Told entirely through archive Asif Kapadia‘s Senna takes you through Brazilian Formula One champion Ayrton Senna‘s career from his days in go-karting through to his tragic death at thirty-four in the San Marino Grand Prix.

The film’s real triumph comes through its superb editing and astonishing use of archive. The archive usage is similar to this year’s Black Power Mixtape which also decides to forgo the use of talking head interviews and instead allows comment through voiceover alone, with on-screen captions. As with Mixtape, this is a very effective method as it keeps you absorbed in the footage allowing you to travel through a large timeframe seamlessly remaining engaged in the narrative path of the film.

It’s hard not to fall for Senna as a central character as he is portrayed as someone in love with driving, totally intolerant to the politics of his sport, and rebellious through principle. The choice to bring smaller, subtler moments of behind the scenes footage around the racing itself to the forefront gives you a greater sense of intimacy and understanding of the the atmosphere Senna experienced during his career.

The focus on Senna’s personal experience and mental state is completely understandable, he is incredibly engaging, and his apparent inability to conform to the game playing within his industry provides you with completely frank interviews. This makes him naturally stand out among his more media-savvy rivals in the film, as you rarely see similar levels of honesty from them. His career-long rivalry with teammate Alain Prost is wonderfully tense and dramatic, and beautifully told through extremely telling looks and comments in moments outside of the track.

However, I wish the archive had been allowed to speak for itself in places that were overly described, especially when depicting moments of extreme stress or conflict. My only other slight problem with the film, and this could be more a matter of taste or limitations of footage, was that I desperately wanted to see more of his experience while driving. It was obvious from the footage of the numerous races throughout the film that there were many aspects that made Senna exceptional, but I didn’t get a feeling for what the experience of driving itself meant to him. The one scene that I found most thrilling to watch, came straight after his win at the Brazilian Grand Prix, in which winning on home soil meant so much to him that the audio from his car allows you to hear him screaming with triumph and pride. Likewise, every moment from his car’s on-board camera was exhilarating, as was the footage and explanation as to why he was so much more capable during bad weather conditions, which really added to your perception of his qualities of his character, in addition to his capabilities within his profession – and left me hoping for further glimpses into that side of his experience.

Senna is a beautifully made film, with an extremely high level of skill through direction, editing and archive curation. It is a real example of how to create a thrilling and consuming portrait without relying on context through interview. Asif Kapadia has created a film that should not only please pre-existing fans of the sport and Senna, but will also captivate those who are interested in seeing a fascinating, and dramatic, personal experience.

The website for the film is here and the trailer is below.

Talihina Sky is the first documentary to delve into the past of the Kings of Leon, something people have been apparently sceptical about up until now. I have to admit up front to being extremely unfamiliar with the Kings of Leon as a band beyond their bigger hits, and their back story in general, for no other reason than innocent ignorance. This lack of familiarity didn’t hinder the experience of watching this film, as, with other music docs this year, this is, first and foremost, a story-driven documentary and a standard music doc, second.

The backbone narrative of the film is their annual week-long family reunion in Talihina, Oklahoma. This underpins the parallel throughout the film of the stark contrast between their childhood to their current rock-star status. As this film opens at the reunion you are initially introduced to a multitude of their extended family from cousins and uncles to their grandfather and namesake of the band, Leon.

The main narrative is divided into three sections: the reunion in Talihina, candid footage of the band on tour, and their parents describing the chronology of their life and context of what was happening. That these different sections rarely, if ever, connect visually does give the impression that you’re watching someone change channel constantly, and is at first a very weird experience, especially as the style of each part is so different.

Within their family there are some incredible characters. Uncle Cleo is the highlight of the film, and serves as the antithesis to their devoutly religious relatives. Described by a member of the band as representing everything they were taught as children to understand as sin, he is incredibly fun to watch and could quite easily have been the film’s main focus.

Religion is a huge theme within the film and it is approached in a cleverly non-judgemental or sensationalist way. It could easily have either been played down or blown out of proportion, but instead the subject of the family’s devout religion is almost a character in itself. There are moments when Caleb’s confusion as to what his life has become are touched upon, from his ingrained personal assumption that he would become a preacher – and I’m relieved that this wasn’t turned into a story arc of the inner turmoil of the tortured artist but, instead, just highlights the bizarre contrast between what they perceived their life would be and what it is now.

Talihina Sky is a strange film, and one about which I left feeling extremely confused. As it sat with me afterwards I realised I liked it more and more. The resounding impression is how honest the film is, and how you are invited into experiencing the atmosphere of their home and the situation they grew up in. Allowing their family to speak truly independently is disjointing, especially as there are so few scenes in which the members of the band interact with them, forcing you to piece together missing parts, but this does prevent stifling scenes engineered for the sake of the film narrative.

The breadth of archival material and footage of them in the studio and on tour will be an absolute joy to Kings of Leon fans. One particularly interesting use is a present day performance being blended with archive from previous performances of the same song, and this is an extremely quick and effective way of showing their progression as performers and musicians. The only time I felt the film stepped over the mark into sensationalism was during a scene in which their live performances are intercut with archival footage of people speaking in tongues, which seems to be making a strange and counter-productive point to the link between their past lives as preacher’s sons and modern day performers.

