Don't Miss events and films at Full Frame 2017

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary April 6–9 in Durham, NC, with an exciting lineup of films.

Opening night will see the latest film from one of the festival's favorite directors, Steve James, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail. James presented his award-winning 1994 film Hoop Dreams at Full Frame and has returned many times since.



His latest work, Abacus, examines the horrific legal battle of  the only U.S. bank ever charged with mortgage fraud in the 2008 financial crisis...  the family-owned Abacus Federal Savings in Manhattan's Chinatown which lent money to Chinese families unable to secure loans from the "big banks" no matter how much money they deposited. James will be joined by members of the Sung family for a post-screening Q&A. Abacus screens on Thursday, April 6, at the Carolina Theatre's Fletcher Hall.



The festival's Closing Night Film is STEP, directed by Amanda Lipitz, on Sunday, April 9, at Fletcher Hall. Members of a step-dance team at the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women pursue their dreams of attending college. Lipitz and special guests will be in attendance for a conversation after the community screening. Admission to this film is free.

New this year, Full Frame is scheduling two free parties for the community at the 21c Museum Hotel: the Late Night Birthday Bash on Thursday night and the Full Frame Closing Night Party on Sunday, hosted. Both are free to attend and feature a cash bar with local DJ entertainment.

Center Frames

Two films with North Carolina connections will be screened as part of the Center Frame series in Fletcher Hall. The films will both be followed by moderated conversations featuring filmmakers and special guests,

• Friday: Purple Dreams by Joanne Hock (a world premiere) follows the production of A Color Purple by students at Charlotte's Northwest School of the Arts, the first high school in the country allowed to bring the Broadway musical adaptation of the Pulitzer prize winning book to the stage.

• Saturday: May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio follows the North Carolina brothers as they record a new album in California. (No word on whether any of the Avetts will be guests)

Award-Winners

Another don't miss annual event takes place Saturday afternoon when the recipients of the 2017 Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant present excerpts of their works in progress. The 2017 grant winners are  Bing Liu for Minding the Gap and to Kavita Pillay for Stalin, Lenin, and Other Tales from South India (working title). These are followed by a screening of QUEST by 2016 grant recipient Jonathan Olshefski. The annual grant is presented in honor of filmmaker Garrett Scott, and recognizes first-time filmmakers who bring a unique vision and style to their documentary films.

The complete schedule of films is available online at fullframefest.org. Individual tickets go on sale March 30, and can be purchased online