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Feature Article #1

I.O.U.S.A.

There is a scene in Patrick Creadon’s I.O.U.S.A. where a team of financial experts, who have gone on a bi-partisan speaking tour to alert Americans to the dire financial straits our country is in, are ignored by local media.


Agnes Varnum | November 17th, 2008 | Continued

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Feature Article #2

SDF 08: BLAST!

It was with great pleasure that I was finally able to catch up with Paul Devlin’s BLAST! at Sheffield. Paul brought the project to as a work-in-progress in 2006 and being a bit of a geek myself, I was looking forward to seeing the finished work.


Agnes Varnum | November 12th, 2008 | Continued

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Feature Article #3

SDF 08: Thriller in Manilla

A sports fan, I am not. And to boot, I have a very low opinion of boxing. But, I was ready for Thriller in Manila because I know very little about Muhammad Ali and even less about his famous fights with Joe Frazier—the central focus of this excellent film by John Dower.


Agnes Varnum | November 6th, 2008 | Continued

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Feature Article #4

AFF 08: This Dust of Words

Before computers, I read a lot. Joseph Campbell thought that stories are vital to human beings because they teach us about our own lives, and I’m definitely a learner. Since, I’ve gravitated to film and television as my primary story delivery method and I realized watching Bill Rose’s This Dust of Words, that I have forgotten the importance of the written story.


Agnes Varnum | October 25th, 2008 | Continued

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Feature Article #5

LAFF: Loot

I loved Loot by Darius Marder, the documentary competition winner at this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival. Marder was in the Spotlight on Documentary program the year I managed it (2006), so as you’ve read here before, I enjoy catching up with them and seeing how things have come together.


Agnes Varnum | July 3rd, 2008 | Continued

About this Site

doc it out began as the personal/professional blog of Agnes Varnum, a freelance writer and film programmer. The primary focus is documentary films, distribution of documentary and independent film and the intersection between new media tools and indie filmmaking, but also includes anything else that Agnes finds worthy of mention.

If you are interested in a of your film or DVD, want to suggest an or wish to contribute to or advertise on this blog, please send pertinent information using the Contact page. All submissions become property of doc it out, and there will be no promise of inclusion on the site.

“Agnes Varnum provides a lighthearted yet highly informed approach to covering the documentary scene on her blog, and offers plenty of links and resources for filmmakers to boot - from tips on getting distribution to making money online with your movies.”--Jonny Leahan, indieWIRE.com

More about Agnes:

av_thumb.jpgThe last few years have seen me working on a variety of projects, but the through-line is a passion for independent film, technology and finding ways to connect audiences with great work.

My latest incarnation is as the communications manager for the Austin Film Society in Austin, TX. AFS is a membership organization that produces series and premiere screenings, and provides youth media education and artists’ services for Texas filmmakers, and my role is to get the word out about our great programs. I also contribute to a variety of publications including Renew Media’s Resources blog, indieWIRE and Documentary. Past positions include marketing and publicity associate for First Run/Icarus Films and associate director for the Center for Social Media at American University.

Other related projects include programming and managing Spotlight on Documentaries at the IFP Market (2006); outreach coordinator for the Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use, a project of AU’s Center for Social Media and the Program on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest (2005-2006); coordinating panels for the Newport International Film Festival (2006) as well as sitting on the programming committee in 2006 and 2007; keepin’ it real as an AFI Fest theater manager (2006); SILVERDOCS programming committee (2004, 2005).

This blog has taken up a lot of time but has resulted in a number of fabulous new friends which I wouldn’t have made otherwise, as well as giving me a reason to stay on top of things in this crazy field of work. I continue to do a variety of freelance writing and film programming jobs, which I will post about as they come up.

If I have spare time, I enjoy scuba diving, reading and travel. I have a few ‘fabric arts’ projects in various stages of completion - keep an eye out for pics of completed work, hopefully soon.

I want to know God’s thoughts, the rest are details.
A. Einstein

I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible,
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance;
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit.
Fully Alive by
Dawna Markova


Other Recent Articles

2YM: Melody Gardot

December 8th, 2008 • Agnes Varnum • Comments Off • Related Posts • Tags

It’s time for me to get to my 2-Year Meme! Juliet recommended Melody Gardot’s album Worrisom Heart. She’s a fellow Jersey girl and like me, she bears little resemblance to the stereotype. After a serious accident, Gardot picked up a guitar, using music to aid in her therapy. The Washington Post review describes her as from a “generation of young women who are combining the elastic phrasing and harmonic sophistication of with the personal lyrics of singer-songwriter folk.” If you enjoy kicking back on a comfy couch with a glass of wine and a fire to listen to the silky stylings of Ella Fitzgerald or Louis Armstrong, you will enjoy Gardot.

