Film festival to get funding from Duke

University to give Full Frame $300K over next 3 years

by Paul Bonner

DURHAM -- On a day packed with film showings and panel discussions, the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival announced Friday that Duke University will support the festival with $300,000 over the next three years.

The four-day annual festival, which began Thursday, started in 1998 as a program of the Duke-affiliated Center for Documentary Studies. Two years ago, it became independent of the university under its own nonprofit organization, Doc Arts, Inc. It will remain independent but forge new ties with the university as part of the partnership, said Full Frame's executive director, Nancy Buirski, and Duke officials.

Under the agreement, which begins July 1, Duke will provide $100,000 to the festival each of the next three years. In exchange, Duke will receive discounted tickets for students and employees and expanded internships and fellowships for students. The university also will have access to the festival's archives.

The sponsorship is a big shot in the arm to the festival, representing about one-quarter of its cash operating budget, Buirski said.

"This is a very supportive and reassuring gesture on the part of Duke -- more than a gesture," Buirski said. It solidifies Full Frame's presence in Durham and expands opportunities to collaborate with Duke documentary and film studies, she said.

According to Doc Arts' federal tax return for its 2003-04 fiscal year, the festival generated $243,999 in revenue. The organization also reported $873,997 in noncash contributions.

Duke also will sponsor a $5,000 prize for the best student film in the festival. Besides the venues at the Carolina Theater, American Tobacco Campus and two other downtown locations, Full Frame will hold a film showing and discussion for the Duke community each year.

At other times, Full Frame will hold at least two screenings on the Duke campus, plus lectures by Buirski and visits by filmmakers.

As viewers at the Carolina Theatre lined up to see a film called "Getting Through to the President," Buirski and Duke officials met reporters in a nearby reception room. The film is one of more than 100 films being shown this year. The festival also features panel discussions and appearances by directors Martin Scorsese, Ken Burns and Ric Burns.

The partnership underscores Duke's commitment to film and video as a communications and artistic medium, said George McLendon, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences at Duke. It will provide more opportunities for students as well as engage the university more in the cultural life of Durham and the Triangle, McLendon said.

The film festival, which started under the name DoubleTake, began in Durham largely because of creative resources at Duke, Buirski said. As Full Frame, the festival has grown into what its organizers believe is the largest documentary film festival in the country.

© Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. All material on heraldsun.com is copyrighted by The Durham Herald Company and may not be reproduced or redistributed in any medium except as provided in the site's Terms of Use.