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True/False Film Fest featured on The Auteurs

Five films will be available to stream on the social networking site.

By Pierce Courchaine

Published Feb. 19, 2010

In honor of the seventh annual True/False Film Fest, social networking Web site The Auteurs is playing five films from past True/False Film Fests at no cost.

The Web site is an online movie theater and watering hole for lovers of film. A membership to the Web site is free and gives access to hundreds of foreign, independent and classic films.

"The model that The Auteurs use is one of being like that great record shop or that great video store, where they basically say, 'We're not going to put up everything, we're going be very picky and very selective,' " True/False Film Fest Director David Wilson said. "I think that's really smart, I think they're really successful with that. So it's a huge honor."

The five films chosen were "Sons of a Gun," "Someday My Prince Will Come," "The Mother," "The Order of Myths" and "Running Stumbled." Each film was handpicked by the staff at True/False and is available to stream until Feb. 28, the final day of the 2010 festival.

"They asked us if we would look through our line-up and pick a handful of films that we thought best represented what we championed, which is creative, non-fiction filmmaking," said Chris Boeckmann, True/False Film Fest associate programmer.

In True/False's Ninth Street offices, Wilson talked about which films were the best representation of the festival.

"We felt like we were important to those films' lives," Wilson said. "I feel like the group we came up with is really great, totally representative, and shows some of the best films we have ever shown."

Rivkah Beth Medow, co-director of "Sons of a Gun," said she was thrilled to be one of the films chosen.

"We are honored to be in the company of the other amazing films chosen," Medow said in an e-mail. "Video on demand can be tricky for filmmakers to figure out, but The Auteurs love films and are dedicated to providing a supreme viewing experience, so we couldn't be happier to have a home with them."

The French term "auteur" refers to the theory of directors putting their personal creative stamp on films. Boeckmann said the term is not usually associated with non-fiction films.

"With fiction films, it makes sense just because they're the ones writing the script and doing all the work," Boeckmann said. "In documentary, you have other people controlling your story for you. I think all of these films are examples of directors who angle their stories to create a vision that is very much their own, even though they are telling someone else's story."

The Auteurs boasts a membership of 200,000, one of whom is legendary director Martin Scorsese, who occasionally recommends a film for others to view. Wilson said the bigger the profile of the festival is, the more it will help the festival's filmmakers.

"If it raises the profile of the festival, that's great," Wilson said. "If it raises the profile of the filmmakers and the films, that's really great."

Boeckmann said promoting the films is more important than promoting the festival.

"To be able to reach that number of people and be able to introduce them to these films which are not very widely seen in the United States, let alone the world, it's really, really exciting for us," Boeckmann said.

The 2010 True/False Film Festival will take place Feb. 25 to Feb. 28. Tickets can be reserved and picked up as early as Feb. 24. General tickets will be available for sale starting at noon Feb. 25.