We’re going to be the first ones to call it: the SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival is all grows up. Yeah, you heard us. As of this year, it’s a real-deal film festival, the kind of event any filmmaker who knows anything would be thrilled to participate in. And we’re not just blowing smoke. The lineup of more than 100 films and special events between today and Sunday isn’t just impressive, it’s overwhelming. With all due respect to FilmFestDC, its programmers kinda dropped the ball this year, and despite their wider range, the documentary-only SILVERDOCS has grown to be so robust, it could take FilmFestDC in a street fight anyday. Granted, a good deal of it has to do with luck; It certainly doesn’t hurt the festival’s growing reputation that feature-length documentaries are about 1000 time more saleable than they were 4 years ago (hat tip, Michael Moore). When Werner Herzog showed up to SILVERDOCS in person last year with his film Grizzly Man, we knew something was up. But when Martin Scorsese and Jim Jarmusch come by just to shoot the shit, well, that my friends is what you call a destination film festival. Right here in our own back yard. Hallelujah. Amen.

DCist will be bringing you as much coverage of this year’s festival as we humanly can (which won’t be nearly as much as we’d like to), but until we plop down at our first screening, here’s a quick list of films we’re excited about checking out (and FYI, tonight’s opening gala is long-since oversold, so if you have tickets to that, let us know how it was in comments). Stay tuned for more.

  • Like we mentioned above, this year’s Charles Guggenheim Symposium finds Martin Scorsese sharing selections from his work, chatting onstage with Jim Jarmusch, and hosting a free, outdoor screening of The Last Waltz, Scorsese’s brilliant music documentary on ‘The Band.’ Thursday, film starts at 9 p.m.
  • Addicted to Oil: Thomas L. Friedman Reporting is Ken Levis’ documentary about the famous New York Times columnist and moustache enthusiast. Friedman will be on hand to sign books and answer questions following the film’s world premiere on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
  • Addicts of Michael Apted’s seminal 7 Up series get double dose of their favorite medicine: The East Coast premiere of Apted’s latest installment, 49 Up, and 21 Up America, this country’s own version by up-and-comer Christopher Quinn. Check the links for screening times.
  • Don’t be surprised if Jesus Camp turns out to be this year’s Grizzly Man. Directors Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing (Boys of Baraka) made some nice buzz for themselves with their latest offering at the Tribeca Film Festival a little over a month ago.

Really, there’s so many films we want to see, we can’t list ’em all. Check out the full lineup for yourself here.

Filed Under: america, As, band, books, comments, dcist, discovery, discovery channel, Discovery Channel Documentary Festival, East Coast, events, film, film festival, friends, Grizzly Man, jesus, Jesus Camp, Jim Jarmusch, martin scorsese, michael apted, michael moore, movies, music, new york, new york times, The Band, The Last, The Last Waltz, Tribeca Film Festival, werner herzog,