May 2, 2012
“First Position,” a Sundance Selects ballet documentary directed, produced and edited by Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumna Bess Kargman ’08, opens this weekend at theatres in New York and Los Angeles.
The film shadows seven gifted dancers from disparate social, economic and ethnic backgrounds as they prepare for one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world. The subjects featured in the movie come from Sierra Leone, Italy, Japan, Colombia, Israel and the United States; they have a love of dance and a drive to succeed that trumps money, politics and even war.
“First Position” has received advance praise, including from the New York Times (“Fledgling Ballerinas, Just Learning to Fly,” April 27) and Washington Post (“Movie review: The ballet documentary ‘First Position’ stays elegantly on point,” May 1). It premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival and was named the audience choice’s first runner-up for Best Documentary. It also won the jury prize at the San Francisco Documentary Festival; the audience award at DOCNYC; the audience award at the Dallas International Film Festival; and the audiemce award at the Portland International Film Festival, where Kargman also won Best New Director.
Kargman has produced stories for numerous media outlets including National Public Radio, The Washington Post and NBC Olympics. Before entering the worlds of film and radio, she trained at Boston Ballet School. She divides her time between New York and Los Angeles and is a graduate of Amherst College, in addition to the J-School. “First Position” is her first film.
The film opens Friday, May 4 in New York at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, where Kargman will be doing three Q&As throughout the weekend; and also Friday at the IFC Center, where Kargman will be in person for two Q&As. It opens Friday in L.A. at the Royal Theatre, Town Center 5 and Playhouse 7, and then opens across the U.S. starting May 11.
www.balletdocumentary.com
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