First Contact (1983 film)
"First Contact" is the first documentary in what later became known as "The Highland Trilogy". The other two films are "Joe Leahy's Neighbours" (1989) and "Black Harvest" (1992). These three films, between them, have won some thirty major awards, included each film winning both the Grand Prix at the Festival Cinéma du Réel in Paris and AFI Award for Best Documentary.
Document of the Dead
The film was premiered at Joseph Papp's Public Theater on January 19, 1981 and it was subsequently entered into film festivals and won awards. But there weren't any offers good enough to properly distribute the film. In 1988, 10 years after filming, Frumkes was approached by a former student of his, Len Anthony, to release the film via his company Off Hollywood. Frumkes agreed, and Anthony asked him if he could update it "[b]ecause this is already old". Frumkes recorded additional interviews on the set of the film Romero was making at the time, "Two Evil Eyes". This part of the film totaled 24 minutes, was shot on videotape and cost another $50,000. The film, now running 85-minutes, saw its first home video release when Off Hollywood released it on VHS in 1989.