DocuWeeks gets documentaries where they need to be: before eyes

Oscar-winning filmmakers Michael Moore (“Bowling for Columbine”) and Davis Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth”) are superstars of the documentary world. But most documentarians have a difficult time getting their films into theaters. The idea of recouping the cost of their films, let alone turning a profit, is almost unheard-of.

The International Documentary Assn. gives small documentaries a boost with its annual DocuWeeks Theatrical Showcase. Now in its 16th year, the program helps feature-length and short documentaries qualify for Oscar consideration by giving them limited theatrical runs in Los Angeles and New York, and shines a spotlight on films that distributors and audiences might never otherwise hear of or see.

The L.A. lineup, which opens Friday and continues through Aug. 30 at the Laemmle NoHo7, features 17 feature-length documentaries and two shorts.

Among the features this year is “La Source,” which centers on a Haitian janitor at Princeton University who moonlights as a cab driver. His lifelong dream is to bring clean water to his small hometown in Haiti.

The film was made by Patrick Shen and grew out of his 2009 documentary, “The Philosopher Kings,” a look at the wit and wisdom of janitors employed at major universities and colleges in the United States.

“These are passion projects,” Shen said. “ ‘La Source’ took three years of my life because of financial issues on the film side. The story was unfolding before our eyes, so we had no time to go out and seek funding for the film. We were fundraising as we were going along.”

A number of DocuWeeks films have gone on to Academy Award nominations; last year, a feature about U.S. combat troops called “Hell and Back Again” and a short, “The Barber of Birmingham,” were nominated for Oscars. In 2008, Alex Gibney’s torture film “Taxi to the Dark Side,” which screened at DocuWeeks the previous year, won the Oscar for feature-length documentary.

Even if DocuWeeks films don’t receive Oscar nods, inclusion in the series can help some movies attract the interest of distributors. Lisa Klein, who with her husband, Doug Blush, directed a 2012 DocuWeeks film about bipolar disorder called “Of Two Minds,” said distribution offers are starting to come in.

“DocuWeeks has opened some really interesting channels,” Blush said. “We are trying to figure out what the best is for us,” added Klein. “It is really about getting it to as many people as possible.”

Kelly Richardson, the writer-director-producer of the DocuWeeks feature “Without a Net,” received a Fulbright grant to film her documentary, which profiles young people living in the slums of Rio de Janeiro who participate in a circus program. “The idea is that these children and teenagers could come and train for free at a circus and learn skills and how to set goals,” said Richardson, a performance artist who learned about the social projects when she performed in a circus in Brazil.

“Without a Net” has screened at a few festivals, including at the Atlanta Film Festival, but DocuWeeks, she said, “lends a validation to our film and to the stories we wanted to bring to a larger audience. We have been contacted by a number of distributors.”

Shen too is hopeful for a distributor and believes he might actually make a profit this time around. “There are new, emerging business models,” he said. “I did my last film with all investments. This one we raised the financing through donations, grants, some investments and some loans. I will be able to recoup my investment.”

Look for reviews of DocuWeeks films starting Friday in the Calendar section.

susan.king@latimes.com