Before you finish that cup of coffee, get jacked up and run around the office?Ǭ†to talk?Ǭ†about the funny thing you saw on TV last night, take a minute to look into its black and brown depths. The bulging eyes of?Ǭ†a?Ǭ†starving Ethiopian child might look back at you.

“Black Gold,” a documentary about growing coffee in?Ǭ†Ethiopia and the trials of trying to get a fair market price for it, showed at?Ǭ†The Belcourt Theatre here in Nashville on?Ǭ†Sunday night. It’s a sobering documentary with a message: “Fair Trade” is not just a slogan,?Ǭ†it really does help?Ǭ†people live better lives.?Ǭ†

Every cent?Ǭ†paid for a pound of Ethiopian coffee counts. The pennies stack up quickly?Ǭ†and can result in construction of schools, water treatment plants?Ǭ†and, most importantly, mean more food for the dirt poor farmers who grow the coffee beans.

The documentary began screening at select theatres in the U.S. on October 6th. If you’re lucky enough to be in Nashville, it’s showing today,?Ǭ†Monday Oct. 16, and Tuesday Oct. 17, at the Belcourt.

Well friends if you’ve been watching the channel than it’s a distinct possibility that you may have seen the film “Gillo Pontecorvo: The Dictatorship of Truth” if you’ve seen the film or if you are at all familiar with Mr. Pontecorvo’s filmography than you know the power and profundity that was present in every film he made. I was informed that earlier today Mr. Pontecorvo had passed away. Again, if you are familiar with his body of work then you can understand what a terrible loss this is. If there is a cinema heaven than i’m sure that someone is saving Gillo an aisle seat.

This week’s Featured DocMaker article has been quite the struggle to write.?Ǭ† The problem is not a lack of information on the filmmaker, or even a severe case of writer’s block…in fact, quite the opposite.?Ǭ† Where do you start with the great Martin Scorsese? How do you boil down his life-span of a filmmaking career into a succint 500 words, even when just focusing on his contribution to the world of documentary filmmaking??Ǭ† Well, have?Ǭ†no fear readers, we’ll manage?Ǭ†it somehow.?Ǭ† In the meantime, I thought I’d mention?Ǭ†one of Scorsese’s current projects to tide you over.?Ǭ† The acclaimed director has recently announced?Ǭ†that he will be filming The Rolling Stones?Ǭ†in New York between October 29-31st.?Ǭ† The Stones are touring again in support of their?Ǭ†lastest album “A?Ǭ†Bigger Bang”.?Ǭ† It’s unclear whether?Ǭ†the documentary will focus on?Ǭ†just these dates,?Ǭ†a?Ǭ†la The Last Waltz,?Ǭ†or encompass?Ǭ†a larger portion of The Stones?Ǭ†career, a la No Direction Home.?Ǭ†Either way, we here at the channel can’t wait to get our grubby little paws on it.

One of the Documentary Channel crew’s traditions post-weekend, after too many cups of coffee and the lack of sleep start to catch up with us mid-Monday morning, is to rehash the weekend’s movie viewings (it’s safe to say that at least a third of each of our paychecks end up in the hands of either the local movie theater, movie rental house, or record store). We’re having a full on battle of the film nerds* here at the Documentary Channel this morning, the topic being Scorsese’s** new film The Departed. One side is fighting that The Departed is a triumphant return to oldchool Scorsese-brand filmmaking, the other is saying that it’s a complete and utter directorial disappointment. The debate rages on all aspects…from your usual plot points and character development (or lack thereof) to whether or not Matt Damon is annoying ***. Feel free to join the debate, viewers, before it escalates and someone throws a stapler.

*Ahem. I’ve been informed that the pc term here is “cinephiles”.

**Incidentally, Scorsese is the featured director for this week’s Featured DocMaker article

***Not sure if we’re arguing that his character is annoying, or Matt Damon in general.

Hardly a day goes by that I don’t field a phone call here at DOC HQ or even get approached during one of my own shoots by someone who has a dream to make a film of their own. People ask for advice or funding or just want an open pair of ears to pitch their idea to and I always happily listen. Again and again though I find myself in my own responses to their questions referencing a book which no filmmaker or film lover for that matter should be without Sam Fuller’s incredible book “A Third Face: My Tale of Writing, Fighting and Filmmaking” which Sam put together with the help of his wife Christa, a wonderful human being who I am proud to call a friend. “A Third Face” is full of inspirational information about not just Sam’s career as a filmmaker but also his experiences in the military and as a journalist. It’s very difficult not to be drawn into to Sam’s prose which is as punchy and matter of fact as it gets. I make a point of re-reading the book every chance I get and by the finish i’m always itching to pick up a pen or a camera and I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that i’m sure other aspiring filmmakers documentarians or otherwise would also find much to motivate and inspire them within it’s 600 pages. So if you’re thinking about making a film or even if you don’t know much of Sam’s work I can’t encourage enough that you seek “A Third Face” out.