SIFT 2009: Here I Come!

Maybe being immersed in documentaries for the past few months has done something funny to my brain. I’ve gone and signed up for a five-day documentary workshop at the Summer Institute of Film and Television (SIFT) taking place in Ottawa from May 26-31. SIFT is a programme of the Canadian Screen Training Centre and is in its 29th year. There are workshops in directing, producing, screenwriting and documentary (which I assume encompasses all three for the documentary format).

The specific workshop I’ve enrolled in is called Docology: Transforming Ideas into Images and it’s being led by the legendary Peter Wintonick, whose contributions to the field are too numerous to list here. It promises a complete overview of the production process, from getting it made, to making it, to getting it seen. Even if I am never involved in the making of a documentary film, I think this will give me invaluable insight into the process and make me a more knowledgeable commentator. That being said, I’m bringing a couple of ideas to Ottawa, so who knows?

I’m pretty excited about the opportunity, and will do my best to post some updates from SIFT next month.

p.s. Thanks to local doc blogger Ilka De Laat for letting me know about the programme.

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