Top Docs: Award-Winning Documentary Filmmakers

”Boys State” with Amanda McBaine & Jesse Moss

Tue, 24 Aug 2021 12:28:02 -0700

Mike and Ken talk to Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss about their Emmy Award-nominated Boys State. They discuss Robert, Ben, Steven, and René, the four boys at the heart of the film, as they navigate their way, at a formative stage of life, through the Texas Boys State program. It's a film that shows winning, losing, and the lessons learned during a weeklong immersion in the cutthroat world of Boys State politics.

In this intimate and illuminating conversation, Amanda and Jesse reflect on their own filmmaking journey and the unpredictability and power of documentary storytelling. Be sure to stay tuned to the end to learn which of their films made the biggest impression on 17-year-old Texas boys! You can follow us @topdocspod

Other Films by Amanda & Jesse:

Speedo: A Demolition Derby Love Story

Hidden Gems:

Also discussed:

Performative masculinity

The Maysle Brothers (here interviewed by David Letterman)

”The Social Dilemma” with Jeff Orlowski

Wed, 08 Sep 2021 21:09:48 -0700

In his chilling Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, Sundance award-winning filmmaker Jeff Orlowski (Chasing Ice and Chasing Coral) sounds the alarm about the insidious effects of social media and its potentially devastating consequences for society. Using a range of documentary and fiction techniques, Jeff argues that tech’s attention extraction model is the “Frankenstein’s Monster” of our time.

How did Jeff crack the code of telling this story in a compelling way that would make visible social media companies’ use of A.I. to prey upon all of us? And what was it like to direct actor Vincent Kartheiser (Mad Men) playing three versions of himself? Things get personal when Mike confronts his own “dilemma” as someone who has used “growth hacking” in his work, and we ask Jeff, “What apps are still on your phone?”

Jeff’s activist site supporting the move: thesocialdilemma.com

You can follow us @topdocspod

Other Films by Jeff:

Chasing Ice

Chasing Coral

Hidden Gem: Baraka

Also Mentioned in the Pod:

Center for Humane Technology

The Big Short

Vincent Kartheiser and Mad Men

Citizen Kane

Sundance Film Festival

Sophocles' Antigone

”Q: Into the Storm” with Cullen Hoback

Sun, 12 Sep 2021 20:17:44 -0700

Filmmaker Cullen Hoback (Q: Into the Storm) leads Mike and Ken on a fascinating — and frightening — trip down the QAnon rabbit hole as he attempts to unmask the identity of the conspiracy movement’s mysterious and mischievous leader, Q.

Focusing on 8chan, the internet site that Q calls home, Cullen locks in on founder Fredrick Brennan and former partners turned archrivals, Jim and Ron Watkins. Cullen’s mission goes from lark (or LARP, as the case may be) to full blown nightmare when Q’s followers descend on the Capitol and join in the Jan. 6th insurrection.

How did Cullen go from bootstrapping this series himself to pitching to Adam McKay (The Big Short) and landing the project at HBO? What’s it like to find neutral ground between your film’s main subjects who will stop at nothing to tear each other down? What do you do when one of your subjects calls in a panic from thousands of miles away and puts his life in your hands? Join us for all that and more, including an answer to the question, “What does the song White Rabbit have to do with all this, anyway?"

You can follow Cullen on twitter @cullenhoback

You can follow us @topdocspod

Other Films by Cullen:

Terms and Conditions May Apply

What Lies Upstream

Monster Camp

Hidden Gem: Strad Style

Also Mentioned:

Qanon Anonymous Podcast

Streisand effect

Dig!

Tiger King

”Tulsa Burning” with Marco Williams

Sun, 26 Sep 2021 20:47:32 -0700

Continuing their series on Emmy-nominated films, Mike and Ken delve into their first historical documentary for Top Docs in this deep dive conversation with Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Marco Williams (Banished, Two Towns of Jasper), one of the directors of the History Channel’s Emmy-nominated Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre. (Co-directed with Stanley Nelson)

Tulsa Burning traces the under told story of the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the thriving African-American community known as “Black Wall Street”, from its founding in the early 1900s through its near destruction during the tragic 1921 massacre by local whites that killed hundreds of African-Americans.

How did Marco Williams do justice to this horrific and yet all-too common story of white vengeance against Black people? How did he grapple with the crucial question of who gets to tell this story?

And, making the film during the height of George Floyd’s murder and local protests over police killings of Black Tulsans, what were the specific storytelling challenges of converging the past and the present? Join us for a candid conversation with Marco, who, after a remarkable 40-year filmmaking career, continues to approach his work with the ethos, “I’m still learning how to make films.”

You can find Marco @hiptruth

You can follow us on twitter @topdocspod

Other films by Marco Williams:

Banished

Two Towns of Jasper

Murders that Matter

Also discussed in the Pod:

Black Swan Records

Stanley Nelson’s Attica

Observational documentary as one of the 6 types of documentaries

Russell Westbrook’s Enterprises

Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws

Red Summer

The police killing of Terrence Crutcher

Greenwood Rising

Events of the Tulsa Disaster

Recommended: This New York Times 3D Model of what was lost in the 1921 massacre

”Dick Johnson is Dead” with Kirsten (KJ) Johnson

Sun, 03 Oct 2021 21:48:15 -0700

Ken and Mike welcome Kirsten (KJ) Johnson, who recently won Best Director for her groundbreaking film, "Dick Johnson is Dead." This film is like no other film you’ll find in your Netflix queue. KJ’s boundary-pushing documentary uses the art of cinema to keep the ravages of time and the onset of dementia from taking her beloved father Dick away from her. The solution? Keep killing her father over-and-over again on camera, all with Dick’s active participation and encouragement.

Once you survive the film, you’ll definitely want to join Mike and Ken for this refreshingly candid conversation with KJ who constantly questions everything (including our questions!) and proves herself to be every bit as provocative, playful and engaging as the film itself. Covering everything from Seventh-day Adventism and the best way to stage your father’s funeral while he’s still alive to Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera and, of course, chocolate cake, this week’s podcast is one you’ll be dying to listen to. And look out for that falling air conditioner!

You can follow us on twitter @topdocspod

Other films directed by Kirsten Johnson:

Cameraperson

Deadline

People who worked on the film:

Hidden Gem: Marjoe

Also mentioned in the pod:

Monty Python’s Flying Circus

Charles Addams

Lacan on social death

Derrida (the documentary)

Quantum Entanglement

The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill

”The Bee Gees” with Mark Monroe

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 11:12:32 -0700

“Disco sucks!” Be honest. Did you ever utter that phrase in a weak moment brought on by hard rock/punk music-induced peer pressure? Legendary filmmaker Frank Marshall, who has produced some of Hollywood’s biggest films, makes his documentary directing debut with “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” a thoroughly satisfying corrective that finally gives just due to one of rock music’s greatest bands. Archival gems and transcendent performance footage are seamlessly interwoven with a deeply personal interview with Barry Gibb and refreshing insights from contemporary musicians and massive Bee Gees fans including Justin Timberlake, Noel Gallagher, and Chris Martin.

“Bee Gees” writer and producer Mark Monroe joins us on Top Docs to share many insights from the making of the film and to break down how he, as the writer on the film (and on many top docs, including Oscar® winners, “The Cove” and “Icarus”), helped develop the story’s creative arc. What’s Mark’s process for applying classic three-act structure to the documentary form in order to land a film’s emotional highs and lows? What went down on the recording of the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack and what really was behind the infamous “disco sucks” movement of the late ‘70s, anyway? Mark also shares his own story about how, at one point, peer pressure turned him away from the Bee Gees. How can you mend a broken heart? Dust off your old Bee Gees LPs (or 8-track or cassette player…) and tune in to this week’s Top Docs episode to find out. And that’s no jive talkin’!

Hidden Gem: No End in Sight

”Rebel Hearts” with Pedro Kos

Thu, 21 Oct 2021 11:41:53 -0700

“The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” Yes, nuns. A lot of nuns. A lot of LA nuns to be precise. Rebellious, brilliant, creative, socially committed, take-no-cr*p-from-anybody nuns. These are the Sisters who form the heart-and-soul of Pedro Kos’ joyful new documentary “Rebel Hearts,” a portrait of a trailblazing group of nuns in Los Angeles who took up the banner of the social and political activism of the 1960s and bravely stood up to the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. (Now screening on the Discovery + platform.) It’s a story of political power, a mostly forgotten civil rights struggle and a riveting human drama all rolled up in one.

Mike, a product of Catholic schools himself, gets things rolling with a conversation with his sister Kara, who shares her experience with Catholic education and has some fascinating insights into how the nuns she knew helped shape who she is today. Mike and Ken then delve into director Pedro Kos’ background to learn how his upbringing in Brazil was influenced by the Catholic Church. From there, it’s a deep dive into the story of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and into the long, winding creative journey of the filmmakers. From animation to motion graphics to an exceptional musical score (and original songs by Sharon Van Etten and Rufus Wainwright), they used every tool in the toolkit to bring this important story to cinematic life.

If a film about a group of nuns doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, we challenge your preconceptions of what a compelling documentary subject can be. Have faith. After seeing this highly inspirational film and hearing all that Pedro has to say, you will thank us… and maybe a higher power, too… for the extraordinary gift that is “Rebel Hearts.”

Hidden Gem: Land of Gold

”Allen v. Farrow” with Amy Ziering & Kirby Dick

Tue, 26 Oct 2021 09:15:12 -0700

Continuing our Series on Emmy-nominated films. From “Derrida” to “Outrage” and culminating in the hugely impactful “The Invisible War” and “The Hunting Ground,” Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick have proven themselves to be the dynamic duo of documentary. Shining a light on sexual abuse and the subsequent conspiracy of silence and coverups inside some of America’s most powerful institutions, Kirby and Amy have left no stone unturned in their pursuit of justice and reform. In “Allen v. Farrow,” their multipart documentary for HBO Max (and their first foray into docuseries), Amy and Kirby re-examine the events and evidence surrounding Woody Allen’s alleged sexual abuse in 1992 of his adopted daughter Dylan and build a formidable case against Allen. The strength and poignancy of the series comes from the rigor of their investigation and from the film’s main storyteller, Dylan Farrow, whose voice has been silenced for far too long.

Mike and Ken, once — and now former — Woody Allen fans explore with Amy and Kirby the long journey of Allen v. Farrow, which began with interviews with survivors of incest and eventually led to the Connecticut country house of Mia Farrow and the traumatic events that took place there in August 1992. We delve into Amy and Kirby’s exhaustive research strategies and deconstruct how the pair approach the interviews that form the core of their emotional powerful filmmaking. We also learn about the surprising interviews that took place with critics following the film’s release. In addition to fascinating behind-the-scenes stories, this week’s podcast is also a window into a great creative relationship chock full of insights for anyone who has collaborated closely with a partner on a creative project. You won’t want to miss it!

Hidden Gems:

The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On

Heart of a Dog

Sans Soeil

Koyaanisqatsi

Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist

”Attica” with Stanley Nelson

Mon, 01 Nov 2021 08:46:16 -0700

With two dozen feature documentaries to his credit, filmmaker Stanley Nelson has, over the course of an astonishing four-decade career, created an unparalleled chronicle of the Black experience in America. Whether documenting the early Civil Rights Movement in “Freedom Riders” and “Freedom Summer” or the fight for self-determination in “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,” Stanley can always be counted on to provide a wide lens, a fresh perspective, and a deep understanding of the people and forces shaping some of the U.S.’ most defining moments. In his latest film, the riveting and haunting “Attica” (see it in theaters and on Showtime November 6th), Stanley and co-director Traci A. Curry, re-visit the story of the largest prison rebellion in the history of the U.S.

Join Ken in his wide ranging and deep dive conversation with Stanley. We learn how the creative team left no stone unturned to unearth every conceivable photograph, film clip and testimonial that might shed light on the unprecedented events of Attica. Ken asks Stanley about the challenges of bringing to life the culminating events of the prison rebellion’s fifth and final day. And Stanley weighs in on whether the rebellion’s tragic ending could have turned out any differently. Always thoughtful, and occasionally surprising, Stanley proves to be every bit as engaging and creatively inspired as each of those 24 films.

Follow Stanley on twitter @StanleyNelson1

Hidden Gem: Through the Night

”Storm Lake” with Beth Levison

Tue, 09 Nov 2021 08:28:15 -0800

Ask Google what Storm Lake, Iowa is famous for and you’ll learn that it’s the fourth largest glacier lake in the state and is considered the region’s best for walleye fishing. But this seemingly ordinary town of 11,000 in northwest Iowa is also the home of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biweekly The Storm Lake Times, edited by the incomparable Art Cullen. In Jerry Risius and Beth Levison’s beguiling documentary “Storm Lake,” we meet Art and the rest of the Cullen clan, who, together, are fighting the good fight for the continued survival of small, independent journalism in this country.

Beth joins Mike and Ken for a delightful conversation about her thoroughly enjoyable ride of a film. We ask about topics big and small, including the future of journalism, what it’s like when the presidential primary circus comes to town, how Andrew Bird came to lend his musical chops to the film, and even what really goes on above the Better Day Cafe (hint: son Tom Cullen lived there). The podcast is free, even if the paper costs a dollar (but well worth it). You won’t want to miss our conversation or the documentary, which premieres on PBS’ Independent Lens on November 15th.

Follow Beth on twitter @Beth_Levison

Hidden Gems:

Advocate

Lydia Lunch: The War is Never Over

Charm Circle

Also mentioned: Art Cullen’s Book, Storm Lake.

”Simple as Water” with Megan Mylan

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 03:32:00 -0800

While the international news media has mostly turned the page on the war in Syria, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Megan Mylan’s (“Smile Pinki”, “Lost Boys of Sudan”) new documentary “Simple as Water” shows how the shattering consequences of the war continue to reverberate through the lives of those who have been displaced, as well as those who have stayed behind. Presented in five unforgettable vignettes, the film spans the globe from Syria to Greece, Turkey, Germany, and the U.S.

How is it possible to capture the sprawling nature of this terrible international tragedy while keeping the focus on the mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, brothers and sisters who are struggling to grab onto a more hopeful future? In an intimate Top Docs conversation, Megan joins Mike to talk about the close ties she formed with these families and how her experience of becoming a mother changed the way she sees the world and informed her approach to the film. Mike relates how watching the film with his own children was an eye-opening experience. It’s a film that parents everywhere will want to share with their children. It’s as simple as that. The film will have a limited theatrical run and then debuts on HBO and HBO Max on November 16th.

Follow Megan on twitter @megamylan

Hidden Gem: Sing Faster

To support Syrian refugees: Karam Foundation

”Faya Dayi” with Jessica Beshir

Thu, 18 Nov 2021 04:05:00 -0800

“Faya dayi” is a hymnal chant recited by the Harari farmers of Ethiopia as they harvest khat, a native plant chewed for its stimulant properties. Roughly translated, faya dayi means “giving birth to wellness or health.” It is also the title of Ethiopian/Mexican filmmaker Jessica Beshir’s one-of-a-kind, profoundly moving new documentary set in the magical and troubled land where she grew up.

Deeply affected by the stunning beauty and originality of the film, Ken and Mike were extremely fortunate to be able to talk to Jessica at length about her tour-de-force documentary feature debut, which she shot, directed and produced over the course of a transformative ten-year personal journey. How did Jessica maintain her faith in the project for so many years and develop the sense of self-confidence that she could pull it off? What was her inspiration for embracing an aesthetic that privileges instinct and emotion over traditional narrative devices? How did she do justice to the stories of the young people who have been struggling for freedom under a series of repressive regimes? We invite you to listen in on our conversation with Jessica for her many insights into the film. We also encourage you to experience “Faya Dayi”, a Janus Films release, on the big screen. For those in NYC, catch it at the Maysles Documentary Center 11/19 – 12/3. Congratulations to Jessica on being nominated for three IDA Documentary Awards!

Follow Jessica Beshir on Twitter @jessybeshir

Follow topdocs on Twitter @topdocspod

Hidden Gem: The House is Black

”A Cop Movie” with Alonso Ruizpalacios

Mon, 22 Nov 2021 02:54:00 -0800

Immaculately produced by Daniela Alatorre and Elena Fortes and stylishly directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios (“Museo”, “Gueros”, “Narcos: Mexico”), A COP MOVIE is a dazzling hybrid documentary brain teaser and gorgeous piece of cinematic eye candy. It’s also, well, a cop movie, with a blood pumping chase scene and a pair of captivating Mexico City police officers known as “the love patrol.” At its core, the movie illuminates the systemic police corruption that plagues the Mexican police force, eroding the public’s trust and making life untenable for even the “good cops.”

Mike and Ken spent a thoroughly engaging afternoon with Alonso, who, fresh off a screening at DOC NYC, set us straight about what was “real” and what was scripted, how he imbedded his actors in a police academy training program and shared a hilarious anecdote about Alfonso Cuaron’s baby dummy from “Roma”! This is the kind of documentary that even your Thanksgiving in-laws will appreciate. So, grab another slice of pie and cozy up with “A Cop Movie”. Available now on Netflix.

Hidden Gems:

Waltz with Bashir

The Five Obstructions

The English Surgeon

F for Fake

Also mentioned:

The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film

Midnight Family

”The First Wave” with Matthew Heineman

Tue, 23 Nov 2021 02:33:00 -0800

Academy Award-nominated director Matthew Heineman’s (“Cartel Land”, “City of Ghosts”) harrowing new cinema verité documentary, THE FIRST WAVE, takes us into the eye of the storm, a New York City intensive care unit during the worst four months of the COVID-19 crisis. Trailing a relentlessly driven medical team led by the remarkable Dr. Nathalie Dougé and spending countless hours with desperately sick patients and their families, Heineman and his crew are there to document this unfathomable terror inside the hospital, but, also, stories of hope, too, and even moments of pure joy.

What was it like to film during the early days of the pandemic when “safety protocols” were being created on the fly? How did the glint in the eye of an intubated patient provide a clue that an unforgettable relationship would develop between the patient and the medical staff? And in what ways did the events following George Floyd’s murder make the connection between the worlds inside and outside the hospital? Ultimately, as Heineman says, THE FIRST WAVE is a testament to the power of the human spirit.” Prepare to cry.

Now playing in select theaters across the country and https://films.nationalgeographic.com/the-first-wave.

Follow Matthew on twitter @MattHeineman

Hidden Gems:

Sherman’s March

Murderball

”Procession” with Robert Greene

Wed, 24 Nov 2021 07:55:55 -0800

Miscarriage of justice doesn’t begin to describe the wrongs that have been done to the six men at the heart of Robert Greene’s (“Bisbee ’17”, “Kate Plays Christine”) pathbreaking, searing, and, ultimately, immensely healing, new documentary “Procession”. As boys, Joe, Mike, Ed, Dan, Michael and Tom each suffered sexual abuse, including rape, at the hands of Catholic Church clergy. As men, their cases have been dismissed or ignored. Partnering with Greene, they have now taken matters into their own hands, co-creating staged scenes in order to reclaim the spaces where the abuse took place and to confront the trauma that has plagued them into adulthood.

Speaking to Mike and Ken from his home base in Columbia, Missouri, Robert describes how the practice of drama therapy inspired him to push his filmmaking in a bold new direction. He goes deep into the unique collaborative process that forged a powerful bond between the men and the film crew. And, as one might expect with a film as powerful as this, the conversation turns personal, with Mike sharing his own experiences as an altar boy in Burlington, Vermont. No doubt, the reverberations of “Procession” will be felt far and wide, like the church bell that Ed rings midway through the film. After years of living with trauma, it’s finally his turn to be heard loud and clear. Now streaming on Netflix.

Follow Robert on twitter @prewarcinema

Hidden Gems: The films of Peter Watkins.

The War Game

Edvar Munch

”Flee” with Jonas Poher Rasmussen

Mon, 29 Nov 2021 02:38:00 -0800

Almost daily, the news media report on a new refugee crisis or a tragic border crossing attempted by those fleeing desperate circumstances in their home countries for the promise of a better life elsewhere. Danish filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen takes the measure of one such story in his remarkable new documentary “Flee”, which gives a blow-by-blow, first-hand account of a young Afghan refugee named Amin who faces a perilous journey before finally making it safely to Denmark.

Jonas and Amin became friends in high school, but it was not until years later that Jonas had even the slightest idea of all that had happened to Amin and his family. Why did Amin finally decide to tell his story? How did Jonas respect Amin’s desire to stay anonymous, while at the same time portraying his story not only accurately and completely, but also visually? How did a filmmaker who started out with an idea for a short film, eventually take on an incredibly ambitious, multi-layered animated feature? Recently, Mike and Ken had the opportunity to ask Jonas about his special relationship with Amin and delve into Jonas’ own creative odyssey. “Flee” captured the 2021 Sundance Grand Jury Prize and is now being heralded as a serious contender for this year’s Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.

NEON releases the film in theaters starting on December 3rd.

Hidden Gem: Trollkarlen

Anatomy of a Scene from ”Rebel Hearts” with Pedro Kos

Mon, 29 Nov 2021 17:52:46 -0800

Want to know more about how one of our award-winning directors crafts a complex scene? For our inaugural “Anatomy of a Scene'' special segment, we invited “Rebel Hearts” director Pedro Kos to peel back the curtain on his filmmaking process by dissecting a pivotal scene from his new movie. It’s a fascinating “deep dive” that we know you will enjoy!

The Scene: The 1967 Immaculate Heart General Assembly

The nuns of the Immaculate Heart are determined to bring a progressive vision and more flexible practices into the daily life and mission of the monastery. But, when the Archdiocese of Los Angeles views this as a direct threat to his power, the nuns are faced with a life-altering choice: back away from their ideals or continue to fight for what they believe. In this scene, Pedro draws upon all the tools in his creative toolbox to bring this critical event to life and deliver a powerful emotional punch to the audience.

Note: We recommend that, if possible, you follow along with us. The scene takes place from 57:44 – 1:01:47, timed from the beginning of the movie. Rebel Hearts is available on Discovery+ .

”Try Harder!” with Debbie Lum

Tue, 30 Nov 2021 02:36:00 -0800

For many 17- and 18-year-olds, life exists on the unsettling edge between the daily grind of high school and the promised land of freedom and opportunity: college. The brilliance of Debbie Lum’s enthralling new documentary “Try Harder!” is that it occupies the treacherous space in between these two worlds by focusing on the hyper competitive college application process. With an all-access pass to Lowell High School, San Francisco’s top-ranked public high school, “Try Harder!” profiles five endearing students (and their parents) who are struggling to make it through the process in one piece.

In this up-close-and-personal conversation, Mike and Ken discover that they went to the same college as Debbie (but during a much less competitive time). When Mike shares his recent experiences as a parent of a student who has just gone through all this, Debbie jokingly calls Mike a “wolf dad”, and the podcast is off-and-running… How did Debbie get access to Lowell and what got the students to open up to her and her crew? Why was it so important to Debbie to explore — and explode — the myth of Asian Americans as a model minority? (At Lowell, the majority of the student body is Asian American). And why did Debbie want the silly and fun side of adolescence to shine through just as much as the academics? Join us for this silly/fun/warm conversation about growing up. To be admitted, all you need to do is press “play”.

“Try Harder!” (Greenwich Entertainment) debuts in theaters December 3rd in New York, LA and the SF Bay Area and will have its broadcast premiere on PBS’ Independent Lens on May 2, 2022.

Hidden Gem: AKA Don Bonus

”My Name is Pauli Murray” with Julie Cohen & Betsy West

Wed, 08 Dec 2021 02:23:00 -0800

141 boxes. That’s a lot of stuff. But, if that “stuff” happens to be the Pauli Murray Papers at Harvard’s Schlesinger Library, then you may well have just struck documentary gold. Filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen first learned of Murray when they were in the throes of research for their Oscar-nominated documentary “RBG” about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Later, after immersing themselves in those archives (in addition to speaking to scholars and those who knew Murray), West and Cohen were amazed to learn how often this pathbreaking legal scholar and civil and women’s rights pioneer was years ahead of the times.

Recently, Ken and Mike had the opportunity to talk to Betsy and Julie about their deeply moving documentary portrait, “My Name is Pauli Murray” and the creative choices that guided them along the way. How did RBG provide the first clue that led them on this journey? How did they make the decision to consider Murray’s life as a queer, non-binary person, as well as include Murray’s key romantic partnership in the film, even though, during Murray’s own life, those subjects remained private? How was first lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s life changed by knowing Murray? And how did a cameo by Murray’s dog, Roy, in a grainy bit of black-and-white footage, practically steal the show? As Betsy says, “I’m amazed that Pauli isn’t in our history books.” Now, thanks to “My Name is Pauli Murray”, we can say that Murray has gone one step further: Pauli Murray is a star on Amazon Prime. Check out the film there and enjoy our interview.

Hidden Gems:

Theramin: An Electronic Odyssey

First Cousin Once Removed

”The Rescue” with Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin

Fri, 10 Dec 2021 10:49:15 -0800

Sometimes you think you know the full story when it turns out you really don’t know the half of it. Oscar-winning filmmakers E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s (“Free Solo”, “Meru”) riveting new documentary “The Rescue” chronicles the heroic international effort in the summer of 2018 to save twelve boys and their soccer coach trapped deep inside a flooded cave in Northern Thailand.

At the time, the Thai cave rescue story was a world-wide media sensation. But very little was known about what actually went on inside the cave, how the rescue was carried out, and the complex interpersonal dynamics between the various key players. Equal parts suspense thriller and character study, the film also manages to be a thoughtful cultural exploration. In total, “The Rescue” is a tour-de-force of non-fiction filmmaking.

After drying their eyes, Mike and Ken were eager to talk to Chai and Jimmy about the immense challenges they faced in telling this miraculous story. How did they transition from documenting the high-risk pursuits of elite mountain climbers to portraying the equally treacherous and hidden world of cave diving? What did they make of the quirky cave divers themselves? How did one last ditch effort to get their hands on some crucial footage pay off? And, finally, what does ground up broccoli have to do with any of this? You’ll have to tune in to this “Top Docs'' episode to find out. “The Rescue” is available now for streaming on Disney+

Hidden Gem: Le Joli Mai

Anatomy of a Scene: ”Try Harder!”

Thu, 16 Dec 2021 10:54:54 -0800

In our second Anatomy of a Scene featurette, we delve into two key scenes from TRY HARDER! with director Debbie Lum. In this illuminating conversation, Debbie offers some fascinating back story to deepen our understanding of the complex dynamics that play out on screen.

The Scenes:

Scene 1: Winter Holiday at Le Soleil Restaurant - 42:37 – 45:06

Scene 2: Chinese New Year at R&G Restaurant - 51:28 – 53:37

The Setup:

In these two scenes from the second half of the film, Debbie Lum and her crew tag along with Alvan, a senior at San Francisco’s Lowell High School and one of the film’s main characters, during the most intense phase of the college admission process. In the first scene, which takes place at Le Soleil restaurant, Alvan’s mom, Capri, discusses how the college admissions process in the U.S. is vastly different from Capri’s native country of Taiwan. It’s a scene rife with code-switching: between an immigrant parent and her son, as well as between filmmakers and subject.

In the second scene, which occurs the next month on Chinese New Year, the holiday plays a key role in Alvan’s potential prospects for admission to Brown University. By offering the Brown interviewer a small gift, has his mother, accustomed to traditions of gift giving on such occasions, made a serious misstep that could hurt Alvan’s chances? Once again, Alvan is the master code switcher. But this time, he is more assertive in his interactions with his headstrong mother. How this family traverses the minefield of the high-stakes college admissions process sheds light on the hurdles and discrimination that Asian Americans must overcome if they hope to gain admission to America’s most elite colleges.

Listen also to our full-length interview with Debbie about “Try Harder!”

”President” with Camilla Nielsson

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 09:20:56 -0800

A presidential election held during a period of extreme political divisiveness. A constitutional democracy under threat by the incumbent president himself. The possibility of a stolen election. These conditions might bring to mind the U.S. in 2020. But Camilla Nielsson’s masterful new observational documentary “President” focuses its unblinking eye on Zimbabwe during the country’s pivotal and turbulent 2018 presidential campaign. Picking up where her widely acclaimed film “Democrats” left off, Nielsson embeds with presidential challenger Nelson Chamisa, a young, charismatic leader dedicated to challenging the corrupt ruling order. The result is a campaign film as riveting and revealing as any you have ever seen.

Speaking to Mike and Ken from her home in Copenhagen during a gloomy fall evening, Camilla shed light on the incredible political journey of Nelson Chamisa and on her own challenging creative process. How did she gain such amazing access to Chamisa and his campaign? How did a small documentary crew manage to outshine the international news media in its coverage? When Chamisa was forced into hiding, how did Camilla pivot and keep shooting? With democracies everywhere under fire, there are no easy answers. But thanks to “President”, we can see what courageous leadership looks like. Released by Greenwich Entertainment, “President” opens in theaters on December 17th.

President is now playing in New York and Los Angeles.

Hidden Gem: The Store

”Fiddler‘s Journey to the Big Screen” with Daniel Raim

Wed, 22 Dec 2021 13:45:21 -0800

When “Fiddler on the Roof” opened on Broadway in 1964, many thought that this Yiddish-inspired portrait of Jewish shtetl life in Tsarist Russia would be a huge flop. But audiences flocked to the musical, and its songbook soon entered the popular lexicon. Hollywood set its sights on a film version and United Artists signed the well-respected, but hardly household name, Norman Jewison to direct. The fascinating behind-the-scenes story of what happened next is the subject of Oscar-nominated director Daniel Raim’s (“The Man on Lincoln’s Nose”) delightful new documentary “Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen”, which has its world premiere at the upcoming Palm Springs International Film Festival (Jan 6 – 17, 2022).

Mike and Ken’s conversation with Daniel Raim marks the first in a series of interviews they will be having with documentary directors as part of a special Top Docs partnership with the 33rd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival. A formative musical and movie-going experience for both of them, Mike and Ken were very excited to chat with Daniel about Fiddler. What was the shocker that Jewison told the studio head that might have cost him this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? How did the filmmakers try to be authentic to the Jewish lived experience and also appeal to a general audience? And casting Topol or Zero Mostel as Tevye? How did Jewison make the call? Find out the answers to these questions and more, plus discover what three albums Mike’s parents had in the house when he was growing up. Please join us for this lively conversation. What better way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this much beloved classic?

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Daniel @DanielRaim

The Palm Springs International Film Festival @PSfilmfest

Top Docs @topdocspod

“Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen” – Palm Springs International Film Festival Screenings Information:

Sat. Jan. 8, 7:00 PM, Annenberg Theater

Sun. Jan. 9, 9:45 AM, Regal Cinemas

Sun. Jan 16, 9:00 AM, Mary Pickford is D’Place

Top Docs and the Palm Springs International Film Festival

Top Docs is thrilled to announce that we are partnering with the 33rd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (January 6 – 17, 2022) as a media sponsor, with the goal of spotlighting documentary filmmakers whose work is screening at the upcoming Festival. In the coming weeks, please look out for our interviews with filmmakers featured in this year’s lineup, including Vivian Kleiman (“No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics”), Daniel Raim (“Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen”), Lisa Hurwitz (“The Automat”) … and more!

Check out the complete Festival lineup and information about pass and ticket sales at: https://www.psfilmfest.org/film-festival-2022

Hidden Gem: ABC Africa

Influences mentioned in the pod:

Sholom Aleichem

Marc Chagall

Roman Vishniac

Oscar Shortlist Breakdown with Anne Thompson

Fri, 24 Dec 2021 17:02:19 -0800

Welcome to the Top Docs Holiday Special! IndieWire Editor-at-Large Anne Thompson joins Mike and Ken to break down the Best Feature Documentary Oscar shortlist released this week. Anne shares her insights about the 15 documentaries that made the cut and the ones that didn’t. What are the biggest surprises? Which films have the best chance to make it to the list of the five final nominees? And, drumroll, please… who does Anne predict to win it all? You’ll have to tune in to find out!

IndieWire Editor-at-Large Anne Thompson has been a contributor to the New York Times, Washington Post, The Observer, and Wired. She has served as film columnist at Variety, and deputy editor of Variety.com, where her daily blog, Thompson on Hollywood, launched in March 2007.

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Anne @akstanwyck

Us @topdocspod

”No Straight Lines” with Vivian Kleiman

Tue, 28 Dec 2021 09:32:26 -0800

Alison Bechdel. Jennifer Camper. Howard Cruse. Rupert Kinnard. Mary Wings. From the 1970s to the 2000s and beyond, these five brilliant queer cartoonists broke the mold, paved the way, and told the truth one panel at a time. Each contributed to creating the world of queer comics and helped forge a vital community of LGBTQ artists that continues to thrive today. Effortlessly weaving together portraits of these five seminal cartoonists and filling in the essential historical backstory, documentary filmmaker Vivian Kleiman (“Color Adjustment”) uses a camera instead of a rapidograph pen, but the result is just as delightful and visually delicious as the work of the artists she profiles.

Mike and Ken had a blast talking to Vivian and discovering how her iterative creative process took the “no straight lines” ethos to heart. Why did Vivian insist that the film not be solely focused on Alison Bechdel even though this could have greased the funding wheels? Why was it so important to Vivian to reach an intergenerational audience, and how did this lead to a mid-course adjustment and a daring experiment? How did the filmmakers manage to capture the essence of these great artists at work? And what is it about spreadsheets that gets Vivian and Mike so excited? No need to fire up Excel, just download our latest Top Docs episode and discover the dazzling world of “No Straight Lines”.

“No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics” – Palm Springs International Film Festival Screenings:

Sun. Jan. 9, 8:30 PM, Regal Cinemas

Mon. Jan. 10, 9:00 AM, Mary Pickford is D’Place

Sun. Jan 16, 2:00 PM, Palm Canyon Theatre

Top Docs and the Palm Springs International Film Festival

Check out the complete Festival lineup and information about pass and ticket sales at: https://www.psfilmfest.org/film-festival-2022

Hidden Gem: No Crying at My Table

Also Discussed in the Pod:

Tongues Untied

Fun Home

Stuck Rubber Baby

”The Caviar Connection” with Benoît Bringer

Wed, 29 Dec 2021 04:05:00 -0800

Famous for its Beluga caviar and rich oil deposits, the Caspian Sea region is less well-known for the corruption that goes hand-in-hand with both of these highly desired commodities. Taking as his primary subject the post-Soviet regime of Azerbaijan and its strongman leader, Ilham Aliyev, journalist and filmmaker Benoît Bringer pulls back the curtain on the creative ways Aliyev uses to buy his country’s way into Europe’s club of democratic nations. Framed as a political thriller, “The Caviar Connection” makes the direct link between the Aliyev regime and officials in the stately Council of Europe, whose appetites for caviar — and good old-fashioned cash — make them prime targets for bribery.

Speaking to Ken from his Paris home, Benoît filled in the picture of this fascinating and under-the-radar story and explained how he was able to put all the complex puzzle pieces together in such a gripping, cinematic way. How do celebrities like Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Kanye West, Jennifer Lopez and Gérard Depardieu play a key role in legitimizing these regimes? (Hint: follow the money.) Why is it that the Council of Europe turned a blind eye to its own report on human rights violations in Azerbaijan? (Hint: follow the money.) Who is Khadija Ismayilova, and how did her reporting help expose the regime’s corruption and land her in jail? (Hint: she followed the money.) Listening to Benoît, you might be surprised to learn that the issues at stake extend far beyond the shores of the Caspian Sea, all the way to the heart of our very own democratic institutions. (Hint: follow the podcast!)

“The Caviar Connection” – Palm Springs International Film Festival Screenings:

Sat. Jan. 8, 11:15 AM, Regal Cinemas

Weds. Jan. 12, 8:00 PM, Camelot Theatres

Sun. Jan. 16, 3:30 PM, Regal Cinemas

Top Docs and the Palm Springs International Film Festival

Top Docs is thrilled to announce that we are partnering with the 33rd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (January 6 – 17, 2022) as a media sponsor, with the goal of spotlighting documentary filmmakers whose work is screening at the upcoming Festival. In the coming weeks, please look out for our interviews with filmmakers featured in this year’s lineup, including Daniel Raim (“Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen”), Vivian Kleiman (“No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics”), Benoît Bringer (“The Caviar Connection”), Lisa Hurwitz (“The Automat”) … and more!

Check out the complete Festival lineup and information about pass and ticket sales at: https://www.psfilmfest.org/film-festival-2022

Hidden Gem: The First Wave

”Boulevard” with Jeffrey Schwarz

Mon, 03 Jan 2022 09:28:49 -0800

Imagine being one of the two young songwriter/lyricists who are invited to an imposing Hollywood mansion to meet with movie legend Gloria Swanson. Greeting you in all her movie star glamour, Gloria pitches her idea for a Broadway musical based on her starring role in the brilliant movie “Sunset Boulevard”. Three months later, your musical BOULEVARD is ready for the big time. Unfortunately, that version of the musical never gets produced. But, in a delicious twist, the real-life story of the love triangle between Gloria and the two young songwriters (Dickson Hughes and Richard Stapley) ends up being a mirror image of the plot of “Sunset Boulevard”.

In Ken’s thoroughly entertaining Top Docs conversation with filmmaker Jeffrey Schwarz (“BOULEVARD! A Hollywood Story”), Jeffrey shares all the juicy details of unearthing the amazing story of these three unlikely collaborators. How much fun was it for Jeffrey to go on this creative journey about a movie classic he has seen “7,000 times”? Who were Dickson Hughes and Richard Shapley? How did their passionate but closeted relationship blossom into a professional partnership that led to Gloria’s door? In what ways was Richard’s acting career — and life — diminished by having to maintain a macho image that couldn’t account for who he really was? And will the “real” Gloria Swanson finally step forward out of the shadow of Norma Desmond? For all you “wonderful people out there in the dark,” we give you the Top Docs interview with Jeffrey Schwarz!