My idea with this meme was to identify some of the art that readers of this blog are interested in; art that transcends genre was my highest hope. I enjoyed listening to Gardot, but I have to admit to having no connection to . I’ve tried and tried, but it doesn’t speak to me. 

The Loss of Nameless Things

December 8th, 2008 • Agnes Varnum • Comments Off • Related Posts • Tags

I mentioned this film in October when Bill Rose’s new project, This Dust of Words, screened at the . I’m happy to share my first Snag with you:

Bill Ayers Speaks in the NY Times

December 5th, 2008 • Agnes Varnum • 1 comment • Related Posts • Tags

I was cast in the “unrepentant terrorist” role; I felt at times like the enemy projected onto a large screen in the “Two Minutes Hate” scene from George Orwell’s “1984,” when the faithful gathered in a frenzy of fear and loathing.

With the mainstream news media and the blogosphere caught in the pre- excitement, I saw no viable path to a rational discussion. Rather than step clumsily into the sound-bite culture, I turned away whenever the microphones were thrust into my face. I sat it out. Continue>>

Sundance 09: Docs in Competition Announced

December 4th, 2008 • Agnes Varnum • Comments Off • Related Posts • Tags

Here are some of the films you’ll be hearing a lot about in the next year, the 2009 Documentary Competition films:

Art & Copy (Director: Doug Pray)—Rare interviews with the most influential advertising creative minds of our age illustrate the wide-reaching effect advertising and creativity have on modern culture. World Premiere

Boy Interrupted (Director: Dana Perry)—An intimate look at the life, mental illness and death of a young man told from the point of view of the filmmaker: his mother. World Premiere

The Cove (Director: Louie Psihoyos)—Dolphins are dying, whales are disappearing, and the oceans are growing sick. The horrors of a secret cove nestled off a small, coastal village in Japan are revealed by a group of activists led by Ric O’Barry, the man behind Flipper. World Premiere

Crude (Director: Joe Berlinger)—The inside story of the “Amazon Chernobyl” case in the rainforest of Ecuador, the largest oil-related environmental lawsuit in the world. World Premiere

Dirt! The Movie (Directors: Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow)—The story of the relationship between humans and dirt, Dirt! The Movie humorously details how humans are rapidly destroying the last natural resource on earth.  World Premiere

El General (Director: Natalia Almada)—As great-granddaughter of Mexican President Plutarco Elias Calles, one of Mexico’s most controversial revolutionary figures, filmmaker Natalia Almada paints an intimate portrait of Mexico. World Premiere

Good Hair (Director: Jeff Stilson)—Comedian Chris Rock turns documentary filmmaker when he sets out to examine the culture of African-American hair and hairstyles. World Premiere

Over the Hills and Far Away (Director: Michel Orion Scott)—Over the Hills and Far Away chronicles the journey of the Isaacson family as they travel through Mongolia in search of a mysterious shaman they believe can heal their autistic son.  World Premiere

The Reckoning (Director: Pamela Yates)—A battle of monumental proportions unfolds as International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo faces down warlords, genocidal dictators and world superpowers in bringing perpetrators of crimes against humanity to justice. World Premiere

Reporter (Director: Eric Daniel Metzgar)—Set in Africa, this documentary chronicles, in verité fashion, the haunting, physically grueling and shocking voyage of Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, Nicholas D. Kristof. World Premiere

The September Issue (Director: R.J. Cutler)—With unprecedented access, director R.J. Cutler and his crew shot for nine months as they captured Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour and her team preparing the 2007 Vogue September issue, widely accepted as the “fashion bible” for the year’s trends. World Premiere

Sergio (Director: Greg Barker)—Sergio examines the role of the United Nations and the international community through the life and experiences of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the U.N.’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, including interviews with those who knew and worked with him over the course of his extraordinary career. World Premiere

Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech (Director: Liz Garbus)—An exploration of the history and current state of free speech in America narrated by the filmmaker’s father, First Amendment attorney Martin Garbus. World Premiere

We Live in Public (Director and Screenwriter: Ondi Timoner)—We Live in Public is the story of the Internet’s revolutionary impact on human interaction as told through the eyes of maverick web pioneer, Josh Harris and his transgressive art project that shocked New York.  World Premiere

