan’s version of “American Idol”, and the tragic repercussions for one female contestant. Drained and exhausted, I trekked back to the pub with the dynamic duo, Chris and Pamela, and then ran to meet Ryan and Cactus 3’s Julie Goldman at a wonderful Lebanese restaurant, where we hosted a dinner for the likes of Impact Partner’s Dan Kogan, Screen International’s Wendy Mitchell, Matt Dentler, Cara Mertes, The Fledgling Fund’s Diana Barrett, David Courier, and numerous others. Our final day brought my favorite part of the festival, The Good Pitch. Nick Bradshaw of The Guardian describes it as thus:

Over at friday’s The Good Pitch for social issue films, the ceremonies were more like a game of musical chairs. The idea was for the filmmakers to shop their wares to a roundtable of potential “stakeholders” – distributors, broadcasters, charities, foundations, brands and media – not just to raise production money but to help situate each film as part of a wider campaign and maximise its impact. Accordingly, representatives from Amnesty, Avaaz, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Compassion in World Farming, the World Development Movement, Christian Aid, No2ID, Channel 4, the Sundance Institute, Participant Media, MySpace, Snagfilms and many more spent the afternoon swapping table places to give guidance and support to the relevant projects.

His run-down of the Pitching at the Festival is well worth reading. All in all, a draining but amazing 3 days, which lovely people, great projects, and so many ideas passed around that my hand went numb! (Well, actually, my hand went numb the day after I got there, and after a doctor’s visit at Paddington Station and some Google research, I have determined that I have what is known as Ulnar Nerve Entrapment .) But hey, this isn’t a medical class, so I digress. Congratulations to the incredible BritDocs team for putting together such an invigorating few days. And do check out the lovely Ingrid Kopp’s photos here and here.