1) A passing in Chicago: Ronn Pitts
Famous documentary filmmaker Ronn Pitts has died. A mentor to many, he also filmed many historic events in his town, Chicago. He is routinely credited with desegregating the Chicago filmmaking and news communities. Some remembrances from Kartemquin films are here:
https://kartemquin.com/news/remembering-ronn-pitts
2) A blow to freedom of the press
A Federal appeals court has ruled that the BBC must hand over its primary footage from a documentary on Yassar Arafat. This is chilling…
3) A new camera from Arri aimed at documentary filmmakers
Arri have announced the Amira, a $25,000 (without a lens) on-the-shoulder camera with many similarities to the beloved Alexa. Shooting 2k images to various flavors of ProRes, it will capture up to 14 stops of dynamic range (with log C as well as rec 709 color spaces). The price may keep all but the best funded away… More here:
http://www.redsharknews.com/technology/item/1085-new-arri-amira-in-depth-first-look