Muhammad Ali to Attend Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival

Silverdocs, the international documentary film festival in Washington, DC presents 122 documentary films from more than 58 countries. This year, close to 2,000 films were submitted.  And 14 of the films are nominated for Academy Awards.

The annual festival provides an outlet for documentary films, many which are not presented in the mainstream movie industry or are premiered at the festival. Seven of the films are world premieres with another 15 Us premieres.

From June 16-20, the Silverdocs 2009 International Documentary Conference features Tom Bernard, co-President and co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics as their keynote speaker, along with 60 film related panels and workshops.

This year, there are tons of documentaries to select from, including:

• Facing Ali – Boxer Muhammad Ali, one of the most iconic figures of the second half of the 20th century will be making an exclusive appearance at the screening of Facing Ali. The film features interviews with boxers that fought against the 3-time heavyweight champion and lived talk about it. Tuesday, June 16, 2009
• Soul Power documents 1960s soul music performers James Brown, B.B. King, The Spinner, and Bill Withers, along with leading African performers. Friday, June 19.
• Best Worst is a documentary about the making of Troll 2, which was voted as the worst movie ever made. (Can it really be worse than Plan 9 from Outer Space.) Nicknamed the Citizen Kane of bad movies, this cult horror flick about a family chased by vegetarian goblins, who can turn people into plants and them eat them. Friday, June 19.
• She is the Matador (Ella es El Matador) tells the history of two female bullfighters who entered the bloody and controversial world of bull fighting, the ultimate expression of Spanish machismo. Wednesday, June 17.
• Convention brings together a group of documentary filmmakers who covered the 2008 Democratic National Convention, and captures the essence of the history make in Denver and the nomination of Barack Obama. Wednesday, June 17.
• Trimpin: The Sound of Invention documents the self-made musical world of an eccentric artist, inventor and composer and his outrageous musical experiments including a 60-foot tower of self-tuning, electric guitars and giant marimbas that convert real-time earthquake data into music.

But check the festival’s full list and schedule for features films and shorts you might want to attend.

Silverdocs Film Festival

Various locations, including:

• AFI Silver Theatre
  8633 Colesville Road
  Silver Spring, MD 20910  (map it)
• Discovery Communications Headquarters
  One Discovery Place – Georgia Ave. and Colesville Road
  Silver Spring, MD 20910  (map it)
• Round House Theatre Bethesda
  4545 East-West Highway
  Bethesda, MD (map it)

Dates and Times – Monday, June 15 through Monday, June 22 2008.  Films are screened at various times.

Tickets – $10.00 and are available in advance online, by phone (1-877-DOCS-TIX) or at the box office.

Nearest Metro Subway Station - Silver Spring – Red line, then a 2-block walk, Discovery HQ’s is adjacent to the Metro station.

Parking – AFI Silver Theater – use the Wayne Ave. garage – FREE after 6:00 p.m. weekdays and all day on weekends.  Discovery HQ – metered street or paid parking at the Dixon Ave. garage across from the front door.

Images – Ali – public domain, bull fighter – Flickr

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