The DOCUTAH International Documentary Film Festival is an annual

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

, held in the Fall, that strives to recognize some of the best in international

documentary films A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill Ni ...

. Hosted by

Utah Tech University Utah Tech University (UT), formerly named Dixie State University (DSU), is a polytechnic four-year public university in St. George, Utah, in southwest Utah (also known by the longtime nickname of " Utah's Dixie" region). UT offers doctoral degre ...

(UT; formerly known as Dixie State University/DSU.) the festival screens films at the Red Cliffs Theater behind the Red Cliffs Mall in St. George, Utah, with special events throughout Southern Utah. DOCUTAH, also, has an educational focus, and features “master class educational seminars.”

History

, then known as DSU, founded DOCUTAH in 2010. From the beginning, this festival has aimed to provide attendees with not only a meaningful film-going experience, but also an educational one through its “master class educational seminars.” The originator of the festival idea, Phil Tuckett, serves as the director of DSU Films. When he returned to his junior college (DSU) in 2006, after 38 years of working for

NFL Films NFL Productions, LLC, doing business as NFL Films, is the film and television production company of the National Football League. It produces advertisement film, commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentary film, documentaries ...

and receiving 30

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

s, he felt that the southern

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

area would serve as the perfect place to hold an international documentary film festival. After working for several months to make his vision come to fruition, Tuckett officially announced DOCUTAH on 24 September 2009. The City of

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

, the

Convention and Tourism office, the City of

Kanab Kanab ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Utah, United States.Find a County
". ' ...

, and Kane County’s Office of Tourism and Film Commission (along with the Center for Education, Business, and the Arts) were some of the first to support and sponsor DOCUTAH.

Structure

The festival runs for 7 days annually, in the fall.

Screenings

The festival screens films at the Red Cliffs Theater behind Red Cliffs Mall and the Eccles Performing Arts Center at Utah Tech University, with various locations for special events. Special events location involves the O.C. Tanner Amphitheater in Springdale, UT.

DOCtalks

Film industry professionals are scheduled to talk about their experiences and the process of making films.

Film Categories

DOCUTAH has two separate film entry categories, one for general entrants and one for students. These both have sub-categories. General: * Short documentaries up to 45 minutes (including titles and credits) * Features more than 45 minutes Student: * College/University Student Film

Awards

Six judges make up the DOCUTAH awards panel. They confer the honors for the following categories: * Best Feature * Best Short * Audience Favorite- Feature * Audience Favorite- Short * Best Foreign Film * Emerging Artist * Humanitarian * President's Award * Dean's Award * Mayor's Award

References

External links

Southern Utah International Documentary Film FestivalDixie State University
{{Utah Utah Tech University Documentary film festivals in the United States Film festivals in Utah Film festivals established in 2009