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Jeffrey @SchwarzJeffrey

Top Docs @topdocspod

Hidden Gem: Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey

”Radiograph of a Family” with Firouzeh Khosrovani

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 03:54:00 -0800

Firouzeh Khosrovani’s “Radiograph of a Family” is among the rarest of documentaries. Like a perfectly composed classical symphony, the film’s form and content effortlessly complement each other. The result is a film that is both beautifully symmetrical and dynamically creative. Seamlessly moving between the personal and the political, Firouzeh employs the full range of storytelling tools--from re-enactments and staged dialogue, to family photographs and archival footage--to portray how the 1979 Iranian Revolution upended her parents’ marriage and caused a surprising role reversal in the fortunes of her mother and father.

Mike had the opportunity to talk in-depth with Firouzeh about her stunning film, winner of the top prize at the 2020 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). How did the Iranian Revolution disrupt the family dynamic and almost literally cut the family’s Tehran home in half? What was it like for Firouzeh to be caught between “two lifestyles, two ideologies and two realities”? Did her mother really marry a photograph? And, Firouzeh answers the biggest question of all: how can love endure when everything else seems to be coming apart?

”Messwood” with Brad Lichtenstein & Emily Kuester

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 03:03:00 -0800

Two schools, two neighborhoods, two vastly different worlds… one football program. When it became clear that Messmer High School and Shorewood High in Milwaukee would not have enough players to field their own teams, the two schools came together to form the Messwood football team. But playing together does not mean that the team’s young athletes aren’t immune from the systemic problems plaguing one of America’s most racially divided cities. Filmmakers Brad Lichtenstein (“When Claude Got Shot”, “As Goes Janesville”) and Emily Kuester (making her feature documentary debut) go deep inside the Messwood football program to craft an intimate portrait of the team’s players, parents, and coaches and explore broader themes of racial inequity, trauma, friendship, and love.

Ken sat down with Emily and Brad to discuss how the two Milwaukee-based filmmakers won the trust of Messwood’s dynamic Coach Davis and developed close ties to the players and their families. What was their response to Coach Davis’ position that race is a non-issue when it comes to his football team? How did Emily’s bond with one of the film’s main characters help this young man push through a difficult moment and yield one of the film’s most powerful moments? What was it like for Brad, a parent himself of Shorewood High students, to see things from a different perspective? In the fine tradition of “Hoop Dreams” and other classic sports films, “Messwood” opens a window into a wider world, one that extends well beyond the “Friday Night Lights”.

Hidden Gem: Gimme Shelter

Sundance Lineup Preview with Basil Tsiokos

Tue, 18 Jan 2022 03:20:00 -0800

The 2022 Sundance Film Festival is almost here! From Jan. 20– 30, all eyes will be on the Sundance lineup and on what are sure to be some of the year’s most heralded documentaries. Top Docs caught up with Basil Tsiokos, Sundance Senior Programmer, Nonfiction, to preview this year’s doc features and to give us an inside look into how the programming process works.

Basil Tsiokos is Senior Programmer, Nonfiction, Sundance Film Festival. He was most recently with DOC NYC for nearly a decade, as well as with the Nantucket Film Festival as its Film Program Director. Basil was the longtime Artistic and Executive Director of NewFest: The NY LGBT Film Festival and serves on the feature nominating committees for the International Documentary Association Awards and Cinema Eye Honors. Since 2010, he has written daily about documentaries on what (not) to doc.

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Basil @1basil1

Sundance Film Festival @sundancefest

Top Docs @topdocspod

”Writing with Fire” with Rintu Thomas & Sushmit Ghosh

Wed, 19 Jan 2022 03:37:00 -0800

Right now, “Khabar Lahariya” might not be as well-known as “The New York Times”, but, with 150 million YouTube views and growing, India’s only women-led news outlet has already established itself as an indispensable local watchdog and source of reporting in the country’s most populated state. Winner of the Audience Award at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, “Writing With Fire”, directed by first-time feature filmmakers Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, is a fascinating and inspiring profile of Khabar Lahariya’s fearless women journalists as the media outlet makes the crucial transition from print to digital.

Talking to Mike and Ken from their home in Delhi, Rintu and Sushmit delved into the making of their film and offered a fascinating, big picture look at the political forces and changing media landscape that are rapidly transforming Indian society. As members of India’s Dalit (“untouchables”) caste, how have the women journalists of Khabar Lahariya overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to do their work under the most difficult, and often threatening, circumstances? What objections do they hear, even in their own homes, from husbands and parents who wish they would give up their work and restrict themselves to their traditional domestic roles? How has the rise of Prime Minister Modi tested the very fabric of India’s democracy? And how is this film the filmmakers’ own personal response to the changing times in their country? Recently named to the Oscar shortlist for Best Documentary Feature, “Writing With Fire” premieres on PBS’ Independent Lens on March 28th.

Follow “Writing with Fire” on instagram and FaceBook writingwithfire.film. Also music box films.

Follow on twitter @topdocspod

Hidden Gems:

Supermen of Malegoan

A Woman Captured

”Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry” with R.J. Cutler

Thu, 20 Jan 2022 03:24:00 -0800

With 99.4 million Instagram followers and counting, Billie Eilish, who just turned 20 years old, is already one of the most popular and critically acclaimed artists of our time. Throughout the world, her music inspires young people who flock to her concerts and know all the lyrics by heart. Renowned filmmaker R.J. Cutler’s definitive new Apple TV+ documentary “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry” is an instant classic, earning its place on this year’s Oscar Shortlist.

Joining Mike and Ken from his L.A. home base, R.J. talked about the challenges and joys of creating an intimate documentary portrait of one of pop music’s hottest stars and her family. Why is it so important for R.J. to have final cut on his films, not just for his own sake, but for the benefit of his subjects as well? What was the powerful moment during Billie’s breakthrough Coachella performance that still gets to RJ? By focusing not just on Billie, but also on brother/songwriting partner Finneas and parents, Maggie and Patrick, how did this film end up being, as much as anything, about parenting? And for you fans of “The Office”, how did John Krasinksi indirectly inspire one of the film’s most beautiful moments? (And, yes, Justin Bieber fans, we’ve got you covered, too!) Our Top Docs guarantee: the world may be a little blurry, but this podcast episode is crystal clear.

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@rjcutler

@topdocspod

Hidden Gem: Dream Deceivers

”Three Songs for Benazir” with Gulistan and Elizabeth Mirzaei & Omar Mullick

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 03:32:00 -0800

In this poetical portrait that transcends the standard documentary treatment of war and refugees, filmmakers Gulistan and Elizabeth Mirzaei explore the dreams, frustrations and love experienced by Shaista and Benazir, a young Afghan couple living in a Kabul displacement camp. Ken sat down with Gulistan, Elizabeth, and producer Omar Mullick (“These Birds Walk”) to discuss their creative approach and learn more about the interior and exterior lives of these two remarkable people. Premiering on Netflix on January 24th, “Three Songs for Benazir” is one of 15 shorts named to the Oscar Shortlist.

”Sophie & the Baron” with Alexandria Jackson

Sun, 23 Jan 2022 03:38:00 -0800

A legendary rock ‘n’ roll photographer. An amazing abstract artist. Can they team up to create something completely new and original? In this touching and inspiring dual portrait, filmmaker Alexandria Jackson focuses her lens on the unlikely friendship and collaboration between photographer Baron Wolman and artist Sophie Kipner. In their Top Docs conversation, Alexandria shared with Ken the story behind this serendipitous partnership and how she managed to capture the magic of two artists just saying, “yes”. Produced by Courteney Cox and Academy Award-winner Joanna Natasegara (“The White Helmets”), “Sophie & the Baron” is one of 15 shorts named to the Oscar Shortlist. A Disney+ Original Documentary, the film can be streamed on Disney+.

”Julia” with Betsy West and Julie Cohen

Mon, 24 Jan 2022 04:54:00 -0800

Betsy West and Julie Cohen (“RBG”, “My Name is Pauli Murray”) return to “Top Docs” to discuss their Oscar shortlisted “Julia”, about the legendary culinary educator, Julia Child. After sharing their favorite Julia Child recipes, Betsy and Julie dive into how they used new visual tools to recreate Julia’s cooking techniques–ones that weren’t available when Julia was at her peak. They discuss her romance with her supportive husband Paul, and how Julia changed not only Public Television, but presented a new model for women in the media. They explain how she inspired superstar chefs like José Andrés and Marcus Samuelsson, and how she could turn a mistake into a success. We explore Julia’s complicated relationship to Women’s and LGBTQ Rights. Finally, they tell us why they used Julia’s Beef Bourguignon to provide structure to their documentary. Join us to learn more about this impressive woman who shaped what we watch and how we eat.

”Summer of Soul” with Ahmir Questlove Thompson

Tue, 25 Jan 2022 03:15:00 -0800

Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson joins us to talk about his Oscar-shortlisted “Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not be Televised)”. In the summer of 1969, a music festival took place in New York that attracted over 300,000 people. Featuring some of the most incredible artists of that — or any — era, it caught the cultural wave of the moment. No, it wasn’t Woodstock. And, until very recently, practically nobody knew it ever took place. Featuring stunning, previously unseen archival performance footage and incorporating an array of enthralling interviews, game-changing debut documentary “Summer of Soul” is a joyful celebration of the Harlem Cultural Festival and a long-delayed corrective to an egregious example of Black erasure. Winner of both the 2021 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for Best U.S. Documentary. “Summer of Love” is Oscar shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature. Currently available for streaming on Hulu.

Fresh off the set of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon where he serves as Musical Director, Questlove joined Mike and Ken for a spellbinding conversation, showcasing his unique skills as a storyteller. How is it that even a musical aficionado of Questlove’s renown was skeptical that such a concert ever happened? What was his initial reaction to seeing this long-forgotten footage? How did he crack the code of doing justice to the towering musical performances happening on stage and conveying the broader social and political movements happening off it? What inspired him to start the film with Stevie Wonder on drums? And, what about David Ruffin’s sartorial choices? Tune in to this episode of Top Docs for answers to these questions and a whole lot more. Questlove in conversation is its own sublime music set. Headphones not included.

”Camp Confidential” with Mor Loushy

Wed, 26 Jan 2022 03:04:00 -0800

At the height of WWII, a group of young Jewish refugees is sent to a secret POW camp near Washington D.C. The refugees soon discover that the prisoners are none other than Hitler’s top scientists. In a bitter twist of fate, it is the refugees’ job to ensure that the German prisoners will aid their new country in the coming Cold War. Finally, after decades of being classified, this stranger-than-fiction story has now come to light in “Camp Confidential: America’s Secret Nazi’s”, a chilling new Netflix documentary by filmmakers Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan (“The Devil Next Door”, “The Oslo Diaries”). Joining Ken from her home in Tel Aviv, Mor describes how she and Daniel learned about this fascinating and deeply troubling story, illuminates their creative process, and contemplates the myriad moral dilemmas raised by the film. “Camp Confidential: America’s Secret Nazis” is one of 15 shorts named to the Oscar Shortlist and can be streamed on Netflix.

”Audible” with Matt Ogens

Wed, 26 Jan 2022 04:12:00 -0800

Shortlisted for the Oscars, "Audible"–a short by Matt Ogens–explores the life of graduating high school football star Amaree McKenstry, a life not unlike that of any other teenager with teammates, family, friends, an on-and-off girlfriend, and the rigors of the gridiron. But a life also marked by the unique culture that defines Maryland School for the Deaf. Having–after years of winning–suffered a rare defeat, Amaree and his teammates must prepare for the big homecoming game while they face the challenges that will greet them when they leave what their coach calls “the bubble” of the school and face the hearing world. “Audible” is now streaming on Netflix.

”Lead Me Home” with Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk

Wed, 26 Jan 2022 04:52:00 -0800

Focussing on the issue in San Francisco, LA, and Seattle, “Lead Me Home” manages to give a sense of the tremendous scope of homelessness on the West Coast of America, while still exploring the individual complexities of the lives of those who find themselves–often “step by step”--in this situation. Directors Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk take an unflinching look at the challenges the unsheltered face, while allowing for the community, joy, and even love they discover as well. When Coldplay’s “Midnight” kicks in half way through, you may be surprised, but you’ll soon see how Kos and Shenk demonstrate what connects all of us who inhabit America’s great, yet troubled, cities. Now streaming on Netflix.

Our previous shows with Pedro:

Rebel Hearts

Anatomy of a Scene from “Rebel Hearts”

”In the Same Breath” with Nanfu Wang

Thu, 27 Jan 2022 03:06:00 -0800

In her searing Oscar-shortlisted HBO Documentary “In the Same Breath”, award-winning filmmaker Nanfu Wang challenges both the Chinese and U.S. governments’ initial responses to the pandemic. As she did in her previous film, the devastating “One Child Nation”, Nanfu relentlessly questions government authority and gives voice to those who insist on telling the truth, even at the risk of heavy personal cost.

Ken sat down with Nanfu to talk about this incredibly powerful film, which combines reporting, internet sleuthing and compelling personal narratives to re-examine the critical early period of the pandemic. What if we could roll back the clock and have a “re-do” on the first days and weeks of the pandemic? What if the Chinese government hadn’t silenced those who called attention to the first Covid cases? How did incorrect information from some in the U.S. government do us harm? As someone who grew up in China and now calls the U.S. home, Nanfu has an insightful perspective on both countries. Not only does she insist on asking the hard questions, but manages to show us the possibilities for a better world. “In the Same Breath” is now streaming on HBO Max.

Hidden Gem: Black Sun

”Ascension” with Jessica Kingdon

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 03:09:00 -0800

Jessica Kingdon’s stunning feature documentary debut, the Oscar-shortlisted “Ascension”, is an enthralling, immersive journey into the heart and soul of today’s People’s Republic of China. With her unerring ability to capture small details and depict epic scale, Jessica gives us a privileged tour of the so-called “Chinese dream” at the center of China’s propulsive economy. Illuminating, awe-inspiring — and, at times, quite funny — “Ascension identifies singular moments of poetry in everyday life and elevates them to high art.

Joining Ken to talk about the film, Jessica describes how she gained inspiration from her great-grandfather’s poem that begins and ends the film. With seemingly endless possibilities to choose from, how did she identify and gain access to the wide range of locations that enliven the film? What was it like shooting at the sex doll factory depicted in the film (spoiler: it was even crazier in person)? And what were some of the scenes that didn’t make it into the film, such as the emotional graduation ceremony for the international butler academy? “Ascension” is not only a remarkable film but an apt description of Jessica’s fast rise to join the top tier of documentary filmmakers. Watch the film on Paramount+ and listen to the podcast to find out for yourself.

Hidden Gems:

Acasa, My Home

China’s Van Goghs

”Ailey” with Jamila Wignot

Mon, 31 Jan 2022 09:03:21 -0800

Alvin Ailey is alive and well. That is the lasting impression one gets from “Ailey”, filmmaker Jamila Wignot’s vibrant and probing documentary portrait of one of the 20th Century’s greatest artists, the late dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey. Ailey’s masterworks are still performed throughout the world. The dance company he founded more that 60 years ago, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, continues to thrive. But who was Alvin Ailey? What drove him? What tormented him? How did he loom so large for countless dancers but remain largely an enigma as a man?

In Ken’s deep dive “Top Docs” conversation with Jamila, she discusses the many challenges involved in understanding and visually representing Ailey’s life and legacy. How did she avoid the tropes and traps of the standard documentary portrait? How did she use archival footage in such a way to create a constant sense of movement? What did Bill T. Jones, a dance legend in his own right, say once the camera was turned off? And what were the keys to creating a film that would put the audience in “(Ailey’s) body so that you would be experiencing his life as he experienced it”? Experience our conversation with Jamila on Top Docs now and stream “Ailey”, which is part of PBS’ American Masters series, for free until February 8th at PBS.org.

Follow on twitter:

Jamila @jamilawignot

Top Docs @topdocspod

Hidden Gem: Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction

”Bring Your Own Brigade” with Lucy Walker

Mon, 07 Feb 2022 03:26:00 -0800

Australia is burning. And so is Greece, China, South Africa, Brazil, Congo, and even Siberia. And, of course, California is burning, more so than ever. In her eye-opening documentary “Bring Your Own Brigade”, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Lucy Walker (“The Crash Reel”, “Waste Land”) skillfully lays out the causes and consequences of the terrifying, apocalyptic fires that represent a global crisis burning out of control. Focusing on the twin monster fires that engulfed Northern and Southern California on November 8th, 2018, Lucy hits the road to interview a wide range of experts, first responders, fire victims and Native American tribal practitioners to learn about the history behind California’s ongoing and fraught relationship to fire.

On a recent, calm California night, Ken spoke with Lucy about her vow to “get to the bottom” of why these horrific fires keep happening. Why did she decide, for the first time, to put herself in her own movie? As her thorough inquiry unfolded, in what ways were Lucy’s assumptions about the relationship between climate change and fire challenged? And, as desperate as this situation is, why does she believe that something can be done to help prevent these catastrophes in the future? You’ll learn a lot from this episode of Top Docs and maybe even experience a spark of something called “hope”.

“Bring Your Own Brigade” can be streamed for free at CBSNews.com.

Hidden Gems:

Streetwise

The Farm

”We Need to Talk About Cosby” with W. Kamau Bell

Tue, 15 Feb 2022 03:22:00 -0800

We need to talk about W. Kamau Bell. The talented stand-up comic and popular CNN series host/Executive Producer (“United Shades of America”) has just made his initial foray into directing with the provocative and definitive 4-part Showtime docuseries, “We Need to Talk About Cosby”. When a cultural icon like Bill Cosby, who was once so beloved as to be referred to as “America’s Dad”, is later convicted of using his power and prestige to rape women, the need to reassess his role in society, and the space he occupies in our collective psyche, becomes imperative. But it isn’t until now, thanks to Kamau’s skillfully crafted, sensitive and brutally honest series, that this important conversation is finally beginning to take place.

In our own frank and personal Top Docs conversation with Kamau, he discusses what it meant for him to come to grips with the dark truths that have been a part of Cosby’s life for decades, but, which, until recently, were kept mostly hidden. What was it like for Kamau to approach dozens of people to participate in the documentary only to be met, time-and-again, with silence or rejection? Why was “The Cosby Show” such a powerful moment of identification for Black people in America and how did Kamau depict this in the documentary? How did Kamau and his creative team decide on a narrative approach to including the stories of the many survivors of Cosby’s abuse in such a way that portrays them as more than just victims? And, when making the film began to take a personal toll, who did Kamau turn to for support and encouragement? Join us for this vital conversation about Bill Cosby… and about us. Rest assured, there is plenty to talk about. “We Need to Talk About Cosby” can be seen now on the Showtime Network and Showtime Streaming.

Follow on twitter

@wkamaubell

@topdocspod

Some Documentaries that Inspired Kamau:

Surviving R. Kelly

O.J.: Made in America

”The Automat” with Lisa Hurwitz

Fri, 18 Feb 2022 03:03:00 -0800

Nostalgia isn't all bad. That’s one of the themes of our conversation with Lisa Hurwitz, director of “The Automat”, which charts the rise and fall of a uniquely American institution–though one with surprising roots in Northern Europe. Despite what you might have seen in the pictures, The Automat was more than brass, nickels, and glass windows. It was an inclusive, and for many, magical place, one from which luminaries such as Colin Powell, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Howard Schultz drew important personal and professional lessons. Find out what advice Mel Brooks gave Lisa–and check out the film to hear him sing a song he composed about the Automat with a full orchestra!

"The Automat" will be shown at the Film Forum in NYC starting February 18th, as well as the Laemmle Royal, Laemmle Town Center, and Laemmle Playhouse in the LA area starting February 25th.

Screenings: automatmovie.com

Follow on twitter

@topdocspod

@AUTOMATmovie

Hidden Gem: AKA Doc Pomus

Books Mentioned:

Trapped behind the Automat

The Automat

”Best Documentary Oscar Nominees” with Clayton Davis

Tue, 22 Feb 2022 03:30:00 -0800

Now that the five Oscar nominees for Best Documentary Feature have been chosen, the final countdown to see who will win the coveted statuette is underway! Variety’s Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis, who’s been following the race closely for months, joins Top Docs to discuss each of the nominee’s’ chances, handicaps the race (as of the taping date!), and offers his own early prediction for a winner. He also addresses how the Academy’s Documentary Branch, which chooses the five nominees, differs from the general Academy voters, who control the fate of the nominees. And don’t forget the shorts! Clayton sounds off about how he'd like the Academy to step up when it comes to promoting the Oscar-nominated shorts.

Clayton Davis is Variety’s Film Awards Editor. He is also one of the hosts of the "Variety Awards Circuit Podcast" and the video web series, "The Take." He's been an awards, film and television analyst and critic for more than 15 years and has co-hosted the Oscars Pre-Show on ABC. Clayton is also co-founder and president of the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association and is a board and active member of the Critics Choice Association.

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Hidden Gem: Who We Are

”When We Were Bullies” with Jay Rosenblatt

Wed, 02 Mar 2022 03:29:00 -0800

After a series of highly improbable coincidences, filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt (“The Smell of Burning Ants”) finds himself back in his old elementary schoolyard making a film about a bullying incident from 50 years ago. Building on Jay’s own hazy recollections and those of his former 5th grade classmates, “When We Were Bullies” brilliantly pieces together a highly personal story that masterfully evokes universal themes and excavates a shared emotional terrain.

Ken recently spoke with Jay on “Top Docs” to discuss how he landed upon just the right animation technique to tell the story, what it was like for him to meet up decades later with his former 5th grade teacher, and how Jay, unexpectedly, came to connect the bullying incident with a separate personal trauma that he had tried to keep hidden from his classmates. A thoroughly original and deeply touching film, “When We Were Bullies” is one of five documentary shorts nominated for this year’s Oscar for Best Documentary Short.

”The Queen of Basketball” with Ben Proudfoot

Thu, 10 Mar 2022 03:05:00 -0800

It starts like a modern day fairy tale: from the cotton fields of Mississippi, to three national collegiate championships, to scoring the first basket in Olympic history. But despite all her plaudits, when all that had passed, Lusia Mae (Lucy) Harrison felt she could pursue the game no further. In his Oscar-nominated short, “The Queen of Basketball,” director Ben Proudfoot (nominated just last year for “A Concerto is a Conversation”) puts Lucy front and center to tell her own story, while he skillfully illustrates it with both a compelling contemporary portrait as well as well-chosen archival footage. It’s a story of pride–both for her career and her for her family of 4 outstanding children–but also one of athletic potential halted in its path.

Join Mike as he and Ben explore the history behind both Lucy’s life and women’s basketball, as well as the choices Ben made in creating this engaging film. And then watch “The Queen of Basketball” on the New York Times site or on YouTube!

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Anatomy of a Scene from ”Attica”

Wed, 16 Mar 2022 02:05:00 -0700

In this powerful Anatomy of a Scene featurette, “Attica” director Stanley Nelson, recently awarded the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary, focuses on a climactic sequence near the end of the Oscar-nominated film. Stanley takes us inside the prison yard at Attica after authorities have re-taken control of the yard and proceed to systematically humiliate, torture, and exact revenge against the prisoners and their leaders. He discusses the thinking behind individual shot selection, the impact of having the composer write one continuous piece of music in different movements, when to use talking heads vs. voice over and the potentially controversial decision not to blur photos or only show prisoners from the waist up when they are paraded completely nude through the prison grounds.

Note: We recommend that, if possible, you follow along with us. The scene takes place from 1:41:13 – 1:46:47, timed from the beginning of the movie. “Attica” is available for streaming on Showtime and on Amazon Prime.

To listen to our previous discussion with Stanley about Attica.

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Anatomy of a Scene from ”Ailey”

Wed, 23 Mar 2022 03:28:00 -0700

In this installment of Anatomy of a Scene, “Ailey” director Jamila Wignot describes the creative process behind a key sequence in her remarkable portrait of American dance legend Alvin Ailey. After building his hugely successful dance company from scratch, Ailey felt an ever-increasing amount of pressure and eventually broke down. Jamila and her team, guided by Ailey’s point of view, figured out how to “mirror and imagine” Ailey’s overwhelming sense of disorientation during this crisis. Creating a montage of clips of New York City culled from the avant-garde films of Jonas Mekas, Jamila and her editors play with time – speeding things up, slowing them down, running shots in reverse. Added to that are layers of sound and music in rhythm with Ailey’s own recorded words. Cut together very early on, the sequence helped the filmmakers to “arrive at the language of the film,” which they would then “carry through, in all parts of the film.”

Note: We recommend that, if possible, you follow along with us. The scene takes place from 1:12:07 – 1:14:47, timed from the beginning of the movie. “Ailey” is available for streaming on Hulu.

To listen to our previous conversation with Jamila about “Ailey”, check out the episode on Top Docs.

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”Boycott” with Julia Bacha

Mon, 02 May 2022 02:34:00 -0700

While over the decades, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has periodically been front page news in America, for the most part, the issue has not taken center stage in U.S. politics. But what if it turned out that, unbeknownst to the vast majority of Americans, state legislatures throughout the country have been approving bills that not only took a stand on the conflict, but actually penalized some Americans for expressing an opinion on the issue? In her revelatory and thoroughly gripping documentary “Boycott”, director Julia Bacha has uncovered a widespread and deeply disturbing effort over the last several years to punish individuals or companies that support the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) Movement against Israel — or even refuse to sign an oath stating that they have not participated in any such boycotts.

Ken sat down with Julia to find out more about this vastly under-reported and troubling story and to hear about the creative challenges involved in reaching audiences that may not have heard much — or anything — about the issue. What drew her to the three central characters in the film and their uphill legal challenges to the law? How did she react, when, suddenly, out of the blue, she ran into an Arkansas state senator who had some surprising revelations to share about his vote on the state’s anti-BDS measure? How did Julia connect the dots between the Israeli government, the U.S. Christian fundamentalist movement and the Democratic and Republican Parties? As the facts pile up and the revelations keep coming, it becomes clear that the issues raised by “Boycott” are sure to make us stand up and pay attention. Nothing less than the First Amendment is at stake.

Our Top Docs conversation with Julia Bacha is part of our partnership with the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (May 5 – 19, 2022) to spotlight the more than 40 documentary feature films screening at this year’s festival.

Information about the “Boycott” screenings at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival:

“Boycott” screens in-person at The MSP Film at The Main Theatre in Minneapolis:

Wednesday, May 18, 6:30 PM CT, The Main 2

Thursday, May 19, 12:30 PM CT, The Main 2

Julia Bacha will be attending both screenings.

For residents of Minnesota only, the film also can be screened virtually during the Festival.

More information about the screenings can be found here.

Hidden Gem:

Elena

”Free Renty” with David Grubin

Mon, 09 May 2022 03:27:00 -0700

In 1976, a curator at Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnography discovered a long-forgotten item stored away in the museum’s collection: a series of stark but stirring daguerreotypes taken in 1850 that are believed to be the oldest photographs of enslaved Africans in the U.S. While the discovery made headlines across the country, they did not prompt a serious inquiry by Harvard to find out more about the photographic subjects, who included a man called Renty and his daughter Delia. David Grubin’s soul-searching documentary “Free Renty: Lanier v. Harvard” reveals the story behind the people in the photographs and the long, heroic quest of Tamara Lanier, Renty’s great great great granddaughter, to convince Harvard to turn over what she considers to be her family pictures.

Joining Ken to talk about “Free Renty”, director David Grubin describes how this film journey began with a conversation with his cousin Michael Koskoff, one of Tammy’s lawyers in her lawsuit against Harvard. How did Tammy also get Benjamin Crump, one of the nation’s most prominent civil rights attorneys, to take on the case? What happened to make the legal team, all of a sudden, pivot from avoiding the word “reparations” in its legal argument to embracing the term with gusto? And how did the plot thicken when Tammy came face-to-face with the descendants of Louis Agassiz, the renowned but racist Harvard professor who originally commissioned the daguerreotypes? Whatever the legal case’s ultimate outcome, this eloquent documentary makes it clear that, by telling Papa Renty’s story, Tammy has finally given voice to her enslaved ancestors and re-claimed the true power and the humanity behind these cruel images.

Our Top Docs conversation with David Grubin is part of our partnership with the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (May 5 – 19, 2022) to spotlight the more than 40 documentary feature films screening at this year’s festival.

“Free Renty Lanier v. Harvard” screenings at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival:

Sunday, May 15, 4:00 PM CT, Capri Theater, Minneapolis
Wednesday, May 18, 2:00 PM CT, MSP Film at the Main (formerly the St. Anthony Main Theatre), Minneapolis

David Grubin will be attending both screenings.

The film is also available to be screened virtually during the Festival and is accessible throughout the U.S.

For more information about the Festival, go to: https://mspfilm.org/festivals/mspiff/

Hidden Gem:

Listening to Kenny G

”Exposing Muybridge” with Marc Shaffer

Mon, 09 May 2022 12:56:15 -0700

“He's not a dusty antique from the past; he's the beginning of now” That’s how Marc Shaffer describes the subject of his film, Exposing Muybridge. Mike and Marc explore the strange and varied career of Eadweard Muybridge (just one of the many versions of the name he gave himself over the years). Born in Britain, he moved to New York to sell books, and then to San Francisco to become an early photographer of the American West as well as its native inhabitants. He then had the fortune (both good and mis-) to garner Leland Stanford, rail tycoon and Californian politician, as a patron. He started with photographs of Stanford’s family, but then moved on to the series of pictures that would make him a known worldwide: Proving the long-argued notion that at some point in full gallop, all 4 of a horse's hooves leave the ground.

Disavowed by Leland Stanford just as he was about to be honored by the Royal Society of his home country, Muybridge returned to America and supported by the likes of painter Thomas Eakins, took up residency at The University of Pennsylvania. Here he continued his motion studies, but as Shaffer and his experts demonstrate, in a manner that revealed as much about the mores and prejudices of his day as they do about the nature of motion.

Aided by the exemplary explanatory mode of none other than Muybridge fan and collector Gary Oldman, Schaffer reveals much about Muybridge’s life, technique, and art. And he demonstrates the impact on our culture from Francis Bacon, to The Matrix, to Jordan Peele.

“Exposing Muybridge” screenings at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival

Monday, May 9 | 4:40 PM | The Main
Tuesday, May 10 | 1:45 PM | The Main
Friday, May 13 | 1:50 PM | The Main

For more information about the Festival, go to: https://mspfilm.org/festivals/mspiff/

Hidden Gem:

Hearts of Darkness

”Sirens” with Rita Baghdadi

Fri, 13 May 2022 16:47:51 -0700

In “Sirens”, Rita Baghdadi (“My Country No More”, “City Rising”) joins to Mike to discuss her portrayal of the all-women Lebanese heavy metal band Slave to Sirens, with a focus on Sherry, the virtuosic lead guitarist, and Lilas, the rhythm guitarist who is the charismatic center of the band. As much a coming of age story as a rock doc, “Sirens” explores not only their music, but the lives, relationships, and loves of their young lives. In this highly layered film, the backdrop is the revolutionary Beirut of 2019 and beyond, and the impact of that country’s ever-hopeful and ever-tragic fate can be felt in their views of the past, present, and future.

Hidden Gem:

Fraud

“Sirens” screenings at the Minneapolis Saint Paul International Film Festival

Friday, May 13 | 9:45 PM | The Main

Wednesday, May 18 | 7:00 PM | The Main

For more information about the Festival, go to: https://mspfilm.org/festivals/mspiff/

”jeen-yuhs” with Coodie Simmons & Chike Ozah

Fri, 27 May 2022 03:14:00 -0700

Long before Kanye West became one of the most famous people on the planet, he was a 19-year-old up-and-coming producer of beats trying to make a name for himself in the local Chicago rap scene. Enter comedian Coodie Simmons, host of a local cable access show, who — taking inspiration from the landmark documentary “Hoop Dreams” — decided to turn his camera full-time on Kanye, sensing the young rapper had what it took to make it big. Now, 24 years and over 300 hours of footage later, Kanye is a household name and Coodie’s dreams for creating an epic documentary have also come true. Directed by Coodie and his longtime collaborator Chike Ozah, the new three-part Netflix docuseries, “jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy” is an unprecedented, longitudinal portrait of a huge global superstar that tracks, in real-time, Kanye West’s rise to — and struggles with — fame.

Joining Ken for a wide-ranging conversation about their remarkably intimate and beautifully crafted documentary, the captivating duo of Coodie & Chike (“Benji”, “A Kid from Coney Island”) take us on the long, winding journey that led from the streets of Chicago into the recording studios of New York City and LA, and, eventually, as Kanye became a global phenomenon, to such places as the Dominican Republic and China. What is it like to have Kanye’s mother embrace you as a member of her own family — and then to have to face the wrenching task of putting together a memorial video of her life when she dies suddenly just a few years later? How does one make the hard decision, after filming one’s “young brother” for decades, that, in certain uncomfortable situations, turning off the camera may be the right call? And, ever the comedian, why did Coodie think the comedic device of the “callback” would be the perfect way to make Kanye West’s retainer (yes, the budding rap star wore a retainer) one of the film’s most memorable recurring bits? As Coodie says in the documentary, “Everything happens for a reason.”

“jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy” is currently streaming on Netflix.

Hidden Gems:

Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling

The Gods Must Be Crazy

”Downfall: The Case Against Boeing” with Rory Kennedy

Wed, 01 Jun 2022 03:37:00 -0700

“If it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t going” was a phrase uttered by generations of pilots in reference to the storied Seattle-based company that was virtually synonymous with American engineering know-how. But, in 2018, a practically brand-new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft crashed soon after takeoff in Indonesia, followed five months later by a second 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia. All told, between the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines flights, 346 people were killed. And Boeing’s reputation lay in tatters. In her searing new Netflix documentary “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing”, Academy Award®-nominated and Emmy® Award-winning filmmaker Rory Kennedy (“Last Days in Vietnam”, “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib”) sets out to examine not only how and why these planes went down, but to explain the crash of Boeing itself.

Rory joins Mike and Ken on “Top Docs” to talk about her collaboration with former Wall Street Journal reporter Andy Pasztor who doggedly investigated Boeing. Why was he a perfect guide for telling this story? In what ways did the family members of those who died in the crashes prove to be among the most articulate and knowledgeable voices about the crashes? What was the one condition that Garima Sethi, the widow of the Lion Air pilot, put on doing an interview with Rory, and how did Rory convince her that this was, indeed, the one thing that she had to talk about? How did Rep. Peter DeFazio help break open the “case against Boeing”? After all this, would Rory herself set foot on a 737 MAX today? You’ll want to stay tuned to the end of the podcast to find out. The answer may change how you feel about the next flight you take.

“Downfall: The Case Against Boeing” is currently streaming on Netflix.

Hidden Gem: Moon Age Daydream

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@topdocspod

Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival Live Panel

Mon, 06 Jun 2022 10:29:25 -0700

An expat journalist reflects on the recent revolutions that have transformed her native Ukraine. A filmmaker, looking for spiritual advice, goes to a secretive Buddhist monastery in Kyoto. A mother grieves for her young son and seeks answers about why childhood drownings are shockingly common. A young dancer finds her way back to performing after experiencing a life-changing swimming accident. What do these four compelling films have in common? The answer: in each case, a first-time feature documentary director shares a deeply personal point of view that can only be fully explored by turning the camera on him or herself. They are also the four films featured in “Top Docs”’ first live, in-person event, a lively, illuminating and emotional panel discussion called “In the Frame: The Art of Personal Documentary”.

On Saturday, May 14, at the recently concluded 41st Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, “Top Docs” brought together filmmakers Katya Soldak (“The Long Breakup”), Ahsen Nadeem (“Crows Are White”), Chezik Tsunoda (“Drowning in Silence”), and Kelsey Peterson and Daniel Klein (“Move Me”), whose films were screening at the festival. Moderated by Ken, the panel delved into such questions as: What brought you to the critical creative moment when you decided to go on camera? What makes a personal documentary different from other modes of documentary storytelling? How did you navigate the sensitive issue of whether to film your friends and family? And where did you find the courage to excavate your own archive of home movie footage even if that meant potentially reliving personal trauma? It’s a remarkably frank conversation with four filmmakers just stepping onto the feature documentary stage, and one that we know you won’t want to miss.

“In the Frame” is the first in a series of “Top Docs” podcast events that spotlights the next-gen wave of up-and-coming documentary filmmakers. Stay tuned for more next-gen interviews as part of our partnership with the Palm Springs International ShortFest, which takes place June 21 – 27 in Palm Springs, CA. See https://psfilmfest.org/2022-shortfest for more details about ShortFest.

”The Andy Warhol Diaries” with Andrew Rossi

Thu, 09 Jun 2022 03:46:00 -0700

What more can be said about Andy Warhol? Campbell’s Soup. Marilyn Monroe. Pop Art. The Factory. Fright wig. 15 minutes. Connect the dots and you feel pretty confident in your short-hand knowledge of who Warhol was and his place in modern art and contemporary culture. But, as much as Andy Warhol is a household name when it comes to 1960’s celebrity icons, not a lot is known about Warhol’s interior life or his intimate relationships. Using Warhol’s diaries (published just two years after his death) as a springboard, Emmy Award®-nominated filmmaker Andrew Rossi (“Page One: Inside the New York Times”, “Ivory Tower”) takes aim at those parts of Warhol’s life and career that are far less familiar to us. The result, Rossi’s sprawling new, must-see six-part Netflix series “The Andy Warhol Diaries”, is a fascinating portrait of the man who stated his desire to be “like a machine,” but, in reality, was a deeply emotional person whose intimate relationships and vulnerabilities reveal much about who he was and offer valuable insights into the enduring brilliance of his art.

