The AFI Docs (formerly Silverdocs) documentary film festival is an American international film festival created by the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

and the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

. It is held every year in Silver Spring, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Started in 2003, the festival is held for five days in June at the

AFI Silver AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center or commonly known as AFI Silver is a three-screen movie theater complex in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, north of Washington, D.C. Its main auditorium hosts the DC Metro area's third-largest commercial ...

Theatre as well as several locations in Washington, D.C.

Notable participants

AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017� ...

vice-chairman ''

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

'' Ted Leonsis, * BET co-founder Sheila Johnson, * Former Vice President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

, * Academy Award-winning film makers: ** Martin Scorsese, **

Jonathan Demme Robert Jonathan Demme ( ; February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker. Beginning his career under B-movie producer Roger Corman, Demme made his directorial debut with the 1974 women-in-prison film ''Caged Heat'', before ...

, ** Barbara Kopple, **

Alex Gibney Philip Alexander Gibney (; born October 23, 1953) is an American documentary film director and producer. In 2010, ''Esquire'' magazine said Gibney "is becoming the most important documentarian of our time". Gibney's works as director include '' ...

** LeBron James

Yoruba Richen Yoruba Richen (born 1972, in New York City, New York) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Her work has been featured on PBS, New York Times Op Doc, Frontline Digital, New York Magazine’s website -The Cut, The Atlantic and ...

won the Audience Award in 2013 for ''The New Black'', her documentary was about the African-American community response to marriage equality initiatives.

Participating organizations

There are several organizations that usually take part on the events: BBC,

CPB CPB may refer to: Companies * Campbell Soup Company, an American producer of canned soups and related products * Campbell Brothers, an Australian laboratory and manufacturing company * Crispin Porter + Bogusky, an advertising agency * Corporate ...

, TLC, Animal Planet, The Ford Foundation,

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

, Latino Public Broadcasting,

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 50 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.0 billion and p ...

Miramax Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a leadi ...

, National Black Programming Consortium,

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

, PBS, the Sundance Institute, The Weinstein Company.

Advisory board

The AFI Docs Advisory Board includes:

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary film, documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle United States, American History of the United States, history and Culture of the ...

, Davis Guggenheim,

Chris Hegedus Chris Hegedus (born April 23, 1952) is an American documentary filmmaker. She and her husband, filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker, founded the company Pennebaker Hegedus Films. Hegedus was nominated for an Academy Award for ''The War Room'', a behind-th ...

, Werner Herzog, Barbara Kopple, Spike Lee, Albert Maysles, Errol Morris, D A Pennebaker, Frederick Wiseman.

References

External links

Silverdocs Award Winners (via UC Berkeley)Official websiteInfo about AFI
Downtown Silver Spring, Maryland Film festivals in Maryland Tourist attractions in Montgomery County, Maryland Documentary film festivals in the United States American Film Institute Film festivals in Washington, D.C. {{US-film-festival-stub Film festivals established in 2003