Interview: Dan Setton and Elise Pearlstein on ‘State 194,’ the Legacy of Salam Fayyad and Possibility for Peace in the Middle East
State 194, the new documentary from Israeli filmmaker Dan Setton, is a welcome addition to the current influx of nonfiction features involving Israel’s occupation of Palestine (including The Gatekeepers, 5 Broken Cameras, The Law In These Parts and A World Not Ours). It’s relatively optimistic, looking forward more than chronicling the past. However, now that its main subject, Salam Fayyad, …
Read MoreInterview: Jay Bulger on the Incomparable Subject of ‘Beware of Mr. Baker’
This interview was originally published on November 28, 2012. It is being reposted now that Beware of Mr. Baker is out on DVD. Jay Bulger‘s Beware of Mr. Baker reminds me of Nanook of the North. This isn’t because the film focuses on Ginger Baker, a drummer who represents a bygone cultural era, in a way that’s akin to Robert …
Read MoreInterview: Maiken Baird and Michelle Major on ‘Venus and Serena,’ Bill Clinton and How Producing for TV Prepped Them for Directing
You know who Venus and Serena are. Now meet Maiken and Michelle, a pair of filmmakers who are somewhat new to the documentary scene. And so far the success of their joint directorial debut, Venus and Serena, indicates that they should stick around. Both women (their full names are Maiken Baird and Michelle Major) are actually longtime veterans of nonfiction …
Read MoreInterview: Producer Gary Nicholson on Kickstarter Success ‘The Typewriter (In the 21st Century)’ and Its New Distribution Deal
This interview was originally published on March 14, 2013. It is being reposted this week ahead of its theatrical release. It may not have broken any records on Kickstarter like a certain other project being talked about this week, but The Typewriter (In the 21st Century) is a notable Kickstarter success story nevertheless. Directed by Christopher Lockett and produced by …
Read MoreHot Docs 2013 Interview: Shawney Cohen on Fest Opener ‘The Manor’ and Why It’s More Than Just a Film About a Strip Club
The 2013 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival opens tonight with a fresh new voice in nonfiction filmmaking. My initial reaction to Shawney Cohen‘s feature debut, titled The Manor, is that it’s like Crazy Horse as made by Ross McElwee. But while it is a personal film about Cohen’s family and the strip club they own and work at, it’s …
Read MoreInterview: Sebastian Junger on ‘Which Way is the Front Line From Here?’ and the Work and Legacy of Tim Hetherington
This Saturday marks the second anniversary of Tim Hetherington‘s death. The Oscar-nominated co-director of Restrepo was covering the civil war in Libya when he and fellow photographer Chris Hondros were killed by a mortar shell. In his honor, friend and collaborator Sebastian Junger (the other director of Restrepo) has made an emotional and thoughtful portrait titled Which Way Is the …
Read MoreInterview: Shola Lynch on Why Ronald Reagan and the FBI Aren’t the Villains of ‘Free Angela & All Political Prisoners’
This two-part interview was originally published during the Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 2012. It is being reposted now that the film is opening in theaters. Yesterday, I posted the first part of my interview with Shola Lynch, director of Free Angela & All Political Prisoners, which premiered this week at the Toronto International Film Festival. That was …
Read MoreInterview: Shola Lynch on How Will Smith, Jay-Z and Vernon Reid Helped the Making of ‘Free Angela & All Political Prisoners’
This two-part interview was originally published during the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2012. It is being reposted now that the film is opening in theaters. One of two documentaries premiering as part of the Gala Presentation at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival is Free Angela & All Political Prisoners. The film profiles legendary activist Angela Davis …
Read MoreInterview: Rebecca Richman Cohen Talks About the New Version of Her Medical Marijuana Doc ‘Code of the West’
Following an early career start working for Michael Moore (on Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11), Rebecca Richman Cohen graduated from Harvard Law School and became a very noteworthy documentarian in her own right. Her first feature, the Emmy-nominated War Don Don, is the best I’ve ever encountered on the complicated subject of war crime trials. For her sophomore effort, …
Read MoreInterview: Alex Gibney on ‘The Last Gladiators,’ His Upcoming Lance Armstrong Film and Fair Use in Sports Documentaries
This interview was originally published on February 7, 2013. It is being reposted today timed to the film’s DVD release. Alex Gibney is probably the hardest working man in documentary. A few weeks ago, the Oscar-winning filmmaker premiered his new film on Wikileaks, titled We Steal Secrets, at the Sundance Film Festival (he also produced History of the Eagles Part …
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