How did Rossi use new A.I. technology, and the skills of actor Bill Irwin, to create a chillingly lifelike version of Warhol’s voice? Who were Jed Johnson and Jon Gould, and in what ways do these men unlock the key to understanding Warhol’s emotional life? Why was it so important to Rossi to explicate Warhol’s diaries as a seminal queer text? How did Warhol’s complicated relationship with the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat lead to one of the most creatively fruitful collaborations in the history of modern art? The truth is Andy Warhol was famous for a lot longer than 15 minutes. But now — thanks to Andrew Rossi’s masterful, exhaustively researched and richly-layered series — we have a window into the off-screen Warhol. It turns out that all the things that he was not famous for give us a whole new perspective on the artist and the man.

Now on Netflix

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@a_rossi

@topdocspod

”Handbook” with Pavel Mozhar

Mon, 13 Jun 2022 03:01:00 -0700

In this episode, Ken talks to Pavel Mozhar, director of the IDFA-award-winning short documentary “Handbook”, a chilling exposé of the mass arrest and torture of protestors in the filmmaker’s native country of Belarus. Pavel, who now lives and goes to film school in Berlin, takes a unique, genre-bending approach to documenting the Lukashenko regime’s brutal and highly systematized tactics used against its own citizens following the presidential election in August 2020.

“Handbook”, which has its North American premiere at ShortFest, is part of the documentary shorts block called “A Dose of Reality” screening Saturday, June 25th at 10:00 AM at the Camelot Theatres, Palm Springs. For more information about ShortFest and “Handbook”, please go to: https://psfilmfest.org/2022-shortfest

Short doc recommendation from Pavel:

“89MM from Europe” by Marcel Łoziński

”Bitterbrush” with Emelie Mahdavian

Tue, 14 Jun 2022 12:21:46 -0700

Hollyn and Colie are range riders. Every day during the summer, these highly skilled hired hands ride their horses across the remote, rugged Idaho mountains, pushing cows across sky-high ridges to their final destination. It’s hard work for low pay, but the rewards are plentiful: the thrill of the open range, the symbiotic relationship with their animals, and, not least of all, the close bond of friendship with each other. In her magical new documentary “Bitterbrush”, Emmy®, Peabody and Sundance Award-winning filmmaker Emelie Mahdavian (producer/writer/editor, “Midnight Traveler”) poetically and precisely captures the sights, sounds and timeless rhythms of this fiercely beautiful landscape. She also shows us, as few have before, the mutual love and support (and humor) that can happen between two women who care for each other as much as the land that will always be home.

Joining Ken for a wide-ranging conversation, Emelie describes how, living in this part of Idaho herself, she came to meet Hollyn and Colie and embark on this unique cinematic journey. In what ways did she avoid the clichés and tropes of the Western genre to forge her own narrative path? How did she and her cinematographers develop the right camera rigs to shoot images both awe-inspiring and intimate in such a challenging environment? And how did a magnetic 12-minute scene reveal as much to Colie about herself as it did to those watching? Saddle up and come along for this fascinating conversational ride.

“Bitterbrush” is being released in theaters by Magnolia Pictures starting on June 17th.

Hidden Gem:

Listening to Kenny G

Follow on twitter:

@bitterbrushdoc

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix.

Rory Kennedy on "Downfall: The Case Against Boeing"

Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries"

Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"

”The Feeling of Being Close to You” with Ash Goh Hua

Thu, 23 Jun 2022 07:24:10 -0700

A phone call between mother and daughter. A bad dream. Home movies. Seems simple, yet Ash Goh Hua’s short documentary “The Feeling of Being Close to You” expertly navigates physical and emotional space to provide a compelling, affecting story of attempted reconciliation.

“The Feeling of Being Close to You” will play at the The Palm Springs International ShortFest as part of the “In Search of Lost Time” series on Thursday, June 23rd 2PM, at the Camelot Theatres (Palm Springs Cultural Center). We are delighted to be partnering with Shortfest to promote promising NextGen filmmakers. And if you can’t make it to Palm Springs, on June 25th it will play Brooklyn’s BAM CinemaFest.

Hidden Gem: Learning Tagalog with Kayla

Follow on Twitter: @topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix:

Rory Kennedy on "Downfall: The Case Against Boeing"
Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries"
Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"

”Beba” with Rebeca Huntt

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 03:02:00 -0700

Like a freshly sculpted work of clay, director Rebeca Huntt’s stunning documentary debut BEBA captures in real-time her family’s fluid interpersonal dynamics; the complicated legacies of inherited national, ethnic and racial identity; and her own brewing caldron of coming-of-age dramatics. To call it a “personal film” is both a wild understatement and a reductive miscalculation: “BEBA”, for all its personal complexities, is a profound spiritual quest intended to stir existential questions in the audience and provoke a deep dialogue. Shot in vivid and pulsating 16mm film, “BEBA” is also a feast for the senses and a fever dream for the imagination. In short, it is a film to be reckoned with — and not to be missed.

Fresh off the film’s Tribeca Film Festival screening in her hometown of New York City, which plays a starring role in the film, Rebeca shares with Ken her searching personal journey and eight-year creative quest to bring “BEBA” to life. What was the “meta” experience like of making a film about her life, while at the same time living in the day-to-day? How did the probing interviews that she conducted with her family reveal fascinating truths, but also bring simmering tensions to the surface? Why was film the perfect medium to express everything that she was experiencing and wanted to convey? Join us as Rebeca sheds light on “BEBA”, both the film and the person, two powerful creative forces in the universe.

“BEBA” is being released in theaters by NEON starting on June 24th.

Hidden Gem: “Finding Christa”, “Suzanne, Suzanne”; both by Camille Billops

Follow on Twitter:

@topdocspod

@filmbeba

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix:

Rory Kennedy on "Downfall: The Case Against Boeing"
Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries"
Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"

”Holy Cowboys” with Varun Chopra

Sat, 25 Jun 2022 09:37:14 -0700

In a small town in India, a cow vigilante group seeks to recruit teenage boys to join its ranks. Who are these so-called cow vigilantes and how are they using the welfare of the cow, which is sacred to India’s majority Hindu population, to fan the flames of nationalist extremism? In Varun Chopra’s fascinating, multifaceted and provocative new short documentary “Holy Cowboys”, the filmmaker follows Gopal and his friends as they come under the powerful influence of one such group that, in the name of protecting cows, espouses violence against those, including Muslims, who do not share their beliefs and practices.

“Holy Cowboys” is part of the documentary shorts block called “Higher Ground” screening Saturday, June 26th at 10:00 AM at the Camelot Theatres, Palm Springs. For more information about ShortFest and “Holy Cowboys”, please go to: https://psfilmfest.org/2022-shortfest

Short doc recommendation: “A Broken House” by Jimmy Goldblum

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix:

Rory Kennedy on "Downfall: The Case Against Boeing"
Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries"
Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"

”Sub Eleven Seconds” with Bafic

Mon, 27 Jun 2022 03:18:00 -0700

Sha’Carri Richardson is fast. Really, really, really fast. At the 2021 U.S. Olympic trials, Sha’Carri, only 21 at the time, ran the 100-meter finals in 10.84 seconds, more than a tenth of a second faster than her closest competitor. In “Sub Eleven Seconds”, his artfully crafted documentary portrait of this superstar athlete at a moment of peak performance, the director Bafic captures Sha’Carri’s split-second athletic brilliance, refreshing honesty and totally original style.

As part of our focus on NextGen filmmakers — up-and-coming talents in the documentary world — “Top Docs” is pleased to be partnering with the 28th Palm Springs International ShortFest (June 21 – 27) to feature several filmmakers with outstanding documentary shorts in this year’s festival. In this episode, Ken and Bafic explore a wide range of filmmaking topics, from the lessons the filmmaker gleaned from Francis Ford Coppola about identifying the core idea of one’s film (in this case, time itself); to Errol Morris’s famous interviewing device, the Interrotron; and the huge influence of the Texas-based music genre “chopped and screwed” on the film’s most critical sequence. “Sub Eleven Seconds” screened as part of the ShortFest documentary shorts block called “Truth Be Told”.

Check out the film at NewYorker.com or YouTube and then take the time to listen to our podcast.

Hidden Gem: Lock Off by Akwasi Poku.

@BAFIC

@itskerrii

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix:

Rory Kennedy on "Downfall: The Case Against Boeing"
Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries"
Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"

”Fire of Love” with Sara Dosa

Mon, 11 Jul 2022 03:04:00 -0700

Love and Lava, Magma and Matrimony. Sara Dosa’s (“The Last Season”, “The Seer and the Unseen”) “Fire of Love” encourages such puns, and that’s no accident: The film explores the relationship of Katia and Maurice Krafft, married volcanologists as they chart the world's volcanoes from the late 1960s until their untimely deaths in 1993. It’s a film that takes science seriously, but, like its subjects, isn’t afraid to have some fun.

Join Mike as he speaks with Sara about how she’s reworking the standard nature documentary: How her narrator, Miranda July, explores science as inquiry rather than established fact, and how by juxtaposing seemingly whimsical graphics, Dosa complicates the standard narrative. How does the growing relationship between the Kraffts echo their relationship with volcanoes? What role do the twin montages at the heart of the film play in developing both those relationships? How did the Kraffts differ when it came to dealing with the deadly reality of volcanic exploration? Finally, how did their interests develop toward the ends of their lives as they began to focus more on the effects of volcanoes on humans, and what is their ultimate legacy?

“Fire of Love” from National Geographic Documentary Films can now be seen in select cities and will be rolling out across the U.S. over the summer.

Hidden Gem: Jaddoland

Follow on twitter:

@saradosa

@topdocspod

”The Martha Mitchell Effect” with Anne Alvergue & Debra McClutchy

Mon, 18 Jul 2022 03:34:00 -0700

Coined by a Harvard psychologist in the 1980s, the “Martha Mitchell Effect” describes a process in which a person’s beliefs are initially labeled as delusional but later turn out to be true. But who was the real Martha Mitchell? What were her claims about Watergate? And why, until now, has she been largely erased from our collective memory?

Opening up to Ken about their riveting all-archival documentary short “The Martha Mitchell Effect”, filmmakers Anne Alvergue and Debra McClutchy describe how they set out to widen the lens on Watergate beyond “All the President’s Men” to include the key perspective of Martha Mitchell, wife of former Attorney General and Nixon campaign chief John Mitchell. Dismissed at the time as being crazy and a drunk, Martha was, in fact, the victim of a well-planned gaslighting campaign hatched by Nixon, his top aides and even her own husband. Stunning in its revelations and highly immersive in its creative approach, this powerful film will no doubt leave you with a new perspective on those dark days of American history. Speaking truth to power tends to have that effect on people.

“The Martha Mitchell Effect” is now streaming on Netflix.

Hidden Gems:

Debra: “More Than I Remember” by Amy Bench

Anne: “Deerwoods Deathtrap” by James P. Gannon

Follow on Twitter:

@themarthafilm

@anne_alvergue

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix:

Rory Kennedy on "Downfall: The Case Against Boeing"
Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries"
Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"

”Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song” with Dayna Goldfine & Dan Geller

Tue, 26 Jul 2022 09:49:31 -0700

It’s more than a song. As Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller (“Ballet Russes”, “The Galapagos Affair”) point out in their new documentary, Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” is a journey. A journey of artistic and spiritual discovery, a 7-year Odyssey of composition, and, once all but lost, an even longer journey to find its place as one of our most admired songs, admiration which take the form of critical praise and popular renditions that can be found in Dreamworks movies and primetime talent shows. Join Mike as he travels this decades-long path with Dayna and Dan.

“Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song,” from Sony Pictures Classics, is now playing in select cities.

Hidden Gems:

The Truffle Hunters

The Five Obstructions

Leonard Cohen Covers:

Sharon Robinson’s “Alexandra Leaving” on YouTube or Spotify

Emmylou Harris’ “The Stranger Song” on YouTube or Spotify

Roberta Flack’s “Suzanne” on YouTube or Spotify

Also discussed:

The Holy and the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah”

Howling at the Moon: The Odyssey of a Monstrous Music Mogul in an Age of Excess

”The Tinder Swindler” with Felicity Morris

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 03:22:00 -0700

With 55 million matches to date, Tinder advertises itself as the world’s most popular dating app. But, back in 2019, it was one match in particular — between a Norwegian woman living in London and a charming, self-described “Prince of Diamonds” — that became a viral sensation. It turned out that “Simon Leviev” was no prince, but a convicted con artist who used Tinder to woo a series of women in an elaborate Ponzi scheme that left them emotionally devastated and thousands of dollars in debt. In the thrilling and eye-opening Emmy®-nominated Netflix documentary “The Tinder Swindler”, filmmaker Felicity Morris (“Don’t F**k With Cats”) deftly tracks the story of three courageous women who went public with their stories of being conned by Leviev and sought their own measure of sweet justice.

Talking to Mike and Ken from her home base in London, Felicity gives her inside take on the swindle and on the making of the film. How did Simon go beyond the conventions of a more traditional con to create such a successful emotional one? How was the story of Ayleen Charlotte, a Dutch woman defrauded by Simon, the key to unlocking the film’s third act? And why does Felicity think that “The Tinder Swindler” — Netflix's most popular documentary of all-time when it launched — resonates so deeply with people? Answers to these questions and more can be found in our podcast interview with Felicity. Just remember to “press play” rather than to “swipe right”.

“The Tinder Swindler” is currently streaming on Netflix. You can also learn more on Felicity’s podcast, “The Making of a Swindler”, available on “You Can’t Make This Up”.

Hidden Gem: “’Twas the Fight Before Christmas”

Follow on Twitter:

@fliss_morris

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with these Emmy®-nominated directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix:

Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries"
Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"
Felicity Morris on “The Tinder Swindler”

”Changing the Game” with Michael Barnett, Clare Tucker, Alex Schmider

Tue, 09 Aug 2022 03:23:00 -0700

Racking up win after win, Mack Beggs is well on his way to an undefeated season and a second consecutive Texas state high school wrestling crown. But, far from being recognized as the top athlete that he is, Mack finds himself the target of criticism from parents, social media trolls and national commentators. As a young trans man, Mack wants nothing more than the opportunity to compete against other young men. But Texas law prevents this, and so Mack has no choice but to take on not only his female competitors but also the kind of vicious discrimination that is regularly inflicted against young trans athletes throughout the country. In their standout Emmy®-nominated documentary “Changing the Game”, director Michael Barnett (“Superheroes”) and producers Clare Tucker (“The Mars Generation”) and Alex Schmider (“Disclosure”) follow Mack’s victories and struggles along with two other courageous trans athletes: Sarah, a skier and activist in New Hampshire, and Andraya, a track star in Connecticut.

Joining Mike and Ken to talk about their game-changing documentary, Michael, Clare and Alex discuss the challenges of making a film about trans athletes in the context of a fraught political context. What led Michael and Clare to invite Alex, the Director of Transgender Representation at GLAAD, to join the creative team as producer, and how did their collaboration benefit the film in multiple ways? Why was it a priority for Michael that the cinematic quality of the film match the visual standards of a Nike ad? And what was the toughest scene, emotionally, to include in the film, and why was it so important for people to see it? Join us for this illuminating conversation with three filmmakers determined to go to the mat to “give these young athletes their stories back”.

“Changing the Game” is currently streaming on Hulu.

Hidden Gems:

Michael Barnett, Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story

Clare Tucker, A Thousand Cuts

Alex Schmider: No Ordinary Man

Follow on Twitter:

@ChangingGameDoc

@anderfinn

@topdocspod

To get involved: TheTrevorProject.org

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with these Emmy®-nominated directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix:

Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries"
Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"
Felicity Morris on “The Tinder Swindler”

”George Carlin’s American Dream” with Michael Bonfiglio

Wed, 10 Aug 2022 03:31:00 -0700

George Carlin wasn’t just a comedian, he was one of the great American artists of the later half of the 20th-Century, and he was shaped by and interacted with the great events of his day with intelligence, wit, and an ever-adapting nature. That’s what co-director Michael Bonfiglio (with Judd Apatow) of “George Carlin’s American Dream” explains when he sat down with Mike.

Bonfiglio’s (producer of “Paradise Lost 2 & 3”, “Some Kind of Monster” & “The Zen Diaries of Gary Shandling”) film traces the “straight” comic of the 60s, the more personal and edgy comic of the 70’s that we all know, and even the darker–but equally important, the film argues–comic of the 80s and 90s. Michael and Mike discuss the roots of Carlin’s comedy in his Catholic school childhood in Manhattan, the birth of his comedy career in Los Angeles, and the cocaine-fueled 70s. Throughout, his wife Brenda and daughter Kelly stood by him, and despite his solitary nature, his comedy cohort inspired and challenged him. “George Carlin’s American Dream” is now playing on HBO.

Hidden Gem: The Velvet Queen

Follow on twitter:

@mbonfiglio2000

@topdocspod

”100 Foot Wave” with Joe Lewis

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 03:41:00 -0700

“Nazaré”. To those who follow the world of big wave surfing, the word speaks for itself. A once sleepy fishing village on the coast of Portugal, Nazaré has now become one of the world’s preeminent big wave surfing spots. It’s also the most likely future location for that most elusive of all surfing dreams: the 100-foot wave. As the hunting ground of legendary surfer Garrett McNamara, Nazaré plays a starring role in the thrilling six-part, Emmy®-nominated HBO series “100 Foot Wave” directed by Chris Smith (“Tiger King”, “American Movie”).

“100 Foot Wave” Executive Producer Joe Lewis (“Fleabag”, “Transparent”) recently sat down with Ken to plunge beneath the surface of the film team’s creative process. How did a conversation with his wife about a distant relation by marriage lead Joe to Garrett McNamara, who spent years working with local officials to put Nazaré on the map of big wave surfing? How did the filmmakers go from thinking they were pitching a feature film to making a six-part series that is now well on its way to a second season? And what was it like collaborating with Garrett and his wife Nicole, whose one condition was, “We don’t want to make a surf movie”? You’ve heard it a million times: it’s the journey that counts. But, if the waves break just right, you can be sure that Garrett or one of his cohorts will be there at Nazaré to catch that 100-foot wave. Please join us as we explore this incredible journey with Joe. It’s the most fun you can have while staying dry.

Hidden Gems:

Sub Eleven Seconds

Vernon, Florida

Follow on Twitter:

@JoeLewis

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with these Emmy®-nominated directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix:

Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries"
Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"
Felicity Morris on “The Tinder Swindler”

”Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches” with Julie Marchesi and Seun Babalola

Fri, 12 Aug 2022 03:47:00 -0700

Frederick Douglass was not only one of our greatest activists, he was a great writer, an artist who worked in words. Director Julie Marchesi (P.O.V., American Masters, African-American Lives) and producer Seun Babalola (NOVA, The United Shades of America, Africa Everywhere) explore the growth of his mind and the power of his words in their Emmy-nominated “Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches.”

Each speech is performed by one of the film’s all-star cast (Nicole Beharie, Colman Domingo, Jonathan Majors, Denzel Whitaker, Jeffrey Wright) and André Holland provides a narrative spine by reading from Douglas’ autobiographies. Inspired by David Blight’s magisterial biography, the film is light on didacticism but shot-through with the inspiration that can only come from one born under slavery and freed by his own actions and words.

“Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches” is now streaming on HBO.

Hidden Gems:

Dear Zachary

Battleground

Follow on twitter: @topdocspod

”Lucy And Desi” with Robert A. Martinez

Sun, 14 Aug 2022 03:52:00 -0700

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. They were America’s most beloved couple and Hollywood’s ultimate power couple. But when the studio lights were turned off, what was it like being the “real” Lucy and Desi? How did their relationship inform everything they did — from creating the groundbreaking sitcom “I Love Lucy” to running one of Hollywood’s most successful television studios? With “Lucy and Desi”, multi-hyphenate comedian-actor-producer — and now documentary director — Amy Poehler aims her prodigious talent at cracking the story of Lucy and Desi, with Emmy®-worthy results.

Mike and Ken recently had the opportunity to speak with the film’s Emmy-nominated editor Robert A. Martinez (“The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart”, “Pavarotti”) to discuss what it was like to sit at the controls of this refreshing, revealing and, at times, surprising portrayal of this dynamic duo. How did Amy’s directorial chops drive the storytelling beyond the superficial “Wikipedia” treatment that it could easily have been given? For the filmmakers, why was it so important to lift up the accomplishments of Desi Arnaz, who, all-too-often has been overlooked in the shadow of Lucille Ball’s comedic brilliance? And what did the comedic genius Buster Keaton see in Ball that enabled her, through tireless rehearsal, to develop a style of comedy that was way ahead of its time? Ultimately, “Lucy and Desi” is about neither Lucy nor Desi’s individual talents, but about the magic that they created as one unit, leaving a legacy that will last as long as the human species comes factory-equipped with a funny bone.

“Lucy and Desi”, which is nominated for six 2022 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, is available for streaming on Amazon Prime.

Find our conversation with Mark Monroe about “The Bee Gees” here.

Hidden Gem:

No No: A Dockumentary

Follow on Twitter: @topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with these Emmy®-nominated directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix:

Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries"
Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"
Felicity Morris on “The Tinder Swindler”

”The Beatles: Get Back” with Peter Jackson

Sun, 14 Aug 2022 21:25:10 -0700

Legendary Director Peter Jackson joins Mike to discuss the Emmy-nominated “The Beatles: Get Back”. Peter discusses why after a career that has spanned “Heavenly Creatures,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “The Hobbit,” and “King Kong,” he turned to documentary filmmaking with "They Shall Not Grow Old." And how the techniques that he employed in turning the trenches of the First World War to life came to be useful when faced with the 60 hours of 16mm film shot by Michael Lindsay Hogg in 1969 during the Beatles’ rehearsal for and recording of “Let it Be.”

Peter tells Mike about the challenges posed by the 130 hours of sound recordings, and how his team wrote custom software to isolate and clarify sound–and how this became the spine of the film. He virtually brings us into the New Zealand editing bay with Jabez Olssen where his team (again) built new processes to make the rushes amenable to editing. He explains to Mike why the now-famous scene of Paul creating “Get Back” was–for the sake of historical accuracy–not overly edited, and how the rooftop concert was edited in one productive week before showing it to the surviving Beatles. And he sums up his years of daily exposure to the inner workings of the Beatles by saying that they were 4 nice boys with incredible talent who managed to find each other.

“The Beatles: Get Back” is now streaming on Disney+.

Follow on Twitter:

@topdocspod

@jabezolssen

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with these Emmy®-nominated directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix:

Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries"
Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"
Felicity Morris on “The Tinder Swindler”

”We Feed People” with Sara Bernstein

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 06:18:51 -0700

He pops up often in your social media livestream, appearing from just about every corner of the globe. His head bobbing up-and-down in the frame, his voice slightly frantic, he reports in real-time from the frontlines of whatever new catastrophe has left thousands – or even millions — of people in desperate need of food and to describe what’s being done about it. He’s world-renowned Chef José Andrés and his organization, World Central Kitchen (WCK), has become legendary for its quick response in the aftermath of fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, Covid, and, most recently, the war in Ukraine. As José says in the urgent, riveting new Ron Howard (Rebuilding Paradise, Thirteen Lives) documentary “We Feed People”, “We not only feed people. We create systems.”

Ken recently spoke with the film’s producer Sara Bernstein (Leave No Trace, Downfall: The Case Against Boeing) about this exhilarating Emmy®-nominated documentary and the challenge of making a film during the pandemic. How did the film’s director Ron Howard encounter WCK’s work first-hand and why did he keep coming back to the idea of making a film about them? Why did the film’s focus shift from a verité style production to a portrait of WCK’s evolution from a small band of do-gooders into the powerhouse food relief organization that it is today? And how did the film team’s commitment to presenting a three-dimensional, warts-and-all portrait of José result in a more nuanced and, ultimately, more emotionally resonant and fully realized film? Join us for this Tapas-inspired dish of valuable lessons learned about food relief efforts and delicious behind-the-scenes filmmaking stories.

Hidden Gem:

Navalny

Follow on Twitter:

@WCKitchen

@chefjoseandres

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with these Emmy®-nominated directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix:

Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries"
Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"
Felicity Morris on “The Tinder Swindler”

”Controlling Britney Spears” with Samantha Stark & Liz Day

Thu, 18 Aug 2022 10:26:03 -0700

After pop star Britney Spears’ controversial 13-year conservatorship finally came to an end in November 2021, Spears credited the #FreeBritney movement: “I honestly think you guys saved my life.” Filmmakers Samantha Stark and Liz Day also played no small role. When their documentary “Framing Britney Spears” premiered in February of that year, it sparked a flurry of international news coverage and put the spotlight on a conservatorship that seemed less about protecting Spears than it was about controlling and silencing her — and enriching her father and conservator, Jamie Spears. In the months following their film, Samantha and Liz continued to delve into the story and their September 2021 follow-up film, the Emmy®-nominated “Controlling Britney Spears” laid out even more shocking revelations.

The two filmmakers joined Mike and Ken for a deep dive exploration of the ins-and-outs of the conservatorship and the mechanisms used to surveil and manipulate Spears. How is it possible that a mega superstar, who kept to a rigorous performance schedule and was raking in millions of dollars, continued to be subjected to a court-ordered conservatorship? What caused some of the key people working for Britney to break their silence and open up to the filmmakers, at their own potential legal peril? And in what ways does the stigma of mental illness play a part in the Britney Spears saga? Tune in to our conversation to hear how these two highly skilled and determined journalists/filmmakers broke this important story, which continues to resonate and reverberate well-beyond Britney herself.

“Controlling Britney Spears”, which is nominated for the 2022 Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, is available for streaming on Hulu.

Hidden Gems:

Liz: 7 Up

Samantha: Special Flight

Follow on Twitter:

@starksamantha

@LizDDay

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with these Emmy®-nominated directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix:

Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries"
Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"
Felicity Morris on “The Tinder Swindler”

”When Claude Got Shot” with Brad Lichtenstein

Sat, 20 Aug 2022 10:43:32 -0700

When Claude Motley got shot… everything changed. Not just for Claude, whose jaw was shattered by a bullet fired through his car window, but for Nathan, the 15-year-old youth who pulled the trigger and for Victoria, the woman who shot Nathan when he tried to rob her, too. These tragic events in Milwaukee in 2014 unleashed a chain reaction of trauma and devastation that continues to wreak havoc on the lives of everyone involved. Brad Lichtenstein’s masterfully crafted, emotionally powerful and profoundly troubling Emmy®-nominated documentary “When Claude Got Shot” explores micro as well as macro perspectives on how gun violence is impacting countless lives in America today.

Joining Ken for his second Top Docs appearance, Brad (“American Reckoning,” “Ghosts of Attica”) shares the gut-wrenching experience of watching his close friend Claude go through this terrible ordeal and the conversations that led to the difficult decision to make the film. How does Claude’s conflicted relationship with the city of Milwaukee play a central role in the film? What happens when Claude and his wife, determined to see that justice is done, find themselves enmeshed in a criminal justice system ill-equipped to serve the needs of communities of color? And how did Brad earn the trust of Victoria, Nathan, and Nathan’s mother while they were going through one of the darkest periods of their lives? As Brad describes Claude’s painful journey and his path toward forgiveness, it becomes clear that when Claude got shot, everything changed… but not all hope was lost.

“When Claude Got Shot”, which is nominated for the 2022 Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, can be watched on PBS.org by those with access to the PBS Passport program.

Hidden Gem:

Music for the Movies: Toru Takemitsu

Follow on Twitter:

@371Productions

@bradleylbar

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with these Emmy®-nominated directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix:

Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries"
Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"
Felicity Morris on “The Tinder Swindler”

”Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” with Ian Denyer

Sun, 21 Aug 2022 03:23:00 -0700

In the delightful and, yes, delicious CNN Original Series “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” the beloved actor/writer/director is constantly on the move, setting out to discover what makes each of Italy’s 20 regions unique. By the end of season two, Stanley had tramped across nine of them, and along the way, sampled enough pasta and salumi to feed a small army of production assistants.

London-based Ian Denyer, who came on board to direct “Venice” (for which he is Emmy®-nominated), “Umbria” and “London” for the show’s second season, joined Ken for an amiable and enlightening chat about the series and the man himself. How did Ian win over Stanley in his initial Zoom interview and come to realize that a shared sensibility around dry humor would not only bind them together but infuse the second season with added flavor? How did Ian’s introduction of a third camera open up new creative possibilities, as well as a tricky set of technical challenges? And, in spite of all the glorious eating and drinking, why does Stanley’s primary interest with the show lie elsewhere? Whether Stanley ever actually “finds” Italy or not is beside the point. Watching these episodes — and listening to Ian’s beguiling behind-the-scenes stories — you will find yourself being entertained, educated, and moved, as well as highly motivated to go searching on your own.

“Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy”, which is nominated for five 2022 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series and Outstanding Directing for a Documentary / Nonfiction Program”, can be seen on CNN.

Hidden Gem:

Russia from My Window

Follow on Twitter:

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with these Emmy®-nominated directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix:

Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries"
Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"
Felicity Morris on “The Tinder Swindler”

”The Territory” with Alex Pritz

Wed, 24 Aug 2022 03:53:00 -0700

Not yet 19 years old, a young man named Bitaté Uru-eu-wau-wau is approached by an elder, who tells him, ready or not, it is time for Bitaté to become his community’s new leader. With Brazil’s election of a right-wing president on the horizon, bands of illegal settlers clearing forests, and the impending disaster of climate change, how in the world can Bitaté take on such a staggering responsibility? But he knows he must: the fate of not only his own small Indigenous community but of the entire Brazilian Amazon hangs in the balance. With the stakes constantly rising, first-time feature director Alex Pritz (“My Dear Kyrgyzstan”) brilliantly depicts the opposing forces at play in his urgent and stunningly beautiful documentary “The Territory” from National Geographic Documentary Films.

Joining Ken to talk about the chain of events that led him to the Uru people and their threatened way of life, Alex discusses the close collaboration with the Uru community that made the documentary possible and gave shape to what it would become. How was Alex’s relationship with the environmental activist Neidinha Bandeira a significant first step in developing trust with the Uru? What was the crucial suggestion from Bitaté and Neidinha that led to the film’s impressively even-handed inclusion of opposing points of view? And in what ways were the composer Katya Mihailova’s contributions critical to establishing the locations and building deep connections with the different people featured in the film? Depicting the highs and lows of the Uru people, “The Territory” is an unflinching look at the Amazon today and offers a cautionary glimpse of what may lie just ahead.

“The Territory” can be seen in select theaters nationwide.

Hidden Gems:

Cusp

Mayor

Follow on Twitter:

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with these Emmy®-nominated directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix:

Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries"
Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"
Felicity Morris on “The Tinder Swindler”

”Three Minutes: A Lengthening” with Bianca Stigter

Fri, 26 Aug 2022 03:02:00 -0700

When the writer Glenn Kurtz stumbled upon an old home movie buried in his parents’ closet in Florida, he inadvertently discovered a whole world that, tragically, had been nearly erased from history. Returning as a tourist in 1938 to the small village of Nasielsk outside Warsaw where he grew up, his grandfather David Kurtz brought with him a brand new 16mm Kodak movie camera. The three minutes of footage he shot there, which later turned up in the closet, are now among the only surviving moving images of any of the Polish villages destroyed in the Holocaust. Years later, the writer and critic Bianca Stigter (“Three Minutes – Thirteen Minutes – Thirty Minutes”) would see those three minutes posted on the website of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and embark on her own investigative journey. The result is the extraordinary documentary Three Minutes: A Lengthening.

Joining Ken to discuss her film, which includes Kurtz’ original footage, Bianca describes her creative “lengthening” process, which involved adding fascinating historical context and an almost microscopic level of detail. With very few markers, how were Glenn and Bianca able to identify people and places in the footage? Why was it so important to Bianca that viewers experience the footage actively rather than passively — and how did her filmmaking encourage that dynamic? And how did a key sequence in the film turn into an unforgettable memorial to over 150 people whose faces were captured by David Katz’ camera? While nothing can bring back the Jewish community of Nasielsk, the efforts of first David, then Glenn, and now, Bianca, have at least ensured that their stories and faces will live on in our own collective memories.

“Three Minutes: A Lengthening”, which is being released by Super LTD, can be seen in select theaters nationwide starting on August 26.

Hidden Gem:

Rose Hobart

Follow on Twitter:

@BStigter1

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with these Emmy®-nominated directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix:

Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries"
Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"
Felicity Morris on “The Tinder Swindler”

“Navalny” is available on HBO and HBO Max.

Follow on Twitter:

@DanielRoher

@Navalny

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Nothing Compares” with Kathryn Ferguson

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 09:28:40 -0700

What happened to Sinead O’Connor? It can be too easy to misremember the “after” story, of how quickly in the wake of her appearance on Saturday Night Live in October of 1992, this once megastar largely disappeared from the brightest lights of the world stage . But it also is too easy to ignore the “before” story of what brought her to fame early in life. In “Nothing Compares”, Kathryn Ferguson traces Sinead’s story from her childhood years with an abusive mother and time in a reformatory school in Ireland to stardom–first in London, and then worldwide. Along the way, Ferguson skillfully weaves in the story of what the film posits as another abusive relationship: that between Ireland and the Catholic Church. From these twinned stories Sinead emerges as not just a pioneer in the realm of music, but one who cut a path for other activists to follow–within Ireland and beyond.

You can watch “Nothing Compares” on Showtime starting September 30th.

Hidden Gem: The Arbor

Follow on twitter:

@Kath_Ferguson

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

”Civil” with Nadia Hallgren

Mon, 03 Oct 2022 03:09:00 -0700

Ben Crump knows what it’s like to be in the eye of the storm. As a civil rights attorney representing families in some of the most high-profile cases involving police killings in recent years (including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor), Ben is constantly in the spotlight. But as Nadia Hallgren’s (“Becoming”) powerful and incisive documentary portrait “Civil” reveals, it is in the more private moments that Ben really shines, offering the kind of support and genuine concern, in addition to expert legal advice, that these grieving and enraged Black families so desperately need and deserve.

Joining Ken on “Top Docs”, Nadia goes beyond the edges of the film frame to offer insights into what makes the extraordinary Ben Crump tick, as well as to share stories about her own creative journey. How did George Floyd’s tragic murder drive Nadia’s search for a new film and why was this project the perfect answer? What did Nadia learn by seeing Ben with his family that gave her a new perspective on his life and work? And what do Ben’s other, not-so-high profile, cases tell us about his ongoing struggle to see that Black people are treated fairly once-and-for-all? Just as Ben seeks justice for his clients, Nadia’s camera is there, too, revealing how things are — and showing us how they should be.

“Civil” is now available for streaming on Netflix.

@AttorneyCrump

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Blind Ambition” with Rob Coe & Warwick Ross

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 03:07:00 -0700

Four young men arrive in South Africa from their native Zimbabwe and find each other through their love of–and professional dedication to–wine. Tinashe the big picture philosopher; Pardon the competitive jokester; Marlvin, pious and warm; and Joseph, the stalwart leader of Team Zimbabwe--all will overcome the obstacles facing them as refugees to arrive at the World Championship of Wine Tasting in France.

Directors Rob Coe and Warwick Ross join Mike to discuss their film “Blind Ambition”. They talk about everything from the socio-political challenges of Southern Africa to how they sought to show (not tell) what it means to determine the varietal, country, region, even producer of a wine “blind”, by sight, smell, and taste alone.

Hidden Gems:

Follow on twitter:

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”The Janes” with Tia Lessin & Emma Pildes

Mon, 17 Oct 2022 03:46:00 -0700

“It’s a caper story, a heist movie, with women at the center. They were outlaws.” So says Tia Lessin (“Trouble the Water”), one of the directors of “The Janes”, the thoroughly engrossing new HBO documentary about… abortion. Set in Chicago, in the late 60’s and early 70’s, “The Janes”, also directed by Emma Pildes (“Jane Fonda in Five Acts”), tracks the mostly forgotten story of a courageous band of women, who, fed up with the lengths to which women had to go to seek abortions, took matters into their own hands (literally). “The Janes” was an underground service which provided safe, affordable – and illegal – abortions but also a social movement that transformed the lives of countless women.

Tia and Emma joined Ken on Top Docs to discuss how the film came together, why, after so many years, the Janes were eager to share their stories and how the film’s timing couldn’t be more impactful. How did Emma’s family connection to the Janes unlock the door to this incredible story? What led this group of diverse women to embark on such a project, at great personal risk to themselves? And, how was it that an illegal abortion service was allowed to operate as an open secret in this heavily Catholic city — until the day it wasn’t? Now that we are in a post-Roe world, nothing could be more timely, instructive or inspiring than “The Janes”.

“The Janes” is now available on HBO and for streaming on HBO Max.

Hidden Gem:

Tia Lessin: “In Search of Monsters”

Emma Pildes: “Inquiring Nuns”

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@TheJanesFilm

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Descendant” with Margaret Brown

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 08:48:33 -0700

It’s not really about the ship. The first thing you have to understand about Margaret Brown’s (“The Great Invisible”, “The Order of Myths”) brilliant new Netflix documentary “Descendant” about the Clotilda, the last known ship to arrive with enslaved Africans in the U.S., is that it’s not primarily about the search for and discovery of this historic vessel. What carries her complex and lyrical film along in its looping journey across time and place are the stories of the descendants themselves. Lorna Woods, Joycelyn Davis and Emmett Lewis are just a few of the remarkable “treasure keepers” of Africatown, now part of Mobile, Alabama, who, for generations, have shared and protected the stories of their ancestors. But, when, as Margaret documents, the ship is discovered, who is to say where the narrative will go from here?

Margaret joined Mike and Ken to discuss how she picked up where she left off from her 2008 film “The Order of Myths”, also set in her hometown of Mobile, to embark on this unique creative journey. How did the work of writer, anthropologist and filmmaker Zora Neale Hurston’s inspire Margaret and become, through Hurston’s book “Barracoon”, a key narrative device in the film? Why did Margaret turn off the camera in the midst of shooting one of the most powerful moments in the entire film? And why is the issue of zoning, as unsexy as it is, so crucial to understanding the past, present and future of Africatown? As Margaret puts it, “Where I ended the film is not the end of their story…. The story continues”.