When You’re Strange (Director and Screenwriter: Tom DiCillo)—The first feature documentary about The Doors,  When You’re Strange enters the dark and dangerous world of one of America’s most influential bands using only footage shot between 1966 and 1971. World Premiere

William Kunstler:  Disturbing the Universe (Directors: Sarah Kunstler and Emily Kunstler)—With clients including Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Chicago 10, the late civil rights attorney William Kunstler was one of the most famous lawyers of the 20th century. Filmmakers Emily and Sarah Kunstler explore their father’s life from movement hero to “the most hated lawyer in America.”  World Premiere

Sundance 09: World Documentary Competition

December 4th, 2008 • Agnes Varnum • Comments Off • Related Posts • Tags

And the docs from around the world, in their own competition:

211:Anna / Italy (Directors:Paolo Serbandini & Giovanna Massimetti)—The story of Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist and human rights activist who risked her life to report the truth about the Chechen conflict and President Vladimir Putin.  World Premiere

Afghan Star / Afghanistan/UK (Director: Havana Marking)—After 30 years of war and Taliban rule, Pop Idol has come to television in Afghanistan: millions are watching and voting for their favorite singer. This film follows the dramatic stories of four contestants as they risk their lives to sing. North American Premiere

Big River Man / USA (Director: John Maringouin)—An overweight, wine-swilling Slovenian world-record-holding endurance swimmer resolves to brave the mighty Amazon–in nothing but a Speedo. World Premiere

Burma VJ / Denmark (Director: Anders Ostergaard)—In September 2007, Burmese journalists risking life imprisonment to report from inside their sealed-off country are suddenly thrown onto the global stage as their pocket camera images of the Saffron Revolution make headlines everywhere. U.S. Premiere

The End of the Line / UK (Director: Rupert Murray)—Based on the book by journalist Charles Clover, The End of the Line reveals the devastating effect that global overfishing is having on fish stocks and the health of our oceans. World Premiere

The Glass House / USA (Director: Hamid Rahmanian)—The Glass House follows four teenage girls striving to overcome drug addiction, abandonment and abuse by attending a rehabilitation center in Tehran. North American Premiere

Kimjongilia / France/USA (Director: N.C. Heikin)—Defectors from North Korea finally speak out about the terrifying reality of their lives–and escapes. World Premiere

Let’s Make Money /Austria/China/South Africa/Spain/Switzerland/U.S.A. (Director: Erwin Wagenhofer)—From the factories of India, to financial markets in Singapore, to massive housing developments in Spain and offshore banks in Jersey, Let’s Make Money reveals complex and shocking workings of global money flow. World Premiere

Nollywood Babylon / Canada (Directors: Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal)—Welcome to the wacky world of Nollywood, Nigeria’s bustling home-grown movie industry. U.S. Premiere

Old Partner / South Korea (Director: Chung-ryoul Lee)—A humble octogenarian farmer lives out his final days with his spitfire wife and his loyal old ox in the Korean countryside. North American Premiere

Prom Night in Mississippi / Canada (Director: Paul Saltzman)—When a small-town Mississippi high school resolves to hold its first integrated senior prom, strong emotions fly and traditions are challenged to their core. World Premiere

The Queen and I (Drottningen och jag) / Sweden (Director: Nahid Persson Sarvestani)— Swedish filmmaker Sarvestani, an Iranian exile who helped overthrow the Shah’s regime in 1979, confronts her own assumptions and complex truths about Iran when she enters the life of the Shah’s widow. World Premiere

Quest for Honor / Kurdistan / USA (Director: Mary Ann Bruni)—A former teacher and tireless activist works with local lawmen, Kurdish government agencies and her colleagues to investigate and eradicate honor killings in the tribal regions of Kurdistan. World Premiere

Rough Aunties / UK (Director: Kim Longinotto)—Fearless, feisty and unwavering, the ‘Rough Aunties’ protect and care for the abused, neglected and forgotten children of Durban, South Africa. North American Premiere

Thriller in Manila / UK (Director: John Dower)—A tale of betrayal stoked by the racial of 1970s America, Thriller in Manila chronicles the most intense and bitter sporting rivalry ever:  the 1975 final match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. North American Premiere

Tibet in Song / USA (Director: Ngawang Choephel)—Through the story of Tibetan music, this film depicts the determined efforts of Tibetan people, both in Tibet and in exile, to preserve their unique cultural identity. Choephel served six years of an 18-year prison sentence for filming in Tibet. World Premiere

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