Part of my moviewatching is a steady diet of documentaries. It’s a part of moviemaking that doesn’t seem to get as much love as the big movies, even though more documentaries are made than “normal” movies. A lot of people might think that they, like the title says capture reality and you can’t do much with that, but if you’ve seen your fair share of them you know they each have their distinct styles. Some directors make them as “flies on the wall”, just being there and not intervening. Others narrate and put their own opinions into it. This documentary looks at the process of making a documentary and interviews tons of directors and let’s them talk about how they think about them and what a documentary should be.
This documentary really manages to discuss the various processes/steps that are part of documentary filmmaking. The most well known directors like Werner Herzog and Errol Morris speak, but also other I had never heard of talked about what it took and meant to them. Capturing Reality shows that a documentary can be anything and that even among directors you see the different opinions different opinions about the same subject. One thing I always respect about documentary filmmakers is that they are willing to spend a lot of time on something which might not get them the thing they are looking for. Seeing that documentaries don’t make much money they do it because they have a passion about something and explore it. Whether it’s the house of an artist that has passed away, a teenager that is accused of murder, a man that was caught in Vietnam or just the lives of people working a subway station that will be closed down, there are always enough stories to tell.
If you enjoy watching documentaries then this is one to see. It will point you to some interesting ones you might not have seen and gives a voice to the makers of this genre, you get to know them a little, see what their opinions are and which thoughts they have about documentaries.
Score: 9
More information on this excellent site, where you can see tons of interviews online (I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the whole documentary):
http://films.nfb.ca/capturing-reality/
A documentary about documentaries? My mind is blown.
Yeah, it’s like the Inception of documentaries 😉
Hadn’t come across this. As I teach documentary production, this could be very useful and interesting! Thanks for pointing it out!
In that case I think it should be part of your classes. So many interesting things are discussed.
I must see this. I love a good documentary