In the third installment of our BYOD episodes from SXSW, Ondi speaks with the filmmakers behind 12 O’Clock Boys, Touba, and The Other Shore, while featuring footage from these new, hotly anticipated doc films!
Watch new episodes of BYOD live each week on Tuesdays at noon on TheLip.TV, or tune in for the archived replay starting here on the following Thursday.
ABOUT BYOD:
BYOD is hosted by Ondi Timoner, director of “DIG!,” “JOIN US” and “WE LIVE IN PUBLIC,” and has the rare distinction of winning the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance twice. Each week the show explores a different documentary filmmaker or aspect of filmmaking, with special guests and a live Q&A– diving deep into creative process and the business realities of producing and distributing films. Ondi shares her insider views, opinions, and personal stories, welcoming audience participation. BYOD aims to entertain, inform, and elevate documentaries in general by bringing attention to films and film makers that deserve exposure.
GUEST BIO:
12 O’Clock Boys, by Lotfy Nathan
Pug, a thirteen year old boy living on a dangerous Westside block, has one goal in mind: to join the 12 O’Clock Boys; the notorious urban dirt-bike gang of Baltimore. Converging from all parts of the inner city, they invade the streets and clash with police, who are forbidden to chase the bikes for fear of endangering the public. Pug looks to the pack for mentorship, spurred by their dangerous lifestyle. He narrates their world as if explaining a dreamscape, complemented with unprecedented, action-packed coverage of the riders in their element, guided by the riders themselves as they take to the streets and clash with Police. The film presents the pivotal years of change in a boy’s life growing up in one of the most dangerous and economically depressed cities in the United States.
DIRECTORS BIO
Lotfy Nathan, 26, is a filmmaker and visual artist based in New York. He has received the Grainger Marburg Travel grant, fellowships from the Garrett Scott foundation, Compound group, IFP Doc Lab, & IFP spotlight. The film has had work-in-progress preview screenings at Lincoln Center, IFC Center, Rooftop film festival, and Full Frame Festival. His first film: “12 O’Clock Boys” will be released in 2013.
TOUBA, by E. Chai Vasarhelyi
Synopsis: “Touba” reveals a face of Islam essential to these divisive times. It chronicles the Grand Magaal pilgrimage of 1 million Sufi Muslims to the holy city of Touba, Senegal. Shot on 16mm, its vivid cinematography and integrated soundtrack elevate it to the level of humanist film poem. This observational film takes us inside the Mouride Brotherhood: one of Africa’s most elusive organizations. Pilgrims travel from all over the world to pay homage to the life and teachings of Cheikh Amadou Bamba. His non-violent resistance to French colonial persecution in the late 19th century inspired a national movement: freedom of religious expression through pacifism. These are lessons the world can learn.
Vasarhelyi is a critically acclaimed NYC based filmmaker. Her film “Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love” screened at over 50 festivals, winning numerous awards. Credits include “A Normal Life” and “Touba”. She is currently in post-production on “Mr. President” and “Little Troopers”. She is a Sundance Fellow and a graduate of Princeton University.
The Other Shore, Dir. Timothy Wheeler and subject Diana Nyad
Synopsis: Famed marathon swimmer Diana Nyad, 62, has captivated audiences for 30+ years with her superhuman feats, World Records, gregarious charm, and impressive Correspondent’s career. Long before iconic Nyad caught the attention of television giants like Johnny Carson, Phil Donahue, Diane Sawyer, Robin Roberts, Sanjay Gupta — Diana was an impressionable 11-year-old Floridian, enchanted by Cuba and seeking refuge from a disenfranchised home and damaging father. Celebrated as the State High School Champion, young Diana suffered a dark secret — sexual abuse at the hands of her biggest fan; her coach. By fifteen, the Olympic hopeful would miss out on qualifiers due to a heart condition. If not for the eccentric sport of marathon swimming, Nyad’s illustrious career may not have been.
Nyad’s most noted swims had her inducted into The International Women’s Hall of Fame: 1975 record-breaking swim around Manhattan Island; 1979 World Record, longest, nonstop ocean swim from Bahamas to Florida
THE OTHER SHORE is the story behind the story, following Diana as she resurrects her thirty-year-old dream of swimming non-stop from Cuba to Florida.
Timothy Wheeler – Director/Cinematographer
Having traveled and worked in 60+ countries, on every continent, Emmy-nominated cinematographer and documentary filmmaker, Timothy Wheeler, received his master’s at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and works with diverse clients producing content for Discovery, Animal Planet, PBS, The New York Times Co., truTV. THE OTHER SHORE is an especially meaningful project to the director, as it chronicles his aunt’s intimate life story and harrowing return to marathon swimming after thirty years.
ADD’L LINKS:
http://12oclockboys.com/
http://www.toubafilm.com/
http://www.theothershoremovie.com/
http://thelip.tv/
http://www.facebook.com/thelip.tv
http://www.facebook.com/BYODOC
https://twitter.com/#!/onditimoner
EPISODE BREAKDOWN:
00:01 BYOD Intro from SXSW pt. 3.
00:45 12 O’Clock Boys, with filmmaker Lotfy Nathan
13:36 The Other Shore, with filmmaker Timothy Wheeler and subject Diana Nyad.
45:31 Touba, with filmmaker E. Chai Vasarhelyi