Hidden Gem:

Last Flight Home

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@margaretbrown

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Documentary Now!” with Alex Buono, Rhys Thomas & Seth Meyers

Fri, 28 Oct 2022 03:58:00 -0700

Can we all agree that the date of August 20, 2015 should be enshrined as one of the most important in the history of documentary? In case you’ve forgotten, that’s the date that “Documentary Now!” burst on the scene with the airing of its first episode: “Sandy Passage”, an unforgettable debut starring Fred Armisen and Bill Hader parodying the Maysles’ classic documentary “Grey Gardens”. Somehow, this crew of on and off-camera SNL talent (the show’s co-creators are Armisen, Hader, Seth Meyers, and Rhys Thomas) managed to pull off the not-so-small miracle of parodying the high priests and priestesses of documentary in half-hour masterpieces and, just as miraculously, found a network to actually air the program (IFC, for the record). Fast forward seven years and “Documentary Now!” has just premiered its first episodes of season 4 (actually, season 53 in the bizarre-o world of “Doc Now!”).

Seth, Rhys and Alex Buono (who directs with Rhys and is also the show’s cinematographer) took time away from whatever else they were doing to join Mike and Ken on Top Docs and talk about the collective creative genius (our words, as they are far too modest) behind this unique show. Stay tuned for answers to such questions as: “Why did it take until season 4 (er, 53) to parody the highly imitable Werner Herzog and Les Blank’s portrait of him, “Burden of Dreams”? How did the team find itself on a remote Welsh mountainside trying to build a sitcom set as howling winds threatened to blow the whole thing to smithereens? And what do you say to Cate Blanchett when she asks, “Is it OK if I wear giant Coke bottle glasses?” Join us as we peal back the layers on the show that dances on the line between the sublime and the ridiculous while never straying from its love of documentary. To paraphrase the show’s host, the immortal Helen Mirren, “I give you ‘Documentary Now!’”

Documentary Now! season 4 episodes discussed in this podcast include: “Soldier of Illusion” (written by John Mulaney) (parts 1 and 2), “Two Hairdressers in Bagglyport” (written by Seth Meyers), and “How They Threw Rocks” (written by Seth Meyers)

Documentary Now! can be seen on IFC and streaming on AMC+.

Follow on twitter:

@DocumentaryNow

@sethmeyers

@AlexBuono

@RhysThom2

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 02:46:50 -0800

“At first, I was terrified”. These are not words you expect to hear very often from Laura Poitras, one of the world’s most fearless and acclaimed documentary filmmakers. Afterall, this is the filmmaker who took on the U.S. intelligence community with her Academy Award-winning film “Citizenfour” about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. But shortly into our “Top Docs” interview about her trenchant and luminous new documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”, Laura began to use words like “nervous”, “intimidating”, and “terrified”. Rather than experiencing a potentially dangerous physical situation or government surveillance operation, Laura, instead, found herself confronting something even more formidable, the groundbreaking visual artist Nan Goldin. Not wanting to come up short in her portrait of someone that Laura describes as a legend, hero and inspiration, Laura was driven to create a documentary that would do justice to Nan, her artwork and her activism.

Laura joined Ken on “Top Docs” to talk about how she and Nan came together to collaborate on the film and form a strong creative partnership. Given Nan’s frequent use of live slideshows to present her most well-known work, how did Laura and Nan figure out the best way to feature Nan’s art in the film? Why and how did Nan and the activist group that she founded in response to the opioid crisis train their sights on the Sackler family, whose company created OxyContin? And in what ways do big themes like destigmatization, resistance and legacy feature prominently in the film? Join us for this lively conversation… and don’t be afraid.

Hidden Gems:

“Crossroads”

“Perfect Film”

Follow on Twitter:

@topdocspod

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” will be released by NEON in theaters on November 23 in New York City and December 2 in Los Angeles and San Francisco. A national release will follow. The film will premiere on HBO and HBO Max at a date to be announced

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Good Night Oppy” with Ryan White

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 03:36:00 -0800

All you need to know about Ryan White’s (“The Keepers”, “The Case Against 8”) enthusiasm for taking on the project that would eventually become his awe-inspiring new documentary “Good Night Oppy” is that the Cabbage Patch doll he had as a kid was the astronaut version (currently selling on Etsy for up to $200). Couple this opportunity to revisit his childhood passion for space with the fact that the company behind the project is Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment — makers of Ryan’s favorite movie of all-time, “E.T.” — and what you’ve got is the perfect creative marriage of filmmaker and subject.

Ryan joined Mike and Ken to explore the constellation of joyful moments and creative challenges that propelled “Good Night Oppy” on its journey from launch to successful landing. After the experience of spending 90 minutes inside a photoreal environment of Mars, what scene turned everything on its head and became Ryan’s favorite of the movie? What’s the inherent tension that exists between NASA scientists and engineers, and how did they manage to gel so well on this mission? How does the film bring to life the story of an adorable robot while remaining, at its core, a film about people and their attempt to do something for the betterment of humankind? And, as Oppy reaches the end of his miraculous mission, why did a song of Billie Holiday’s take on a starring role? Join us for an out-of-this-world conversation with Ryan White. Cabbage Patch doll not included.

Hidden Gem:

“Bad Axe”

Follow on Twitter:

@ryanwhiteIV

@topdocspod

“Good Night Oppy” premieres on Amazon Prime Video on Nov. 23.

”Bad Axe” with David Siev

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 04:00:00 -0800

With its mouth-watering comfort food and welcoming atmosphere, Rachel’s of Bad Axe is the kind of family-run restaurant you’d be lucky to find in your neighborhood or passing through any small town. But, in this case, Rachel’s, started by the Siev family 25 years ago and still going strong, stands for something much bigger. As filmmaker David Siev shows in his remarkably candid and deeply emotional first feature “Bad Axe”, the very essence of the modern American dream, in all its complexity and contradiction, is represented in his parents’ struggles to make it in the rural community of Bad Axe, Michigan.

David joined Ken to talk about how, at the onset of the pandemic, he returned to Bad Axe to join his family and instinctively started filming everything. Not intending at first to make a documentary, over time, David found an irresistible and urgent story emerging: that of a “model minority” family beginning to find its voice in Trump’s America. What was the “light bulb moment” that led David down the path of making a documentary? In what ways did his father’s lingering childhood trauma of living through and escaping the Killing Fields of Cambodia create a cascading effect on the family? And how is it that a place, which, at times, can be outright vicious to the hard-working Sievs, also inspires the kind of love letter that David sees at the heart of his film? Alternating chilling scenes of intolerance with poignant moments of a family’s unshakeable faith in each other, “Bad Axe” is a story as American as apple pie, baked with love by this extraordinary Cambodian Mexican American family.

Hidden Gem: “Sam Now”

Follow on Twitter:

@DavidSiev

@badaxefilm

@topdocspod

“Bad Axe” is currently available for streaming on Prime Video and other streaming services.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Sr.” with Chris Smith

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 04:52:00 -0800

One of them is a pathbreaking filmmaker whose oddball, bracingly original work re-defined the underground cinema of the 1960s and ‘70s. The other is one of the most acclaimed and beloved actors of the last 35 years. But, to each other, they are simply “Sr.” and “Jr.” — Robert Downey, Sr. (“Putney Swope”, “Greaser’s Palace”) and Robert Downey, Jr. (“Chaplin”, “Iron Man”), that is. At first glance, filmmaker Chris Smith’s (“100 Foot Wave”, American Movie”) beguiling new Netflix documentary “Sr.” is a thoroughly engaging up-close-and-personal look at this immensely talented father-son duo. But, when Sr. is diagnosed with a life-threatening degenerative disorder midway through production, the film takes on deeper and more universal meanings. What unfolds is a truly moving account of a son’s desire to better understand and connect with his somewhat enigmatic father before it’s too late.

Joining Ken on “Top Docs”, Chris describes the film’s evolution from a portrait of an artist to a much more personal family drama once Sr. was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. What was it like to arrive at Jr.’s house on the first day of shooting and be told, to your surprise, “Nothing is off limits.”? How did Sr.’s genius manifest itself in the rather unusual request he made of Jr. for a full-throated performance of a German folk song in order to engineer the perfect “left turn” for the movie? And, what email did Chris receive at the 11th hour that led to the film’s new and final ending? In making the film, one of Sr.’s guiding principles that Chris took to heart was to “learn to trust anything and anything can happen”. After watching “Sr.” and listening to our conversation with Chris, we trust that you’ll feel pretty much the same way.

“Sr.” debuts on Netflix on December 2nd.

Hidden Gem: “Vernon, Florida”

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@RobertDowneyJr

@topdocspod

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”I Didn’t See You There” with Reid Davenport

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 03:02:00 -0800

Director Reid Davenport joins Mike to discuss his new documentary, “I Didn’t See You There.” As the title intimates, this is a film about seeing and being seen. Reid confronts not only the legacy of P.T. Barnum–which he traces all the way to photographer Diane Arbus–but what he sees as the possibility of his own participation in the “freak show”, one which he notes doesn’t necessarily require a tent! He even questions the motivations of what he calls the “Neoliberal” documentary audience: what compels them to watch, to even pat themselves on the back?

Reid and Mike talk about both the pleasures as well as the challenges of navigating Oakland’s urban landscape in a wheelchair. Reid explains how his new camera allowed him to shoot his own film, as well as facilitated showing the world from what will be to many a wholly new perspective. And he describes a variety of purgatories that he experiences: with his family, but not mobile; mobile, but without them.

“I Didn’t See You There” will be showing on PBS’s POV starting January 9th.

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@reidjdavenport on instagram and @ReidDavenport on twitter

@idntseeyoutherefilm on instagram and @IDidntSeeUFilm on twitter

Hidden Gem: Goodbye CP

The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

”Retrograde” with Matthew Heineman

Tue, 13 Dec 2022 04:35:00 -0800

“The pivot”. It is one of the most talked about topics among documentary filmmakers. And for good reason. An unpredictable and ever-changing world can render the best laid plans obsolete and wreak havoc for filmmakers. In the course of making his urgent new documentary “Retrograde”, Matthew Heineman (“City of Ghosts”, “Cartel Land”) found himself facing a doozy of a pivot. After years of persistence, he and his team had finally gotten permission to embed with a group of U.S. Army Green Berets stationed in Afghanistan, only to encounter, with the U.S. pullout of all of its troops, a story without any characters. But when the U.S. Special Forces left, Matthew pivoted to the even more dramatic story of an Afghan general trying desperately to lead his troops and defend his crumbling nation against the fast-encroaching Taliban.

Joining Ken on “Top Docs”, Matthew discusses how he navigated this major shift and also sheds light on his distinctive approach to documentary storytelling. Why does Matthew intentionally exclude context from his films, believing that this creates a much more visceral and emotional impact? How did Matthew and the film’s other cinematographers manage to capture moments of great intensity without, in certain situations, understanding what was being said? And, up against a stroke of extraordinary bad luck, how did Matthew reconceive the film’s final scene in such a way to make the film’s ending even more powerful than he could have imagined. Thank goodness for the pivot.

“Retrograde”, released by National Geographic Documentary Films, is available now for streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.

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@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

@mheineman on Instagram and @MattHeineman on twitter

Hidden Gem: Murderball

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”What We Leave Behind” with Iliana Sosa

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 09:59:54 -0800

The story seems simple enough: An elderly man returns to his homeland to build a house for his family. And this man, Julian, seems a congenial, inviting presence: Always offering food, drink, and conversation. But in Iliana’s Sosa’s new documentary about her beloved grandfather, “What We Leave Behind,” there’s always a sense of mystery lurking.

Sosa builds this tone through her beautiful cinematography which captures not only everyday Mexican life, but also the deeper time of a place which contains the ruins of “The House of 100 Doors”--built for a demanding Spanish bride–as well as a rock named “El Castillo” where witches live. The result is a very personal film which also pulls us into the history of a family both Mexican and American, as well as the broader cultural and even economic relationship between the two nations. The film ultimately poses the question to all of us: What will be our legacy?

What We Leave Behind is now playing on Netflix.

Hidden Gem: A Married Couple

Follow:

@whatweleavebehindfilm on instagram

@la_ili_sosa on instagram and @boderchild on twitter

@topdocspod on twitter and instagram

The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

”Impact Filmmaking” with Chris Temple

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 03:52:00 -0800

When it comes to making documentaries with impact, filmmakers Chris Temple and Zach Ingrasci ("Living on One Dollar", "Salam Neighbor"), co-founders of the non-profit film studio Optimist, have walked the walk. Chris and Zach have created more than 15 films and series that have raised over $91 million dollars for the films’ causes. Their films and the impact work supporting them have changed lives and inspired thousands. Chris joins Ken for a special "Top Docs" episode to discuss the ins-and-outs of "impact filmmaking".

What do we mean when we talk about impact in relation to documentary filmmaking? What are some strategies for launching a successful impact campaign? What are Chris' top picks for pathbreaking, unforgettable impact films? Don't miss this insightful conversation. It will definitely impact how you see documentaries from here on.

For more information, go to:

Optimist Doc Club

Films mentioned in this episode:

Other resources:

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@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

@christemple on Instagram and @Christemple8 on twitter

@optimist on Instagram and @OptimistFilms on twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

2023 Oscar Shortlist with Anne Thompson

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 03:21:00 -0800

The chosen 15. On December 21st, the announcement came down: the Oscar Shortlist of 15 documentaries selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Documentary Branch to compete for the coveted award of Best Documentary Feature in the upcoming 95th Oscars. IndieWire Editor-at-Large Anne Thompson joins “Top Docs” to break down this year’s Oscar Shortlist and dissect the vote by the diverse, and somewhat unpredictable, documentary branch. What were the surprise misses? Which films are a sure bet to make the final 5? And why is this year’s race for the Oscar far more competitive and, therefore, much harder to predict than last year’s, which saw Questlove’s Summer of Soul take home the gold. Spice up your holidays by tuning in and get your scorecards ready!

Key awards mentioned in this episode:

IDA (International Documentary Association) Awards – Nominees and Winners

PGA (Producers Guild of America) Awards – Documentary Nominees

Critics Choice Documentary Awards – Winners

“Top Docs” Interviews with directors of these Oscar Shortlisted films:

All that Breathes

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Bad Axe

Descendant

Fire of Love

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song

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@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

@akstanwyck on Instagram and twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Sundance 2023 Lineup Rundown with Basil Tsiokos

Thu, 05 Jan 2023 09:27:16 -0800

It’s back! After two years of being virtual, the Sundance Film Festival, one of the world’s great film showcases, returns from January 19 – 29, 2023 to Park City and Salt Lake City, UT for a robust lineup of live, in-person screenings and events. While the second half of the festival will also feature online screenings, there is nothing like showing films “up on the mountain” to a packed audience of film fanatics. For the second year in a row, “Top Docs” caught up with a very busy Basil Tsiokos, Sundance Senior Programmer, Nonfiction, to preview this year’s lineup of (no-doubt) extraordinary documentary features and give us a programmer’s inside view of this amazing festival. And don’t miss Basil’s predictions for this year’s Oscar nominations in the Best Documentary Feature category!

To check out more info about the films and to find out which titles are available to view both in-person and (during the second half of the fest) online within the US, go to: festival.sundance.org

By the Numbers: Sundance Feature Submissions and Documentary Competition Sections:

FEATURE FILM SUBMISSIONS: Of the 4,061 feature film submissions, 1,662 were from the U.S. and 2,399 were international; 1,105 (27%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as women; 91 (2%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as nonbinary individuals; 1,676 (41%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as people of color; 547 (13%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as LGBTQ+.

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION:

63% or 10 of the 16 directors in this year’s U.S. Documentary Competition identify as women; 63% or 10 of the 16 identify as people of color; 13% or 2 of the 16 identify as LGBTQ+; 6% or 1 of the 16 identify as a person with a disability.

WORLD DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION:

46% or 6 of the 13 directors in the World Documentary Competition identify as women; 38% or 5 of the 13 as people of color; 23% or 3 of the 13 identify as LGBTQ+; 8% or 1 of the 13 identify as a person with a disability.

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@whatnottodoc on Instagram and @1basil1 on twitter

@sundanceorg on Instagram and @sundancefest on twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 09:08:10 -0800

Premiering at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, Academy Award-nominated director Elaine McMillion Sheldon’s ("Heroin(e)", "Recovery Boys") elegiac, stirring, and magical new documentary “King Coal” gives an insider’s unique perspective on the profound impact that coal has had on the people and mythos of Central Appalachia. As the daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter of coal miners, Elaine’s narrative comes from a place of personal experience and deep reflection — and stretches the boundaries of traditional documentary. Sitting down with Ken in Park City the night before her film’s world premiere, Elaine discusses the liberating effect of using hybrid storytelling strategies, the challenges of presenting a nuanced approach to a highly politicized issue, and her nervous anticipation of watching the film with her family for the first time. "King Coal" was produced by Diane Becker, Shane Boris, and Peggy Drexler.

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@elainemsheldon on twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

A big thanks to Portrait for hosting this conversation at Sundance.

”Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project” with Michèle Stephenson & Joe Brewster

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 03:39:00 -0800

10 years ago, filmmakers Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster premiered their epic personal documentary “American Promise” at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Special Jury Prize. Now, Michèle and Joe have returned to Sundance with the world premiere of their highly inventive, transcendent documentary portrait “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project”. Once again, the pair find themselves being honored for their dazzling work — this time taking home the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Documentary category. Fresh off the first public screening of the film, Michèle and Joe joined Ken to discuss how each discovered the revolutionary poetry of Nikki Giovanni, the process of finding the film’s visual language that was itself a poem, and the rich sources they were able to draw from, and blend together, to build an entire universe to honor the work of this extraordinary artist.

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@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

@michele_0608 on Instagram and twitter

@brewsterjoe on Instagram and @2joedigital on twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

A big thanks to Portrait for hosting this conversation at Sundance.

”The Eternal Memory” with Maite Alberdi

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 03:13:00 -0800

As a realistic account of the deprivations Alzheimers can bring, “The Eternal Memory” is harrowing. But it’s also the story of Augusto’s and Paulina’s determined love in the face of this challenge. And, finally, it’s the tale of Chile’s tragic yet ultimately triumphant democracy.

Maite Alberdi (director of the Oscar-nominated “The Mole Agent”) sat down with Mike at Sundance to discuss her film and how it shows memory as not the finished product of individual solitude, but ever-created between people and even within nations. “The Eternal Memory” was recently acquired by MTV Documentaries.

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@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

@lamaitealberid on twitter

@maitealberdi on instagram

Also mentioned in the pod: No

The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

A big thanks to Portrait for hosting this conversation at Sundance.

”A Still Small Voice” with Luke Lorentzen

Tue, 14 Feb 2023 03:24:00 -0800

Luke Lorentzen made a brilliant feature debut at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival with his sparkling documentary “Midnight Family”, a fast-paced look at a family-owned private ambulance business in Mexico City. Luke is back at this year’s Sundance, and this time he’s focusing on life inside one hospital in New York City. “A Still Small Voice” is an intimate portrait of the spiritual care department at the Mount Sinai Hospital and of one aspiring chaplain and her mentor.

Luke sat down with Ken at Sundance to discuss how he came to his latest topic, how he approached the role of time and pacing in a much different way than “Midnight Family”, and how he applied the principles of the spiritual care program to his own filmmaking practice. After the festival, Luke was honored with the Sundance U.S. Documentary Competition Directing Award.

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@LorentzenLuke on twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

A big thanks to Portrait for hosting this conversation at Sundance.

”The Elephant Whisperers” with Kartiki Gonsalves & Doug Blush

Tue, 21 Feb 2023 11:12:19 -0800

It’s an age-old query: Can humans live in harmony with other creatures on the planet? On their way to speaking to this question, in “The Elephant Whisperers” director Kartiki Gonsalves and producer Doug Blush show us the beauty, intelligence, and even danger of the creatures who share our world.

Kartiki and Doug joined Mike to talk about their Oscar-nominated short documentary. They tell Mike how the elephant caretakers, Bomman and Belli, both helped the young elephant Raghu and were helped by him as well. Why did they choose not to forefront some of the most dire threats to the elephants, including global warming, but instead focus on what they call “a family drama”? And what hope do they have for the future of India’s wildlife, and for the greater planet as well?

The Elephant Whisperers can be seen on Netflix.

Hidden Gems:

Writing with Fire (our conversation with directors Rintu Thomas & Sushmit Ghosh)

Bad Axe (our conversation with director David Siev)

Last Flight Home (our conversation with director Ondi Timor)

Follow:

@theelephantwhisperers on Instagram

Kartiki: @EarthSpectrum on twitter & @kartikigonsalves on Instagram

Doug: @madpixfilm on twitter

@topdocspod on twitter and Instagram

The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

”Stranger at the Gate” with Joshua Seftel

Fri, 24 Feb 2023 09:03:45 -0800

“Stranger at the Gate” charts one man’s delusion: That his neighbors are not the peace-loving, hard-working people they seem to be, but actually dangerous radicals deeply embedded in America’s heartland. But it also subtly portrays a more universal phenomenon of dehumanization–and then offers a hopeful example of where respect and love were able to provide a remedy.

Director Joshua Seftel sat down with Mike to talk about his Academy Award-nominated short documentary that tells the story of Mack, his family, and the good people of the Muncie Islamic Center as they found themselves on what seemed to be an inevitable collision course. Joshua and Mike discuss the classic “Middletown”, the changing landscape of central America, and the challenges not only of immigrants but of veterans as well.

“Stranger at the Gate” is available on the New Yorker website as well as YouTube.

Hidden Gem:

LBJ

Follow:

@strangeratthegate on Instagram

@jrseftel on Instagram & @JSeftel on twitter

@topdocspod on twitter and Instagram

The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

”How Do You Measure a Year?” with Jay Rosenblatt

Tue, 28 Feb 2023 03:39:00 -0800

It says something about filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt that if you go to his website (jayrosenblattfilms.com) and click on “Contact”, the page guides you to “16mm / 35mm rental information”. Jay is that kind of filmmaker — for over 40 years, he’s been making personal, finely crafted documentaries that, regardless of format, have the look and feel of a bespoke 16mm film. Following the success of last year’s touching short “When We Were Bullies”, which was nominated for an Oscar, Jay is back with another nomination in the Best Documentary Short category, this time for the poignant and universally-relatable “How Do You Measure a Year? In this short, Jay films his daughter Ella every year on her birthday, from age two to 18, answering the same set of basic questions that he poses. Joining Ken on the podcast to discuss how the project started out and the challenges, surprises and joys along the way, Jay sheds light on the evolving relationship between a father and daughter as seen through the magical medium of film.

Hidden Gem: Summer Nights

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The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

”Haulout” with Evgenia Arbugaeva

Fri, 03 Mar 2023 08:53:48 -0800

A man, alone, on a desolate beach. Armed and mumbling into a recording device in a soundscape of wind and waves. As director Evgenia Arbugaeva (co-director, her brother Maxim Arbugaev) tells Mike, the initial images of the Oscar-nominated short “Haulout” deliberately create solitude and quiet before the sudden arrival of nearly 100,000 stressed-out walruses: with Arctic ice no longer ensured, they must pile themselves tusk-to-tusk on the beach between feeding sessions. The film tracks the interactions-at-a-distance between the scientist Max Chakilev and these enormous mammals. But on a deeper level, it portrays a world undergoing tremendous change, one for which none of us are fully prepared.

"Haulout" can be seen on The New Yorker website.

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The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

2023 Academy Awards Breakdown with Clayton Davis

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 10:09:28 -0800

“And the Oscar® goes to…” Variety’s Senior Awards Editor Clayton Davis is back on “Top Docs” to break down this year’s Oscar races for Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short and to offer his predictions for who will walk away victorious on March 12th. With his encyclopedic knowledge of the Oscars and his finger-on-the-pulse of the overall Awards season, Clayton takes us through each of the five nominees in both categories and gives you his unique insights into the process. Awards pool, anyone? You don’t want to miss Clayton’s picks!

To be even more in-the-know, be sure to catch our “Top Docs” interviews with all of the Oscar-nominated directors in the documentary feature and shorts categories.

Clayton Davis is Variety’s Senior Awards Editor. He is also one of the hosts of the "Variety Awards Circuit Podcast" and the video web series, "The Take." He's been an awards, film and television analyst and critic for more than 15 years and has co-hosted the Oscars Pre-Show on ABC. Clayton is also co-founder and president of the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association and is a board member of the Critics Choice Association.

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The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

”Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV” with Amanda Kim

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 03:02:00 -0700

In “Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV” director Amanda Kim tells the story of the visual art pioneer. Kim traces Arnold Schoenberg and John Cage influence not only Paik’s musical art, but his visual work as well. She shows how the poor reception by German critics to his early experiments with televisions drove him to NYC, where he found himself working with some of the luminaries of downtown Manhattan’s best of the 1960s: not only Cage, but Merce Cunningham and Allen Ginsberg among many others.. And she traces his ultimate success both in the art world and beyond, notably on public television. The Paik who emerges seeks to show how the media that seemed bound to lead to corporate control and division could ultimately bring the world’s inhabitants together.

“Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV” is distributed by Greenwich Entertainment and will open at the Film Forum in New York on March 24th.

Hidden Gem: Town Bloody Hall

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The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

”The Disappearance of Shere Hite” with Nicole Newnham

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 09:08:54 -0700

Her books have sold tens of millions of copies, and in the 70s and 80s she strode widely across the cultural landscape of everything from talk shows to college tours. As Nicole Newnham (Oscar-nominated for “Crip Camp”) demonstrates in “The Disappearance of Shere Hite,” Hite’s persona was highly constructed, and nearly cinematic in its vision and specificity. But Newnham also makes a strong case for Hite as a pioneer in sexual research, one who revolutionized the way data was gathered and was deeply dedicated to finding the widest range of subjects as possible–racially & ethnically, as well as in terms of gender and sexual identity. Newnham’s cinematic approach adeptly both mirrors and challenges her complex subject.

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Tue, 06 Jun 2023 07:50:13 -0700

Miami Beach in the early ‘60s was a magnet for dreamers, the idle rich, and the young-and-restless. It was also an irresistible draw for a young, handsome California surfer named Jack “Murf the Surf” Murphy who quickly took Miami Beach by storm… and then just took it. Joining a high-flying crew of brash jewel thieves, Murphy and his accomplices made off with thousands in stolen gems. The crooks later pulled off a daring heist of the Star of India and other priceless jewels from the American Museum of Natural History, which made Murphy a national celebrity (and a convicted criminal). But when Murphy was later tied to a double murder of two young women, the media’s portrayal of Murf as a fun-loving bad boy no longer seemed to fit the real picture.

Bringing his own lens to the story, highly-acclaimed filmmaker R.J. Cutler (“Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry”) crafts a thoroughly engrossing – and extremely thoughtful – four-part series about Murf the Surf that avoids many of the common tropes of the true crime genre. Returning to Top Docs for his second visit, R.J. explores the cautionary approach he took to the media savvy Murphy, why he thought it was important to re-center the narrative to honor Murphy’s victims and his strong belief in letting the audience come to their own conclusions about Murphy’s prison conversion to born-again Christianity.

“Murf the Surf” is available for streaming on MGM+.

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Hidden Gem:

Crisis

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Wild Life” with Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 03:27:00 -0700

The quest for a lifelong mentor can be as tough a mountain to climb as, you know, a really big mountain. If you are Oscar®-winning filmmaker and world-class climber Jimmy Chin, not only do mountains and mentors play a huge role in your life, but, in the case of Jimmy and his Oscar-winning creative/life partner Chai Vasarhelyi, they are also at the center of their fascinating and deeply personal new documentary “Wild Life”.

Jimmy and Chai make a return visit to Top Docs (“The Rescue”) to share stories about the making of “Wild Life”, which focuses on a tight knit group of trailblazing mountain climbers and entrepreneurs, including the indomitable Kris Tompkins. When Kris’ husband, the larger-than-life Doug Tompkins (co-founder of North Face and Espirit) dies suddenly in a kayaking accident, Kris (former CEO of Patagonia) overcomes her grief to carry the torch of the couples’ unprecedented efforts to turn the largest private land donation in history into the creation of massive national parks in Chile and Argentina. Join us for this heartfelt conversation in which Chai and Jimmy describe what it took for Kris to make these conservation dreams a reality, as well as the filmmakers’ own formidable challenges in doing justice to their friends’ extraordinary lives.

“Wild Life” is currently streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Victim/Suspect” with Nancy Schwartzman & Rae de Leon

Mon, 19 Jun 2023 03:03:00 -0700

Nothing could be more sterile – or more frightening – than a cold, spare interrogation room. Victims and suspects alike are brought into these spaces where they are questioned by police and videotaped for later use as evidence. But what happens when the victim, even without realizing it, becomes the suspect – and the suspect becomes the lead witness? This is the disturbing truth uncovered in Nancy Schwartzman’s (“Roll Red Roll”) probing new documentary “Victim/Suspect”.

Nancy and producer/main subject Rae de Leon, the investigative reporter who broke the story for “Reveal”, join Ken to discuss the tragic circumstances and byzantine reporter’s journey at the heart of this Orwellian nightmare. What incentives drive some police officers to doubt the stories of sexual assault victims and instead use the interrogation process to gather “evidence” against them for filing a false police report? How did a documentary filmmaker and an investigative reporter join forces and navigate the best way to work together? And in what ways are the stories of the women featured in the film and Rae’s reporting being used to change police department practices across the country? The interrogation room will be better off for it.

“Victim/Suspect” is currently streaming on Netflix.

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Judy Blume Forever” with Davina Pardo & Leah Wolchok

Tue, 20 Jun 2023 03:10:00 -0700

Judy Blume is alive and well. While no longer writing books, at 85 she still bikes around the lively streets of Key West, stopping in to tend the book shop she bought a few years ago. And she serves as the vivacious, charismatic center of “Judy Blume Forever”.

Directors Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok sat down with Mike Merrill to discuss how their film centers Blume both within a coterie of authors she influenced as well as within the shifting cultural landscape of the key years that she was writing–the 1970s–that are still resonating in our world today.

Judy Blume forever is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

Hidden Gems:

Missing Allen

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”100’ Wave, Season 2” with Nicole McNamara & Joe Lewis

Wed, 21 Jun 2023 03:03:00 -0700

Meet The McNamara’s, the first family of big wave surfing. Garrett McNamara is one of the world’s premier big wave surfers; wife Nicole is a top big wave spotter; Nicole’s brother CJ rides the big waves, too. Now, son Barrel is (perhaps) on the path following in dad’s footsteps. If season 1 of HBO’s enthralling docuseries “!00 Foot Wave” was all about the pursuit of that illusive triple digit milestone, season 2 digs deeper into the rich and complex personalities who make up the elite big wave surfing community.

Joining Ken to discuss season 2 is Executive Producer Joe Lewis (“Fleabag”, “Transparent”) – making his second appearance on Top Docs – and Nicole McNamara, one of the series’ featured participants. How did Joe and director Chris Smith (“Tiger King”, “American Movie”) go about choosing new people to feature in season 2? What was it like for Nicole to confront major health issues during a very difficult pregnancy while husband Garrett seemed more focused on the big waves than on her? And how did cinematographer Karl Sandrock become an adjunct member of this unique family?

“100 Foot Wave, Season 2” is currently streaming on Max.

After you enjoy our conversation, be sure to check out the HBO Original 100 Foot Wave Podcast, which features Nicole as host interviewing many of the series’ standout characters (Top Doc’s own Mike and Ken served as Consulting Producers).

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”The Murdaugh Murders” with Julia Willoughby Nason & Michael Gasparro

Thu, 22 Jun 2023 02:15:52 -0700

6 young adults on a boat ride home after a clambake. It sounds everyday, even idyllic, but when the inebriated young scion of a local legal dynasty crashes the boat into a bridge, one of the young people loses her life. And “The Murder Murders: A Southern Scandal” traces how the ramifications ultimately lead to a double murder, as well as revealed a longstanding pattern of widespread theft and previous suspicious deaths.

Director Julia Willoughby Nason and Executive Producer Michael Gasparro (both of Fyre Fraud) joined Mike to talk about how their 3 part series on Netflix draws upon the conventions of “true crime” while also exploring a series of interlocking, intergenerational friendships as well as the broader social hierarchy of a rural county. How did they navigate the intricate web of rumor to find out the truth about the once seemingly all-powerful Murdaugh family?

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Hidden Gems:

Silver Blake Life

Smartless: On the Road

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

”Pamela, a love story” with Ryan White

Mon, 26 Jun 2023 07:55:39 -0700

Filmmaker Ryan White (“Good Night Oppy”, “The Keepers”) had no desire to make a documentary about ‘90s superstar Pamela Anderson. Not when the idea was first brought to him, anyway. But then, Pamela’s son urged him to at least meet his mother on Zoom. And that was all it took. Ryan quickly realized that the media image of Pamela as a two-dimensional blonde bombshell and attention-driven celebrity was not at all an accurate picture of the complex, intelligent, and funny person he would get to know while filming what became Ryan’s highly engaging new documentary “Pamela, a love story”.

Making a return visit to Top Docs, Ryan describes how vastly different his experience was making “Pamela” from his last film “Good Night Oppy”. What was it like for Ryan to have Pamela turn over her entire personal archive of diaries and videotapes and empower him to decide how to use them? How did Pamela’s spontaneous nature create the kind of atmosphere on set where anything could happen? And how did Ryan navigate the difficult waters of the Pamela and Tommy Lee sex tapes, which he knew had to be addressed, but which would likely bring up painful memories for Pamela? “Pamela” is a totally refreshing portrait that explores the many sides of love. Thank goodness for that Zoom call.

“Pamela, a love story” is currently streaming on Netflix.

Hidden Gems:

“Between the Rains”

“Q”

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Every Body” with Julie Cohen

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 03:34:00 -0700

When Academy Award®-nominated, Emmy®-winning filmmaker Julie Cohen (“RBG”, “My Name is Pauli Murray”) came across the NBC News archival footage of sexologist John Money and his patient David Reimer, she knew that this story had legs. But what she couldn’t have anticipated is that this dark chapter in the history of gender identity would lead her toward what ultimately became her groundbreaking new documentary “Every Body” – a major new film about Intersex people.

Making her third visit to Top Docs (but her first without frequent filmmaking partner Betsy West), Julie joins Ken to discuss her celebration of people who identify as the “I” in LGBTQIA+. Who was John Money and why was his work on gender identity so consequential — and harmful? How did she connect with the three film’s main participants, River Gallo, Alicia Roth Weigel and Sean Saifa Wall, and why did she choose to center the film around their stories? And in what ways are these three activists now leading the fight against unnecessary surgeries? With its focus on Intersex people and their long overdue fight for justice, “Every Body” is a film that “everybody” can and should embrace.

Released by Focus Features, “Every Body” is now in theaters everywhere.

Hidden Gem:

“Hidden Letters”

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”The Deepest Breath” with Laura McGann

Fri, 14 Jul 2023 08:48:08 -0700

Laura McGann’s “The Deepest Breath” is a film about two young people fated to meet despite their differences. Alessia is driven from a young age to compete: Holding her breath for minutes at a time in both the pool and the sea. Stephen travels the world, torn between his desire to see new people and places and his longing for home, and a more conventional life.

But it’s also about the wisdom of age, as we see their fathers–Enzo and Peter–dealing with the tragic outcome of their children’s intertwining. One eternally grateful, the other grieving, but coming to realize that his child’s life was one well-spent.

Join Mike as he discusses with Laura her visually and dramatically compelling film, one that almost literally immerses you in the beautiful, thrilling, but sometimes dangerous world of freediving.

The “Deepest Breath” will be screening in select theaters July 14th, and streaming on Netflix beginning on July 19th.

Hidden Gem:

“Wildcat”

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”20 Days in Mariupol” with Mstyslav Chernov

Mon, 17 Jul 2023 03:14:00 -0700

The letter “Z” seems innocent enough – until you see a Russian tank painted with that mark slowly turn its turret in your direction. For AP journalist Mstyslav Chernov, who, at the time, was covering the Ukrainian war from behind enemy lines in Mariupol, this was the moment when the Russians were closing in. As seen in his harrowing new documentary “20 Days in Mariupol”, in the period leading up to this, Mstyslav and his team had filmed graphic scenes of destruction and carnage at the hands of Russian bombs and shells. Contrary to Putin’s claims, civilians were being targeted by the Russian military and this team, the only international journalists left in the city, had managed to get the images out to the world.

Joining Ken on the podcast, Mstyslav discusses his frightful on-the-ground experience in Mariupol and the remarkable film that came out of it. How did Mstyslav find himself on the front lines of the propaganda war being waged by the Putin regime? Who was the enigmatic Vladimir, a kind of sage and protector, who ultimately led Mstyslav and his team to safety? And why does Mstyslav feel that, notwithstanding the terrible suffering documented in the film, there are also glimmers of hope?

Released by PBS Distribution, “20 Days in Mariupol” opens theatrically in NYC on July 14 and in LA and SF on July 21.

Hidden Gem:

Sans Soleil

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”The Accused: Damned or Devoted?” with Mohammed (”Mo”) Ali Naqvi

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 08:33:00 -0700

A young woman who gets into an argument over a drinking glass. A student who is suspended from his university for calling out its exorbitant fees. An activist who runs afoul of the government. All–and many more–are accused of violating Pakistan’s blasphemy laws: some of the strictest on the planet, featuring death as their ultimate punishment.

