IFor over 35 years Watertown-based Documentary Educational Resources (DER) has been producing and distributing high quality documentary films from around the world. Bo Smith, director of the film/video and concerts program at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts will be honoring DER’s achievements with a series of programs from April 5th through April 30th. On April 5th at 7:45pm, the series kicks off with a tribute to DER’s co-founder, John Marshall, who was once regarded as the “best cameraman in America” by Haskell Wexler, cinematographer of ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST and WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINA WOOLF and director of MEDIUM COOL. John died of lung cancer a year ago on April 22nd. In his honor, there will be a screening of the newly remastered version of John’s first film THE HUNTERS followed by the premiere screening of A TRIBUTE TO JOHN MARSHALL, a documentary shot by Sandeep Ray in Africa this past summer. A reception at the Museum School - open to all audience members attending the screening – will wrap up the evening, and include another short film made by the students at Boston University’s Center for Digital Imaging Arts (CDIA). The CDIA students interviewed local filmmakers and colleagues who worked with and were influenced by John’s films over the years. 

DER was an early innovator in developing 16mm film and media-based curriculum for the classroom. Our company focus then and now is to support filmmakers who have long-term commitments to the people that they film, filmmakers who work collaboratively with their subjects to produce media with integrity, and to distribute media that has the power to overcome barriers to cross-cultural understanding. Our archive is one of the most historically important resources in ethnographic film in the world today. We were the founding collection for the Smithsonian Human Studies Film Archive, and we continue to collaborate with the Smithsonian on the use of our collection for research and in the distribution of some of their productions. Our films have been screened in villages and refugee camps in Africa, on Native American Reservations, in museums and theaters in New York and broadcast in every other major city in the USA and around the world. 

DER’s mission is to cultivate community engagement with the peoples and cultures of the world in which we live through media that is both entertaining and educational. We address the need for tolerance and understanding of people who are different than ourselves. This need is universal and more evident in today’s global political, social and cultural climate than ever before. Underlying the diversity of the films we produce and distribute is the conviction that documentary and ethnographic films can broaden and alter preconceptions of marginalized and underrepresented peoples within the United States’ population and abroad. We also maintain an archive of historical significance and public interest. 

Through our role as a fiscal sponsor we currently support the work of 27 independent filmmakers whose subjects range from James Rutenbeck’s exploration of St Patrick’s Parish in Lawrence Massachusetts to “The Mathare Project” where filmmaker Randy Bell has been living in and documenting life in a Kenyan orphanage over a period of years. As a result of our support all these projects have raised some funds moving them closer to completion. We acquire 30 - 40 new titles for distribution every year representing films from Cuba, Mexico, Bolivia, Argentina, India, Thailand, Nepal, China, South Africa, Niger, Ethiopia, The Sudan, Kenya, Iran, Yemen, Tuvalu, Papua New Guinea, and North America. 

We also train interns to do research, to create web content and to be production assistants assigned to work with specific filmmakers. They learn directly about the effort, planning and skill necessary to make and distribute successful documentary programs. 

We acquired the entire career oeuvre of the renowned documentary filmmaker Robert Gardner, including the release of the double-DVD set of the film classic DEAD BIRDS, which will be screened on Friday April 14th at 6 pm as part of our anniversary program. His work includes Screening Room, a ground-breaking series that was first broadcast on network television from 1973 to 1980. It featured interviews and films made by some of the most interesting and innovative artists working in the world of film – from Jean Rouch and Ricky Leacock, early innovators in “direct cinema” to the experimental films of Stan Brackage and animators like Robert Breer. This is the first time a selection (25 programs) from the original 100 broadcasts will be available on DVD to general audiences. Screening Room with Jean Rouch will be shown at the MFA on Sunday April 30th at 10:30am, the final show in DER’s anniversary program. 

In 2005 we completed the daunting task of converting our entire collection of over 500 Documentary film titles to DVD format. A new logo and trailers were designed along with our catalogue, labels and packaging to more accurately reflect the ever-expanding diversity of our documentary collection. We are constantly looking toward the future with new technologies, like video streaming as part of our distribution strategy. Come join us at the MFA on April 5th, or come to any of the other DER programs throughout the month of April, to pay tribute to our past and to celebrate a bright future. 

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Cynthia Close is the Executive Director of the Watertown-based Documentary Educational Resources (DER). She has produced and distributed high quality films around the world. For more information visit www.der.org