IF YOU’RE as big a fan of history documentaries as I am, this is the best news in a long time:
The first-ever Hindsight Film Festival – the nation’s first and only major film fest dedicated completely to the art of the historical documentary – is happening in Savannah March 4-8.
You may have seen promos for it on your social media feed, from none other than the legendary Ken Burns.
"The inaugural Hindsight Film Festival will showcase the kind of films that I love, ones that make you say, 'I had no idea about the history that connects us all,'" says Burns about the local event.
Hindsight Film Festival is the labor of love of the award-winning local documentary filmmaker Pat Longstreth, who has already made waves in the documentary world with The Day That Shook Georgia and Iron Family.
The festival – held at various venues, but mostly at the Otis Johnson Cultural Arts Center – includes 15 feature films, 30 shorts, panel discussions, history tours, after parties, and a Sunday awards lunch.
The films range from the March 7 screening of Steal This Story, Please! - with personal appearances by Oscar-nominated director Carl Deal and Amy Goodman from Democracy Now – to the March 8 screening of Coup 53, an award-winning film about America’s overthrow of the Iranian government in 1953, with echoes that reverberate down to the present moment.
“Coup 53 was edited by none other than Walter Murch, probably the greatest film editor of all time,” says Longstreth. Murch’s other credits include all the Godfather movies and Apocalypse Now, among many others. “This will likely be his last work.”
Another highlight is Saturday’s Diamond Diplomacy, which “explores the relationship of the U.S. with Japan through the prism of baseball,” says Longstreth.
A preview of the upcoming Ken Burns documentary series about Reconstruction, Emancipation to Exodus, happens Friday.
The Ken Burns angle largely comes from the Hindsight Festival’s relationship with the Better Angels Society, known for the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film.
Better Angels Society is the presenting sponsor of Hindsight. But Better Angels president and CEO Katherine Malone-France wants everyone to know where the true credit lies.
“We are delighted to be a presenting sponsor but to be totally clear, this festival is being run by its director, Pat Longstreth,” says Malone-France.
“His depth of talent and passion for historical documentaries is so inspiring. Pat has so carefully curated not only the films in every screening, but he’s made sure there are plenty of opportunities for conversations and dialogue.”
Better Angels is the only national nonprofit solely focused on U.S. history documentaries.
“This festival is a combination of a strong local connection and a celebration of Savannah’s love of history and creativity and beauty," says Malone-France.
"It’s a partnership with a local filmmaker deeply involved in arts and culture with a national organization whose mission it is to support historical documentaries.”
Is this extremely dire moment in American history the core inspiration for the Hindsight Film Festival?
Actually, not so much.
“I started planning this festival over a year ago, with the commitment that we would stay with it wherever it led,” says Longstreth. “The stars just happened to line up historically -- maybe it’s a kind of fate or destiny. Honestly I don’t even follow the news that closely.”
Both Longstreth and Malone-France stress that the film festival environment is even more important in a time of easily-streamed documentaries on your TV or laptop at home.
“There are so many documentaries out there now, but we tend to watch them by ourselves or maybe with just a couple of other people,” says Malone-France. “We want to rekindle the powerful nature of watching these films in community with other people, as a shared experience.”
In addition to major, award-winning documentaries, another aspect of Hindsight is the inclusion of films that are still in the process of completion – a necessary reality in the world of documentary filmmaking.
“The more I go to film festivals the more I appreciate what a different approach Hindsight is taking in allowing works in progress to be screened,” says Malone-France. “Historical documentaries do require so much research in addition to the storytelling aspect. It’s a very particular kind of process.”
Longstreth’s affiliation with Better Angels Society came about when he participated in one of their Fellowship programs.
When he approached them with the idea for Hindsight, it didn’t take much of a hard sell.
“We work closely with Ken Burns and took him this idea for a festival,” says Malone-France. “He is very supporting and he was delighted to cut some promos for it.”
Malone-France says:
“Ken is always saying, ‘We need more stories.' Hindsight Film Festival is about more stories. And it’s about how we continue to have conversations about those stories. Historical documentaries are another way people can learn about the past, not as something fixed but as something we are always getting new perspectives about."
The Savannahian is proud to be a media sponsor of the Hindsight Film Festival. Get tix and see the full schedule at https://www.hindsightfilmfestival.com/.
