The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival has received a $10,000 grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in support of the festival’s retrospective artist. In alignment with the 2014 festival’s theme of humor, this year’s retrospective filmmaker is Robert B. Weide, widely known for his work as principal director and executive producer of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Weide is an Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker who specializes in the stories of comic icons and has made acclaimed films about The Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields, Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce and Woody Allen. He’ll be screening a selection of those films, along with the pilot episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which was originally created as a one-off mockumentary.
“We’re extremely grateful to the Academy for their continued support of the festival,” said festival director Nick Davis. “Providing our attendees with access to filmmakers of this caliber is absolutely essential to the Big Sky mission. And we couldn’t do it without the Academy’s support.”
Since 1999, the Academy has awarded over $6.6 million to U.S. film festivals to make their events more accessible to the general public, provide greater access to minority and less visible filmmakers, and help strengthen the connection between filmmakers and their audiences. This is the second time the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival has received the prestigious grant.
The 2014 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival runs from February 15-23 in downtown Missoula, Montana. More than 130 films will be screened in four venues over those nine days. Screening, event, and DocShop information can be found at -www.bigskyfilmfest.org.