But the director of “The Accused: Damned or Devoted?” Mohammed (“Mo”) Ali Naqvi not only tells these individual stories but charts the rise of the cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi and his TLP party who use the furtherance of the blasphemy laws as the signature plank of their political platform. And while Rizvi claims that he is more interested in “chopping heads” than winning votes, Naqvi’s film asks if the same can be said for Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Pakistani government.

“The Accused” has been nominated for the Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. It can be seen on World.

Hidden Gem:

All That Perishes at the Edge of Land

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Bobi Wine: The People’s President” with Moses Bwayo & Christopher Sharp

Thu, 03 Aug 2023 03:47:00 -0700

It’s one thing to be a socially conscious pop musician; it’s an entirely different matter when that musician attempts to parlay his popularity in the music world into the political arena. For Afrobeat star Bobi Wine — whose personal and political journey is the centerpiece of the remarkable new documentary “Bobi Wine: The People’s President” — the stakes couldn’t be higher. His home country of Uganda faces daunting economic challenges and experiences rampant political corruption. When Bobi becomes a candidate in the 2021 presidential election, his campaign catches fire with tens of thousands of Ugandans, In response, the country’s longtime strongman, President Yoweri Museveni, perceives a serious threat to his hold on power and will stop at nothing to prevent Bobi from winning the election.

Joining Ken on the podcast, directors Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp chart the remarkable rise of Bobi Wine and the frightening acts of violence perpetrated by the ruling government against Bobi, his team and their supporters. How did Bobi Wine first come to the attention of the two directors and what brought them together to begin documenting this campaign? With so many graphic scenes of violence captured on film, how did they choose which scenes would be the most impactful? And, in the course of getting to know Bobi and his wife Barbie, how did the couple’s enduring love for each other become a central part of the story and a source of strength that not even the government of Uganda could touch.

Released by National Geographic Documentary Films, “Bobi Wine: The People’s President” opens theatrically July 28.

Hidden Gem:

Coach Zoran and His African Tigers

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields” with Lana Wilson

Fri, 11 Aug 2023 11:18:48 -0700

Director Lana Wilson says that in “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields” she’s showing how Shields found her way from “object of beauty to becoming a human being.” It’s a dramatic thesis, but one that Wilson brings to life in this Emmy-nominated documentary series. After the original “Pretty Baby”, “The Blue Lagoon”, and the Jordache Jeans commercials, Brooke found herself in her 4 years of college–where she developed both intellectually and artistically– and ultimately became the comic actor we see in “Suddenly Susan”. While the series is grounded in the deep archive of film from Booke’s career, some of the most telling footage is shot at her contemporary dinner table, surrounded by her two teenage daughters and her loving husband as they respectfully but seriously consider the meaning and undercurrents of her youthful work.

“Pretty Baby” is available on Hulu.

Hidden Gem:

Of Men and War

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Being Mary Tyler Moore” with James Adolphus

Tue, 15 Aug 2023 03:47:00 -0700

She could turn the world on with her smile. But, for the “real” Mary Tyler Moore — one of the biggest television stars of the 1970s — what lay beneath that smile? In his engrossing and incisive documentary “Being Mary Tyler Moore”, filmmaker James Adolphus (“Soul of a Nation”, “You Ain’t Got These”) presents a three-dimensional portrait of MTM, placing her in cultural context and illustrating what made her such a singular talent.

Joining Ken on the podcast, James describes his unexpected and thorough approach to the topic and how, eventually, Mary completely won him over. How is it that someone who had never seen a minute of the “Dick Van Dyke Show”, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” or the film “Ordinary People” came to direct this project? In what ways did Mary’s appearance on “The David Susskind Show” and in an interview with Rona Barrett illuminate both how Mary was perceived and how she asserted herself? And how did Mary’s final marriage with Dr. Robert Levine prove to be a truly liberating love story?

“Being Mary Tyler Moore”, which is nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, is available for streaming on Max.

Hidden Gem:

Killer of Sheep

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Dear Mama” with Allen Hughes

Thu, 17 Aug 2023 09:40:09 -0700

On the pod today, legendary director Allen Hughes (“Menace II Society”, “Dead Presidents”, “The Defiant Ones”) joins Mike to talk about his Emmy-nominated “Dear Mama”. The series traces the legacy of Afeni Shakur, Tupac’s mother and once a member of the Black Panthers, on her son’s life and music. Hughes’ series demonstrates how the many modes that Tupac worked in–party music, socially conscious hip hop, and gangsta rap–were informed by the revolutionary ethos of the Panthers.

“Dear Mama” is streaming on Hulu.

Hidden Gems:

Portrait of Jason

F for Fake

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Secrets of the Elephants” with Lucinda Axelsson

Fri, 18 Aug 2023 08:01:31 -0700

It’s not easy being an elephant these days. Devastating droughts (exacerbated by climate change), encroaching development, and relentless poachers force elephants across Asia and Africa to go on the run, literally, in the pursuit of food, water and, a place to call home.

Executive Producer Lucinda Axelsson (“Elephant Diaries”, “Elephants of Samburu”, “Meerkat Manor”) of the fascinating National Geographic series “Secrets of the Elephants” joins Ken on the podcast to discuss the almost insurmountable obstacles — largely manmade — facing elephants today and the extraordinary adaptability and intelligence that keeps these remarkable animals one step ahead of extinction. Lucinda takes us behind the scenes with the production team, which managed to capture some extraordinary, never-before-seen moments in the wild, and shares her own “secrets” about what keeps drawing her back to the elephants’ special world.

Hidden Gems:

Frédéric Tcheng: “Un Film Dramatique”, “The Secret Life of Plants”

Bethann Hardison: “Fire of Love”, “Amy”

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@bethannhardison and @invisiblebeautyfilm on Instagram and @frederictcheng on twitter

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival Lineup with Ken Jacobson

Wed, 04 Oct 2023 09:48:06 -0700

Mike is joined by Ken who, when he’s not Co-Creator and Co-Host of “Tod Docs”, serves as the Executive Director of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. Mike and Ken discuss some of the highlights of this year’s lineup including the Gala Films, a number of other features that include standouts from Sundance, a World Premier, and some of the Oscar-qualifying shorts.

The 32nd Annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival runs from October 6-14th in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Check out https://hsdfi.org/ for more details.

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@hsdff on Instagram and @HSDFI on twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Beckham” with Fisher Stevens

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 10:24:32 -0700

From the opening moments when David Beckham strolls through a country field wearing a beekeeper’s outfit, you know you’ll be witnessing another side to one of the world’s most famous people. In “Beckham”, a 4-part series on Netflix, director Fisher Stevens (producer of “The Cove” and “Tiger King”, and an actor on stage and screen for 40 years, most recently playing Hugo Baker on “Succession”) reveals the life and career of a man whom he says has a unique disposition: Craving love, but determinedly individualistic.

Fisher speaks with Mike about some of Beckham’s most important relationships: his father; his manager, Sir Alex Ferguson; and his wife, Victoria, aka Posh Spice. They discuss what control means for David, from his father’s early invocations of its importance, to Beckham’s midnight ramblings through his London home scrubbing surfaces and trimming the wicks of candles. And they share stories of what it means to be an American fan of soccer… er, um… football.

Hidden Gems:

Burden of Dreams

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@fisherstevens and on Instagram and @fisherstevensbk on twitter

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix

”The Mission” with Amanda McBaine & Jesse Moss

Tue, 17 Oct 2023 03:46:00 -0700

Inspired by the adventures stories of his youth as well as a “radical” interpretation of Jesus’ “Great Commision” , 26-year-old American John Chau set off to the distant North Sentinel Island to tell the people there–supposedly completely isolated and putatively unfriendly to visitors–of his Savior.

Directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (Boys State) join Mike to discuss not only what drove John, but who enabled him like “Pastor Bobby” and the evangelizing group All Nations. And they also explore those who either cautioned him in the moment, like John’s own father, who warned him away from colonial and imperialist thinking. As well as those who, through hard-won insight gained through experience, can provide a critical perspective now, like historian Adam Goodheart and missionary and linguist Dan Everett.

In the end, McBain’s and Moss’s film suggests, in imagining our encounter with the “untouched” other, we are telling a story about ourselves, and a lost world that never existed but that we persist in pursuing.

"The Mission" is now showing in New York in Los Angeles. It will be opening more widely in the US and Canada over the month of October.

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix

”Big Vape” with R.J. Cutler

Thu, 19 Oct 2023 10:11:52 -0700

Two young, idealistic, talented design students from Stanford set out to create a replacement for smoking tobacco, a vaporizing device that will save millions of lives. Instead, they end up building the perfect addiction machine, and, with their wildly effective marketing campaign, they hook a plethora of non-smokers, including teenagers.

RJ Cutler (“The War Room”, “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry”) speaks with Mike about his new 4-part documentary series on Netflix, “Big Vape”. In it, he traces the tragic arc of the vaping company Juul. Cutler’s vision allows him both to understand the humanistic goal of the company’s founders and employees, while showing how the incentives of a venture-backed company ultimately led them astray. And he makes a strong case that the story of Juul, of tech solutions leading to unintended consequences, is the story of our era, one especially relevant in a time when we are seeing what results from the powerfully addictive effects of social media.

Hidden Gem:

Turn Every Page

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”The Pigeon Tunnel” with Errol Morris

Tue, 24 Oct 2023 06:06:48 -0700

In “The Pigeon Tunnel”, Errol Morris has crafted a career-culminating work. Morris skillfully deploys and redeploys: the revelatory recreations that he has been known for since “The Thin Blue Line”; an interview with a slippery subject that surpasses that even of “The Fog of War” subject Robert McNamara; and the intellectual curiosity on display in “Fast, Cheap, & Out of Control.” He sharpens them all, reflects back on them, and yet throws it all into the pale of “productive ontological uncertainty”.

Errol joins Mike to discuss the life and career of David Cornwell, better known by his pen name, John LeCarré. In Cornwell Morris finds his ultimate subject: an avowed, unrepentant fabulist . At its core, much like the memoir that Cornwell wrote with which the film shares a title, is the insight that his spy novels are maybe even more influenced by his childhood–his con man father, his missing mother–then the few years he spent in the intelligence game. And always, behind both his work as well as Morris’ is the worry–fear? belief? assurance?–that the final room, the ultimate safe, the culminating tunnel that haunts his work is quite bereft of any clarifying meaning.

“The Pigeon Tunnel” can now be viewed on Apple+

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix

”Sly” with Thom Zimny

Tue, 31 Oct 2023 02:06:00 -0700

There’s nothing “sly” about Sylvester Stallone. His iconic screen characters, most notably, Rocky Balboa (“Rocky” and four others) and John Rambo (“Rambo: First Blood” + four others), are about as direct as they come — and, seemingly, so, too, is their creator. But, Emmy award-winning director Thom Zimny (“Bruce Springsteen: Wings for Wheels: The Making of ‘Born to Run’”) reveals that, even as Stallone was becoming famous for making some of the most successful films of all time, as a filmmaker, he has somehow never managed to receive the in-depth treatment that he deserves.

Thom joined Ken on the pod to discuss his insightful new documentary “Sly”, a revealing look into Stallone’s legacy and creative process. Delving into Stallone’s remarkable career, Thom discusses the recurring themes of Stallone’s work, his painful relationship with his father, and the deeply personal impact that his films have had on audiences.

“Sly” releases on Netflix on November 3.

Hidden Gem:

The YouTube Effect

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@tzimnyc on Instagram and @ThomZimny on X

Sun, 03 Dec 2023 03:07:00 -0800

In 1990, at the age of 26, in the wake of a heart attack which, in the words of one expert, “liquified” the core of her brain, Terri Schiavo entered a “persistent vegetative state”. As “Between Life and Death: Terri Schiavo’s Story” shows, over the next 15 years her husband Michael and her immediate family would fight over her fate: in the press, in the courts, in legislatures, and ultimately in the office of the President of the United States.

Mike spoke with Executive Producers Amanda Spain and Alex Waterfield about how Terri’s situation raises questions medical, moral, political, legal, and even philosophical. And they explain how her life became highly politicized, a focal point for the anti-abortion movement and even a broader Christian Nationalist agenda. But throughout it all, they tell Mike, in their film they tried to maintain a focus on Terri and her family.

“Between Life and Death: Terri Schiavo’s Story” premiers on MSNBC Sunday, December 3rd at 10pm ET and then streaming on Peacock.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Anselm” with Wim Wenders

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 03:03:00 -0800

Both were born in 1945 in Germany during the last year of WWII. Both became giants of the modern German art movement: Anselm Kiefer as a painter and sculptor; Wim Wenders as a filmmaker whose landmark films include “Wings of Desire”, “Paris, Texas” and “The American Friend”. The two had met in 1991 and discussed the possibility of doing a film together, but it wasn’t until the two collaborated on Wenders’ new 3-D documentary “Anselm” that the stars were finally aligned.

Joining Ken on the pod, Wenders paints a picture of this monumental artist whose vast studio spaces are as much works of art as the paintings and sculptures that are housed there. For Wenders, what makes working in 3-D such a crucial element in immersing the audience in these dynamic environments? How has Wenders incorporated elements of fiction into his documentaries and vice versa? And why is it so important to him to create a portrait of the art rather than of the artist? It may have taken over 75 years for these two legendary artists to work together, but the payoff was well worth waiting for.

Hidden Gem:

“Reality Winner”

“Anselm” is released by Sideshow and Janus Films and opens in LA in 3-D at the Laemmle Glendale on December 15.

Follow:

@wimwendersfoundation on Instagram and @wimwenders on twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Smoke Sauna Sisterhood” with Anna Hints

Thu, 07 Dec 2023 03:05:00 -0800

Building on the smoke sauna tradition of Southern Estonia (included by UNESCO on its “Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”), filmmaker Anna Hints brings together a group of Estonian women to share the smoke sauna experience and to share some of their most personal stories. The result is Anna’s masterfully constructed and emotionally layered Sundance award-winning documentary “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood”.

Joining Ken on the pod, Anna discusses how she conceived of the smoke sauna in her film as a safe space and a source of mutual support for the women in her film. What was the process of finding a smoke sauna, casting the film and shooting it over multiple seasons? How did she work with her cinematographer Ants Tammik to build trust with the women and create a distinctive visual portrait? And what does Anna reveal about one of the scenes that caught Ken completely by surprise? Over the course of the film, the rising power of these stories is undeniable. There’s nothing “intangible” about that.

“Smoke Sauna Sisterhood” is released by Greenwich Entertainment.

Follow:

@annahints on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”American Symphony” with Matthew Heineman

Tue, 12 Dec 2023 03:17:00 -0800

One is a beloved bandleader and soon-to-be Grammy nominee; the other, a “New York Times” bestselling author. But, as Matthew Heineman’s (“Retrograde”, “The First Wave”, “Cartel Land”) intimate and heartfelt new documentary “American Symphony” makes clear, life is not always so glittering for high-profile couple Jon Batiste and Suleika Jaouad. Batiste must consider the possibility that his ambitious “American Symphony” may be beyond his creative capabilities just as Jaouad confronts a life-threatening health crisis.

Joining Mike and Ken on the pod, Matthew returns to “Top Docs” to discuss the multitude of creative and logistical challenges that he faced during the making of the film. How did Matthew win Batiste’s trust only to find that access was far from assured? In what way did silence become one of the most impactful moments in the entire film? And how did Batiste’s climactic performance at Carnegie Hall almost not make it on camera? Clearly, in the life of this unscripted drama, improvisation was just as critical for the director as for his subjects.

“American Symphony” is streaming on Netflix.

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@mheineman on Instagram and @MattHeineman on twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Little Richard: I am Everything” with Lisa Cortés

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 03:24:00 -0800

Director Lisa Cortés’ (“The Remix: Hip Hop X Fashion”, “Invisible Beauty”) electrifying and groundbreaking documentary about Richard Penniman (aka “Little Richard”) proves the point that the stories passed down about the origins of rock and roll have been whitewashed. The so-called “Architect of rock and roll”, Little Richard was ripped off, copied, and otherwise taken for granted by a white music establishment all too eager to embrace the likes of Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and the Rolling Stones.

Joining Ken on the pod, Lisa describes how the film goes beyond biography to delve into the undertold story of the Black queer origins of rock and roll. Why was it that, at different periods, Richard could swerve so drastically from being outwardly, publicly queer to denying his sexual identity? What was Richard’s complex and changing relationship to preaching the gospel? And what was the one question that Lisa would have asked Richard had she been able to? “Little Richard” is so much more than a music doc; it’s everything you’ve been missing about one of the true geniuses of rock and roll.

“Little Richard: I Am Everything” is streaming on Max.

Hidden Gem:

“Richland”

Follow:

@misscortes on Instagram and twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Emmy Nominations Breakdown with Scott Feinberg

Mon, 18 Dec 2023 16:39:23 -0800

It’s Emmy time. Yes, finally, after a long delay, the Emmys are almost here. “The Hollywood Reporter”’s Executive Editor of Awards Scott Feinberg joins Mike and Ken to break down the 2023 Emmy nominees in all the major documentary categories, including Outstanding Documentary Program; Outstanding Series; Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking; and Outstanding Directing. Besides his Emmy predictions, Scott also weighs in on all the early documentary Oscar buzz. The 2023 Creative Arts Emmy Awards, including all the major doc categories, will be announced on January 6th.

An award-winning columnist and podcast host (“Awards Chatter”), Scott Feinberg is “The Hollywood Reporter”’s Executive Editor of Awards. Scott anchors THR’s coverage of the Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy races, as well as major film festivals. Best known for his “Feinberg Forecast,” and for “Awards Chatter”, Scott’s work has been recognized with six National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards and five SoCal Journalism Awards from the Los Angeles Press Club.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Oscar Shortlist 2024 Breakdown with Anne Thompson

Tue, 26 Dec 2023 03:15:00 -0800

Welcome to the Anne-ual Top Docs Holiday Special featuring the one-and-only Anne Thompson, Editor-at-Large at IndieWire! Anne joins Mike and Ken to tackle this year’s Best Feature Documentary Oscar Shortlist, released on December 21st. One day following the release of the list, Anne is already fired up and ready to go. How competitive is this year’s race? Who are the Frontrunners, Runners Up and Dark Horses? Which film will win it all? Park yourself in front of a roaring fire and pop in those earbuds. It’s Oscar time!

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@akstanwyck on Instagram and twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Art for Everybody” with Miranda Yousef

Thu, 28 Dec 2023 03:02:00 -0800

This holiday season, discover another side to “The Painter of Light”! In our final installment of "Live from Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival", Miranda Yousef joins Mike to discuss her feature documentary, “Art for Everybody”. From an early age, Thomas Kinkade struggled with the impact of his impoverished youth, torn between emulating van Gogh’s critical regard and seeking the economic success of a Norman Rockwell or Walt Disney. As Yousef explains, turning himself into a successful brand cost Kinkade dearly, and in the thousands of “unpublished” works that he left behind, we can sometimes glimpse revealing aspects of Kinkade as an artist as well as a living, breathing human with a multi-faceted personality.

While firmly grounded in her subject, Yousef’s film manages to go well beyond the life and oeuvre of this one individual to ask questions about the nature of art: Is it meant only to “talk to” other art, to problematize representation, or can it also properly provide joy and even comfort? And her film may ultimately be read as a plea that no matter what value we place on Kinkade's art, that we not hold disdain for those who appreciate it differently.

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@artforeverybody on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy” with Susan Margolin & Simon Kilmurry

Tue, 02 Jan 2024 03:08:00 -0800

The only movie to win an Academy Award for Best Picture with an X rating, “Midnight Cowboy” is one of those movies that once you see it, you never forget it. It broke taboos and made American movies relevant again; it both reflected the changing times and was revolutionary. And it had Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman in the indelible roles of Joe Buck and Ratso Rizzo. The late Nancy Buirski’s final film, “Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy”, masterfully captures the expanding universe of “Midnight Cowboy” and the creative powerhouses who turned James Leo Herlihy’s novel into legend.

Producers Simon Kilmurry and Susan Margolin join Ken on the pod to discuss “Midnight Cowboy” director John Schlesinger’s vision, his influences and constraints. In what ways did a gay novelist and gay director, and a blacklisted screenwriter, infuse the film with its outsider ethos? Is/is not “Midnight Cowboy” a queer film? And how does the documentary aesthetic invigorate the movie? Simon and Susan also reflect on the legendary career of Nancy Buirski, a creative force whose life and career impacted so many in the documentary field.

“Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy” is shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.

Hidden Gems:

Simon Kilmurry: “In the Shadow of Beirut”

Susan Margolin: “Lovin’ Stuff”

Follow:

@midnight_cowboy_doc on Instagram and @SKilmurry twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Apolonia, Apolonia” with Lea Glob

Thu, 04 Jan 2024 03:00:00 -0800

Surrounded by a Bohemian cast of characters, she was conceived and grew up in an avant-garde theater in Paris; she aspired to be a painter. What could be more romantic than that? In “Apolonia, Apolonia”, director Lea Glob’s epic and fascinating portrait of Apolonia Sokol, romantic ideals intermingle with the hard realities of what it takes for a talented young woman without a trust fund or family connections to make it in the art world.

Joining Ken on the pod, Lea describes how, as a Danish film student, she became intrigued by Apolonia, so much so that she continued filming with her off-and-on for 13 years. What was it about Apolonia and her life that grabbed Lea’s attention and held her focus for so long? What was the key moment in Los Angeles when Apolonia, facing a personal crisis, called on Lea’s camera to make a bold statement of freedom? And how did a health crisis in Leas’ life widen the film’s lens and help save her own life? It’s a story as captivating and complex as any painting.

“Apolonia, Apolonia” is shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.

Hidden Gem:

”The World is Family”

Follow:

@apolonia_apolonia_film on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”32 Sounds” with Sam Green

Tue, 09 Jan 2024 03:10:00 -0800

Not just a movie about sound, but an interactive feast for the senses, “32 Sounds” is the latest in filmmaker Sam Green’s (“The Weather Underground”, “A Thousand Thoughts”) unique “live” documentaries. Inspired by the great 1993 film “Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould”, the film delivers a heightened sensorial experience through an incredibly wide array of interviews, original footage, archival material and, of course, sounds.

Joining Ken on the pod, Sam goes deep inside his own creative process. What exactly is a “live” documentary, and how did Sam come up with this innovative concept? What is the idea behind “ghost voices”, and how did Ken’s random connection to one of the film’s interviews cause him to experience his own ghost voice? Of all his films, why is “32 Sounds” the one that has changed Sam the most? It’s only appropriate that we invite you to listen to our interview with Sam Green. Let’s call that the 33rd sound.

“32 Sounds” is shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.

Hidden Gem:

“Tongues Untied”

Follow:

@sam_b_green on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Mon, 29 Jan 2024 03:08:00 -0800

Kicking off our on-the-ground coverage of Sundance 2024, Julian Brave Noisecat and Emily Kassie join Mike to discuss their new film, “Sugarcane”.

In this film, they explore the legacy of the St. Joseph Mission, one of many segregated residential schools promulgated by the Canadian government and run by the Catholic Church. The stories they tell are deeply personal (Julian’s grandmother attended the school, and his father was born there) as well illustrative of a wider history of abuse within the schools. As they explain, they deploy and reshape various filmic conventions–the Western, archival, the travel doc–in innovative ways to do justice to the lives and stories of their subject. The result is a many-layered testament to survival and renewal despite deep, still-ongoing pain.

Thanks to Amos Cochran of Edit/Score for hosting our 2024 Sundance interviews. Edit/Score is a new music library with an innovative approach to finding music for your film. Listen to the library and learn more at editscoremusic.com

The Presenting Sponsor of Top Docs is Netflix.

Follow:

@emilykassie on Instagram & twitter

@jnosiecat on Instagram & twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

"Union" with Brett Story, Stephen Maing & Chris Smalls

Thu, 01 Feb 2024 03:03:00 -0800

In the second of our live, in-person interviews at Sundance 2024, award-winning directors Brett Story (“The Prison Landscape in Twelve Landscapes”) and Stephen Maing (“Crime + Punishment”), along with Amazon Labor Union (ALU) president Chris Smalls, the film’s main protagonist, join Ken to discuss the world premiere of “Union”.

In this riveting, verité documentary, we meet Chris and other current and former employees inside a tent (ALU’s makeshift HQ), as they form an independent, grassroots labor movement to unionize Amazon’s largest fulfillment center in New York City. What begins as a longshot fight against one of the world’s largest companies, eventually becomes the most watched labor election in decades. Brett, Stephen and Chris discuss the immense challenges faced by the union, its highly effective efforts to galvanize Amazon workers, and the creative spark set off by this union of two acclaimed filmmakers.

Thanks to Amos Cochran of Edit/Score for hosting our 2024 Sundance interviews. Edit/Score is a new music library with an innovative approach to finding music for your film.

Listen to the library and learn more at editscoremusic.com

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Follow:

@unionthefilm on Instagram and twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

"Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza" with Michael John Warren

Tue, 06 Feb 2024 03:29:00 -0800

Siouxsie and the Banshees. Ice-T. Nine Inch Nails. All were on the slated for the first Lollapalooza lineup in 1991. But as Michael John Warren, director of the new 3-part Paramount+ series “Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza,” tells us in our live interview at Sundance, his account of the history of the festival–first intended as a goodbye tour for Jane’s Addiction–is more than a trip down memory lane for Gen X.

The festival, he explains, pulled together a number of threads from the LA Alternative scene and beyond: Not just tattoos and piercings, but politics as well. As Michael describes it, the results of his nostalgia trip revealed that the themes over 30 years ago still are “heartbreakingly” relevant today: LGBTQ rights, abortion rights, and censorship amongst others.

The result is a series that like much of Michael’s work is both incredibly fun as well as attuned to the issues that still matter today.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Follow:

@MJWfilms on twitter and @mjwfilms on Instagram

@topdocspod on twitter and Instagram

"Porcelain War" with Slava Leontyev & Brendan Bellomo

Thu, 08 Feb 2024 03:24:00 -0800

Toward the end of this year’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning documentary “Porcelain War”, one of the directors and main subjects of the film, Slava Leontyev, says, “Ukraine is like porcelain. Easy to break but impossible to destroy.” Slava, along with his wife, Anya, create beautifully crafted “porcelain beasts” that used to be their main professional focus. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Slava has served with the Ukrainian Special Forces and Anya dodges landmines in the fields near their home.

Joining Ken for a live, in-person interview at Sundance 2024, directors Slava Leontyev and Brendan Bellomo describe the unlikely circumstances that brought them together and the unique creative process that resulted in this remarkable film. Amidst the constant battle against the Russian invaders, Slava, Anya, and their friend Andrey Stevanov (the film’s DP) see a world around them that is broken, but, through the courage of their resistance, cannot be destroyed.

Thanks to Amos Cochran of Edit/Score for hosting our 2024 Sundance interviews. Edit/Score is a new music library with an innovative approach to finding music for your film.

Listen to the library and learn more at editscoremusic.com

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Follow:

@brendanbellomo and @anyaslavaporcelain on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

"The ABCs of Book Banning" with Trish Adlesic

Tue, 13 Feb 2024 03:18:00 -0800

A children’s book about Rosa Parks. A graphic adaptation of “The Diary of Anne Frank”. A Pulitzer Prize-winning book by a Nobel Laureate. These are but a few of the books that have been restricted, challenged, and banned in dozens of states across the U.S. In the new documentary “The ABCs of Book Banning” (directed by Sheila Nevins, produced and co-directed by Trish Adlesic, and co-directed by Nazenet Habtezghi), the filmmakers go to the source: a fourth grade class in Jacksonville, FL to hear what the students themselves have to say about this latest wave of book banning in America.

Producer and co-director Trish Adlesic joins Ken to discuss what’s at stake in school and public libraries and why it is so critical that we listen to young people about what is being denied to them when books are taken off the shelves.

“The ABCs of Book Banning” has been nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary Short. It can be streamed on Paramount +.

Hidden Gems:

Trish Adlesic: “Camp Courage”, “American Symphony”

Sheila Nevins: “Last Song from Kabul”, “American Symphony”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Follow:

@thesheilanevins on Instagram and twitter and @trishadlesic on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

"The Barber of Little Rock" with John Hoffman

Thu, 15 Feb 2024 03:50:00 -0800

The fact that Arlo Washington, featured as the main protagonist in John Hoffman and Christine Turner’s inspiring documentary “The Barber of Little Rock”, is, indeed, a barber is almost beside the point. From owning one and then multiple barber shops, to founding the Washington Barber College and starting People Trust Credit Union, the first minority-owned financial institution in Arkansas, Arlo is a force of nature. He’s always thinking of new ways to address issues of equity in the Black community and create generational wealth.

Joining Ken on the podcast, John Hoffman describes not only Arlo’s big picture ideas but also his deep compassion for those in need and his unique ability to truly listen to others. Once Arlo mastered the arcane details of Community Development Financial Institutions, he was off-and-running, creating the only bank in a Black neighborhood that previously had none. A single bank won’t reverse decades of discrimination, but one barber has made a remarkable head start.

“The Barber of Little Rock” has been nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary Short. It can be streamed on newyorker.com.

Hidden Gem: “Audible”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Follow:

@story_syndicate on Instagram and @storysyndicate_ on twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

“Island in Between” with S. Leo Chiang & Jean Tsien

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 03:04:00 -0800

The island of Kinmen is a small island with a potentially big problem. Situated just off the coast of China, but part of Taiwan, Kinmen would likely be the first line of defense should the Chinese government decide to invade Taiwan. Emmy-nominated director S. Leo Chiang, who was born in Taiwan, worked in China and also lived for years in the U.S., explores the complex relationship between place, identity and politics in his insightful and masterfully crafted documentary short “Island in Between”.

Joining Ken on the pod, Leo and producer Jean Tsien delve into the backstory of Kinmen — a flashpoint between Taiwan, China and the U.S. going back to the Chinese Civil War —and its present day role as a tourist spot, military base and home to thousands of people who live betwixt and between. Leo and Jean also illuminate how their personal backstories of growing up in Taiwan informed the making of the film and what makes their creative partnership so special.

“Island in Between” has been nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary Short. It can be streamed on The New York Times Op-Docs site.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Follow:

@SLeoChiang on Instagram and twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

"The Last Repair Shop" with Kris Bowers & Ben Proudfoot

Wed, 21 Feb 2024 03:26:00 -0800

Continuing our coverage of Academy Award-nominated shorts, Mike speaks with Kris Bowers (previously nominated for “A Concerto is a Conversation”) and Ben Proudfoot (an Academy-Award winner for “The Queen of Basketball”) , directors of “The Last Repair Shop”.

The film sketches the stories–both representative of the Los Angeles workforce, as well as fascinating in their own right–of 4 repair workers who fix the instruments of students from the LAUSD. Lyrical in presentation, and symphonic in structure, the film can be seen not only as a paean to the redemptive powers of music, but a call for reconciliation in a time of deep polarization.

You can watch “The Last Repair Shop” on Disney+.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Follow:

@krisbowersmusic on Instagram and twitter

@bgproudfoot on Instagram and twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

Hidden Gems:

The Act of Killing

The Sentence of Michael Thompson

"Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó (Grandma & Grandma)" with Sean Wang

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 03:25:00 -0800

Continuing our coverage of Academy Award-nominated shorts, Mike speaks with Sean Wang about his loving tribute to his grandmothers. As he describes the film: “Nǎi Nai is my grandma. Wài Pó is my grandma. Together they are a grandma super team that dances, stretches, and farts their sorrows away.” Despite its seeming insularity, and its general mood of fun and mischief, the film opens up to become as well a profound meditation on mortality.

You can watch “Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó (Grandma & Grandma)” on Disney+.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Follow:

@seanswang on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

Hidden Gem: The Scared is Scared

"To Kill a Tiger" with Nisha Pahuja

Sun, 25 Feb 2024 12:22:56 -0800

When Ranjit and his family turn to the Indian legal system to seek justice for his daughter who had been raped by three local young men, they face not only daunting odds from the system but deep resistance from their village.

Nisha Pahuja’s Academy Award-nominated film “To Kill a Tiger” traces the profound tension Ranjit experiences: on the one side is the promise of recent national legislation that empowers children who have been sexually assaulted; on the other are the restrictions of the customs and traditions of a village which would like to “make peace” and marry Ranjit’s daughter off to one of her assailants. But throughout it all, Ranjit finds support to carry on in the courage of his daughter, who wants to tell her story in court, who insists on justice.

“To Kill a Tiger” will stream on Netflix at a date to be announced.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Follow:

@nishapahuja on twitter and nishappics on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

"Daughters" with Angela Patton & Natalie Rae

Thu, 29 Feb 2024 03:52:00 -0800

We’ve saved the last of our live, in-person interviews at Sundance 2024 for the winners of the Sundance U.S. Documentary Competition Audience Award and overall Festival Favorite, the incredibly moving, tear-jerking, and, hopefully, policy-shifting documentary “Daughters”. Directors Angela Patton and Natalie Rae join Ken to discuss their world premiere screening and the life-changing organization “Girls For a Change” that Angela founded.

Over the course of the film, we meet Lashawn (5), Diamond (10), Unita (11), Sherita (15), and their families. Missing from their home lives are their fathers who are all incarcerated in a Washington, DC prison and who long to have some physical contact with their daughters, which is prohibited by prison policy. As the film unfolds, we learn about the “Date with Dad” program, a father-daughter dance which represents the only opportunity for these fathers and daughters to experience a so-called “touch visit”. When the “date” finally arrives, the hugs are tight, the emotions raw and the tears flow — both on-screen and off.

“Daughters” will be released later this year on Netflix.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Follow:

@sistah_angela, @natalieraerobison, and @daughtersdocumentary on IG

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

Oscar Nominees Special with Clayton Davis

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 03:15:00 -0800

Joining us for the third year in a row, Variety’s Senior Awards Editor Clayton Davis breaks down this year’s Oscar races for Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short and offers his predictions for who will be victorious at the 96th Academy Awards on March 10th. With the feature doc category taking on a very international flavor this year, what does Clayton think of how the process unfolded from the shortlist to the nominations? How might Netflix’s late acquisition of “To Kill a Tiger” affect the outcome? In what is considered a very tight race, what might tip the balance?

With his encyclopedic knowledge of the Oscars (you’ll even catch a reference to “How Green Was My Valley” in the pod) and his finger-on-the-pulse of the overall Awards season, Clayton takes us through each of the nominees and gives you his unique insights into the process.

Also, be sure to catch our “Top Docs” interviews with all of the Oscar-nominated directors in the documentary feature and shorts categories.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Follow:

@ByClaytonDavis on Instagram and twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

Oscar Nominees:

Features:

20 Days in Mariupol

Bobi Wine: The People’s President

Eternal Memory

Four Daughters

To Kill a Tiger

Shorts:

The ABCs of Book Banning

The Barber of Little Rock

The Last Repair Shop

Island In Between

Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó (Grandma & Grandma)

"Reality Winner" with Sonia Kennebeck

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 03:35:00 -0700

How much do you really know about Reality Winner, the veteran and NSA contractor who shared a document regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election with “The Intercept”, and then subsequently served several years in Federal prison as a consequence?

Sonia Kennebeck’s (Enemies of the State, National Bird) “Reality Winner” melds a host of timelines–before the arrest & after; during the FBI interrogation in her home; from the viewpoint of family as well as others who have bucked the national security state–to tell a broader story than the one you may have heard. What was the actual reason Reality shared the document? What really constitutes National Defense Information? How common is it for the US Government to imprison people for sharing a single document? How much is “The Intercept" to blame for revealing her as their source? Should we celebrate Trump’s conviction under the WWI-era Espionage Act? Your views on these questions and much more may be complicated by Kennebeck’s deep dive into Reality’s story: Her putative crime, her treatment by the government, as well as her personal ambitions, past and current.

Hidden Gem: Q

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Follow:

@soniakennebeck on Instagram and twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

"Anxious Nation" with Laura Morton & Vanessa Roth

Tue, 26 Mar 2024 03:15:00 -0700

Many of the issues that plagued the young people of America decades ago–binge drinking, drunken driving, teenage pregnancy, smoking, to name a few–have greatly declined in significance. But in their place we have witnessed a seemingly ever-deepening mental health crisis amongst our youth, one partly rooted, as our guests tell us, in a rise of anxiety.

The directors of “Anxious Nation,” Laura Morton and Vanessa Roth, join Mike to explain how their own family experiences drove them to engage with this essential topic. In their film they explore the deep roots of anxiety–not only on the personal level of family dynamics, but reaching far into our evolutionary past. And they explain as well many of the current accelerants of the endemic anxiety experienced by our children. Finally, they broach ways to alleviate the suffering for the kids and for their parents: While none are a magic bullet, families can find methods and tools to help manage anxiety, and ultimately can seek solace in activities that can provide a deeper meaning and a resulting perspective on their daily struggles.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

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@vanessarothdoc on twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

"Girls State" with Amanda McBaine & Jesse Moss

Thu, 04 Apr 2024 03:32:00 -0700

So much for campfire singalongs and Capture the Flag. Directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss once again plunge into the world of summer camp for young politicians-in-training with “Girls State”, a riveting and exhilarating follow up to their Emmy Award-winning 2020 documentary “Boys State.” The comparisons may be inevitable, but “Girls State” forges its own path with memorable characters, a compelling narrative arc and richly layered themes.

Joining Ken on the pod, Amanda and Jesse discuss how they took a fresh approach to “Girls State” embracing the idea of creative risk taking. What led them to choose Missouri as the location for the film, and how did the fact that the Missouri Boys State program was taking place simultaneously on the same college campus as Girls State present both a challenge and an opportunity? Were they surprised to find that Missouri’s red state politics weren’t necessarily reflected in the political leanings of the majority of young women participating in the program? And how did the leaked Supreme Court ruling on Dobbs, which happened during the production of “Girls State,” become an important backdrop for the drama happening inside the camp, as well as in society at large?

