On March 10th, the 2008 International Documentary Challenge wrapped up their timed filmmaking competition! 122 filmmakers from 16 different countries participated in the challenge ““ to make a documentary film in five days. Each documentary filmmaker was assigned a different genre, including music, politics and character studies, all embodying the theme of “Change.”

The 2007 Doc Challenge was a big success, with ten of the twelve filmmaking teams attending the sold out screening in Toronto. Additional screenings took place this year at the Northwest Film Forum and the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. Check out what some of the filmmakers had to say about their experience from last year’s event.

Finalists will be announced in April, and the selected films will be featured at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival in Toronto. We’ll keep you updated of the finalists in the weeks to come, so keep checking in with us to find out which docs made the cut!

The Human Rights Video Project is a national library project designed to increase awareness of human rights issues through documentary films. and check out their Human Rights Resources page and get at the core of the issues being addressed in their video projects.