Just a couple of days into the Toronto International Film Festival this year, a curious commonality was noticeable in a number of the documentaries that I screened - re-enactments. While I only managed to see just under half of the nearly 50 documentary features in the TIFF line-up, it was surprising to see the storytelling approach — where significant past events are recreated via actors and, sometimes, animation — relatively widely employed. While some notable non-fiction films have made effective use of the practice — such as The Imposter or The Thin Blue Line — re-enactments more often feel in line with television productions of the Unsolved Mysteries variety. They remain a controversial element of documentary making, potentially challenging a film's authenticity by introducing an outside, fictional element. more »
You don't need to be a sports fan to have been touched by the 30 For 30 documentary series produced by ESPN, one of the few thriving outlets anywhere for nonfiction filmmaking and a patron of diverse directors from Oscar winners Barry Levinson, Alex Gibney and Barbara Kopple to legends Albert Maysles and Steve James to neophytes Ice Cube and Steve Nash. As such, today's a good day for all of us, with ESPN announcing that it will continue 30 For 30 both on the network and online.
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It wasn't exactly what anyone would call a best-kept secret, but nevertheless, the rumors of Dave Grohl's directing debut are officially confirmed: The Nirvana drummer/Foo Fighters frontman has been hard at work on Sound City, a documentary chronicling the life, times and exploits of the eponymous San Fernando Valley studio where scores of classic albums by the likes of Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Guns and Roses, Metallica and Nirvana itself have been recorded over the past 40 years. Read on for Grohl's handwritten description of the project, a short video teaser and more details via Grohl's Roswell Films outlet.
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I'm thrilled and honored to welcome you to the first of several virtual roundtables featuring Oscar's nominee class of 2012 -- commencing today with those behind the five films nominated for Best Documentary Feature. They are (in alphabetical order):
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The New York Times reported Sunday that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' documentary branch is tweaking its qualification rules once again, allowing only theatrical nonfiction feature films that have been reviewed by the NY or LA Times to be considered for Oscar nominations. Furthermore, voting on nominees will be expanded to the entire 166-member Documentary Branch (as opposed to individual committees), and the Academy as a whole can vote for Best Documentary, regardless of how or where members saw the nominated films. The revisions have prompted more than a little hand-wringing around the doc community -- for no especially good reason, alas. Here's why:
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