American Documentary Showcase Delegation Exposes the Real America to Russia

September 11-17, 2010

James Chressanthis shares his professional tricks with the students of the Far Eastern Technical University.

On September 11-17, the curator of the American Documentary Showcase program Betsy McLane, American cinematographer James Chressanthis, and the veteran of Iraq Stuart Wilf presented five documentaries at the 8th annual Vladivostok International Film Festival ‘Pacific Meridian:’  award-winning  No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo and Vilmos, Racing Dream, How to Fold a Flag, Which Way Home, and Trouble the Water. All the documentaries were made by independent filmmakers and touched upon controversial topics such as the environment, racial and ethnic conflict, problems of immigration, influence of Hollywood upon public opinion. The films were so provocative that they resulted in robust discussions between the filmmakers and the audience members; over a dozen media outlets were on hand for the press conference. Apart from daily screenings, the members of the American delegation had meetings with the students of Vladivostok universities and shared their knowledge and skills in film as art. An award winning Hollywood cinematographer and outstanding professional James Chressanthis demonstrated the role of light and composition during master classes with film students, and, documentary historian Betsy McLane discussed the trends of modern documentary film making inspiring young filmmakers and journalists to be more creative in developing new projects.