In a society where the disabled are often invisible or a source of pity or condescension, Murderball, a new film about quadriplegics playing wheelchair rugby, shatters many long-held attitudes and convenient stereotypes. Transcending the sports documentary genre, the powerful and provocative film focuses mostly on the humanity of the players, rather than their disability. "The most important moment in the film is when you're watching it for the first time, and somewhere you forget the stars are in wheelchairs," says Jeffrey Mandel, a producer of the film along with Dana Adam Shapiro, who also
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I first saw Ricky Leacock and Joyce Chopra's Happy Mother's Day in 1964 as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago. It showed me the direction of--and the key ideas I would take into--my documentary career. I had seen earlier examples of direct cinema or cinéma vérité ( Primary and Eddie from Drew Associates), and in the next few years I would be excited by the Maysles brothers ( Salesman), Jean Rouch ( Chronicle of a Summer) and Barbara Kopple ( Harlan County, USA). However, Happy Mother's Day taught me the most important lessons: You can never be sure what story you are telling until
Dear Readers, In the Fall 2011 issue, we tackled the different components that comprise the craft of documentary making. Here, we provide a left-brain counterpoint, of sorts, in which we explore the business side of doc-making. Over the past decade or so, documentary makers have been savvy about taking on the marketing and distribution of their work themselves. The digital revolution, along with its attendant tools of social media and networking, has made that all possible--and has impelled filmmakers to apply their innate artistic and creative sensibilities to the managerial and
Hot Coffee" src="http://www.documentary.org/images/magazine/2012/FromTheCourtroomToTheEditRoom_Summer12.jpg" style="width: 647px; height: 411px;"> The career path to documentary filmmaking is a diffuse one. Some documentarians transition back and forth from broadcast journalism or fiction filmmaking, others shift from artistic disciplines such as still photography or theater. But given documentary's power to instigate social action and advocacy, a handful of practicing attorneys have made the transition from the court room to the editing room. Rebecca Richman Cohen ( War Don Don; Code of the
The Story of The Photo League--1936-1951
In the most powerful moment of Matthew Akers' Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present, a kid walks away from a sitting with performance artist Marina Abramovic and looks traumatized. Frightened, his mother asks, "What's wrong!?" and when she realizes he just had a transformative experience, she begins to cry. It's pride she's showing, and it scares her son out of his momentary, possibly transcendental stupor. Should he have been protected from all that? Is that a reasonable question? On the list of credible professions, "performance artist" ranks just beneath "ponzi schemer" and "tent revival
Cold winds and rainstorms dampened mind, spirit and bodies as audiences walked the red carpet at the Palais for the 65 th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Of the 22 feature films selected in the Main Competition, not one was directed by a woman. Although the committee tried to defend themselves from loud protests claiming films are chosen for their quality alone, their excuses were as fake and shallow as (many of) the films we saw, which worsened the inclement conditions even further. Having no place of their own at Cannes, documentaries appear within a specific strand such as Critic's
As documentary filmmaking has evolved, so too has POV, the influential and award-winning series on PBS that for the past 25 years has been a creative home to an eclectic group of independent filmmakers and their provocative films. As it celebrates its 25th anniversary, in addition to pure longevity, the longest running independent film series has also pioneered community engagement efforts and digital strategies that have expanded the impact and overall life of these films. "I often refer to POV's mission as developing an approach to the lifespan of the documentary," says Cynthia Lopez, co
A report on the 14th annual Docaviv, the Tel Aviv International Documentary Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival Draws 155,000.