Thomas Balmè's documentary, BABIES: is it really as simple as it looks?

Organizers of the 67th annual Venice Film Festival, scheduled to take
place this September 2010, have selected Quentin Tarantino to head the
jury. In recent years, Tarantino has been recognized through various
awards at the Oscars, Golden Globes and Palme d'Or, but was selected
also for his celebrity-director status, as festival administrators explained.
"[Tarantino is] perhaps the only American auteur to be adored worldwide
like a rock star," they said. Sofia Coppola's SOMEWHERE and Julian
Schnabel's MIRAL WITH FREIDA PINTO will premiere at the festival (more).

The US District Court ruled Thursday that Joe Berlinger, the director
of the documentary CRUDE, must hand over his original footage to
Chevron. The company has now successfully subpoenaed the footage from the
director, who filmed a group of Ecuadorians engaged in a long-running
legal battle over the pollution of the Amazon rain forest (resulting in a lawsuit against Chevron). Judge Lewis
A. Kaplan's ruling has been greeted with serious disapproval, if not
outrage, from members of the film industry, especially documentary
filmmakers. “It makes me feel insulted for my profession,” said
director Ric Burns, whose documentary films include ANDY WARHOL and the
PBS series, NEW YORK. Michael Moore also expressed his concerns over
the long-term effect of the ruling. “I’ve never had to deal with any
corporation suing me to find out how I gather information [for my
films],” he said. “Obviously the ramifications of this go far beyond
documentary films, if corporations are allowed to pry into a reporter’s
notebook or into a television station’s newsroom.” (more).

In other documentary news, A.O. Scott reviewed Thomas Balmè's
documentary, BABIES, which centers on four newborns in four different
countries. "Is it that simple?" Scott asks with regards to the film's
premise. "I mean, who doesn’t love babies? Why isn’t this just a
smattering of YouTube videos ('Baby Pulls Cat’s Tail,' 'Baby Eats
Banana,' etc.) stitched together into a feature film and accompanied by
a peppy musical score? That’s kind of what it is." Still, he
seems to have loved it anyway (more).