Plenty to learn and see at fully-loaded doc festival

Gimme Some Truth back for its third season

In Tashina, one of the films premiering at the Gimme Some Truth documentary festival, director Caroline Monnet follows an aboriginal youth moving from northern Manitoba to Winnipeg. Winnipeg Film Group

Gimme Some Truth: The Winnipeg Documentary Project is back for its third consecutive year, with a program bursting at the seams with panel discussions, master lectures and special screenings for budding filmmakers and film-lovers alike.

The festival is the perfect venue to discuss and learn about the creative, technical and ethical issues related to documentary filmmaking.

“The festival is absolutely unique because not only are the filmmakers presenting their films in person, but they’re also running workshops, sitting in on panel discussions and doing master lessons,” said Mike Maryniuk, a local filmmaker and member of the programming committee.

Panelists hail from Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Texas and Los Angeles. However, there will be a large portion of homegrown talent, with local shorts played before each feature.

Among these is the world premiere of Tashina, the story of a native youth coming from Northern Manitoba to Winnipeg, and how she deals with the institution of education and being separated from her family.

The festival is absolutely unique because not only are the filmmakers presenting their films in person, but they’re also running workshops, sitting in on panel discussions and doing master lessons.

Mike Maryniuk, local filmmaker

“The narration in the film is in Tashina’s own words. I didn’t change anything. I did an interview with her, then built the visuals from her own words,” said director Caroline Monnet.

Major themes for this year’s festival include cinematography, identity of place and animated documentary filmmaking that features a master class on animation by Bob Sabiston, the director of Waking Life.

Other classes offered include 3-D and DIY documentary. Panels include discussions on copyright, cinematography and working in animated documentaries.

“The documentary scene in Winnipeg is really growing leaps and bounds,” said Maryniuk.

And, it’s not going unnoticed. Monnet is excited by the amount of people coming to the city for the event, including national documentary filmmakers, distributors and producers.

“It’s not all the time that we get people to present their films and be present at their receptions,” she said.

“It’s an opportunity for people who are interested in filmmaking to ask any questions they might have, and de-mystify the filmmaking process,” added Maryniuk. “It’s really a special experience. Until you’ve experienced it for the first time, well, it’s never the same.”

Gimme Some Truth begins Thursday, Oct. 21 and runs until Sunday, Oct. 24 at Cinematheque. Visit www.gimmesometruth.ca for screening times and other information. Pre-registration for workshops is advised.

Published in Volume 65, Number 8 of The Uniter (October 21, 2010)

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