The film culminates in the two scenes which are by far the strongest moments in the film: an extremely open and insightful interview with Caleb and the band playing a song acoustically. The interview is raw and messy–an extremely candid late-night conversation in which Caleb opens up to his experience of confusion and feelings of guilt about his past and getting past the rebellion of leaving that world and, later, finding some resolution between the two. Throughout the film, beyond the comparison between past and present, the other extreme seems to be the attitude of the family remaining as humble as they have always been despite the enormous success of the younger family members, and the morphed rock star attitudes that the band seem to habitually adopt. This final scene brings both together and the honesty of Caleb’s interview, combined with the stripped down performance, brings the film full circle to a place in which you feel the real theme of the film, which seems to be the conflict of a life of two extremes and how to find a way to handle both.

Talihina Sky is having its European Premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival on June 25 at 20.30. It will also be simultaneously screened the throughout the U.K. with a live Skype Q&A afterwards. Details are here and the trailer is below.

In Episode 13 of the podcast, host Joshua Ligairi is joined by special guest-host Malcolm Ingram. The Bear Nation director talks about the Kickstarter campaign for his new film, Continental, and together the two bears (one gay, one straight) interview Michael Webber about his new film, The Elephant in the Living Room, which features actual bears (along with lions and tigers) wreaking havoc in America’s suburbs. Michael reveals a lot of scary facts about wild animals living in domestic settings, which eventually leads Josh to admit his deep-seated fear of baboons. This episode also includes some recommendations of documentaries new to DVD and is jam-packed with discussion about documentary distribution, the current state of the independent film industry, and what Malcolm calls a “cruel cinematic Darwinism.” Enjoy!

00:00 INTRO

Beauty Day at HotDocs

03:18 How was your weekend?

(features lots of conversation about indie film distribution)

The Elephant In the Living Room distribution
Continental Kickstarter campaign
The Cockettes

21:21 Recommendations

Cool It
If God is Willing and Da Creek Dont Rise
Marwencol

27:35 Elephant in the Living Room interview

1:01:28 OUTRO

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Links and clips after the jump

Credits
-Intro Music “Winter’s Love” – Animal Collective [i-Tunes link]
-Outro Music “Animal” – Neon Trees [i-Tunes link]

Elephant in the Living Room Website

Elephant In the Living Room Facebook

Continental Kickstarter Campaign (still accepting donations!!!)

Bear Nation Website

Malcolm’s Twitter

Cleanflix Website

Josh’s Twitter

Beauty Day Website
The Documentary Blog Twitter
The Documentary Blog Facebook

RELATED VIDEOS

Elephant In the Living Room Trailer

Howard Stern on Elephant in the Living Room

Malcolm’s 2nd Continental Pitch Video

Bear Nation Trailer

Beauty Day Q&A

Cleanflix Teaser

Neon Trees Animal Music Video

Today we all learnt the tragic news of Tim Hetherington’s death and I’ve found myself compelled to write something of the small time I knew him and the huge impact he had on me.

The Frontline Club, where I work, was founded in memory of several journalists killed whilst doing work that has left us a more informed and educated society. It is something we are aware of on a daily basis and this ethos is the backbone of what we do. During the two years I’ve worked there, far too many journalists have been killed while working in some of the most dangerous conditions in the world.

I got the news of what had happened to Tim through a friend, and nearly fought with him on the phone because I couldn’t comprehend the possibility that it was true. Tim had been working in the besieged Libyan city of Misurata, which had been cut off by land by Gaddafi loyalists and was under heavy attack.

A few months into starting at Frontline, I was tasked with putting on a huge event that looked at issues within photojournalism. We had a great topic and it was looking to be a fantastic event, but we kept running into problems with people being unable to attend. Even Danfung Dennis, who was due to win a prize in our photography competition, was concerned he might not make it. We soon realised why, Tim Hetherington was in town to open an exhibition of his work and everyone wanted to be there instead. I was frustrated, not only because we were finding it hard to get people to come, but because I really wanted to go and hear Tim talk, too.

From running previous events on photojournalism at Frontline, and from talking to photographers, there was one name that always came up and it was always in the highest regard, Tim Hetherington. From researching both his photography and filmmaking I developed a huge appreciation of his work.

I can’t remember when I first heard about Restrepo, most likely it was through a fellow photographer. From the moment I did, I began badgering Tim. I was probably a huge pain in the ass, but whenever he received my regular email asking when we’d be able to show the film, Tim always replied with extreme kindness, promising me it would be as soon as he could. Little did I know then that when we finally managed to find a date of which Tim could attend, he would be sent to Libya just days before the screening was due to happen.