“Girls State” launches on Apple+ April 5th.

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"The Greatest Night in Pop" with Bao Nguyen

Thu, 11 Apr 2024 03:26:00 -0700

“Check Your Ego at the Door”. Those words were scrawled on a piece of paper and taped to the door of A&M Studios on the night of January 28, 1985. The story behind that command is the subject of director Bao Nguyen’s (“Be Water”) thoroughly captivating new Netflix documentary “The Greatest Night in Pop” about the once-in-a-lifetime event that drew dozens of the world’s biggest pop stars together on one night to record what would become the ‘80s phenomenon “We Are the World”.

Bao joins Ken on the pod to describe everything that went into the making of “We Are the World” and how he went about telling the story using a highly creative and seamless blend of archival footage, interviews and recreations. What prompted singer Harry Belafonte’s dream to galvanize the pop community to raise funds to combat the Ethiopian famine and led to this one magical, high stakes evening? How did the legendary producer Quincy Jones (who posted the note) manage to bring out the best in everyone and keep the trains running on time? And how did Bao approach his portrayal of the complicated and flawed superstar Michael Jackson, who co-wrote the song with Lionel Ritchie?

It turns out that “The Greatest Night in Pop” makes for a great night in documentary viewing, too. ““The Greatest Night in Pop” is available now on Netflix.

Hidden Gem: The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On

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@thegreatestnightinpop on Instagram and @baomnguyen on twitter/X

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Our Most Popular Pods, Season 3

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 03:25:00 -0700

To finish out Season 3, we're revisiting some telling moments from three of our most popular shows of the season:

Laura McGann, "The Deepest Breath"
Anna Hints, "Smoke Sauna Sisterhood"
Fisher Stevens, "Beckham"

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Classic: "Navalny" with Daniel Roher (from September 2022)

Thu, 02 May 2024 03:34:00 -0700

While we gear up for Season 4, we thought we'd replay some of our favorite shows from the past few years. Today, we’re presenting again our interview from September of 2022 with Daniel Roher regarding his film, Navalny, which depicts the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Since then, the film won the Academy Award for best Documentary. Despite the attention brought by the film, in February of this year, Alexei Navalny died in the prison in which Vladimir Putin had confined him.

“Navalny” is available on HBO and HBO Max.

Follow on Twitter:

@DanielRoher

@Navalny

@topdocspod

Classic: "Summer of Soul" with Amir "Questlove" Thompson (from January 2022)

Thu, 09 May 2024 09:00:26 -0700

While we gear up for Season 4, we are sharing some of our favorite shows from the past few years. Next up is "Summer of Soul", and our interview with director Amir "Questlove" Thompson. Since we first aired this show in January of 2022, the film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Classic: "Dick Johnson is Dead" with Kirsten ("KJ") Johnson (from October 2021)

Thu, 16 May 2024 03:32:00 -0700

While we gear up for Season 4 of "Top Doc", we're sharing some of our favorite episodes of the past few years. Today, we re-present a pod from October of 2021.

You can follow us on twitter @topdocspod

Other films directed by Kirsten Johnson:

Cameraperson

Deadline

People who worked on the film:

Hidden Gem: Marjoe

Also mentioned in the pod:

Monty Python’s Flying Circus

Charles Addams

Lacan on social death

Derrida (the documentary)

Quantum Entanglement

The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill

"Albert Brooks: Defending My Life" with Rob Reiner

Mon, 27 May 2024 10:09:42 -0700

Already famous as an actor, Rob Reiner made his directorial debut in 1984 with the landmark mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap”, which kicked off a new subgenre and inspired countless references to turning the knob “up to 11.” But, it has taken 40 years for the legendary creative hyphenate (director of “Stand by Me”, “When Harry Met Sally”, “A Few Good Men” and many more) to direct his first “real” documentary, “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life”, a loving embrace of his lifelong friend, the comedic genius Albert Brooks.

Joining Ken on the pod, Rob shares insights into what makes Albert tick, why it took his friend so long to agree to the film, and how he was inspired by “My Dinner with Andre” to sit down over cheesecake with his former Beverly Hills classmate. With his first documentary, Rob proves to be equally adept as an interviewer as he is chronicler of Albert’s career through a selection of Albert’s’ brilliant stand-up appearances, clips from his movies, and testimonials from a who’s who of comedy heavyweights. The result is a thoroughly charming and, ultimately, inspiring portrait of friendship itself. What took you so long, Rob?

“Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” is available now on Max.

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@robreiner on twitter/X

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Power" with Yance Ford

Thu, 30 May 2024 08:25:52 -0700

Yance Ford’s voice is key to his new documentary on Netflix, so here’s how he describes “Power”: “Driven to contain threats to social order, American policing has exploded in scope and scale over hundreds of years. Now it can be described by one word: ‘Power’”.

Yance’s narrative is deeply rooted in a historical analysis of the roots of American policing–Indian removal, slave patrol, the anti-Labor municipal police of the 18th and 19th centuries; in his analysis, all driven by the protection of property. But his focus ultimately resolves on the deeply personal effects that policing has on individuals and communities.

“Power” can now be streamed on Netflix.

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@yford on twitter/X

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"American Nightmare" with Felicity Morris & Bernadette Higgins

Tue, 04 Jun 2024 03:52:00 -0700

In 2015, a young California couple, Aaron Quinn and Denise Huskins, was awakened by a home invasion, drugged, and blindfolded; Denise was kidnapped. But that isn’t the only disturbing horror at the heart of the harrowing Netflix docuseries “American Nightmare”. Sensitively and imaginatively directed by Felicity Morris and Bernadette Higgins (“The Tinder Swindler”), this true crime drama focuses as much on the local police department’s disturbing disregard for the couple, and for the facts of the case, as it does on the original crimes.

Joining Ken on the pod, Felicity and Bernadette describe how their approach to “The Tinder Swindler” and “American Nightmare” avoids the tropes and traps of the standard true crime formula, resulting in documentaries that feature the victims as the primary storytellers. From their choice of lighting and interview staging, to how the series is structured, every element of the production supports the directors’ vision and gives power back to Aaron and Denise — one more step in the couple’s journey to awaken from their American nightmare.

“American Nightmare” is streaming on Netflix.

Follow:

@felicityhmorris on Instagram and @fliss_morris on twitter/X

@bernadetteberniehiggins on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X

Hidden Gem:

“Pamela, a love story”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Our Planet II" with Huw Cordey

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 02:54:00 -0700

Sir David Attenborough’s still got it. As he proves in Netflix’s extraordinary nature series “Our Planet II”, the 98-year-old legendary British biologist, natural historian, narrator, and writer remains one of the documentary world’s great talents.

Joining Mike and Ken on the pod, “Our Planet II" Series Producer Huw Cordey discusses the ins-and-outs of collaborating with narrator Sir David and the tremendous challenges of this mind-blowing nature series. Picking up where Our Planet left off, the sequel explores how and why a vast array of species embark on their annual migratory journeys. Along the way, Huw describes how all the key creative elements, from the extraordinary cinematography to the finely-honed scripts, come together to make stars of these remarkable creatures, great and small. They are the real legends of this story.

“Our Planet II” is streaming on Netflix.

Follow:

@huwcordey on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X

Hidden Gem:

“Big Oil v the World”

"Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York" with Anthony Caronna & Howard Gertler

Fri, 14 Jun 2024 03:00:00 -0700

In the early 1990s, a serial killer stalked his victims not by slipping into houses under cover of darkness or by abducting victims from isolated highway rest stops, but rather by haunting crowded, lively gay bars in Manhattan–he even interacted with others in these bars, sometimes the very friends of his victims.

What makes “Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York” so compelling is the way director Anthony Caronna and executive producer Howard Gertler bring to bear a chronicling of gay life in the city at that time–with both its joys and its terrors during an era of widespread crime against queer New Yorkers–to explain how the killer managed to get away with his crimes for so long. And on the way they pay both great respect to the full, complicated lives of those who were lost, as well as those they left behind.

You can watch “Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York” on Max.

Follow:

@hgertler on Instagram and

@auntyanthony on Instagram and @AnthonyCaronna on twitter/X

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X

Hidden Gems:

Licensed to Kill

Split Screen

"STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A." with Jamila Wignot

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 03:05:00 -0700

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Memphis sound was everywhere: Sam and Dave, Otis Redding, Carla Thomas, Isaac Hayes — the list goes on. Not only did the Memphis sound (a.k.a. Memphis soul) bring an amazing range of musical talent to the world, it also shined a light on the unsung city of Memphis, Tennessee and on a remarkable record company called Stax Records. In her expansive HBO docuseries “STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A.”, director Jamila Wignot (“Ailey”) goes inside the recording studio and widens her lens to look at the deep cultural impact that the musicians and executives of Stax had on American culture.

Joining Ken on the pod, Jamila discusses what drew her into this epic, constantly surprising story of a small record label that grew to be one of the centers of the music world — only to see the entire enterprise come to a tragic end. How did Stax records become a magnet for Black musicians and producers and a beacon for experimentation and improvisation in popular music? In what ways did Stax, with its interracial musical acts, break down racial barriers, while, at the same time, fall short in confronting the issue of race in the South? And what made the 1972 Wattstax concert in Los Angeles, with over 100,000 mostly Black fans, the “most badass thing” you can imagine? This docuseries is stacked with one fascinating, enlightening story after another.

“STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A.” is streaming on max.

Follow:

@jamilaw on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X

Hidden Gem:

“Pumping Iron”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Hollywoodgate" with Ibrahim Nash’at & Shane Boris

Tue, 09 Jul 2024 03:34:00 -0700

When the U.S. military pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021, effectively ending America’s longest war, that seemed like the end of the story for most journalists. But for director Ibrahim Nash’at, the story that he wanted to tell was just beginning. In his haunting new documentary “Hollywoodgate”, Nash’at does what virtually no other journalist or filmmaker has dared to do: tag along with the victorious Taliban military as it goes about reasserting itself over every aspect of Afghan society.

Ibrahim and producer Shane Boris (“Navalny”, “Fire of Love”) join Ken on the podcast to discuss the immense challenges and ever present dangers that Ibrahim faced during production. What drew Ibrahim to this story initially and what convinced Shane to join him as one of the producers? How did Ibrahim come to focus on two main figures in the film, and how did they complete “two sides of the story”? And how did seeing the word “Hollywoodgate” written on the entrance to an abandoned U.S. base in Kabul provide a moment of clarity for Ibrahim — and, ultimately, lead to the making of this extraordinary and unforgettable film?

Follow:

@ibrahimnsht and @shane.boris on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X

Hidden Gems:

Ibrahim Nash’at: “Return to Homs”

Shane Boris: “Talking Heads”, “Cameraperson”

"Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa" with Lucy Walker

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 03:14:00 -0700

“Climbing the mountain” is a fitting description of the uphill struggle that all documentary filmmakers face when taking on any new project. Acclaimed filmmaker Lucy Walker (“Bring Your Own Brigade”, “The Crash Reel”) takes that metaphor to new heights with “Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa,” her ambitious, multilayered new documentary portrait of world class mountain climber Lhakpa Sherpa.

Joining Ken on the pod for a return visit, Lucy talks about her deep admiration for Lhakpa, who, growing up in the Himalayas of Nepal, always felt a strong spiritual connection to Mount Everest. But, as a woman climber and a Sherpa, Lhakpa had to fight to overcome rampant discrimination and a series of seemingly insurmountable obstacles to achieve her dreams. “Mountain Queen” masterfully documents Lhakpa’s attempt to summit Everest for a world record-breaking 10th time and reveals that her ultimate quest may be to inspire her daughters to climb their own mountains.

“Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa” streams on Netflix beginning on July 31st. You can find our 2022 convo with Lucy about “Bring Your Own Brigade” here.

Follow:

@lucywalkerfilm on Instagram and twitter/X

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X

Hidden Gem:

“Maya and the Wave”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Telemarketers" with Adam Bhala Lough & Sam Lipman-Stern

Fri, 09 Aug 2024 07:41:18 -0700

Continuing our Emmy coverage, today we speak with the creators of the Emmy-nominated HBO documentary series, “Telemarketers”. Co-director Adam Bhala Lough describes the 3-part series this way: “Two scumbag telemarketers discover that there are cogs in the wheel of a multimillion dollar scam. And so they band together to try to take down the scam and then take down the industry.”

Adam joins Mike on the pod along with one of the characters he lovingly calls a scumbag: his co-director and cousin Sam Lipman-Stern. They discuss the other scumbag, Pet Pespas, who despite being an recovering if accomplished telemarketer as well as a recovering if chronic heroin addict–or maybe because of both those things–is the driving moral center of the series. In addition to exposing the scam that is telemarketing for the local chapters of several powerful charitable organizations such as the Fraternal Order of Police and the Police Benevolent Association, the series provides the depiction of friendship despite the odds as well as the seemingly unlikely growth of Sam as a talented documentary filmmaker.

Hidden Gems:

“The Land of Look Behind”

“Crazy Rulers of the World”

Follow:

@AdamBhalaLough on twitter/X

@samlipmanstern on Instagram and twitter/X

@patrickjpespas on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"The Jinx -- Part 2" with Andrew Jarecki

Tue, 13 Aug 2024 10:27:17 -0700

9 years after the debut of his remarkable docuseries “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst”, which included a stunning confession by Durst on a hot mic, acclaimed filmmaker Andrew Jarecki (“Capturing the Friedmans”) is still at it. In April 2024, HBO released the first of his new six-episode series, “The Jinx - Part Two”, an investigation every bit as chilling and riveting as Part One... and maybe even more disturbing.

Joining Ken on the pod to talk about his epic saga of the New York real estate tycoon turned murderer, Andrew explores the backstory of Durst’s now famous five-word confession (“Killed them all, of course”) and takes us through the Los Angeles trial that found Durst once again trying to beat a murder charge. Along with a fascinating cast of characters, Part Two explores the dark theme of complicity by Durst’s family and friends who, time and time again, chose money and loyalty over doing the right thing. One might say about Andrew’s quest, “Exposed them all, of course”.

“The Jinx - Part Two” is nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series

Hidden Gems:

“Darwin’s Nightmare”

“Screwball”

Follow:

@andrew.jarecki on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Jim Henson Idea Man" with Ron Howard

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 03:31:00 -0700

It’s been 34 years since the stunning, untimely death of Jim Henson at the age of just 53. But, in the years since, Henson’s creations (aka The Muppets) have continued their reign on “Sesame Street”, at theme parks and in the movies. Jim Henson’s coterie of lovable characters is as present as ever. Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard (“A Beautiful Mind”, “Frost/Nixon”) takes on the legacy of the brilliant puppeteer and filmmaker in his deeply researched, playful and heartfelt documentary, “Jim Henson Idea Man”.

Ron joins Ken on the pod to discuss how, years ago, a conversation with the late director Jonathan Demme spurred him on to start making documentaries, and why he finds it so challenging and rewarding. With his latest documentary, Ron has found a subject that both piques his curiosity and dovetails with some of the themes of his own life (early success on television followed by a successful career directing movies; the challenges of balancing one’s passion for work with commitment to family; and the excitement of the next project that always beckons). The result is one of Ron Howard’s most personal and fascinating documentaries to date.

“Jim Henson Idea Man” is nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series and Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program.

Follow:

@RealRonHoward on Instagram and twitter/X

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X

Hidden Gem:

“Agents of Chaos”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Escaping Twin Flames" with Cecilia Peck & Inbal Lessner

Sun, 18 Aug 2024 14:24:18 -0700

We continue our Emmy coverage with a conversation with the filmmakers behind the Netflix series, “Escaping Twin Flames”: director Cecilia Peck as well as executive producer and editor Inbal Lessner (both of “Brave Miss World,” and “Seduced: Inside the Nexium Cult.”) Here is how Cecilia describes the series:

“Escaping Twin Flames is a three part Netflix doc series investigating ‘Twin Flames Universe’, which is a purported online relationship coaching school. This series follows former members of the group and family members, and focuses on the methodology used by this group to attract and indoctrinate and then control the lives of its members. It does pay particular attention to how, under the guise of being LGBTQ-friendly, Twin Flames Universe recruited within the gay, bi, and trans communities and then forced a heteronormative ideology onto its members.”

With the series nominated for Outstanding Editing, Cecilia, Inbal, and Mike dig into a sequence that leverages precisely chosen and deftly edited clips from the trove of materials from social to demonstrate exactly how the leaders of this group, Jeff and Sheleia, attracted, indoctrinated and integrated new members. They then go on to explore the ramifications that the group’s strict gender ideology has had on both the participants in the group, as well as their family members.

Follow:

@ceciliapeck on Instagram and twitter/X

@inballessner on Instagram and @inbal_lessner on twitter/X

Hidden Gems:

“Harlan County, USA”

“Victim/Suspect”

“Stormy”

“Fire of Love”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Anatomy of a Scene from "Beckham" with Fisher Stevens

Tue, 20 Aug 2024 03:03:00 -0700

Fisher Stevens returns to the pod bearing 5 Emmy Nominations for his 4-part Netflix Series about the British football legend. He digs in deep with us on the opening sequence of Episode 3 of the series: "Golden Balls". And his delight is evident in meeting his old friends once again--Victoria and David, certainly, but Luís Figo, Gary Neville, and even Sir Alex Ferguson as well.

You can also listen to our original interview from October of last year!

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix

Anatomy of a Scene from "The Greatest Night in Pop" with Bao Nguyen

Fri, 23 Aug 2024 03:51:00 -0700

Director Bao Nguyen returns to “Top Docs” to illuminate the creative process behind his captivating, and now multi-Emmy nominated, Netflix doc “The Greatest Night in Pop” about the behind-the-scenes studio recording of the iconic 1980s famine relief song “We Are the World”. Bao takes us deep inside his approach to characterization and tension-building in the fascinating and compelling sequence in which the legendary Bob Dylan struggles to record his part of the song.

When producer Quincy Jones and musical genius Stevie Wonder come to his aid, the scene takes on a deeper meaning. Bao explores what makes this moment so magical and such an enticing creative challenge.

“The Greatest Night in Pop” is nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program and Outstanding Sound Editing.

“The Greatest Night in Pop” is streaming on Netflix. You can listen to our original interview with Bao Nguyen from earlier this year

"Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV" with Mary Robertson & Emma Schwartz

Sat, 24 Aug 2024 12:01:26 -0700

At one time, being “Slimed” on Nickelodeon was seen as the ultimate television rite of passage and a harmless bit of fun. But as “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” — Mary Robertson (“Framing Britney Spears”) and Emma Schwartz’ (“Elon Musk’s Crash Course”) devastating investigation of the warped culture at Nickelodeon in the 90s and 2000s — reveals, the atmosphere both on and off the set at Nickelodeon could be anything but harmless, fun, or safe.

Joining Ken on the pod to discuss their Emmy-nominated, 5-part Investigation Discovery docuseries, Mary and Emma detail the rise and fall of Nickelodeon “Golden Boy” Dan Schneider. His oversight of some of the most successful shows on the network left some staffers, young actors and the actors’ parents deeply upset or worse. In the case of Nickelodeon star Drake Bell, who comes forward for the first time to tell his story on camera in the series, he was sexually abused by dialogue coach Brian Peck. “Quiet on Set” pulls back the curtain on what went wrong at Nickelodeon and gives these young actors a chance to finally tell their side of the story.

“Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” is nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series and Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program.

“Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” is streaming on Discovery Plus, Hulu and Max

Follow:

@_rmaryr_ on Instagram and @mkrobertson on twitter/X

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X

Hidden Gems:

Mary: “To Be and to Have”

Emma: “Jacinta”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

2024 Toronto International Film Festival Doc Lineup with Thom Powers

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 03:30:00 -0700

The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, which runs September 5 – 15, 2024, promises, once again, to be one of the world’s premier showcases for documentaries. TIFF’s renowned Documentary Programmer and DOC NYC co-founder Thom Powers (Pure Nonfiction, WNYC’s Documentary of the Week) joins Ken to break down the TIFF DOCS lineup and discuss what are sure to be some of the Fall awards season’s most talked about and acclaimed documentaries.

Featuring 21 feature documentaries from 24 countries, the TIFF DOCS section is more international in scope than ever, covering a wide range of topics, from highly topical political docs (“The Last Republican”, “From Ground Zero”) to deeply intimate personal stories (“Mistress Dispeller”, “A Sister’s Tale”) and awe-inspiring cinematic experiences (“Space Cowboy”, “The Last of the Sea Women”). The Fall doc season is here, and Toronto is ground zero.

Follow:

@thompowers1 on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and X/twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Blink" with Daniel Roher & Edmund Stenson

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 03:56:00 -0700

Like many parents of young children who run around the house wreaking havoc, Montrealers Edith Lemay and Sébastian Pelletier have their hands full. But in their case, what concerns them most is that three of their four children suffer from a genetic condition called retinitis pigmentosa, which is gradually robbing Mia, Colin and Laurent of their eyesight. In their deeply moving new documentary, BLINK, filmmakers Edmund Stenson (“Finding Fukue”) and Daniel Roher (who won the Oscar® for “Navalny”) observe how this diagnosis has created a shockwave through the family, but also led to new adventures and personal growth.

Ed and Daniel join Ken on the pod to talk about how they came to know the Pelletiers and bear witness to the family’s yearlong journey around the world. Designed to help the children create strong visual memories that will last a lifetime, the trip is guided by an epic bucket list that also serves to drive the film’s narrative. As we witness the family traverse the globe, checking off items on the list, we find ourselves seeing the world through different sets of eyes. Scenes of delight and awe alternate with moments of uncertainty and fear. Ultimately, BLINK is a story of opening up and finding your place, including in your own family.

BLINK is being released by National Geographic Documentary Films in select theaters starting October 4th.

Follow:

@daniel_roher on Instagram and @DanielRoher on twitter/X

@edmund.stenson on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X

Hidden Gems:

Edmund: “A Man Vanishes”

Daniel: “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Last of the Sea Women" with Sue Kim

Tue, 15 Oct 2024 10:04:27 -0700

“The Last of the Sea Women” sounds like it might be a B movie classic in the mold of “King Kong vs. Godzilla.” But while Sue Kim’s fascinating and sui generis feature directorial debut shares very little in common with that movie genre, it does spotlight a group of extraordinary women from South Korea who have been living like real-life superheroes for centuries.

Sue joins Ken on the pod to talk about the remarkable haenyeo divers, who for many generations have been free diving off the coast of Jeju Island and other places in South Korea to harvest seafood and live as successful independent entrepreneurs. In the process, the haenyeo, most of whom are in their 60s and 70s, have formed a powerful bond and created a culture that has become legendary. Now, due to climate change, pollution and other factors, the haenyeo’s way of life is under threat. As the haenyeo become active in the fight to preserve their culture and protect the environment, a new generation of haenyeo has emerged. But, with most haenyeo aging out of the profession, can this way of life survive? If this sounds like the plot of a superhero movie, then you wouldn’t be far off.

“The Last of the Sea Women” is currently streaming on Apple+

Follow:

@suebacca on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

Hidden Gem:

“Liquor Store Dreams”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Carville: Winning is Everything, Stupid" with Matt Tyrnauer

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 03:01:00 -0700

If you don’t want to get burned in American politics, “Lean into the fire.” So says James Carville, the world’s most famous presidential campaign manager, in award-winning filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer’s thoroughly engaging and refreshing new documentary, “Carville: Winning is Everything, Stupid.” Carville’s sharp-edged political commentary has, for years, provided a constant stream of content for cable shows and podcasts. But it wasn’t until mid-2023, when Carville became one of the first mainstream voices in Democratic circles to call for Biden to quit the 2024 campaign, that he achieved a level of prominence that he hadn’t experienced since the early 90s, when he helped Bill Clinton become president.

Joining Ken on the pod, Matt talks about what led him to James as the subject of his latest film even before the stuff hit the fan with Carville and Biden — and what it was like to be filming when the Biden-Trump debate changed everything. As with all master filmmakers, Matt’s approach goes beyond the present tense moment. He deftly navigates Carville’s poignant backstory and inner life, his upbringing and the public/private moments of his marriage to former Republican campaign consultant Mary Matalin. It turns out that leaning into the fire is sound advice for documentary filmmakers, too.

“Carville: Winning is Everything, Stupid” is playing in select theaters.

Follow:

@tyrnauer on Instagram and @mtyrnauer on X

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

Hidden Gem:

“Paul T. Goldman”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Martha" with RJ Cutler

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 03:32:00 -0700

In his highly engaging new Netflix documentary “Martha,” Emmy award-winning filmmaker RJ Cutler (“Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry”, “Big Vape”) calls Martha Stewart the original influencer. Throughout the 80s and 90s, on her TV show and with her Kmart retail line and publishing empire, Martha defined good taste as it related to virtually every aspect of the American home. Her magazine and brand were called “Martha Stewart Living” for a reason.

RJ joins Mike and Ken on the pod to provide further insight into this groundbreaking entrepreneur and cultural icon, whose advice on all things related to the American home gave her legions of fans something to aspire to, but who couldn't always fix everything in her own life. From her difficult upbringing, through the highpoint of her career, and then with her downfall and eventual, triumphant comeback, “Martha” offers a fascinating and comprehensive portrait that leaves no decorative stone unturned.

“Martha” is currently streaming on Netflix.

Follow:

@rjcutler928 on Instagram and @rjcutler on X

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Skywalkers" with Jeff Zimbalist

Tue, 12 Nov 2024 08:29:17 -0800

Probably the last place you want to have a lover’s quarrel is during an illegal climb up one of the world’s tallest buildings — especially when your goal is to perform a death-defying acrobatic duet on the tiny platform at the top of the building’s spire. But in Jeff Zimbalist’s (“The Two Escobars,” “ReMastered”) harrowing, breathtaking documentary “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” that’s exactly where things are headed after Vanya Beerkus and Angela Nikolau, two uniquely gifted “rooftoppers/skywalkers,” reach the upper floors of the world’s second tallest building and can’t seem to agree on what to do next.

Joining Ken on the pod, Jeff describes how these two remarkable “artists of the sky” combine forces to perform some of the most extraordinary feats you’ve ever seen, from heights that will make your head spin. But while the footage of these achievements may make your palms sweaty (as they did mine), it is the growing intimate relationship between Vanya and Angela that proves every bit as complicated as the plotting required to pull off one of their amazing stunts. With his sharpened focus on this fascinating true romance, Jeff pulls off a pretty impressive stunt of his own: how to tell a story that is thoroughly relatable to those of us who will never do more than climb a 10-foot ladder or take an elevator ride to the top of some really tall building. It turns out that love may be the scariest climb of all.

“Skywalkers: A Love Story” is streaming on Netflix.

Follow:

@jeffzimbalist on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

Hidden Gem:

“The Hour of the Furnaces”

"Leonardo da Vinci" with Ken Burns & Dave McMahon

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 03:41:00 -0800

In their first foray outside the context of American history and culture, Ken Burns (“The Brooklyn Bridge”, “The Civil War”, Jazz) and Dave McMahon (“The Central Park Five”, “Jackie Robinson”, “The War”) take on Leonardo da Vinci. As they tell Mike, casting themselves deep into the past, Burns and McMahon explore the world that Leonardo found himself–first the Tuscan countryside, then Florence at the height of its commercial and cultural powers–and in an era that turned back both to the classic authors, as well as outward towards the natural world. To adequately represent Leonardo’s art, as well as the “prophetic” sketches of his notebook, Burns and McMahon embraced new forms of showing and telling themselves. The result is a documentary that may well make you see the world if not through Leonardo’s own eyes, then yet once again, anew.

“Leonardo da Vinci” will first air on PBS November 18 & 19.

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@kenlburns on Instagram & @KenBurns on X

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

Hidden Gems:

“Night Mail”

“How to Survive a Pandemic”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"The Remarkable Life of Ibelin" with Benjamin Ree

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 03:05:00 -0800

To his “real” family, Mats Steen was a loving brother and son, rather shy and reserved; to his World of Warcraft family, Mats — known by his avatar Ibelin Redmoore — was bold, outgoing, and something of a ladies’ man. Both families were devastated by Mats’ tragic passing from Duchenne muscular dystrophy when he was only in his mid-20s. In his deeply moving, brilliantly constructed new Netflix documentary “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,” director Benjamin Ree (“The Painter and the Thief”, “Magnus”) illuminates all aspects of Mats’ life in a profound way that neither of his families could possibly have imagined.

Benjamin joins Ken on the pod to discuss his own remarkable creative journey as he set out to give full measure to Mats’ story — both in real life and inside the World of Warcraft universe. How did Benjamin animate the 42,000 pages of texts from the game to recreate Ibelin’s adventures and relationships within the World of Warcraft community that he was a part of? In what ways was telling this film comparable to writing a symphony, with its innovative, repetitive structure building over time? And, finally, what has been the startling and legacy of Mat’s life on those who knew him and on the thousands of gamers who never met him? There’s no avatar for that kind of impact.

“The Remarkable Life of Ibelin” is streaming on Netflix.

Follow:

@benjaminree_ on Instagram and @Benjamin_Ree on X

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

Hidden Gems:

“Brothers”

“The Overnighters”

“The Arbor”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Night is Not Eternal" with Nanfu Wang

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 08:37:06 -0800

Today we speak with Nanfu Wang, about her new documentary, “Night is Not Eternal,” a portrait of the Cuban struggle for democracy, with a focus on Cuban human rights activist Rosa Maria Payá.

Nanfu was previously on the pod discussing her last documentary “In the Same Breath”, which was shortlisted for an Academy Award in 2022. In that film, Nanfu found the focus of her previous work, which had been situated firmly on her native China slipping a bit, and found herself examining the way the America that she had immigrated to dealt with the COVID crisis as well as the Chinese response.

In a similar manner, “Night is not Eternal”, as you’ll hear, was meant at first to be a portrait of Cuban Activist Rosa Maria Payá, as well as of Rosa’s father, Oswaldo, in a sense a legendary advocate of democracy for Cuba, and one who was killed by the security services of the nation he had refused to leave. But the portrait of Rosa and the focus on Cuba spawned an almost mirror-like depiction of Nanfu herself, and her own wishes for an end to authoritarianism in her home county. And, over the years that she shot and edited the film, she found that she was beginning to recognize some early warnings of authoritarianism in her adopted country, one that, especially upon becoming the mother of a Chinese-American child, she had grown to love.

You can watch "Night is Not Eternal' on HBO and Max.

Follow:

@nanfu on Instagram and @wangnanfu on X

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Black Box Diaries" with Shiori Ito

Mon, 25 Nov 2024 03:28:00 -0800

The message from some of the most powerful forces in Japanese society was clear: “Don’t talk about it.” But, over the course of a yearslong journey depicted in her powerful new documentary “Black Box Diaries,” Japanese journalist Shiori Ito does all she can to expose the facts and tell her story of how she was raped in 2015 by a prominent journalist. After the Tokyo Metropolitan Police decided not to pursue the investigation, Shiori made her accusations public at a press conference and never looked back.

Joining Ken on the pod, Shiori describes the many cultural, political and legal obstacles that stood in her way as she refused to do what even her own family was advising, which was to remain silent. Relying on her skills as a journalist, Shiori interviews multiple witnesses and confronts the powers that be. She files a civil lawsuit. She writes a best-selling book. The result is the stirrings of a Japanese #MeToo movement, a quest for justice, and the reclaiming of her chosen profession. “Black Box Diaries” is the harrowing, disturbing, and, ultimately, inspiring story of what happens when one woman decides to talk — and to fight back.

Follow:

@shiori_ito.films and @blackboxdiariesdoc on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

“Black Box Diaries” is being released by MTV Documentary Films.

Hidden Gem:

“Intercepted”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Anatomy of a Scene from "Porcelain War" with Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev

Tue, 03 Dec 2024 03:46:00 -0800

We invited directors Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev back to “Top Docs” to discuss the unique art that animates their Sundance award-winning documentary “Porcelain War,” an intimate portrait of three Ukrainian artists and their responses to the Russian invasion of their country. Brendan and Slava analyze one of the film’s magical moments, about halfway through the film, in which Anya (Slava’s creative partner and wife) transforms memorable experiences from Slava and Anya’s lives in Kharkiv into scenes and characters that she paints on small porcelain figurines.

Over the course of this extraordinary three-minute scene, Brendan and Slava discuss the highly imaginative animation that brings Anya’s drawings to life on the surface of a small porcelain owl. The scene brilliantly encapsulates the filmmakers’ idea that art and metaphor can be used as a powerful expression of empathy in time of war.

“Porcelain War” is playing in select theaters. You can listen to our original interview with Brendan and Slava from earlier this year.

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@brendanbellomo and @anyaslavaporcelain on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Separated" with Errol Morris & Jacob Soboroff

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 03:11:00 -0800

Today our guests are Errol Morris, director of the new MSNBC documentary “Separated”, and Jacob Soboroff, executive producer, upon whose 2020 book, “Separated: Inside an American Tragedy,” the documentary was based.

We had Errol on the show last year to discuss his Oscar-shortlisted portrait of John le Carré, “The Pigeon Tunnel”, which with its implicitly self-reflective focus on the ability of representation to capture reality, can be read as a career-culminating masterpiece. “Separated” is a bit of a departure, one the topic of which has been made ever more urgent by the return of Donald Trump to the white house. In it, Errol draws upon Jacob's reporting–for which he was awarded the Walter Cronkite award for individual achievement by a national journalist as well as the Hillman Prize for broadcast journalism–on the child separation policy at the border in the first half of the first Trump administration. Jacob and Errol, with the help of the hero of this story, Captain John White, demonstrate this policy was not a “byproduct” of a tighter immigration approach, but an abusive tool used to terrify migrants by deliberately harming their children. Cruelty as the saying goes, was the point.

“Separated” will first air on MSNBC on December 7th.

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@jacobsoboroff on Instagram and twitter/X

@errolmorris on twitter/X

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Elton John: Never Too Late" with RJ Cutler

Sat, 07 Dec 2024 12:46:40 -0800

RJ Cutler (“The War Room”, “The September Issue”, “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry”) joins Mike and Ken once again to talk about his latest documentary, “Elton John: Never Too Late.”

As RJ tells us, the film “ Tells the story of two monumental decisions in the life of Elton John. The first, a decision he makes [to come out] in an interview in 1976 to Rolling Stone Magazine. And the second, a decision he makes in the middle of his seventies to give up touring In order to spend more time with his family and his young sons.” The result is a film filled with denial, drug dependency, and despondence, but ultimately also music, joy, and love as well.

“Elton John: Never Too Late” begins streaming on Disney+ on December 13th.

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@rjcutler928 on Instagram and @rjcutler on X

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"No Other Land" with Basel Adra & Yuval Abraham

Mon, 09 Dec 2024 03:44:00 -0800

For Palestinian villagers in the rural southern West Bank community of Masafer Yatta, life under the Israeli occupation is terrifying. The Israeli military can show up, without warning, waving orders to demolish your house; those resisting can be arrested or even shot. Among the Palestinians who call Masafer Yatta home is filmmaker Basel Adra. Basel’s extraordinary new documentary “No Other Land” — made by a Palestinian/Israeli collective that includes Basel, Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Ballal, and Rachel Szor — demonstrates how Basel, like his father before him, has relied on the power of the camera to document and protest the community’s treatment under the Israeli army’s orders to demolish Palestinian homes, schools and infrastructure.

Basel and Yuval join Ken on the pod to discuss the history of Masafer Yatta, the community’s efforts at resistance, and the enduring on- and off-camera alliance between the two of them built over the course of making the film. Recently awarded three IDA awards, including Best Documentary and Best Directors, “No Other Land” is screening at film festivals and in select theaters.

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@yuval_abraham and @baselaladraa on Instagram and @yuval_abraham on X

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Anatomy of a Scene from Sugarcane with Emily Kassie & Julian Brave NoiseCat

Tue, 10 Dec 2024 19:37:35 -0800

Today’s pod features one of our special “Anatomy of a Scene” episodes. Emily Kassie and Julian Brave NoiseCat join us once again to discuss their feature documentary, “Sugarcane”. Emily & Julian were first on the show when we recorded them live from Sundance. We wanted to have them back on to dig in deep on a scene from the movie that spans continents, involves world leaders, and features some of the most stark revelations of the film.

One note on the audio: Some of my spoken explanations for what we are seeing on the screen didn’t come out so well. But that’s really besides the point. The real heart of this pod are the incredible explications from Julian & Emily, founded in how they got some of these shots, the creative decisions they took to achieve their ends, and, notably, their engagements with the most telling moral issues of their film, rooted in the inadequacies of explanations for past crimes from everyone from a leader of a religious order, to a Canadian Prime Minister, to a Pope.

Sugarcane has just started streaming on Disney+.

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@emilykassie on Instagram & twitter

@jnosiecat on Instagram & twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Oscar Shortlist 2024 Rundown with Anne Thompson

Fri, 27 Dec 2024 01:14:07 -0800

Welcome to our Anne-ual Top Docs Holiday Special featuring the one-and-only Anne Thompson, Editor-at-Large at IndieWire! Anne joins Mike and Ken to tackle this year’s Best Feature Documentary Oscar Shortlist, released on December 17th. One day following the release of the list, Anne is already fired up and ready to go. How competitive is this year’s race? Who are the Frontrunners, Runners Up and Dark Horses? Which film will win it all? Park yourself in front of a roaring fire and pop in those earbuds. It’s Oscar time!

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@akstanwyck on Instagram and twitter

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Frida" with Carla Gutiérrez

Mon, 30 Dec 2024 03:14:00 -0800

Frida Kahlo is everywhere. From pajamas imprinted with her likeness to exhibitions of her work, Frida’s image and art are omnipresent. But what about Frida’s own perspective on life, art, politics and love? Taking inspiration from Frida’s letters, illustrated diary and other writings, filmmaker Carla Gutiérrez’s stunning documentary portrait “Frida” offers a new perspective on this remarkably durable 20th Century icon by letting Frida speak for herself.

