By Ron Sutton

Special to The Pilot

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival begins Thursday, April 14, in downtown Durham and continues through Sunday, April 17.

Sixty-five new films will be in competition. They were chosen by the festival selection committee from 1,200 entries and include a number of world, U.S and N.C. premieres

In addition there are 19 invited films, which include the Center Frame premieres, "Guilty Pleasures," a film that explores the world of the romance novel; "The Loving Story," a provocative chronicle of a precedent-setting 1958 Virginia case challenging interracial marriage that reached all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court; and "Page One: Inside The New York Times," a film that documents the inner workings of the media desk of The New York Times.

The festival's 2011 Career Award will be presented to Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, who will present the U.S. premiere of their most recent film, "Burma Soldier," at Center Frame Saturday night. For 10 years, this duo has produced such provocative winners as "The Devil Came on Horseback," "The Trials of Darryl Hunt," "The End of America" and "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work." These works will be presented at the festival.

There is also a fascinating thematic program titled "One Foot in the Archives." Curated by archivist Rick Prelinger, this series of 10 films will showcase the role of archival material in the making of documentary films. This should be a unique program, though perhaps limited in audience appeal.

Some of these films may subsequently be shown on television, and the best will eventually be made available through NetFlix or the increasingly popular outlets of computer streaming videos.

As always there will be panels, workshops and other special programming. To take a look at titles and brief descriptions of all the films that will be shown, visit www.fullframefest.org.

Information on this website will help anyone wishing to attend the festival learn how to reserve tickets and discover the dates and times the films will be exhibited.

Pinehurst resident Ron Sutton is professor emeritus of film at American University, in Washington, D.C.