Site Updates
Added two new links to the Films & Filmmakers page. Posted 6/29/07
From the archives
Betsy with then Academy President, director Arthur Hiller and Steven Spielberg, at the opening of the IDA Documentary Film Archive at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1993. Mr. Spielberg donated a print of the documentary film SHINDLER to inaugurate the Archive in collaboration with IDA. Posted 6/13/07
The Documentary Diva at the Second Life Book Fair
Betsy was a real, live participant at the inaugural (and virtual) Second Life Book Fair which took place April 20–22, 2007. Below are two screenshots of Betsy's avatar in her booth for A New History of Documentary Film at the book fair.
Betsy will have an essay regarding her virtual experience in SL soon.
—Posted 6/4/07
The Past is present
Documentary magazine, the publication of the [ida], has
been around for as long as the [ida] has. From its humble beginnings as an 8 x 10, two-page newsletter to its present-day glory as a robust, four-color glossy opus, Documentary has served the community
with a sumptuous blend of reports, articles and essays about the documentary form, the documentary community and, dare we say it, the documentary industry.
Now you can retrieve some of those long lost treasures on the new Magazine Archive at www.documentary.org! So, whether you want to search by issue, by author or by
subject, you will find a sizable trove of what has appeared in our pages. From the home page, click on the Documentary Magazine Archives logo.
Keep in mind that the Magazine Archive is a work-in-progress, and that we will continue to feed this vital new resource with content from issues past. But for now, enjoy what's there, and thank you for supporting
the [ida]!
Thomas White / Editor Sandra Ruch / Publisher
—Posted 12/8/06
Betsy is on the Board of Advisors of the U.S. Documentary Channel. Check out their website at www.documentarychannel.com
The Documentary Channel is the first 24/7 cable network dedicated exclusively to airing—uncut and without intermission—the
works of independent documentary filmmakers. DOC showcases the gems of non-fiction film, presenting documentaries of all lengths and genres, from classics to cutting edge.
—Posted 9/18/06
Dear Secretary Small
On March 9, 2006, the Smithsonian Institution entered into a joint venture with Showtime Networks
to create a new video-on-demand channel called “Smithsonian On Demand.” The new service has the right of first refusal on any access to Smithsonian collections and
staff.
In response to this agreement, over 200 concerned people (including Betsy) have written to
the Smithsonian expressing their concern. This letter was delivered to the Smithsonian Institution on April 17, 2006, with copies to 28 U.S. Senators and 23 U.S.
Congressmen who have oversight over the Institution. —Posted 5/25/06
Hollywood’s Fallen Women
Features 1930–1934
Betsy’s “massive, detailed unpublished M.A. thesis, to date the only study of the subject. An excellent, readable work, with
extensive bibliography and filmography” is available for purchase from Daily Rare Books. See more details at AntiQBook.
—Posted 4/25/06
Doc Ed
“Some of us here at DOC recently read a book called A New History of Documentary Film, and we were
privately embarrassed by how many gaps in our doc-knowledge were exposed over the course of reading it…Thankfully for everyone, those voids have now been filled…”
—Posted 1/23/06
National Film Registry adds 25 films
“Films that helped usher in a new era of censorship, changed the way Hollywood
thought about its audience, provided a firsthand look at one of the nation's great disasters and introduced the world to the word “gnarly” are among the 25 the Librarian
of Congress named to the National Film Registry on Tuesday.…” —Posted 1/18/06
