Full Frame Film Festival to Return in 2024

Popular documentary film festival will be held in Durham April 4-7

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panel discussion before a large audience at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

鈥淣othing will change in how festival leadership determines a vision for the event, nor how documentary experts select films,鈥 Balleisen said. 鈥淏ut the festival will mesh more substantially with operations at Duke to leverage logistical expertise and capacity.鈥

Duke鈥檚 senior leadership is currently reviewing CDS鈥檚 organizational framework, informed by the work of a faculty review committee. During that process, Balleisen is fulfilling the responsibilities of the center director.

鈥淒uke remains committed not only to Full Frame, but to documentary studies, a robust set of  undergraduate classes in this sphere, the certificate program in documentary arts and CDS,鈥 Balleisen said.

Full Frame veterans Emily Foster and Sadie Tillery, who have been co-directing the festival since 2021, will continue in that joint leadership role.  Tillery, who stepped down from the role earlier this year, agreed to return to it upon learning of Duke鈥檚 plan to revamp the festival鈥檚 infrastructure. She will lead programming and operations with DVPM, while Foster, who came to Full Frame in 2019 as marketing director, will lead festival production, development and other planning with CDS.

鈥淏y the time we get to Full Frame in 2024, it will have been five years since we last held an in-person festival,鈥 Foster said. 鈥淩eturning to the physical landscape is a big milestone for Durham and the documentary community. We鈥檙e committed to maintaining the core values that make Full Frame so special, while also building upon them to create a vision for Full Frame well into the future.鈥

The new festival partnership with DVPM will streamline operations and create a more efficient process, Tillery said. The goal is to build on the festival鈥檚 long history.

鈥淔ull Frame is regarded as a filmmakers鈥 festival. I am committed to cultivating the sense of community and intimacy that Full Frame is known for as we return to in-person programming, while celebrating artists and exceptional documentary storytelling,鈥 Tillery said.