Documentaries expose wrongdoing, illuminate culture, and take on powerful interests—and they depend on fair use to do it. Every day, members of our community make fair use responsibly and appropriately; get insurance; and have their work screened, broadcast and distributed without incident. Yet new threats continue to emerge. In the new digital economy, the documentary community must stay informed, organize, and agitate to protect the fair use rights we have worked so hard to earn. Challenges to fair use have become more common in recent years, even as the law on fair use in documentary
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Director Dawn Porter ( Gideon's Army, Trapped) felt equipped for the documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble. She had, after all, interviewed the US Congressman previously for the doc series Bobby Kennedy for President. Porter and her crew witnessed Lewis' tenacity and resilience first hand on the first full shoot day. The team set out to follow the congressman as he campaigned in Texas for Colin Allred, Lizzie Fletcher and Beto O'Rourke for the 2018 election. "Whatever I thought this movie was going to be, I was wrong," Porter admits. "This 80-year-old man kicked our butts." Porter reveals that
As a stopgap measure, the AFI Docs festival in Washington, DC was remarkably satisfying. The technology largely worked; most Zoom participants remembered to mute/unmute; the ticketing was efficient; Q&As were well-hosted and informative. Missing, of course, was the serendipity, the opportunities to catch up with colleagues, the information-sharing about can’t-miss films. But as virtual events go, this one was well-produced. AFI Docs has demonstrated commitment to social-issue docs in a range of aesthetic modes and over a range of topics, appropriate to its DC venue. This year the showing was
Narrative justice demands that those closest to the problem define that problem. This necessarily means a rearrangement of who stands behind the camera, but also requires tools to advance responsible, accountable filmmaking no matter the filmmaker.
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. Now streaming on WORLD Channel as part of America Reframed, Rodney Evans' Vision Portraits profiles three blind or visually impaired artists who have adjusted their life and art in response to their loss of sight. Evans himself confronts his vision loss due to a rare genetic disease and ponders how it will impact his work, his life and his independence. Love Me Like You Should: The Brave and Bold Sylvester, directed by Lauren Tabak and streaming on the World of Wonder site
Cutting Class is a new column that focuses on a specific aspect of the post-production process—breaking down a scene editorially, and delving into innovative solutions to creative challenges. David France's Welcome to Chechnya shadows an underground network of LGBTQ activists who help Chechens escape the anti-gay pogrom underway in this Russian republic. The peril is underscored by a text that appears at the film's start: "For their safety, people fleeing for their lives have been digitally disguised." "He's going to kill me for sure," a young lesbian renamed "Anya" says about her father, a
Essential Doc Reads is our curated selection of recent features and important news items about the documentary form and its processes, from around the internet, as well as from the Documentary magazine archive. We hope you enjoy! Writing for Hyperallergic, Miasarah Lai calls for more visibility, equity and access for BIPOC filmmakers. Solidarity and social change require consistent engagement and, more importantly, putting marginalized people in positions of power. People occupying all levels of the documentary field need to educate themselves, listen, and give funding, resources, and access
And She Could Be Next, directed by Grace Lee and Marjan Safinia, is a two-part docuseries that follows the campaigns of six women of color running for US public office, including Stacey Abrams (Georgia), Rashida Tlaib (Michigan), Lucy McBath (Georgia), Veronica Escobar (Texas), María Elena Durazo (California), and Bushra Amiwala (Illinois). Taking place over the span of the 2018 midterm elections, the film documents both historic wins and detrimental losses, while amplifying the grassroots transformation of the US democratic system. The miniseries is executive-produced by Ava DuVernay and will
Taking Best Documentary Feature Film at last year's Outfest, Tom Shepard's Unsettled, an IDA Enterprise Documentary Fund grantee, adheres to every fraught definition of its title. Debuting on WORLD Channel on June 28 (and available for streaming on WorldChannel.org through July 12), the film follows four newly arrived LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers—Subhi, a gay man from Syria; Junior, a gender-nonconforming gay man from the DRC; and Cheyenne and Mari, a lesbian couple from Angola. Over several years, Shepard's camera captures this diverse foursome as they all figure out how to navigate life
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. Time for Change: We Won’t Be Defeated, a multi-pronged event airing June 24 on ESPN, wiill examine black athletes’ experiences with injustice and the unifying role that sports continues to play in bridging the divide between law enforcement and people of color in America. The evening will center around the Time for Change discussions, and will be augmented by three documentaries: The 16th Man showcases the South African "Springbok" National Rugby Team and its impact on South