June is upon us and so too is the DMV's biggest week of documentary. AFI DOCS returns to the area June 17-21, 2015. This year the festival is showcasing more than 80 films over the course of five days at eight different venues in Silver Spring and Washington DC. These are some of the films and events we are most excited about.

by Erica Ginsberg

AFI DOCS is back for its second year under its new moniker (I give it one more year before we stop saying "The festival formerly known as Silverdocs.") While the namechange isn't the only thing which changed, this year's festival (taking place from June 18-22) looks like it is bringing back some of what we loved about the Washington DC area's one and only documentary film festival. Call it AFI DOCS 2.0.

Since my previous blog called Reserving Judgment on AFI DOCS got people talking (even referenced in a Washington Post article about festival director Sky Sitney), I wanted to close the loop and share a few final thoughts on this year's festival now that I've had a few weeks to think about it.

We continu.

Taking part in the AFI DOCS Festival was one of the best surprises of the summer thus far! I started the week sitting in on the Docs In Progress Peer Pitch, which is a day that filmmakers can screen their documentaries and receive feedback from fellow filmmakers and observers. The next few days I participated in AFI DOCS events and screenings in Washington DC and Silver Spring. It was first time at any film festival and I learned so much about filmmaking and developed a greater appreciation for documentaries. On the third day of the festival I spent the whole day at the AFI theatre in Silver Spring watching films.

After getting quite a bit of feedback on our post Reserving Judgment on AFI DOCS (including it being linked to in a Washington Post article on Festival Director Sky Sitney), the Docs In Progress crew was out in force at this year's festival to check out the films and what had changed with the festival.  We were especially excited that two of our summer interns, Samantha Ammons and Hannah Myers had a chance to attend, and we asked them to write a little about their experiences which we'll be sharing in the coming days.  First up: Hannah. 

by Erica Ginsberg

Change is hard.  We constantly experience it, resist it, and eventually adapt to it.  (If you don’t believe me, how many “New Facebooks” have you complained about in your status update, but never actually quit Facebook as a result?)

There is a new change those of us in the DC documentary community are facing, which has become the subject of many a status update, listserv posting, or water cooler conversation.  And that all relates to a certain all-documentary film festival in our own backyards.  The festival formerly known as Silverdocs.  Or more accurately formerly known as the AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival.

That festival is being reborn this year as AFI DOCS.  Or more accurately AFI DOCS Presented by Audi.