Joining Ken on the pod, Carla discusses how she was influenced and inspired by Frida. What did Carla hope to achieve by animating Frida’s paintings in the film, and how did the creative team go about pulling off this ambitious feat? In what ways did Carla bring her skills as an experienced editor of such films as “RPB” and “Julia” to her first project as a feature documentary director? And how did several life-changing events leave their indelible mark on Frida, while at the same time, fuel her determination to create art that “completed her life”? By not just looking at what she created, but by listening, too, we get a pretty good idea.

Recently named to the Oscar Shortlist for Best Documentary Feature, “Frida” is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Hidden Gem:

“The Only Girl in the Orchestra”

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@carlargutierrez on Instagram and @CarlitaGu on X

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 03:51:00 -0800

One of the most haunting moments in director Mstyslav Chernov’s harrowing new documentary “2000 Meters to Andriivka” — a follow up to his Oscar-winning “20 Days in Mariupol” — is a rather prosaic conversation about handmade cigarettes between the filmmaker and a Ukrainian soldier as they huddle in a foxhole while artillery shells explode around them. What makes this scene so chilling is its very ordinariness, and the fact that, by the end of the conversation, we will learn from the director’s voice over that this soldier will be killed on another battlefield several months later.

Joining Ken for a live, in-person interview at Sundance 2025 just after the film’s world premiere, Mstyslav shares his experience of embedding with soldiers in Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade as they set out, on one long day during the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the summer of 2023, to plant the Ukrainian flag in the recently recaptured village of Andriivka, Running alongside this saga is the story, told through footage recorded by the Ukrainian soldiers’ helmet-mounted cameras, of how these brave soldiers fought one meter at a time to reclaim Andriivka. By the end of “2000 Meters,” it’s clear that there’s nothing left to save of the village except its name. How Andriivka — and those who died along the way — will be remembered is but one of the lingering questions that this unforgettable film dares to ask.

Mstyslav Chernov was awarded the Jury Award for Directing, World Cinema Documentary, at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Also, check out our “Top Docs” conversation with Mstyslav about “20 Days in Mariupol.”

Follow:

@mstyslav.chernov on Instagram and @mstyslavchernov on X

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Death by Numbers" with Kim A. Snyder and Sam Fuentes

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 03:55:00 -0800

When documentary filmmaker Kim A. Snyder began her directing career, she didn’t set out to make a string of films about school shootings and their aftermaths. But, from “Newtown” (2016) to “US Kids” (2020), and now with her Oscar-nominated short documentary “Death by Numbers,” Kim has brought critical attention to the issue and built deep relationships with the young survivors of those shootings. For “Death by Numbers,” Kim partners with Sam Fuentes, a survivor of the Parkland, FL shootings, who has written powerfully about the horrors of that day and the traumas that followed.

Kim and Sam join Ken on the pod to discuss Sam’s journal writings that are the basis for the film and to reflect on the events surrounding the sentencing trial for the shooter who killed 17 students and staff and now faces a possible death sentence. Asked by her former teacher to speak on her classmates’ behalf at the trial’s conclusion, Sam, through her ongoing pain, delivers a victim impact statement of undeniable power and eloquence. The Parkland high school students who lived through those terrible events in 2018 are now in their early 20’s, and they will be heard.

Hidden Gems:

Kim: “Zurawski v Texas”

Sam: “Dovecote”

Follow:

@kasnyderfilms on Instagram and X

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"I Am Ready Warden" with Smriti Mundhra & Maya Gnyp

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 15:17:47 -0800

In Smriti Mundhra’s (“St. Louis Superman,” “Indian Matchmaking”) recently Oscar-nominated documentary short, “I Am Ready, Warden,” John Henry Ramirez speaks direct to camera and says, “If you all are seeing this, it means the state of Texas has murdered me…” For the audience, it’s a punch to the gut, a spoiler, and an announcement of what’s at stake in this life-and-death story.

Director Smriti Mundhra and producer Maya Gnyp join Ken on the pod to discuss their thought-provoking and nuanced film, which brings together multiple perspectives on Ramirez and the death penalty. The result is an unexpected and moving portrait of people grappling not just with a horrific crime, but its aftermath, and with the ramifications of what happens after the death penalty is carried out. When Aaron Castro, who was 14 when his father was killed by Ramirez, hears the news of Ramirez’s execution, the impact is every bit as powerful as the opening scene. It’s not necessarily what you expect to hear — and that’s the point.

“I Am Ready, Warden” is released by MTV Documentary Films and is currently streaming on Paramount+.

Hidden Gems:

Smriti:

“Junun”

“Flipside”

“Three Songs for Benazir”

“Dahomey”

Follow:

@smritimundhra on Instagram and X

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Instruments of a Beating Heart" with Ema Ryan Yamazaki

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:31:08 -0800

Ema Ryan Yamazaki attended Japanese elementary school, then an international school before heading to New York for her college education. In “Instruments of a Beating Heart”, her Academy Award Nominated short, she reveals some of the differences she found between national pedagogies, and some of the key learnings which have made her who she is.

Told through the efforts of 1st-grader Ayame to pass the audition to play the cymbal, an important part of the percussive ensemble at the heart of Ode to Joy, Yamazaki’s film reveals the impact that the interplay of individuation and acculturation has on this exuberant, expressive girl. And she paints the outlines of how she is being brought into a society that values collective harmony.

“Instruments of a Beating Heart” can be seen on The New York Times website and Youtube.

Hidden Gem: Puffling

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@emaexplorations on Instagram and X

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Incident" with Bill Morrison & Jamie Kalven

Sat, 15 Feb 2025 17:15:54 -0800

Rounding out our coverage of the 2025 Academy Award nominees, we are joined by producers Bill Morrison (“Decasia”, “The Dockworker's Dream”, Dawson City: Frozen Time) and Jamie Kalven (of the Invisible Institute) to discuss their Oscar-nominated short, “Incident,” which depicts the police shooting of Harith “Snoop” Augustus and it’s immediate aftermath from several angles.

Using body camera and other footage (and only that footage) that the Chicago Police–as required by law, one that Jamie had advocated for in the wake of the coverup of the shooting of Laquan McDonald–Bill has crafted a film which draws upon editing skills built through years of working with archival material, but one which is significantly more immediate and urgent than his previously beautiful and implicitly philosophically profound works. What we witness is two narratives being formed about what happened, and to whom: One from the police, the other from the Southside Chicago community that witnessed the events. And we can see at work the deep causes of what happened embedded in American gun culture and the resulting police policies and practices.

“Incident” can be seen on the New Yorker Website.

Follow:

@bimo65 on Instagram and @decasia on twitter

@jamiekalven on twitter

@invisibleinstitute on Instagram and @invinst on twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Academy Awards Breakdown 2025 with Clayton Davis

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 16:54:16 -0800

Joining us for the 4th year in a row, Variety’s Senior Awards Editor Clayton Davis is back on “Top Docs” to break down this year’s Oscar races for Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short and to offer his predictions for who will walk away victorious on March 2nd. With this year’s feature doc race the closest thing to a real toss-up in years, you don’t want to miss Clayton’s analysis and final picks.

And be sure to catch up on all of the Oscar-nominated films in the documentary feature and shorts categories by listening to our “Top Docs” interviews with all ten of the nominees.

Follow:

Clayton Davis on Instagram @awardscircuit and on X @ByClaytonDavis

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

"Middletown" with Amanda McBaine & Jesse Moss

Wed, 05 Mar 2025 10:52:08 -0800

Continuing our coverage live from Sundance, we are once again joined by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (Boys State, Girls State, The Mission) to discuss their new film, “Middletown”, which depicts a charismatic high school teacher in Upstate New York who in the 1990s led a “Breakfast Club”-like group of his students to investigate the town dump–which almost certainly had stored dangerous refuse without proper care–and ultimately to challenge the town leaders in a televised program recorded in a homemade studio they had built in their high school.

The film is certainly about the power of education, but it also explores the ways that the early-stage personal video technology that would come to define our own times had once opened an aperture of empowerment for young people, one that now seems almost naive. And it implicitly presents a case in these dark times for the necessity for investment in civic engagement and local democracy.

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@djessemoss on twitter/X

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Gen_" with Gianluca Matarrese & Dr. Maurizio Bini

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 11:55:46 -0800

To unwind, Dr. Maurizio Bini, who runs a clinic in a public hospital in Milan, takes long walks in the mountains and picks mushrooms. But even in these calming moments, work is not far from his mind. In “Gen_”, director Gianluca Matarrese’s thoroughly entrancing new documentary portrait (a world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival), Dr. Bini and his colleagues run a clinic that serves two kinds of patients: women seeking IVF treatments, as well as those seeking gender affirming care. At first, these seem like disparate realities, but over the course of the film, we see that these two worlds, both caught in political crosswinds, are seamlessly and expertly navigated by the good doctor.

Joining Ken on the pod, live and in-person at the “Top Docs” condo in Park City, Gianluca and Dr. Bini discuss the challenges of the clinic’s work in the context of contemporary Italian law and politics, which put barriers between patients and the care they so desperately seek. It turns out that Dr. Bini’s true specialty is to listen intently as his patients share their pain and dreams. And, with Gianluca’s camera there to capture these intimate moments, we witness the difference that a doctor can make when he puts the welfare of his patients above all else.

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@gianlumata on Instagram and @GianLuke on X

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"The Dating Game" with Violet Du Feng & Joanna Natasegara

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 03:51:00 -0700

Forget about the original “The Dating Game,” not to mention “The All-New Dating Game” and “The Celebrity Dating Game.” This is director Violet Du Feng’s “The Dating Game,” which just had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Of course, this is a documentary not a Chuck Barris game show and, like Violet’s previous film, the sublime “Hidden Letters,” which was shortlisted for an Academy Award, her version explores the topic with depth, insight, and humor.

Joining Ken for another of our in-person Sundance Film Festival interviews, along with the film’s Academy Award-winning producer, Joanna Natasegara (“The White Helmets”), Violet discusses the similarities and differences between “Hidden Letters” and “The Dating Game.” The film delves into the world of dating for young Chinese men, who face immense challenges in a country where there are 30 million more men than women due to China’s former One Child Policy. The film’s compelling participants include the highly sought after but somewhat cheesy dating coach Hao and his three clients, as well as Hao’s wife, Wen, also a dating coach. When, in one scene, Wen confronts Hao about their own marriage, the plot thickens. No game show can match that drama.

Follow:

@violetdufeng and @joanna_film on Instagram and @VioletFilms

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"The Perfect Neighbor" with Geeta Gandbhir

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 03:21:00 -0700

“Stand Your Ground” became a part of the cultural lexicon over a dozen years ago when a Florida jury acquitted George Zimmerman of murder in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin under the Florida self-defense law. Director Geeta Gandbhir takes a probing look at Stand Your Ground laws in her searing new documentary “The Perfect Neighbor,” which recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where it won the Directing Award in the U.S. Documentary section.

Joining Ken for a conversation in Park City during the festival, Geeta discusses her personal connection to Ajike Owens, who was fatally shot through a locked metal door in Florida, and the tragic consequences that result all-too-frequently from Stand Your Ground laws. Using a vast trove of police body cam footage, as well as interrogation interviews with the woman who killed Ajike, “The Perfect Neighbor” does something remarkable: repurposing dispassionate found footage to tell a story that is deeply personal, moving and unforgettable.

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@geetagandbhir on Instagram and X

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Our Most Popular Pods, Season 4

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 03:22:00 -0700

To finish out Season 4, we're revisiting some telling moments from 4 of our most popular shows of the season:

Rob Reiner: "Albert Brooks: Defending My Life"
Lucy Walker: "Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa"
Sam Lipman-Stern & Adam Bhala Lough: "Telemarketers"
Ibrahim Nash'at & Shane Boris: "Hollywoodgate"

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Classic: "20 Days in Mariupol” with Mstyslav Chernov (from July 2023)

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 02:52:00 -0700

As we gear up for Season 5, please enjoy one of our favorite shows. Since we released this pod first in July of 2023, "20 Days in Mariupol" won the 2024 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Released by PBS Distribution, “20 Days in Mariupol” opens theatrically in NYC on July 14 and in LA and SF on July 21.

Hidden Gem:

Sans Soleil

Follow:

@mstyslav.chernov on Instagram and @mstyslav9 on twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Classic: "Beckham" with Fisher Stevens

Thu, 24 Apr 2025 02:53:00 -0700

While we gear up for Season 5, we hope you enjoy this re-release from July of 2023. Since we spoke with Fisher, "Beckham" went on to win several Emmys including Best Documentary or Nonfiction Series and Outstanding Directing of a Documentary/Nonfiction Program for Fisher.

Our "Anatomy of a Scene: Beckham"... again, with Fisher Stevens.

Hidden Gems:

Burden of Dreams

Follow:

@fisherstevens and on Instagram and @fisherstevensbk on twitter

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix

"Chef's Table: Legends" with David Gelb & Adam Bricker

Thu, 01 May 2025 03:11:00 -0700

We're kicking off our 5th Season and the beloved Netflix doc series “Chef’s Table” is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the new release of “Chef’s Table: Legends,” a special four-part series spotlighting the achievements and life lessons of four extraordinary pioneers of the kitchen who have changed the food world and culture writ large.

Joining Ken on the pod for the kickoff of Top Docs Season 5, “Chef’s Table” creator, EP and director David Gelb (“Jiro Dreams of Sushi”) and cinematographer/DP Adam Bricker (“Hacks”) describe what drew them to visionaries Jamie Oliver, José Andres, Thomas Keller and Alice Waters, and how they got these much-celebrated icons to open up about their lives and careers. In addition, David and Adam engage in a bit of introspection themselves as they reflect on the incredible cinematic edible journey that “Chef’s Table” has taken over the course of the last decade. Keep the courses coming.

Hidden Gems:

David: The Fog of War, Baraka

Adam: Parts Unknown – Singapore (Season 10, Episode 1)

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Wise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos" with Alex Gibney

Tue, 06 May 2025 12:21:24 -0700

As we continue Season 5, Mike speaks with Alex Gibney (Agents of Chaos, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Taxi to the Dark Side) about his documentary series for HBO Max, “Wise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos”. If you are familiar with Gibney’s work, you will know that his documentaries often have a political topic or a political edge, so it won't surprise you that while he doesn't overly focus on it, he does explore the ways in which the legendary HBO series was a commentary on America. But the true pleasure of this documentary is to witness the incredibly deep ways that Chase's own life informed his work and–this may actually be connected–the ways that Chase used techniques that he learned from directors like Polanski, Lucci, and Kubrick to shape his own cinematic language.

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary" with Garret Price

Tue, 13 May 2025 09:08:43 -0700

Our guest today is Garret Price, who Mike speaks to about his HBO Series “Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary.” In addition to editing dozens of narrative and documentary series and films, Garret directed “Love, Antosha”. This is his second directorial effort for “Music Box”, the previous being, “Woodstock 99: Peace Love and Rage.” In “Yacht Rock”, Garret not only burnishes his archival and editorial chops, but digs in for simply charming interviews with the creators of this putative outgrowth of the 70s Southern California sound.

This was a fun one folks! Garret was game for the sort of back and forth jousting that comes when you try to nail down just what comprises this retrospectively imagined subgenre of music. And, in the process you'll hear that Mike outed himself as a Steely Dan fan. Despite that, we hope you'll take a listen!

Hidden Gems:

Documentary: “Finders, Keepers”

Yacht Rock: “Hey Nineteen”

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Deaf President Now!" with Nyle DiMarco & Davis Guggenheim

Thu, 15 May 2025 09:55:43 -0700

In March 1988, when the Board Chair of Gallaudet University, the world’s only Deaf university, announced Gallaudet’s new president, she had no idea what was about to happen. As chronicled in Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim’s riveting new documentary, “Deaf President Now!”, the students revolted against the decision to hire yet another hearing person to lead the university and took over the campus. In the span of just over one week, their struggle would not only transform Gallaudet but write a powerful new chapter in the history of the Civil Rights Movement.

Nyle and Davis join Ken on the pod to describe this remarkable protest movement and their own dynamic creative partnership. The result is a film that combines thrilling archival footage with moving contemporary interviews and deep insights into the Deaf experience. The film’s original use of the Deaf POV and innovative sound design demonstrate that the revolution that began at Gallaudet has profoundly changed the culture and, now, the documentary form itself.

“Deaf President Now!” premieres on Apple+ on May 16.

Hidden Gems:

Davis: No Other Land, Black Box Diaries

Nyle: Crip Camp

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"American Murder: Gabby Petito" with Julia Willoughby Nason and Michael Gasparro

Tue, 20 May 2025 03:37:00 -0700

On the pod today, Julia Willoughby Nason and Michael Gasparro return to discuss their latest for Netflix, American Murder: Gabby Petito.

Mike previously had Julia and Michael on to talk about Murdaugh Murders, and like that effort, this series both fulfills the expectations of the true crime genre, while finding deeper themes to explore. While in Murdaugh Murders, Julia and Michael turned their lens on the socioeconomic fissures in the heart of a Southern county, here, in telling the story of Gabby Peitio–a young woman who was killed by her fiance Brian Laundie, who later killed himself–Julia and Michael both explore how a seemingly normal relationship between young people can go terribly wrong. And they do so while depicting how this relationship–as well as others Gabby had with friends and family–are intermediated by social media and influencer culture.

Hidden Gems:

Becoming Led Zeppelin

Into the Fire

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@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Pee-wee as Himself" with Matt Wolf

Thu, 22 May 2025 10:11:53 -0700

As Director Matt Wolf shows in his insightful and fun 2-part HBO series “Pee-wee as Himself”, in Pee-wee, Paul Rubens found a persona that allowed him to both reveal and yet hide some core truths about who he was.

Fascinated with television and show business since he was a boy, Rubens combined elements of his childhood’s pop culture with the art world of Southern California in the 70s and early 80s to craft a character that would both conquer the then punkish milieu of Melrose Avenue as well as create a nationally televised children’s TV show. To achieve this, Wolfe delineates how Rubens deliberately foreclosed both his potential love life as well as cast aside long-held friendships. Wolfe’s series demonstrates both the costs as well as the benefits of outsized talent and ambition.

You can watch “Pee-wee as Himself” on HBO and HBO Max starting Friday, May 23rd.

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"CHAOS: The Manson Murders" with Errol Morris

Tue, 27 May 2025 16:47:44 -0700

More than 50 years after the conviction of Charles Manson and members of the Manson Family for the shocking Tate-LaBianca murders, acclaimed filmmaker Errol Morris takes aim at the case. Inspired by author Tom O’Neill, whose book (“CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties”) attempts to debunk the thesis of famed prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi, Errol dives deep into Bugliosi’s “Helter Skelter” theory that convinced the jury — and then captivated the world as chronicled in his true crime bestseller.

Errol joins Ken on the pod to talk about what attracted him to O’Neill’s skepticism of the Helter Skelter scenario in which Manson’s apocalyptic vision of inciting a race war allegedly compelled his followers to carry out the massacre. But, even as the film delves into O’Neill’s alternative theory involving the CIA’s Project MKUltra (the subject of Errol’s earlier Netflix series “Wormwood”), the narrative shifts once again, as Errol’s nose for the truth leads him to Manson associate and convicted murderer Bobby Beausoleil. It’s a convoluted path that may lead to the truth or, more likely, to more questions. It’s just the kind of quest that Errol Morris fans and true crime buffs have been waiting for.

“CHAOS: The Manson Murders” is streaming on Netflix.

Hidden Gem:

“The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On”

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@errolmorris on X

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer" with Liz Garbus

Thu, 29 May 2025 20:21:45 -0700

As explained by director Liz Garbus ( Bobby Fisher Against the World), ”Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer is, “A documentary series that follows the case of young women who went missing from New York City and Long Island. Ultimately, it's a story about what victims are valued and how when justice fails, people have to step up and demand it for their loved ones.” You can watch the series on Netflix.

This documentary follows on the success of her docudrama “Lost Girls”, which features a fiery Amy Ryan as Mari Gilbert, the mother of a young woman, Shannan Gilbert, last heard on a 911 call pleading for help from the danger she believed threatened her life. Mari insistently sought justice for her lost child, a crusade which subsequently led to the discovery of the bodies of several other young women on the Southern shore of Long Island. In the wake of the recent identification of a likely killer of these women (and eventually others), Garbus felt compelled to return to tell the story afresh. What she reveals is one of a police department that went wrong, and an investigation that long lay fallow, only to be brought to a seeming revelation when key evidence and an indicted killer are recognized for what they truly are.

Hidden Gem:

No Other Land

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@lizfgarbus on Instagram @lizgarbus on X

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

“Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band" with Thom Zimny

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 03:09:00 -0700

Thom Zimny (“Springsteen on Broadway”, “Springsteen: Letter to You”) can tell you a lot about
Bruce Springsteen. Through the course of Thom’s many documentaries featuring Bruce and the
E Street Band, including his latest film, “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band,”
Thom has delved deeply into the music, personalities, and rollicking performances that have
made the band one of the most beloved rock-and-roll acts of all time.

Thom joins Ken for a return visit to the pod (“Sly”) to discuss his 25-year collaboration with
Bruce and the rich cinematic body of work that Thom has created over the course of Bruce’s
many albums and tours. With “Road Diary,” Thom documents the band’s first tour in six years.
At first, the question hangs in the air: “Does the band still have it?” But, once the tour begins, the
rust falls away quickly. Soon, the band, which features new musicians as well as returning
veterans, is rocking stadiums from Tampa to Barcelona. Thom is there to capture not only what
is happening on stage but to show the profound impact that Bruce and the band continue to
have on multiple generations of fans. It’s the kind of special relationship that endures.
“Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band” is streaming on Hulu and Disney+.

Hidden Gem:
“Zappa”

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@tzimnyc on Instagram and @ThomZimny on X
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Anatomy of a Scene from "Martha" with R.J. Cutler

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 03:52:00 -0700

R.J. Cutler returns to the pod to dig in deeper to his Netflix documentary on Martha Stewart, “Martha”. R.J. and Mike turn their eyes to a few minutes early on (starting about minute 15 if you want to watch along), when a young Martha Stewart pursues motherhood, Wall Street, and ultimately Turkey Hill to become “Martha”. R.J. explains how every element–cinematography, archive, editing, graphic design, music–both propels Martha forward towards her seemingly inevitable iconic status while simultaneously pulling her back towards her humble roots.

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Anatomy of a Scene from "Will & Harper" with Josh Greenbaum

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 03:36:00 -0700

Director Josh Greenbaum returns to “Top Docs” to discuss the poignant and culminating closing sequence in his deeply moving documentary “Will & Harper.” In the film, close friends Will Farrell and Harper Steele embark on a road trip across America to get everything out in the open about Harper’s recent transition and to support her new life as a trans woman.

With the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean, the road trip and the film come down to these final crucial moments. Josh elaborates on his cinematographers’ instinctive and skillful camerawork, as well as themes, music, edting and lighting. Nothing does more to leave a lasting and deeply felt impression on an audience than a formally successful and emotionally satisfying ending. “Will & Harper” lands its ending about as perfectly as a golden Southern California sunset.

“Will & Harper” is streaming on Netflix. Please enjoy our original “Top Docs” podcast with Josh from earlier this year discussing “Will & Harper.”

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@josh.greenbaum on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Simone Biles Rising" with Katie Walsh

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 17:32:51 -0700

It makes sense that Simone Biles, winner of 11 Olympic medals, and considered by many to be the greatest gymnast of all time, would stick to a consistent pre-competition ritual to prepare for battle. But, as filmmaker Katie Walsh shows in one of the more intimate scenes in her exceptional four-part Netflix docuseries, “Simone Biles Rising,” the big surprise comes when we see that the hair braiding skills of Simone’s mom Nellie might be the most important part of this ritual. This simple act of touch prior to each day’s competition says it all about the close bond between mother and daughter and the person Simone turns to in the most difficult moments.

Katie joins Ken on “Top Docs” to talk about this special relationship between Simone and Nellie and what it was like to document the highs and lows of Simone’s remarkable career. The series begins with Simone’s shocking case of the “twisties” at the 2021 Tokyo Games that caused her to withdraw from the sport she’d come to dominate. Over the course of the series, Katie captures all the key moments as Simone, with the support of her family and close network of friends, finds her way back to gold medal glory. But, just as important, as a powerful advocate for mental health, Simone challenges society’s expectations of its most celebrated athletes — and once again rises above.

“Simone Biles Rising” is streaming on Netflix.

Hidden Gem:

“Daughters”

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@projectlifemedia on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Sally" with Cristina Costantini

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 20:20:00 -0700

In elementary school, Emmy Award-winning director Cristina Costantini (“Science Fair”) was a science nerd who idolized astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman in space. Cristina even painted a mural of Sally on one of her elementary school’s walls. Fast forward to today and National Geographic Documentary Films has just released Cristina’s terrific new feature-length documentary about the astronaut called simply, “Sally.”

Cristina joins Ken on the pod to share her lifelong admiration of Sally Ride and to discuss this nuanced, three-dimensional portrait that examines Sally’s private and public lives in equal measure. Tam O’Shaughnessy, Sally’s life partner of 27 years, serves as the documentary’s central storyteller, and from Tam and others, we get a fuller picture of Sally than ever before. We also learn of the high cost paid by both women for keeping their relationship a secret until Sally’s early death from cancer at age 61. By the end, we find ourselves as dazzled by this timeless love story as we are by Sally’s historic blast into space.

“Sally” is streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.

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@xtinatini on Instagram and X

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Prime Minister" with Michelle Walshe & Lindsay Utz

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 18:29:18 -0700

During Jacinda Ardern’s historic run as Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2017 - 2023, she became a worldwide phenomenon and icon of the Left. From the pandemic to a horrific mass shooting in NZ, Jacinda faced a series of major crises, as well as a media crush that followed her everywhere. But during those tumultuous times, one thing remained unknown: what was it like for the person at the center of these events to experience all that — and, simultaneously, being a new mother as well? In Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz’s enthralling documentary “Prime Minister,” we now get to hear from the former PM herself.

Michelle and Lindsay join Ken on the pod to describe what it was like to embark on this journey of self-reflection with Jacinda Ardern. Relying on a combination of intimate home movie footage shot by Jacinda’s husband, news clips and original material, the two directors put us right back in the middle of these events, as well as offer Jacinda’s insightful perceptive on what it means to her now and where to go from here.

“Prime Minister” is in theatrical release by Magnolia Pictures.

Hidden Gem:

Lindsay: “Time”

Michelle: “Navalny”, “The Jinx”

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@utzies26 on Instagram and @Lindsay_utz on X

@shellfishes on Instagram

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Nobu" with Matt Tyrnauer

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 03:09:00 -0700

It all starts with the fish. In director Matt Tyrnauer’s (“Carville, Winning is Everything, Stupid”) delectable and insightful new documentary “Nobu,” we are reminded of this fact when Nobu himself, the man behind the restaurant empire that shares his name, reels in a fish, skins, slices and serves it right on the boat to friends and family. It is one of many revelatory scenes that, taken as a whole, peel back the layers of Nobuyuki “Nobu” Matsuhisa’s life and his long journey to re-define sushi for the modern world.

Matt joins Ken on the pod to shed light on his observational approach to documentary portraiture and to explore the unique and ever-expanding Nobu style. Rather than a straight line to success, Nobu’s story is one of early struggles, crushing failures and constant attention to detail. From a tense scene featuring an executive chef struggling to reproduce one of Nobu’s signature dishes to a humdrum meeting of Nobu’s business partners (including the actor and Nobu partner Robert De Niro in a surprising and riveting star turn) that suddenly turns contentious, “Nobu” not only spotlights the talents of a game-changing chef, but once again reminds us why the hard-earned observational approach is as satisfying as a perfectly prepared plate of sushi.

“Nobu” is being released by Vertical in theaters in NY on June 27th and in cities nationwide beginning July 4th.

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@tyrnauer on Instagram and @mtyrnauer on X

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And now, also look for “Top Docs” on YouTube!

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Heightened Scrutiny" with Sam Feder & Amy Scholder

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 13:52:43 -0700

With intense scrutiny of the trans community comes threats to the personal safety, healthcare and civil rights of trans people. Just ask Sam Feder (“Disclosure”), director of the timely new documentary “Heightened Scrutiny” that follows ACLU attorney Chase Strangio on his journey all the way to the Supreme Court to fight for the rights of transgender adolescents and their access to gender affirming healthcare.

Sam and producer Amy Scholder join Ken on “Top Docs” to discuss their collaboration on “Disclosure” and their subsequent creative partnership on “Heightened Scrutiny.” Through this multi-layered story, we observe Chase, the first out trans person to argue a case before the Court, up-close as he prepares his legal brief. But, as we talk about in our convo, the film succeeds in going deeper than just being a portrait of a civil rights pioneer. How have mainstream media outlets not only presented a distorted lens on the trans community but provided fodder for the very forces seeking to overturn trans rights? It’s a chilling and urgent story that certainly deserves your heightened interest.

Starting July 18th, “Heightened Scrutiny” is in select theaters in NYC and LA.

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@samfeder_1 on Instagram and @SamFederFilm on X and @amyjscholder on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

“Top Docs” is now on YouTube!

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley" with Amy Berg

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 12:50:42 -0700

Acclaimed director Amy Berg (“West of Memphis,” “Janis: Little Girl Blue”) set her sights on making a documentary about the beloved singer/songwriter Jeff Buckley some 15 years ago. Now, with her finely crafted new documentary, “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley,” Amy delivers a fresh take on Buckley’s remarkable music and a thoughtful look at his life and loves.

Amy joins Ken on “Top Docs” to discuss Jeff Buckley’s meteoric rise as a dynamic musical force in the ‘90s, whose sensitive and introspective lyrics ran counter to the grunge and metal scenes ascendant at the time. Jeff’s influences, from Nina Simone to Led Zeppelin and Soundgarden, were surprisingly diverse. His voice — a powerful and haunting instrument in its own right — was unmatched. One listen of his soul-piercing version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” is all the proof you need of that. At the heart of the film is Jeff’s complicated relationship with his dear mother, Mary, who granted Amy access to an incredible array of personal archival material, and with two of his girlfriends, who, collectively, provide insight into this complex young man. He took the music world by storm but had to battle his own demons… and left us all too soon.

“It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley” is in release by Magnolia Films and opens in theaters nationwide on August 8th.

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@amy_berg on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

“Top Docs” is now on YouTube!

Hidden Gem:

“The Cruise”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"I Am: Celine Dion" with Irene Taylor

Fri, 08 Aug 2025 15:10:30 -0700

I Am: Celine Dion

In a world dominated by constant pitching and fundraising, once in a long while, filmmakers get “The Call.” “The Call” is when a producer calls and asks if you are interested in a project, fully funded and with the main participant ready to go. Such was the case for Academy Award®-nominated director Irene Taylor (“Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements”, “The Final Inch”) who received a call from a producer about the possibility of making what ultimately became Irene’s exceptional portrait documentary “I Am: Celine Dion.”

Irene joins Ken on “Top Docs” to discuss how she was approached for the project and the surprisingly close collaborative relationship that she formed with Celine as the iconic singer faced up to the health crisis that forced her to stop performing. Suffering for over 15 years with a rare neurological disorder called “Stiff Person Syndrome,” Celine kept her condition secret before revealing the diagnosis to fans in a video testimonial (captured in a meta moment by Irene’s team). In our deep dive conversation, Irene talks about some of the emotionally wrenching scenes in the film, how Irene and her small crew practically embedded at Celine’s house and the ultimate question for any filmmaker in her situation: “How the hell are we gonna deal with the “Titanic” song?”

“I Am: Celine Dion” is available for streaming on Prime Video.

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@directorirenetaylor on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

“Top Docs” is now on YouTube!

Hidden Gem:

“The Shepherd and the Bear”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Patrice: The Movie" with Ted Passon

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 09:00:57 -0700

There’s no place quite like “P-Town,” the remarkable world of wonder created by Patrice Jetter, the star of Peabody award-winning director Ted Passon’s (“Philly D.A.”) enchanting and heavy hitting documentary “Patrice: The Movie.” Over the last 20 years, Patrice’s scale model town has become a source of endless fantasy and fun, but also an escape from the “real” world, which, all too often, has put up obstacles for people with disabilities like Patrice and her romantic partner Garry.

Ted joins Ken on “Top Docs” to discuss how he came to collaborate with his friend Patrice on this remarkable cinematic journey. The film weaves present tense moments with Patrice, Garry and their friends with scripted scenes from Patrice’s life featuring adult Patrice as the main actor and a cast of children playing the other roles. It is a thoroughly original approach that recreates the traumas from Patrice’s past while also showing how she has managed to endure and overcome. When the couple and their friends take on the long-standing law that has enshrined a deeply unfair marriage penalty for people who receive disability benefits, this becomes a challenge on a much bigger scale.

“Patrice: The Movie” is available for streaming on Hulu. The film is nominated for the Primetime Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking.

Follow:

@tedpasson on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

“Top Docs” is now on YouTube!

Hidden Gem:

“Hummingbirds”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"100 Foot Wave, Season 3" with Joe Lewis

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 09:50:41 -0700

In order to catch a really great wave, 100 foot or otherwise, you need to be extremely patient, waiting for that next great “set” (group of waves) that’s going to put you in position for the ride of the day — or ride of your life. It’s also true for those making films about surfing, including director Chris Smith (“American Movie”) and the massively talented — and patient — team behind the hugely successful series, “100 Foot Wave,” which, this year, dropped its third, and, in some ways, most ambitious season yet.

Executive Producer Joe Lewis (“Fleabag”, “Transparent”) returns to “Top Docs” to discuss the third season of this epic series, which follows big wave surfing icon Garrett McNamara, his wife Nicole, and a thoroughly engaging cast of characters as they span the globe, chasing those elusive giant waves. Joe describes the devastating experience for the community when surfing legend Marcio Freire loses his life at Nazare and the once-in-a-decade opportunity that arrives out of the blue for Garrett and his tightknit group to surf at mythical Cortes Bank in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Ultimately, through a seemingly endless pursuit of surfing dreams, it turns out that the greatest rewards for these restless souls may be waiting for them back home.

“100 Foot Wave, Season 3” is available for streaming on HBO Max. The film is nominated for the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series, Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program, Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program, and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program.

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@JoeLewis on Instagram and X

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

“Top Docs” is now on YouTube!

Hidden Gem:

“Burden of Dreams”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Super/Man" with Peter Ettedgui & Ian Bonhôte

Sun, 17 Aug 2025 20:43:53 -0700

Continuing our coverage of the 2025 Emmy Awards, Mike is joined by Peter Ettedgui and Ian Bonhôte, directors of "Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story" and nominees for Outstanding Directing For A Documentary/Nonfiction Program (the film received three other Emmy nominations as well ). In sketching their portrait of Christopher Reeve, who embodied the superhero in a series of films beginning in 1978, Ettedgui and Bonhôte anchor their story with Reeve’s tragic fall in 1995, one which left him paralyzed. They then interweave the twinned stories of Reeve’s rise to fame (as well as the discontents that followed) with that of the decade of his life that followed the fall.

The effect of this intricate narrative braiding reinforces the message delivered to Reeve by his wife Dana in the days after the fall: “You are still you.” The movie becomes a testament to the continuity of spirit in the face of physical challenge, as Reeve not only faces his personal demons, but becomes a full-throated advocate for those that share his condition.

Super/Man can be seen on HBO Max in the US and Sky in the UK.

Hidden Gems:

“Apocalypse in the Tropics”

“Grand Theft Hamlet”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Sly Lives!" with Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson & Joseph Patel

Mon, 18 Aug 2025 21:28:29 -0700

Did Sly blow it? As part of continuing Emmys coverage, we are joined by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Joseph Patel, the director and producer of “Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius)” (as well as the same for the 2022 Oscar Winner “Summer of Soul”) to discuss the life and career of Sly Stone, whose interracial and multigendered band drew upon the stew of musical influences of the early 60’s Bay Area to create an innovative new sound.

The story as it’s commonly told: Once Sly gained widespread fame after playing Woodstock, he moved to Bel Air and adopted a nonstop drug-taking party lifestyle that would diminish his genius. But as Thompson and Patel explain, the truth is much more complicated. Ultimately, they show that Sly–who passed away just this summer–served less as a cautionary tale, than as an emblem of genius and inspiration for a host of artists in rock, funk, hip hop and more.

Watch “Sly Lives!” on Hulu.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Social Studies" with Lauren Greenfield

Thu, 21 Aug 2025 09:56:35 -0700

Acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield (“The Queen of Versailles”) is drawn time and again to overlapping and powerful themes like addiction, wealth, consumerism and celebrity culture. Now, with her first doc series “Social Studies” — a fascinating 5-part exploration of the tight grip that social media has over Generation Z — Lauren unpacks these interrelated themes in the context of the online social interactions that have taken over young people’s lives.

Lauren joins Ken on the pod to discuss how the end of the covid pandemic inadvertently created an opportune moment to begin following a diverse group of young people in Los Angeles and their lives on social media just as they were preparing to return to in-person classes for the first time in a year-and-a-half. Combining observational footage, interviews with young people and their parents, roundtable discussions, and clips of her participants’ social media feeds, “Social Studies” delves into the pitfalls, as well as the positive aspects, of social media. When we reach the end of the series, the film’s participants confront an inescapable dilemma: should I or shouldn’t I delete my social media apps?

“Social Studies” is available for streaming on Hulu. The series is nominated for the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.

Follow:

@greenfield_lauren on Instagram and @lgreen66 on X

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

“Top Docs” is now on YouTube!

