International

In a special report for The Independent, Beth Brosnan speaks with students and staff of Ciné Institute, Haiti's only professional film school, about life after the region's devastating earthquake. Brosnan explores how, months later, they're using filmmaking techniques to cope with tragedy, rebuild, and even thrive in the face of adversity.

US docmakers may feel pressed by funders to change the world with every film. The Independent's Randi Cecchine asks how is that mandate influencing docs' form, and what happens when funding models drastically differ, as they do abroad?

Let's face it...social media is quickly taking over the world. With everyone and their mother – literally – on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, how can independent filmmakers use social networking to find and build an audience?

They come from all walks of life, and each has a different story to tell. Some have found success, while others are just beginning their careers. And although their filmmaking reflects this diversity, they all have one major thing in common (other than being on this list): talent. Be sure to take notes as you read...you'll want to remember these filmmakers.

The Independent's Patrick Pearce offers take two of highlights from Montréal's Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, this time with a focus on docs. Last month he served up narrative features.

Filmmaker Mercedes Stalenhoef thought she was filming a young woman with dreams of escaping her poor Romanian hometown for a better life. But then another film crew descended on Glod, Romania, to shoot scenes for Borat, forever changing the villagers' prospects and not necessarily for the better. The Independent's Randi Cecchine interviews Stalenhoef about the process of making and distributing her documentary, Carmen Meets Borat.

Filmmaker Valerie Weiss shares her experiences of financing, making, and marketing her first independent feature film Losing Control in this monthly film journal. In this installment, she writes about how she raised financing – a topic that is likely on every independent filmmaker’s mind.

The Independent goes behind the scenes of a start-up film festival in Northern Ireland as the director tries to revive independent filmmaking in the country. The Yellow Fever Independent Film Festival is the first independent festival in Northern Ireland, and founder and filmmaker George Clarke (view the trailer for his kung fu zombie film Battle of the Bone here) faces some large hurdles to get the festival up and running for its August debut. The Independent's Dante A. Ciampaglia discovers Clarke's motivations and hopes for YFIFF and how it can bring change to the indie-deprived nation.

If you're looking to get away from your day-to-day routine while also brushing up on filmmaking skills, then a study-abroad program may be right for you. London, Paris, Florence, and Ottawa all play host to summer workshops. You can also take animation courses in New Zealand or work towards a degree from New York University in Singapore. And in Prague, you can brush up on state-of-the-art technology in a film-school building that dates to the 11th Century. The Independent's Lynn Tryba has compiled a guide to programs that range in length from weekend seminars to six-week sabbaticals.

Over the course of an hour and 42 minutes, Charles H. Ferguson's Oscar-nominated documentary No End in Sight offers a powerful indictment of U.S. policy in Iraq in the period immediately following the May 2003 invasion of the country. The filmmaker, who recently picked up the Best Documentary award from the New York Film Critics Circle, has authored a book that updates the film, and asks, What's next? Ferguson recently spoke with The Independent's Mike Hofman about the film, the book (due out January 28), and the war. To first view the film's trailer, go to our Watch page.