Over the past few years, the documentary form has seen a creative sea change in depictions of history: how it's rendered, what it represents and how it changes our perceptions of time. Films like What Happened Miss Simone?, I Am Not Your Negro, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck and LA 92 are just a few examples of documentaries that have transformed how we engage the past and how we consider history, history-makers and icons. With a plethora of archival and stock footage available to license, archivists play a crucial role in the documentary production process. Like seasoned miners panning for gold
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To create a portrait of an individual—movie producer Robert Evans, say, or musician Kurt Cobain—director Brett Morgen abides by an austere tenet. "I don't start working on a film until we have collected every single piece of media in existence on a subject," Morgen reveals. "That's when I know it's time for me to go to work." The approach may sound tortuous, but it can make the difference between a good film and a definitive one, as in the case of Morgen's 2015 documentary Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck. "When we got ahold of [previously unknown] footage of Kurt and Courtney for Cobain, we knew
By Steven Beer, Jake Levy and Neil Rosini Archive agreements have much in common with every other legally-binding license. They must identify the subject matter—the clip, image or other material being licensed—and the details of the license, such as term, territory, cost and, if applicable, exclusivity. These agreements are subject to negotiation, but only to the degree allowed by the party with greater leverage (which, in the case of archive licenses, is usually the archive). They will contain a set of rights and obligations for both parties, the full meaning of which may not always be
Dear Readers, The image on the cover of this issue—from Bill Morrison's IDA Award-winning Dawson City: Frozen Time—tells a fascinating story. It's a story of archaeology and excavation, and what is revealed about a turn-of-the-century Canadian Gold Rush town through an accidentally unearthed trove of silent films and newsreels. Archival and stock footage constitute the raw material for so much great nonfiction storytelling. In the right hands, through artfully deployed recontextualization, the best documentaries have prompted us to reconsider how we think about and engage history, culture and
Since American Experience debuted in October 1988, a guiding principle of the PBS series has been a belief that history matters. History can help us understand not only where we've been as a nation, but also where we're headed. As Executive Producer Mark Samels explains, "By looking at the past through the lens of the present, we can draw lessons from it—not to justify anyone’s actions but to more fully understand the thoughts, decisions and actions of the people that came before us." In the nearly 30 years that American Experience has been gracing audiences with historical documentaries, the
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. Premiering tonight, Monday, January 8 on HBO is Francis Whately's David Bowie: The Last Five Years. In the last years of his life, David Bowie ended nearly a decade of silence to engage in an extraordinary burst of activity, producing two groundbreaking albums and a musical. This new documentary explores this unexpected end to a remarkable career. Premiering tonight, Monday, January 8, on Independent Lens (and then streaming on Netflix) is Jennifer Brea's Unrest, a powerful
I think that it's safe to say that most of us love working in documentary film because the work we produce does something to make the world a better place. Shining a light on injustice is noble work. Celebrating an artist or another culture lifts all of us up and creates joy and a connection to a better world around us. The fact of the matter is, most of us are dedicated to social justice, diversity and inclusion in our lives and in our work. Over the years, we've seen the emergence of filmmakers from underrepresented communities, which has brought nuance and authenticity to documentary films
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! At Film Comment, Eric Hynes reflects on a year of festival screenings, focusing on the material conditions of the viewing experience. Film Comment offers another poll ranking films currently lacking U.S. distribution, but neither tally takes into account what are often the year’s most truly theatrical experiences
by Meena Nanji and Victoria Chalk A-Doc, a network of Asian American documentary filmmakers, is committed to foregrounding the voices of Asian Americans, people of color and diverse communities across the US and beyond. At the IDA Documentary Awards last month, a team of A-Doc representatives raised the issue of diversity in documentary with some of the attendees. How far have we come? How far do we have to go? How do we get there? A-Doc: How important is it for filmmakers termed as "diverse" to tell stories? Violeta Ayala, Director, The Fight (Nominee, Best Short Documentary): I think it's
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. Newly streaming at Independent Lens is Jennifer M. Kroot's The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin. The film examines the life and work of one of the world's most beloved storytellers, following his evolution from a conservative son of the Old South into a gay rights pioneer whose novels have inspired millions to claim their own truth. Premiering Friday, January 5 on Netflix is the original docuseries Rotten, which travels deep into the heart of the food supply chain to reveal