Full Frame Docu Fest appoinst Nancy Buirski as new Artistic Director

Laurie Racine, President of the Board of Doc Arts, Inc., the producer's of the internationally acclaimed Full Frame Documentary Film Festival held annually in Durham, NC announced that Nancy Buirski would be given the title of Artistic Director of Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.

"The festival has grown dramatically over the eight years from a two-and-half-day festival to a full four days of programming and a simultaneous digital festival. With the ongoing support and new partnerships we have gained in the past year, we are delighted that we are now able to expand our organization to meet new artistic and programming needs," Racine comments. "With that new goal, we are pleased to announce that Nancy Buirski will have the new title of Artistic Director. This not only recognizes the creative footprint she, as Full Frame’s founder, has put on the organization, but also allows her to engage her talents in the continued creative expansion of the Full Frame organization."

Buirski founded the festival in 1998 and has been a central force in developing new programming for the festival weekend as well as the year-round collection of selected Full Frame Shorts on DVD in collaboration with Docurama; the Turkish American Exchange Program, which includes the production of a documentary by participating filmmakers; and the digital extension of the festival in collaboration with Emerging Pictures. Buirski articulates that, "Our mission with the festival from its start was to celebrate the power of this art form and the many ways in which it affects our lives. In the future, our ability to serve the needs of filmmakers, the industry which is expanding to showcase these films, and the audiences, will be dependent upon expanding our own borders and creating new ways to foster talent and vision, both as a festival and an institution."

In addition to serving as the Artistic Director, she will foster the development of the Full Frame Institute, including creating programming for new festival partners such as Duke University and the University of North Carolina system. The Institute's mission will be to present workshops, panels and in-depth educational programming at the Festival and across the country.


In addition, Doc Arts, Inc. announced that David Hughey, former President and Publisher of Durham’s daily newspaper the Herald-Sun, will assume the role of Interim Executive Director of the Festival beginning August 4th. In announcing his appointment, Ms. Racine said, "We are honored that someone of David Hughey's stature and standing in our community will be joining us during this transitional period as we launch a national search for a new executive director."