Category
Features
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05.14.12Unconventionally Conventional: Documentaries That Draw Inspiration From Genre CinemaAs a lover of both genre cinema and documentary filmmaking, it's no surprise that the combination of the two really hits my sweet spot. The marriage of these seemingly disparate worlds has become increasingly more common, giving documentary filmmakers an opportunity to experiment with the form and push the limits of non-fiction storytelling. This is a great way of bridging the gap between fiction and documentary filmmaking and working towards simply labeling them both as 'movies'. That's not to say there aren't differences between the two. I love docs because they provide opportunities and insights that fiction films don't (and ...
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03.10.11True/False 2011: Festival ReportTravelling for the first time to the True/False Film Festival, I had heard nothing but rave reviews from filmmakers who had shown their films there; I knew it was in a small town and that it would be the furthest inland I'd ever been in the US. After a fourteen hour journey from the UK, I landed in Kansas City Airport. From the airport, you face a two-hour drive to get to Columbia, where the festival takes place, but after travelling that amount of time what's an extra two hours? After a minor hotel mixup, which was actually quite fun, we ...
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01.14.1010 Documentaries to look out for in 2010Yes, there has been an influx of lists whizzing their way around the internet over the last few months, but there are also far too many great documentaries coming out this year to put into just one post. This is by no means a definitive list or a 'best of' etc. I'm just running with a 10 in 10 gimmick to highlight some particularly interesting documentaries for us to look forward to this year. 1. In Search of Memory In Search of Memory looks at the life and career of neuro-scientist Eric Kandel who won the Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking research ...
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10.15.07The Documentary Blog’s Top 25 DocumentariesA couple of weeks ago (Yikes. The post is right underneath this one, dated October 5th. My blogging is definitely lacking.) the International Documentary Association released it's list of 'Top 25 Documentaries of All Time', and although their list did cover some essential territory, there were a few surprises that I felt didn't really belong. (Supersize Me??) So I thought it'd be fun to throw up my own list here on The Documentary Blog, covering what I consider to be essential films that are both personal favourites and 'must-see' recommendations for friends. Here it goes: 1. Gates of Heaven ...
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05.30.07Five Films – KidsIt’s been a while since the last Documentary Blog ‘Five Films’ feature, but I’m glad to be back with my latest selection of five highly recommended documentary films based on a similar theme. This time I’m looking at some movies that star kids. Now I’m not a huge fan of children. In fact, some would say that I actually despise them. But every once and a while there comes along a child that surpasses expectations, making an example of us cynical adults with some great before-their-time wisdom that’s shockingly inspirational, especially coming from the mouth of someone who’s in the ...
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02.05.07Exclusive Interview: Steve Anderson, Director of ‘Fuck’I recently had the opportunity to chat with Steve Anderson, writer and director of 'Fuck'. A documentary that examines everyones favourite expletive and its role in our culture. We talked about his process of putting together an impressive number of high profile interview subjects such as Hunter S. Thompson and Kevin Smith, discuss modern day purveyors of free speech, and the difference between shooting documentary and dramatic films. The Documentary Blog: 'Fuck' gives us a pretty good back story of everyone's favourite curse word, but more importantly it examines the boundaries of censorship and freedom of speech. However, this couldn't ...
