I tend to not post calls for entries because all that information is on Withoutabox and any filmmaker worth their salt is using it. But, occasionally there are intriguing opportunities or those that I want to champion, so here they are:

P.O.V. Call for Enteries for the 2009 Season - This summer documentary series is a great spot to show your film and the crew there will put their all into helping you find your audience. Deadline is June 27.

Cinema Verite, the Iran International Documentary Festival - A doc festival in Tehran. Nuff said. Deadline is July 15 and there is no entry fee.

Independent Film Week’s Spotlight on Documentaries - New this year, if you are accepted to the Project Forum, you don’t have to pay a registration fee. No reason to not submit now! Deadline May 23.

The lovely Karen Cirillo, formerly with Full Frame and now programming independently, has put together a fabulous fest of short docs, Doxita, that she is currently taking around the country.

Tonight is the NYC premiere of the the show at the IFC Center, 7:45 PM, and it includes some can’t-miss films! Enjoy and report back! The line-up:

Vángelo Monzón (Argentina/Sweden, Andréas Lennartsson, 8 min.) - A visit with Vángelo Monzón who’s been making bricks in Argentina since he was a boy.

Shit and Chicks (The Netherlands, Kees van der Geest, 10 min. ) - A portrait of a traditional method of feeding chickens in Ghana, done with gentle restraint.

El Cerco (Spain, Ricardo Íscar/Nacho Martín, 16 min.) - A breathtaking look at tuna fishing in the Mediterranean sea where the fight is a ritual of blood and death.

Cross your Eyes, Keep them Wide (USA, Ben Wu, 23 min.) - An invitation into the San Francisco “Creativity Explored,” a work space for artists with development disablilities.

The Guarantee (USA, Jesse Epstein, 10 min.) - Through animated drawings, a man tells how he considered plastic surgery for his ballet career.

Martin Thomas (UK/Wales, Dylan Wyn Thomas, 31 min.) - The sometimes painful yet ultimately joyous journey of one man’s quest to stop his stammer.

Ten years can either be a blip or an eternity depending on your perspective. The year 1997 saw President Bill Clinton inaugurated for his second term, James Cameron’s “Titantic” was the top movie and a book about a young wizard named Harry Potter first hit shelves. It was before the Internet stock bust and “information superhighway” was still a promise. The world of documentary in the U.S. was one of foundation funding, public television broadcast and educational distribution with precious few docs breaking into any kind of commercial success. It was in that entrenched world that then-new filmmakers Katy Chevigny and Julia Pimsleur felt like they had little opportunity. Read the article & catch screenings of Arts Engine productions at The Paley Center in NYC this weekend>>