Creating happiness is hard work. Making something beautiful that brings joy to many, in reality entails, perhaps not blood, but certainly a lot of sweat and some occasional tears. That is aptly illustrated in Leslie Iwerks' sweeping, six-part docuseries, The Imagineering Story. The series, currently streaming on Disney+, chronicles the nearly seven decades of hard work that the designers, artists and engineers—or Imagineers—have poured into realizing the vision and dreams of Walt Disney. Part dreamer, part impresario, Disney had the ability to corral a unique army of talented people to think
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Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. Premiering November 25 and 26 on PBS, College Behind Bars, a four-part series directed by Lynn Novick, tells the story of a small group of incarcerated men and women struggling to earn college degrees and turn their lives around in one of the most rigorous and effective prison education programs in the United States--the Bard Prison Initiative in New York State. Alter-NATIVE: Kitchen, a series of shorts now streaming on Independent Lens, profiles three talented young
Essential Doc Reads is a weekly feature in which the IDA staff recommends recent pieces about the documentary form and its processes. Here we feature think pieces and important news items from around the internet, and articles from the Documentary magazine archive. We hope you enjoy! Writing for Mubi Notebook, Sofia Bohdanowicz reflects on Agnès Varda's final film, Varda by Agnès. In Varda by Agnès, Varda’s last film, the director states that beaches are a paysage mentale (a landscape of mind). For her, they were a place of inspiration. With Varda, things come in threes. Beaches are composed
Though "Doc Star of the Month" has spotlit cops in the past (the NYPD's Sergeant Edwin Raymond of Stephen Maing's Crime + Punishment; Oakland Police Department Deputy Chief LeRonne Armstrong of Peter Nicks' The Force), this is the first time Documentary has showcased men in uniform who are breaking every conventional policing rule as part of the job. Partners in fighting crime in the San Antonio Police Department Mental Health Unit, Ernie Stevens and Joe Smarro don't wear a uniform to work and are slow to draw a gun. The subjects of Jennifer McShane's mesmerizing (and SXSW Special Jury Prize
The Truth to Power Award, a new addition to the IDA Documentary Awards roster, recognizes an individual or institution that has shown conspicuous fortitude, tenacity and resoluteness in holding those in power to account. This inaugural honor goes to actor/producer/author Leah Remini, who, as an outspoken critic of the Church of Scientology, of which she was formerly a member, has been subjected to a withering series of attacks—from online trolling to death threats—from the Church. Three years ago, Remini did the unthinkable when she produced an A&E documentary series that exposed the Church of
Freida Lee Mock has, over the past few decades, witnessed a sea change in the documentary space—from the artistry and craft, to the distribution channels and platforms, to representation and inclusion. While her academic background—she majored in history and English at UC Berkeley and did graduate work in law and history—might not immediately signal a career in documentary, the individuals Mock has profiled— architect Maya Lin, playwright Tony Kushner, writer Annie Lamott, law professor/activist Anita Hill, gang intervention activist Gregory Boyle and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
We most often associate the radical activism of the 1960s and 1970s with people of color, students, women and veterans organizing to make systemic change. Not unrelated to those movements, that period was also a defining one for journalists. The courts solidified First Amendment rights in key cases like New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964) and New York Times Co. v. United States (1971), otherwise known as the Pentagon Papers case. And, in an unusual move in 1970, a group of journalists organized to defend their right to protect confidential sources. Bringing together a network of attorneys
The Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award was established in 2003 to honor an individual who has made "a significant impact at the beginning of his or her career in documentary film." From the first recipient, Alex Rivera, to the 2018 honoree, Bing Liu, this distinguished corps of artists have gone on to earn Academy Award nominations, Emmys, Peabodys and, for 2009 winner Natalia Almada, a MacArthur "Genius" Grant. This year's Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award honoree, Rachel Lears, is a director, writer, producer and cinematographer, with degrees and training in music, anthropology and
Since its founding in 2006, Cinereach has grown from a foundation formed to support independent filmmakers through grants, to an award-winning funder and producer dedicated to the support of filmmakers, films, producers and organizations. To learn more about the evolution, culture and unique qualities of Cinereach, this year’s IDA Pioneer Award honoree, Documentary spoke with six members of the Cinereach team: Phil Engelhorn, founder and executive director; Natalie Difford, head of filmmaker development; Leah Giblin, head of grants; Sara Kiener, head of distribution strategies; Caroline Kaplan
For Sama, shot, directed and produced by Waad al-Kateab, is a harrowing love letter to al-Kateab’s daughter Sama, who was born on the last day of 2015, during near-constant airstrikes and bombings on Aleppo by the Russian-backed Syrian dictatorial government. The movie—like other documentaries about the Syrian conflict—focuses on the incredible will of the people, even in the face or horrific events. But this film goes further than any of the others with its unapologetic portrayal of children dying, of parents in agony, of families split apart and of what it means to bring life into a world