On Twitter, I recently posed three questions about documentary viewing: What’s the first documentary you remember ever seeing? What’s the first documentary that really impacted you, affected you in some way? How so? What is your favorite scene in a documentary? The answers ran the gamut. They included a who’s who of documentary directors, some…
Category: Features
18 Places to Check Out Documentary Shorts Online
The following post contains a list of several places to check out documenary shorts online. While you can find some for monthly subscription on Netflix, Amazon, and others, this list includes more curated shorts that represent a variety of styles, subjects, and intentions. Everything listed here is presented in English, either through speaking or subtitles….
Some Observations from Recent Documentary Viewing
A few weeks back I watched about 45 documentaries in a short time. Part of that viewing was judging for a film festival, and part of that was doing some catchup on recent titles. When watching that many documentaries in such a short period, I noticed some patterns. Drones Drone footage is fun to create…
Five Starter Books about Documentary to Check Out
Studies in documentary film have boomed in the last two decades. What used to be a shelf-ful of books about the form now number in the hundreds, maybe even thousands. Both single volumes and publisher series, including Minnesota’s Visible Evidence series and Wallflower Press’s Nonfictions series, go behind the screens and investigate the subject in…
My MDFF Viewing Wishlist
Australia is amazing, and here is another reason for documentary fans to go: The Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, which runs July 6-14, 2018. In its third year, the festival program deftly balances the global and local, the political and popular, and the serious and fun. I played virtual festival-goer for this one, perusing the program…
Mi viaje a Costa Rica
Last week I had the privilege to travel to Costa Rica as part of a scouting visit for a student study abroad trip. In completing an article about Guatemala, I was surprised to learn how little English-based writing has been done about Central American media, so I was curious to learn more about Costa Rica…
Observations from a Film Festival Judge
In January 2018, I had the privilege of serving as a festival judge. Out respect for the process, I will not mention the festival or the individual films in this post. Instead, I wish to share some observations on the overall process.
Part Promotion, Part Travelogue: With the Students of the North Dakota Agricultural College
As part of learning more about With the Students of the North Dakota Agricultural College, I sought some reading about the early U.S. film era, from around 1900-1915.
Not Just a “One-Horse Institution:” Following the Students of the North Dakota Agricultural College
With the Students of the North Dakota Agricultural College is a 1913 film produced by the Selig Polyscope Company and was distributed by the General Film Company. Aside from IMDb’s basic details, not much easily accessible information exists about this film. I am curious to learn more, but where to begin? After searching some larger…
Adventures in Chasing Old Documentaries
Documentary production in the United States often appears bicoastal. On the east coast, the documentary corridor seems to run from Boston to Washington, D.C. On the west coast, it seems to run from San Francisco to San Diego. This loose classification has its problems, of course. Documentary powerhouse Kartemquin Films is firmly rooted in Chicago…