June 21, 2016
The AFI DOCS Interview: TRAIN SURFERS Director Adrien Cothier
In Adrien Cothier’s short film TRAIN SURFERS, thrill-seeking young men tempt fate doing stunts on Mumbai’s high-speed trains. AFI spoke to director Adrien Cothier ahead of the film’s AFI DOCS premiere. He is a New York-based filmmaker who cut his teeth working on the set of Wes Anderson’s FANTASTIC MR. FOX. What led you to documentary…
June 21, 2016
The AFI DOCS Interview: FAREWELL FERRIS WHEEL Directors Jamie Sisley & Miguel “M.i.G.” Martinez
There are many parallels between the lives of a migrant laborer and a carnival worker. FAREWELL FERRIS WHEEL is a year in the life of men who are both. Allotted controversial H-2B visas, the workers are grateful for the opportunity to provide for their families in Mexico, but also subject to little wage and labor…
June 21, 2016
The AFI DOCS Interview: SOLITARY Director Kristi Jacobson
In SOLITARY, director Kristi Jacobson takes viewers deep into Virginia’s Red Onion State Prison for a yearlong submersion in one of the most controversial aspects of America’s modern prison-industrial-complex: solitary confinement. Red Onion is just one of 40-plus supermax prisons, which force prisoners to spend 23 hours of every day alone. The film focuses on…
June 20, 2016
The AFI DOCS Interview: CHECK IT Directors Dana Flor & Toby Oppenheimer
In the heart of the nation’s capital, the Check It is a street gang comprised of gay and transgender teens who support each other in the face of outside bullying, attacks and discrimination. The group struggles with an existence underscored by violence, poverty and prostitution, but when a young mentor comes into their lives, he…
June 16, 2016
The AFI DOCS Interview: CHICKEN PEOPLE Director Nicole Lucas Haimes
Purebred dogs have Westminster; purebred chickens have the Ohio National Poultry Show. In this competition, some 10,000 prime specimens from all over the U.S. battle for the title of Super Grand Champion. The often-eccentric bird breeders share a passion for fostering feathered finery, discovering in their chickens a salve for life’s challenges and traumas. Full…
June 13, 2016
The AFI DOCS Interview: CARE Director Deirdre Fishel
Millions of elderly Americans depend on compassionate caregivers to provide the support they need to age in place. Every day, these health care workers offer love and kindness to the elderly, but often don’t earn enough to keep a roof over their own heads. With compelling stories of caregivers and those in need, CARE opens…
June 8, 2016
The AFI DOCS Interview: THE MAN WHO SAW TOO MUCH Director Trisha Ziff
For more than five decades, photojournalist Enrique Metinides risked his life to photograph tragedy — and the human emotion that accompanies it — in Mexico City. From crime scenes shot in black and white to explosions captured in full color, Metinides’ hauntingly beautiful pictures reveal the drama of disaster in a single frame as captured…
June 6, 2016
The AFI DOCS Interview: A FAMILY AFFAIR Director Tom Fassaert
In the intimate documentary A FAMILY AFFAIR, Dutch filmmaker Tom Fassaert probes the dark corners of his family history in an attempt to understand his glamorous and enigmatic grandmother and the strange hold she has over her children even while living on the other side of the world. An invitation to visit her in South…
June 1, 2016
The AFI DOCS Interview: NEWTOWN Director Kim A. Snyder
On December 14, 2012, a 20-year-old gunman forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and murdered 20 schoolchildren and six educators. In the aftermath of the killings, filmmaker Kim Snyder traveled to Newtown and trained her lens on a grieving community, following several families who came face to face with tragedy….
May 31, 2016
The AFI DOCS Interview: HAVEABABY Director Amanda Micheli
HAVEABABY focuses on a group of aspiring parents who enter a controversial video contest held by a Las Vegas fertility clinic. The winners receive a free round of in vitro fertilization, and given the steep costs of treatment, many believe this unconventional competition may be their only chance at parenthood. Provocative and engaging, director Amanda…
May 25, 2016
The AFI DOCS Interview: AFTER SPRING Directors Steph Ching and Ellen Martinez
AFTER SPRING looks at the brutal war in Syria, which has contributed to the largest refugee crisis since World War II, with nearly 60 million people fleeing the conflict. Many escape to Europe while others find themselves in limbo in Jordan’s Zaatari refugee camp — the largest such camp in the Middle East. Homesick yet haunted…
May 23, 2016
The AFI DOCS Interview: GLEASON Director Clay Tweel
Steve Gleason was a star player for the New Orleans Saints before being diagnosed with a rapidly progressive form of ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, at age 34. With their first child on the way, Gleason and his wife Michel confront their ever-changing new reality with unflinching honesty in front of the camera….
AFI is a 501c3 non-profit advancing the art of the moving image by empowering storytellers and inspiring audiences
