Kartemquin Films’ Trick Bag: A Black and White Film tackles a tough subject: race issues in 1970s Chicago. Their 1974 short film shows a series of interviews among people across Chicago during the early 1970s. These people, mostly youth, gather at parks, on street corners, and in people’s homes. Race issues dominate these interviews, though…
Category: Features
The Ragged Edge: An Interview with Matt Sienkiewicz
The Ragged Edge: An American Comeback Story is a documentary about Erik Buell and the struggles of his company, Erik Buell Racing, which is the only American sport bike company. The documentary is directed by Joseph Sousa and Matt Sienkiewicz. I had the privilege of seeing this film in a rough cut and later in…
Three Docs on Ice: Science, Spectacle, and Storytelling
Dena Seidel’s Antarctic Edge: 70 Degrees South recently became available on iTunes. Its topic and telling found me watching two other related documentaries: Chasing Ice and Encounters at the End of the World. All three address in part glaciers and climate change. What differs among them is their focuses on science, spectacle, and storytelling. Science…
Dressing Up the Computer’s Story for an iPad App
iPad apps make for an interesting way to explore interactive documentary, and The Computer Wore Heels offers an engaging story about women’s contributions during World War II. This story provides another take on Rosie the Riveter, the iconic image from when women worked in factories throughout the war. Written by LeAnn Erickson, The Computer Wore…
Questioning ‘Best Of’ Lists
Yet another “best of” list of documentaries made the rounds this week. This one appeared on Vulture and in New York Magazine, and it was titled, “The 20 Essential Documentaries of the Century.” Never mind that the century is less than 13 years in, but hey, why not go for the grand title, right? The…
Four More Reasons Why Critics Favor Docs
Steve Greene, an assistant editor with IndieWire’s CriticWire, posted an interesting column on July 2 that asked, Do critics favor documentaries? He posed four possible reasons why, including their connection to reality, critics championing them, and the effect of festivals. His fourth reason is my favorite: “They’re just better.” Though not grounded in data like…
Revisiting the Documentaries of Agnès Varda
I spent some time recently rewatching two Agnès Varda documentary DVDs available through Netflix — The Gleaners and I (2000) and Cinévardaphoto (2004). For Varda, art, people, and life all intersect, blur, separate, and reconnect in both mundane and very surprising ways. Art becomes a focal point, if not a starting point, for all her…
With New Documentary Requirements, Oscar Is Just Being Oscar
New rules from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences governing documentary submissions for Oscar consideration have inspired extensive commentary this week. The proposed changes affect those submitting their works for consideration and those voting on them within the Academy. For those submitting, they must have had their titles reviewed in either The New…
My Wish List for the Documentary Community
This time of year is one for lists. Critics compose their “best of the year” lists for people, politics, fashion, events, television, fiction film, and, of course, documentary. Others compose lists of wants and wishes for the holiday season — the hottest gadgets, the newest toys, and, hopefully, global peace and prosperity. Santa has his…
The Fate of Documentary
A now-deleted article in the New York Press raises some gloomy questions about “the fate of documentary” and “the precarious position of documentarians.” The article provides some interesting perspectives on documentary, but I wonder if they are too narrow in their viewpoints. In many ways it is skewed toward reinforcing the dominance of mainstream fiction-based…