Hidden Gems:

“The Painter and the Thief”

“Mr. Nobody Against Putin”

“The Kingmaker”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Classic: "Sugarcane" with Julian Brave Noisecat & Emily Kassie

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 09:19:45 -0700

Today we are repeating one of our favorite conversations. Mike spoke with the filmmakers of "Sugarcane" at Sundance 2024. They would go on to win the Grand Jury award for Directing at that festival, and then would be nominated for the 97th Academy Awards last year.

If you enjoy this conversation, you may want to check out our "Anatomy of a scene from Sugarcane."

Kicking off our on-the-ground coverage of Sundance 2024, Julian Brave Noisecat and Emily Kassie join Mike to discuss their new film, “Sugarcane”.

In this film, they explore the legacy of the St. Joseph Mission, one of many segregated residential schools promulgated by the Canadian government run by the Catholic Church. The stories they tell are deeply personal (both Julian’s grandmother and father attended St. Joseph’s) as well illustrative of a wider history of abuse within the schools. As they explain, they deploy and reshape various filmic conventions–the Western, archival, the travel doc–in innovative ways to do justice to the lives and stories of their subject. The result is a many-layered testament to survival despite deep, still ongoing pain.

The Presenting Sponsor of Top Docs is Netflix.

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2025 TIFF Doc Lineup Rundown with Thom Powers

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 03:06:00 -0700

Welcome to the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (September 4 – 14), home of the big anniversary! This year’s edition of one of the world’s great film festivals marks TIFF’s landmark 50th anniversary. In addition, renowned curator and all-around documentary powerhouse Thom Powers (host of the Pure Nonfiction podcast) celebrates 20 years as the festival’s lead documentary programmer.

Thom returns to “Top Docs” to spotlight TIFF’s extraordinary documentary lineup that will no doubt set the table for the rest of the year in international nonfiction cinema. Running the gamut from established directors to breakthrough newcomers; serious topics to lighthearted fare; cinematically challenging work to crowd pleasers, TIFF’s got ‘em all. In addition, in a special treat, Thom tantalizes us with his terrific new book, “Mondo Documentary” — hot off the press — which shares his perspectives on more than 350 films that he has presented to audiences over the course of his 20 years at TIFF. We also dive into the book’s revelatory introductory essay, “How Did I Get Here.” If life is a journey, sometimes it’s fitting to break out the champagne and celebrate those milestone anniversaries.

Thom’s new book “Mondo Documentary” is available directly through Pure Nonfiction Books: https://purenonfiction.stck.me/book/1166355/Mondo-Documentary

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

2025 Emmys Rundown with Scott Feinberg

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 01:08:32 -0700

It’s Primetime. Yes, the Primetime Emmys are here, and we’ve got you covered. Culminating our “Top Docs” podcasts featuring the leading contenders for in the documentary categories, we talk to The Hollywood Reporter’s Executive Editor of Awards Scott Feinberg who breaks down the 2025 Emmy nominees in all the major documentary categories, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special; Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series; Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking; and Outstanding Directing.

The 77th Creative Arts Emmy Awards, including all the major doc categories, will be held on September 6 - 7.

An award-winning columnist and podcast host (“Awards Chatter”), Executive Editor of Awards Scott Feinberg has led The Hollywood Reporter’s awards coverage since 2011. He is best known for his “Feinberg Forecast,” through which he assesses the standings of various showbiz awards races, and for Awards Chatter, the interview-centric podcast that he started in 2015.

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Emmy Winner Matt Wolf: "Pee-wee as Himself" (Re-release)

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 03:54:00 -0700

In honor of Matt Wolf's big wins at the Emmys this year--not only for "Pee-wee as Himself" as Best Documentary Feature, but for his own win as director of that documentary as well as picture editing for Damian Rodriguez--we are re-releasing our interview with him at Sundance earlier this year.

You can watch “Pee-wee as Himself” on HBO and HBO Max starting Friday, May 23rd.

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@mattpwolf on Instagram

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Predators" with David Osit

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 19:04:46 -0700

As director David Osit describes his new film, “ ’Predators’ peels back the story of the TV show ‘To Catch a Predator’, which ensnared potential sex predators in a television hidden-camera sting operation and explores the fallout from the show and the legacy of journalism as entertainment that it helped create.”

“Predators” (MTV Documentary Films) is now playing in select theaters, with more added every week.

Hidden Gem: Look into My Eyes.

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@dosit on Instagram and @davidosit on X/twitter

@predatorsfilm on Instagram

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival 2025

Sat, 11 Oct 2025 14:47:50 -0700

It’s that time of the year! The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival 2025 runs from October 10-18th. Ken, who, in addition to his Top Docs duties serves as the Executive Director of the Festival, joins Mike to talk about some of his picks for the Festival including:

“Lost Wolves of Yellowstone”
“The Cowboy”
“Move Ya Body: The Birth of House”
“Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud”
“The Perfect Neighbor”
“Welded Together”
“The Baloonists”

And… On October 12th at 2:30, Join Ken and Mike and director Joshua Seftel for a very special live Top Docs featuring Johua’s short, “All the Empty Rooms.”

For more info: https://hsdfi.org/

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

“Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5” with Raoul Peck

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:26:36 -0700

It’s easy to glibly identify what’s happening as “Orwellian”: that we live in an era of “newspeak,” that we have reached the point at which the depths of the surveillance state of 1984 seems all too possible, maybe even already here. But in his new “Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5”, Raoul Peck (“I am Not Your Negro”, “Exterminate All the Brutes”, “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found”) digs much deeper into these possibilities, demonstrating how Orwell’s words resonated throughout the first half of the 20th century, only to become all that much relevant in our own day.

Drawing widely from Orwell’s corpus--not just the later novels, 1984 and Animal Farm but from earlier work and Orwell’s essays as well--Peck gives us a sense of a mind at work, seeking to bring together art and politics to reveal his world’s contradictions. And by fashioning as a spine to the film Orwell’s final months on the remote island of Jura as well as in sanitariums and hospitals and tuberculosis destroyed his lungs, all while striving to finish his final novel, 1984, Peck creates a sense of the mortal urgency facing Orwell then and us now.

“Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5” is now playing in theaters.

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Mr. Scorsese" with Rebecca Miller

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 09:28:17 -0700

Mr. Scorsese is “Marty” to his friends and “Legend” to admirers and imitators. But he’s also still that kid, the "minuscule asthmatic”--as lovingly described by his ex-wife, Isabella Rossellini--who fervently loved both the movies he watched in Times Square as well as the characters that populated the Little Italy of his youth. The results were "Mean Streets", "Taxi Driver", "Raging Bull", and "Goodfellas".

But as Rebecca Miller (“Personal Velocity”, “Maggie’s Plan”, “Arthur Miller: Writer”) compellingly shows, Scorsese’s triumph was not inevitable, nor is it simply the inevitable result of personal history yoked to directorial will. For while Scorsese has an anthropologist’s eye, his films are not documentaries (except for the documentaries, of course!) Rather, they are the product of his own prodigious preparation combined with a willingness to trust his actors (notably, DiNero and DiCaprio) to improvise–and, in the end, phenomenal editing shaped by deep learning from the French New Wave as well as his decades-long professional relationship with Thelma Schoonmaker. While his films are often grounded in fully formed literary works, he makes of them what director Ari Aster calls “total cinema”. And while the visuals putatively reign, the music often seems to take the lead, almost directing the camera’s movements. And in the end, in complicating the work of what may seem to be one of our most personal filmmakers, Miller suggests that Scorsese's wider purpose is to chronicle “the American project.”

You can watch the 5-part series “Mr. Scorcese” on Apple+

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@rebeccamillerstoryteller on Instagram

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Mon, 24 Nov 2025 03:14:00 -0800

Whether you are a fan of motorcycles or not, it’s hard to dispute that riding one down an open stretch of road delivers an intoxicating sense of freedom. As filmmakers Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni make clear in their extraordinary documentary “Cutting Through Rocks,” the motorcycle can also be a powerful — and threatening — symbol of female empowerment and independence.

Sara and Mohammadreza join Ken on the pod to discuss the remarkable woman at the center of their film, Sara Shahverdi, whose motorcycle rides through the countryside of rural northwest Iran have drawn the ire of the patriarchal defenders of traditional gender roles and the curiosity of a group of young women inspired by Sara’s free spirit and unwavering determination. Over the course of the film, we see Sara take the unprecedented step of running for the local council. To the amazement of all, Sara wins, becoming the first woman elected to council throughout the entire region. It’s an inspiring victory that comes with a huge sense of responsibility — and an all-too-expected backlash. What transpires is a tale that, through various twists and turns, ultimately leads back to that open road and to the boundless sense of possibility and joy that is just a motorcycle ride away.

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@sarakhakifilms and @mohammadrezaeynifilms on Instagram and X

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

Hidden Gem:

Sara: ”The Salesman”

Mohammadreza: the documentary films of Krzysztof Kieslowski

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

“Selena y Los Dinos” with Isabel Castro

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 10:16:08 -0800

Elvis. The Beatles. Madonna… Selena. Selena Quintanilla was a huge star on the cusp of becoming an international superstar when she was tragically killed in 1995 at just 23 years old. Filmmaker Isabel Castro (“Mija”) explores the life, music and legacy of this incredibly talented and beloved musician in her exceptional Netflix documentary portrait “Selena y Los Dinos.” As the film’s title implies, Selena’s story goes deeper than that of a singular star to include the central role played by her tightknit musical family who made up the band Los Dinos.

Isabel joins Ken on the pod to discuss the profound impact that Selena, as a symbol of bicultural identity and possibility, had on her own life growing up Mexican American in the U.S. When the Quintanilla family approached her to make a documentary about Selena, Isabel was immensely honored. But along with that privilege came the immense weight of doing justice to the “Queen of Tejano Music.” Taking her cue from the family’s treasure trove of archival material, Isabel reveals a young woman with extraordinary talent, a supportive but disciplined father determined to see his family achieve musical success, and a fan base that went from indifferent to rapturous in just a few short years. Watching Selena and the band find hard-earned success in Mexico and the U.S. and seeing her in the studio recording an all-English language crossover album, the tragedy of what could have been is all too apparent. But the enduring appeal of the music and the symbolism of this strong woman who became equally revered on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border lives on, now more than ever.

“Selena y Los Dinos” is released by and available for streaming on Netflix.

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@ isabelcastropics on Instagram

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Hidden Gem:

“The Bend in the River”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

“The Tale of Silyan” with Tamara Kotevska & Jean Dakar

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 03:46:00 -0800

The main protagonist of Tamara Kotevska’s (“Honeyland”) enchanting new documentary “The Tale of Silyan” is a lovable farmer named Nikola. But as compelling a screen presence as he is, Nikola can’t hold a candle to the film’s real stars, the gorgeous, majestic — and even more lovable — white storks who steal the show.

Producer/Director Tamara Kotevska and Cinematographer/Producer Jean Dakar join Ken on the pod to discuss these incredible birds, the legend of Silyan (a boy who was turned into a stork), and the North Macedonian rural community that the storks, Nikola, and his family call home. Having lived side-by-side in harmony for centuries, both storks and humans are now facing dire economic forces that make farming unsustainable and lead to landfills, rather than fertile fields, becoming the storks’ feeding grounds. As she did with her magical, multiple Oscar-nominated “Honeylands,” also set in her native Macedonia, Tamara manages to spin a tale of her own that seamlessly combines elements of narrative storytelling and observational documentary. Jean’s gorgeous and multifaceted cinematography elevates the film even further. “The Tale of Silyan” is a beautiful love story, too. It turns out that storks are just as lovable to Nikola as to the rest of us.

“The Tale of Silyan” is North Macedonia’s official submission for Best International Feature and is being released by National Geographic Documentary Films in select theaters.

Hidden Gems:

Tamara: “Midnight Family”

Jean: “Riders on the Storm”

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@tamarakotevska and @jeandakar on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"The Stringer" with Bao Nguyen

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 12:07:26 -0800

Who really took the photo widely known as “Napalm Girl”? And does it really matter over a half-century later?

In his new Netflix documentary “The Stringer”, Bao Nguyen (“The Greatest Night in Pop”) follows a journalistic team lead by Anglo-American Gary Knight as they seek to show that the real photographer on that day in 1972 in Trang Bang was not the renowned and fêted Pulitzer Prize-winning Nick Ut, of the Saigon AP Bureau, but a “stringer”, Nguyen Thanh Nghe, paid $20 flat and subsequently denied all credit. And Nguyen argues as well that it does matter not only to Nghe and his family, but also to: the Vietnamese people; the Vietnamese diaspora (who had long lionized Ut); to an America that has still not fully dealt with the war; and to the very nature of truth in an era when technology can both clarify and complicate provenance.

You can stream “The Stringer” on Netflix.

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@baomnguyen on Instagram and X

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Tue, 23 Dec 2025 16:59:25 -0800

Sometimes, timing is everything. If Julia Loktev’s 5 hour and 24-minute documentary masterpiece “My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 — Last Air in Moscow” can be boiled down to its essence, it may be that, often in life, there is a “before” and an “after,” and nothing can possibly prepare you for what comes after. In this case, the event that changes everything for the courageous generation of Russian journalists that came of age under Vladimir Putin’s reign is the Russian leader’s cataclysmic invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Julia and journalist / film participant Ksenia Mironova join Ken on “Top Docs” to discuss the vibrant world of independent journalism that existed in Russia in the period prior to the invasion, and the subsequent crackdown that ended it all. Filming Ksenia and a cohort of women journalists in the months leading up the invasion with her iPhone, Julia captures an intimate, inspiring world of hope, youthful ambition and a deep commitment to reporting the truth in a country where government propaganda is one of Putin’s most powerful weapons of control. Bearing witness, first as the government brands news outlets, NGOs and individual journalists as foreign agents, and then through instances of arrest and imprisonment (including Ksenia’s fiancé), Julia finds herself filming as the clock strikes midnight on any semblance of freedom of the press in Russia. By the end of Part 1, all the film’s participants are forced to flee the country. Timing may be everything, but the story never ends. Part 2 on “The Exiles” is already underway.

Hidden Gems:

Julia: “Four Daughters”, “July Rain” by

Ksenia: “Holocaust: Is That Wallpaper Paste?”

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@juliaofelbow and @my_undesirable_friends on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

98th Academy Awards Shortlist Rundown with Anne Thompson

Sat, 27 Dec 2025 18:15:03 -0800

Welcome once again to our Anne-ual Top Docs Holiday Special featuring the one-and-only Anne Thompson, Editor-at-Large at IndieWire! Anne joins Mike and Ken to tackle this year’s Best Feature Documentary Oscar Shortlist, released on December 16th. One day following the release of the list, Anne is already fired up and ready to go. How competitive is this year’s race? Who are the Favorites, Runners Up and Dark Horses? Which film will win it all? Park yourself in front of a roaring fire and pop in those earbuds. It’s Oscar time!

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@akstanwyck on Instagram and twitter

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Cover-Up" with Mark Obenhaus

Wed, 31 Dec 2025 15:22:28 -0800

It took 20 years of asking by an Oscar-winning filmmaker, but famed investigative reporter Seymour Hersh finally said, “Yes.” The result is "Cover-Up", a revelatory new documentary portrait of Hersh’s fascinating life and career by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras (“Citizenfour”) and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Mark Obenhaus (“Steep”).

Joining Ken on the pod, Mark (who jointly directed the film with Laura) discusses the origins of his professional relationship with Hersh and why the stars finally aligned for Hersh to agree to the project. With a career going back to the 1960’s, Hersh virtually invented the idea of the modern investigative reporter. He sniffed out the facts of the horrific My Lai massacre by U.S. soldiers in Vietnam and exposed the top brass’ scandalous cover-up. Following My Lai, Hersh went on to expose cover-ups in Watergate that became front page news in the “New York Times.” Years later, during the Iraq War, Hersh’s reporting would again expose high-level cover-ups, revealing the graphic details of torture committed by the CIA and the U.S. Army at Abu Ghraib prison. “Cover-Up” also addresses Hersh’s shortcomings as well. Time and again, Hersh’s work and sources have exposed abuses of power at the highest level of the American government. It turns out that the full story was well worth waiting for.

Hidden Gem:

“Seeds”

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@mark_obenhaus on Instagram

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

“Mr. Nobody Against Putin” with David Borenstein

Sat, 03 Jan 2026 11:31:59 -0800

Pavel “Pasha” Talankin may seem like just another primary school events coordinator, but when he is forced by Vladimir Putin’s new dictates to not only implement a pro-war curriculum but to record teachers delivering its absurd, self-contradictory nonsense, he decides to use his camera to document the effects of the war in Ukraine and the propaganda war at home on his community, and especially his students.

David Borenstein (“Dream Empire”, “Can’t Feel Nothing”), who along with Pasha co-directed the Oscar-shorlisted “Mr. Nobody Against Putin”, joins Mike to talk about how he came to work with Pasha through a casting call as well as the importance of tone in a movie filled both with humor as well as off-screen carnage. And they speak too of one of the best villains in documentary film: Pavel (no “Pasha” he!) Abdulmanov, the school history teacher who delivers Putin’s pablum with enthusiasm and who wishes he could’ve met the worst of the worst of Stalin’s henchmen, notably the infamous torturer, Lavrentiy Beria.

Hidden Gem:

“The Mountains”

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Mon, 12 Jan 2026 12:01:06 -0800

In her Oscar-shortlisted new documentary, “Seeds”, director Brittany Shyne depicts the lives of Black farmers in the South. In a flexible verité style in which she doesn’t fear breaking the fourth wall, Shyne pays meticulous attention to the workings of farm life, focussing, as she notes to Mike, literally on the hands that do that labor. But she sets the entire experience with a broader framework of the “maintenance of legacy and [what] that entails” within the “political and social structures” which inform the lives of these farmers.

The resulting film becomes a meditation on relationships: Between the members of the community, of course, but also between: people and the land; people and machines; people and animals; and between people and their own bodies and mortality.

Hidden Gem:

“Handsworth Songs”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"The Alabama Solution" with Andrew Jarecki

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 11:28:28 -0800

In his new, Oscar-shortlisted “The Alabama Solution”, which he co-directed with Charlotte Kaufman, Andrew Jarecki ("Capturing the Friedmans", "The Jinx") focusses on inmates of the Alabama Department of Corrections who use contraband phones to organize dissent within the system, even sustained labor strikes, all aimed at improving the dramatically overcrowded, squalid, abusive, and even fatal conditions within the state’s 14 prisons.

To date, Alabama’s “solution” to these problems–and the attention it has drawn from the Federal DOJ– has been to build larger prisons that promise to provide no increase in the system’s number of beds, but do promise with their massive financial overruns to feather the beds of the governor’s friends and supporters. Jarecki and Kaufman, in league with the prisoners they depict here, hope to change that.

You can watch “The Alabama Solution” on HBO Max.

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@andrew.jarecki on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Folktales" with Rachel Grady

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 08:50:31 -0800

The premise of Rachel Grady’s and Heidi Ewing’s (“Jesus Camp”, “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You,” Endangered) new Oscar-shortlisted documentary, “Folktales” is simple enough: They follow three students at a post-high school program in Norway’s Arctic circle as they learn survival skills and dog sledding. But by almost literally weaving in Nordic tales of the Fates, demonstrating the healing ties that grow between the students and the dogs, and exploring the profound wisdom proffered by two capable, insightful teachers (Iselin and Thor-Atle), Ewing and Grady provide a deep meditation on coming of age in the time of putatively frictionless lives and ubiquitous cell phones.

Rachel joins Mike on the pod to explain how she found joy in the challenges of shooting in darkened forests in polar winter--how in effect she “went to Folk High School too!” And she shares the wisdom she garnered from Iselin and Thor-Atle as well: Throughout our lives, doors open and close.

You can watch “Folktales” on streaming platforms including Amazon.

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@rachelgrady on Instagram

@heidewing on Instagram

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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

2026 Sundance Preview with Basil Tsiokos

Sat, 17 Jan 2026 14:40:39 -0800

This is it! The final Sundance Film Festival to be held in Utah is just around the corner. The 2026 Sundance Film Festival — the 42nd edition — runs from January 22 – February 1 in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah (and online from Jan. 29 – Feb 1). Next year, this iconic event moves to Boulder, Colorado. To help get us fired up for the festival, we welcome back Basil Tsiokos, Sundance Senior Programmer, Nonfiction, to “Top Docs” to preview Sundance’s stellar documentary lineup.

From among the 40+ feature documentaries having their world premieres at this year’s festival across multiple sections, Basil spotlights first-time feature filmmakers, as well as those returning with exciting new works. And don’t miss Basil’s take on this year’s Oscar Shortlist and predictions for the final nominees. With 9 of this year’s 15 Oscar-shortlisted feature docs having premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, you can bet that many of 2026’s most talked about documentaries will be making their debuts at Sundance.

For more info about the Sundance Film Festival program, go to festival.sundance.org.

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@1basil1 on X, @sundancefest on X and @sundanceorg on Instagram

@topdocspod on X and Instagram

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Never Get Busted" with David Anthony Ngo & Erin Williams-Weir

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 18:13:29 -0800

Cop. Drug agent. Preacher. Marijuana activist. Cop buster. Can this really be one man?

In their documentary “Never Get Busted”, David Anthony Ngo and Erin Williams-Weir follow the protean Barry Cooper. In this special interview recorded live late last year at the Hot Spring Documentary Film Festival (where our own Ken Jacobson serves as Executive Director), David and Erin share the lives, loves and ever-shifting mission of a man who despite constantly changing, continually seems rooted in an authentic calling. And they explore with him a legal system deeply compromised by misaligned incentives and financial corruption.

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@davidanthonyfilm & @nevergetbustedfilm on Instagram

@topdocspod on X and Instagram

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Jane Elliott Against the World" with Judd Ehrlich

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 18:58:07 -0800

In a special, in-person conversation from the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, director Judd Ehrlich (“Keepers of the Game”) joins Ken in Park City to discuss his new documentary “Jane Elliott Against the World,” which just had its world premiere in the festival’s U.S. Documentary Competition section.

In the opening scene of “Jane Elliott Against the World,” the film’s eponymous protagonist rather provocatively calls herself a “bitch” — actually, an acronym for “Being in Total Control, Honey.” As a teacher in a rural Iowa school in the 1960s, Jane devised a provocative social experiment called “Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes” intended to make her students understand what it feels like to be an oppressed minority based on outward appearance. The effect on her students was immediate and profound, and the experiment reverberated across the country, making Jane famous. Judd describes getting to know Jane and learning from her daughters how, growing up, Jane’s full-time anti-racism activism took its toll on the family. Now 92, Jane shows few signs of slowing down. She may not be in total control, but, to anyone who tries to stand in her way, be forewarned.

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@juddehrlich on Instagram and X

@topdocspod on Instagram and X

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"The Devil is Busy" with Christalyn Hampton & Rose Arce

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 09:39:22 -0800

A day in the life of a women’s reproductive healthcare center is unlike any other. In this post-Roe world, potential danger lurks in the dark or right out in the open. In the tense and nuanced Oscar-nominated documentary short “The Devil Is Busy” (directed by Christalyn Hampton and Geeta Gandbhir), we follow Tracii, the head of security at an Atlanta women’s health clinic, as she goes through her routine to ensure that no physical harm comes to those seeking care or dispensing it.

Christalyn and producer Rose Arce join Ken on the pod to discuss the intense stress facing Tracii, her colleagues, and the clinic’s patients (referred to as “guests”), many of whom have traveled hundreds of miles for an appointment at one of the few remaining abortion providers in the region. Over the course of the film, we learn more about Tracii, the difficult decisions she has had to face, and the role that religion and a forgiving God play in her life. Countering the shrill voices of the male anti-abortion protestors outside, Tracii’s simple acts of kindness transform an average day into something extraordinary.

“The Devil Is Busy” has been nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary Short. It can be streamed on HBO MAX.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

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@cwdivadance and @rose_marie_arce on Instagram

@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

"Perfectly a Strangeness" with Alison McAlpine

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 16:49:32 -0800

”Three donkeys are in an unnamed desert and they discover an abandoned astronomical observatory. And the universe.”

That’s how Alison McAlpine (“Second Sight”, “Ghostmen of Skye”, "Cielo") describes her Oscar-nominated short documentary “Perfectly a Strangeness” to Mike. In this wordless film, McAlpine uses the “fundamentals of cinema”– sound, movement, light, shadow, reflections – to craft a “conversation” between the muscular, visceral donkeys and the advanced, technological observatory. The resulting 15 minutes are a rare amalgam of mundanity and profundity, one which will make you see living creatures, man-made objects, and even the night sky anew.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

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@perfectly_a_strangeness on Instagram

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“Armed Only With a Camera" with Craig Renaud

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 18:32:26 -0800

While covering the devastating effects of the Russian bombing of Ukraine, documentary filmmaker/journalist Brent Renaud was shot and killed by Russian forces on March 22, 2022. He was the first foreign-born journalist killed in the war. Now, Brent’s filmmaking partner and younger brother Craig has made the harrowing documentary “Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud.”

Craig joins Ken on the pod to discuss Brent’s extraordinary career, the lasting impacts that Brent had on those he encountered while shooting in hot zones and other places of trauma around the world, and how he chose to honor Brent by picking up a camera in the aftermath of personal tragedy. With this remarkable film, Renaud Brothers Films lives on as a powerful reminder of all that can be accomplished when journalists and filmmakers do their incredibly valuable and dangerous work — and all that can be lost in a fleeting moment.

“Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud” is nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Short. It can be streamed on HBO MAX.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

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@RenaudBrothers on Instagram and X

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“Children No More: Were and are Gone” with Hilla Medalia

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 11:44:16 -0800

Protestors silently bearing the pictures of children killed in Gaza: they hold no other signs, chant no slogans.

Hilla Medalia ("Leftover Women", "Prisoner X") speaks to Mike about her Oscar-nominated short documentary, “Children No More: Were and are Gone”, explaining how this act held weekly in Tel Aviv–where the images of the dead in Gaza are not regularly shown in the mainstream media–is intended less as sheer defiance than it is a call for opening a dialog. The film’s culminating images of the mute participants buffeted with abuse, as well experiencing the heartfelt anguish of their opponents’ own losses and traumas, can be read both tragically as well as hopefully.

The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

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@hillamedalia on Instagram

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Academy Awards Breakdown 2026 with Clayton Davis

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 20:49:00 -0800

Joining us for the 5th year in a row, Variety’s Chief Awards Editor Clayton Davis is back on “Top Docs” to break down this year’s Oscar races for Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short and to offer his predictions for who will walk away victorious on March 15th. With another close race on our hands, you don’t want to miss Clayton’s analysis and final picks.

And be sure to catch up on all of the Oscar-nominated films in the documentary feature and shorts categories by listening to our “Top Docs” interviews with all ten of the nominees.

Clayton Davis is Variety’s Chief Awards Editor. He is also host of Variety Studio: Actors on Actors and the Variety Awards Circuit podcast. He's been an awards, film and television analyst and critic for more than 15 years and has co-hosted the Oscars Pre-Show on ABC. Clayton is also co-founder and president of the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association and is a board member of the Critics Choice Association.

The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

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"Birds of War" with Janay Boulos & Abd Alkader Habak

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 07:36:44 -0800

What started out as a transactional exchange between Janay Boulos, a BBC journalist, and Abd Alkader Habak, a local activist and cameraperson in Aleppo during the Syrian war, later evolved into a mutual curiosity. Over time, texting, voice memos and phone calls became the currency of a deepening relationship... and eventually the two married and became film partners living in London. In their intense and gripping new Sundance documentary “Birds of War,” Janay and Habak create a moving assemblage of personal archival material and devastating wartime news footage that tells a universal story of war and love through a unique personal lens.

Following their film’s world premiere in the Sundance World Cinema Documentary section, Janay and Habak joined Ken in his Sundance Park City podcast studio (i.e. condo) for a lively in-person conversation. From the trauma of Habak’s last days in Syria to Janay’s emotional return to Lebanon to cover a burgeoning rebellion, the twists and turns of their individual journeys are just as unpredictable as the love that brought them together.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

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"Ask E. Jean" with Ivy Meeropol

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 08:36:53 -0700

You may only know her from those few minutes in a dressing room where she was assaulted by Donald Trump, who has himself relentlessly lied about what happened there and slandered the woman who, after years of telling only those closest to her of his crime, finally sought justice–and won. Repeatedly.

But Ivy Meeropol, in her new documentary, “Ask E. Jean” provides a much fuller story: How E. Jean, after years on a Montana ranch, trying to place her writing, finally arrived in New York at nearly 40 years of age, and then successfully pursued a journalistic career: writing for some of the dominant magazines in an age of magazines; hosting a call-in television show awarded her by Roger Ailes(!); and even serving a season as a writer on SNL. Ultimately, we see a woman who over the course of decades, emboldened by the me too movement, learns to redefine what constitutes “courage.”

“Ask E. Jean” has recently been acquired by Abramorama.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

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“Everybody to Kenmure Street” with Felipe Bustos Sierra

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 10:15:08 -0700

In the early morning hours of a typical spring day, a van marked “Immigration Enforcement” stops on a quiet street in a residential neighborhood; two men of color are snatched up for alleged immigration violations and hustled into the van. No, the location is not the U.S., and this is not 2026... Felipe Bustos Sierra’s (“Nae Pasaran”) gripping new Sundance documentary “Everybody to Kenmure Street” depicts the dramatic events of May 13, 2021, when two Sikh men were apprehended in the Pollokshields suburb of Glasgow, Scotland, and the neighborhood spontaneously rallied to protect them.

Felipe joined Ken for a warm, in-person conversation in Park City following the world premiere of his film in the Sundance World Cinema Documentary section. Beginning with the story of his personal journey as a Chilean Belgian filmmaker who made his way to Glasgow to live and make films, Felipe then delves into the city’s rich history of political activism and Pollokshields’ distinctive character. Felipe describes how he relied on footage shot by locals to tell this story and explains his creative decision to use actors Emma Thompson, Kate Dickie and Keira Lucchesi in the film.

While this event no doubt has clear resonances with what is currently happening in the U.S., the circumstances, backstory and outcome are very specific to this time and place. The emotional impact, however, no doubt hits home.

“Everybody to Kenmure Street” is being released by Icarus Films.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

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Our most popular shows of Season 5

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 16:02:49 -0700

For our 300th episode, we’re bringing you some of our favorite impactful moments from some of our most popular shows of Season 5:

"Pee-wee as Himself" with Matt Wolf
"Chef's Table: Legends" with David Gelb & Adam Bricker
Anatomy of a Scene from "Martha" with R.J. Cutler
"CHAOS: The Manson Murders" with Errol Morris
"Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary" with Garret Price

See you in Season 6!

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

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"My Mom Jayne" with Mariska Hargitay

Tue, 26 May 2026 03:18:00 -0700

In 1967, 3-year-old Mariska Hargitay — now, an Emmy-winning actor known to millions as Captain Olivia Benson on the long-running TV series “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” — was in a terrible car accident. Her mother — the Hollywood icon Jayne Mansfield — and two others were killed instantly. The accident not only took the life of her mother but prevented Mariska from having any lasting memories of her.

“My Mom Jayne” is Mariska’s touching and winding documentary journey to learn about her mother’s life and to confront some of the
secrets of her own story as well. Mariska joins Ken on the podcast to talk about Jayne’s breakthrough as a young actress and
the blonde bombshell image that prevented her mother from being treated as the serious actress she always aspired to be. Through difficult conversations with Mariska’s siblings and trips to a long neglected family storage facility, a more complete portrait of Jayne, the actress and mother, begins to emerge. At this point in the film, an even more deeply buried story — this one about Mariska’s father — takes over.

The power of “My Mother Jayne” lies in Mariska’s
willingness to reclaim her own story, wherever it may lead.

“My Mom Jayne” is streaming on HBO Max.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

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"Sean Combs: The Reckoning" with Alexandria Stapleton

Thu, 28 May 2026 13:50:57 -0700

Late in director Alexandria Stapleton’s 4-part Netflix series “Sean Combs: The Reckoning”, one of her subjects lays out what may be the documentary’s thesis: While it may seem like Combs “went bad” well into middle-age, the signs were there well before–”it was a slow build.”

Stapleton deftly tracks Comb’s rise: The son of a murdered father, brought up with music, clothes, and fantasy. Starting out in the music business as a runner, dancer, and promoter. Then becoming “Puff Daddy” in the fallout of a tragically over-promoted show, he would go on to make a fortune as a promoter and producer, understanding the growing importance of both music as a visual medium, as well as the opportunities provided by corporate sponsorship.

But Stapleton is as interested in the other side of Combs, the one that ended up with a Federal indictment for racketeering and more; charges that he may have ultimately eluded, but which still resulted in 40 months in Federal Prison. Stapleton presents those who say that were hurt by Combs–psychically, physically, financially, and sexually–with sensitivity, but allows them to tell their own stories with a specificity that at times can be harrowing.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

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“Trust Me: The False Prophet” with Rachel Dretzin

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 02:48:48 -0700

When Warren Jeffs, the “prophet” of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), a Mormon fundamentalist group whose members practice polygamy, stopped communicating regularly from prison where he is serving a life sentence for child sexual assault, his followers were at a loss. But, as Rachel Dretzin depicts in her powerful, eye-opening four-part Netflix series “Trust Me: The False Prophet,” Jeffs’ silence created the opportunity for a new leader to fill the void. Enter Samuel Bateman, a seemingly unremarkable guy, who claimed that he was the new prophet.

Rachel joins Ken on the podcast to talk about the consequences of Bateman’s rise within the FLDS, his influence over a handful of adults and girls in the community, and the tragic consequences of his actions. The centerpiece of “Trust Me” and the key to Bateman’s undoing is Dr. Christine Marie, a former Mormon who, along with her husband, the videographer Tolga Katas, grew close to the group with the intent of exposing Bateman’s crimes. Relying heavily on Tolga’s insider footage, as well as key interviews with women who eventually turned against Bateman, the series shows how far trust can take some people and a measure of justice that can occur when that trust is finally broken.

“Trust Me: The False Prophet” is streaming on Netflix.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

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"Rafa" with Zach Heinzerling

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 03:58:00 -0700

Of course, we all know who “Rafa” is — the tennis legend and sports icon Rafael Nadal, winner of 22 Grand Slam titles and an unfathomable 14 French Open trophies. But who is Rafael Nadal when the cameras (or, rather, all but one of the cameras...) are turned off? In director Zach Heinzerling’s (“Cutie and the Boxer”) much anticipated, just released 4-part Netflix docuseries “Rafa,” Zach’s watchful eye reveals more than we ever thought we’d know about this extraordinary athlete and thoughtful tennis genius during his less-than-storybook final year on tour.

Zach joins Ken on the podcast for a lively conversation about Ken’s favorite athlete of all-time. After witnessing Rafa up-close-and-personal, what does Zach think made Rafael Nadal so special as a tennis player — and as a person? How did it feel to be sitting in a car, camera in hand, witnessing one of Nadal’s most private and tortured moments when injury struck once again just as he had begun his last season? Why is the idea of suffering on the court so critical to understanding what drove Nadal to become such a fearsome competitor?

If you are a Nadal fan like Ken or just someone who cares about what it means to reach for the outer limits of our capabilities, “Rafa” is every bit as thrilling as seeing one of Nadal’s spectacular forehands whip through the air and land right on the line for a winner. Game, set, and match, Nadal.

“Rafa” is streaming on Netflix.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

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"Time and Water" with Sara Dosa

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 03:58:00 -0700

For her latest film, “Time and Water,” Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Sara Dosa (“Fire of Love”, “The Seer & the Unseen”) returns to Iceland, this time to cover the island nation’s other distinctive geologic feature besides its volcanoes: its majestic glaciers. Deeply embedded in Icelandic history, culture, and myth, these moving rivers of ice are now facing an existential threat due climate change, jeopardizing the nation’s very identity.

Sara, who spoke with Mike about “Fire of Love” for the pod, joins Ken to talk about her new film and how she came to collaborate with renowned Icelandic poet and author Andri Snær Magnason (“On Time and Water”). Magnason’s narration is addressed to an unspecified “you” that represents a future generation, framing the film as a cinematic time capsule. As his beloved grandparents (two of whom participated in Iceland’s first glacier expeditions) age and pass away, and his children grow up in the blink of an eye, Magnason reflects on the relationship between time, loss, and memory. When Magnason is invited to write an epitaph for the Ok Glacier, the first Icelandic glacier officially declared “dead” due to climate change, the film takes on an added sense of urgency. Will his generation be able to reverse the effects of climate change before all the country’s glaciers disappear? As he says in the film, “Only time will tell.”

“Time and Water,” distributed by National Geographic Documentary Films, is in limited theatrical release.

Hidden Gem:

“River of Grass”

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

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"Billy Joel: And So It Goes" with Jessica Levin

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 15:40:23 -0700

Billy Joel, one of the most beloved and best-selling pop music artists of all-time, has finally achieved something that, up until now, has always eluded him: the opportunity to tell his side of the story. In their authoritative and insightful two-part HBO documentary “Billy Joel: And So It Goes,” directors and producers Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin (“Jane Fonda in Five Acts”, “Joni Mitchell: A Woman of Heart and Mind”) sit Joel down to get his take on life, love, music... and all things Long Island.

Jessica joins Ken on the pod to talk about what led Billy to decide to open himself up to this documentary duo and how candid he ended up being over the many hours of interviews. Featuring a terrific cast of Billy’s musical peers, including Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, and Jackson Browne — all of whom have high praise for Billy’s musical chops — the documentary does justice to the music and arc of Joel’s career, while at the same time revealing aspects that are not as well known, such as the significant contributions of his former wife and manager Elizabeth Weber. But, more than anything, it is Joel’s willingness to talk about deeply personal things that make this such a fascinating portrait. The kid from Hicksville, Long Island — whose breakthrough album is called “The Stranger” — is finally learning to open up.

“Billy Joel: And So It Goes” is streaming on HBO Max.

The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

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