When the press release came out that announced that Restrepo had been selected for Sundance, I think I audibly cheered in our office because not only would it be my first time attending the festival but I would also be able to be there to cheer on one of the Frontline Club members’ films. Through emails of congratulations and excitement, we tried to arrange to meet at the festival but, as these things go, it didn’t happen and it wasn’t until Sheffield, last November, that I finally got to meet Tim. After two years of emails, with me largely embarrassing myself due to my fandom, we began several conversations over the following months, each of which left me thinking for weeks afterwards.

Often, when you meet people at the top of their game, they have several negative attitudes that come with success, but Tim was nothing but humble, gracious and excited about everything he was experiencing. He was extremely proud that his short film Diary was showing at the festival, and at that moment, was having a crisis that the panel I’d put him on clashed with the screening of the film.There was no doubt to me that he’d leave the panel early so he could do both but he was adamant that he’d committed to the panel and didn’t want to let me down. I had to almost force him to leave once we’d started, so that he didn’t miss it.

When Tim spoke, he did so with intelligence, eloquence, and emotion about what he had seen and experienced.  He was exceptional in that he had witnessed some of the most horrific things any human being can, yet he had managed to process this in a way that didn’t convey the damage that so many fellow journalists suffer with as a consequence. Instead he spoke about it in a way that captivated you and made you realise that he was doing this work for all the right reasons, to highlight situations in which people are suffering and which need to change.

I feel honoured and grateful to have gotten to know Tim over the last two years. He has always been a symbol to me of the best kind of person working in this industry and will remain a constant mental reference of excellence. Tim was an exceptional photojournalist, filmmaker, cinematographer, journalist and author. His work was subtle, stunning, and important and will be notably missing from our industry, but not nearly as much as we will miss him.

You can watch Tim’s short film Diary, that depicts the experience of his work, here.
To see more of his photography please visit his website here, and of course, watch Restrepo.

It’s hard to believe we’re at episode 11 of the podcast already! This time Josh and I talk to the directors of Sons of Perdition, Tyler Measom and Jennilyn Merten, and discuss the True/False Film Festival, Josh’s latest project the Apocalypse Radio Concert and my newfound love for Justin Bieber. This was one of the most fun podcasts I’ve had the chance to be on so far and we really hope you enjoy it (and I apologise in advance for any audible sniffing, as I had the flu during recording).

We also give a heads up for some films coming up on future podcasts so listen out for those. The show notes are below and further links and videos are after the jump. Please do let us know what you think in the comments section.

00:00 Intro
USA Today’s Pop Candy
Beauty Day

05:44 How Was Your Weekend?
True/False
Apocalypse Radio

12:34 Recommendations

Charlotte
Family Instinct
Buck
Everyday Sunshine
Dragon Slayer
Convento
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never

Josh
Survivor
Elephant In the Living Room
Cropsey
Last Train Home
The Oath
American Hardcore

32:26 Sons of Perdition Interview

1:05:30 Outro

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Credits
-Intro Music “Where Angels Fear” – Apocalypse Radio [i-Tunes link]
-Outro Music “Lost Souls” – Apocalypse Radio [i-Tunes link]

Links
Sons of Perdition Website
Sons of Perdition Facebook
Cleanflix Website
Josh’s Twitter
Charlotte’s Twitter
The Documentary Blog Twitter
The Documentary Blog Facebook

Related Videos
Sons of Perdition Trailer

Apocalypse Radio Promo

Beauty Day Trailer

The lineup for the 2011 Hot Docs film festival has been announced, and I have no problem in being utterly shameless and giving a huge congratulations to The Documentary Blog editor Jay Cheel’s first feature film Beauty Day for being included. There will be two screenings at the Isabel Bader Theatre and a third on a rooftop! Details of the screenings and how to buy tickets are below.

Hot Docs has a mammoth programme but always manages to avoid quantity over quality and the selection this year is absolutely superb. We will be covering the festival in a big way, so look out for some preview reviews and interviews from directors at the festival. Below I’ve compiled a list of twenty films I recommend checking out, of course seeing Beauty Day goes without saying.

The festival will open with Morgan Spurlock’s POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold and will also feature a special selection of films by Canadian filmmaker Alan Zweig which you should definitely check out if you can.

Of the films I’ve seen so far that will be playing at Hot Docs here are my 20 recommended must-see films of the festival.

1. Beats, Rhymes & Life (our review)
2. Hell & Back Again
3. The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (our review)
4. 45365
5. Becoming Chaz
6. Battle for Barking
7. Blood In The Mobile
8. Bobby Fischer Against The World
9. Dragonslayer
10. Family Instinct
11. If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
12. How to Die in Oregon
13. The Interrupters
14. Poster Girl
15. Wisconsin Death Trip
16. Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles
17. Senna
18. You’ve Been Trumped
19. Vinyl
20. We Were Here

There are loads I couldn’t fit in and so many more that I’m looking forward to seeing, so stay tuned for more festival coverage.

Below are the screening times for Beauty Day:

Fri, Apr 29 6:45 PM
Isabel Bader Theatre Ticket info

Sat, May 7 4:15 PM
Isabel Bader Theatre Ticket info

Wed, May 4 7:30 PM
Rooftop Screening Venue Ticket info

Travelling for the first time to the True/False Film Festival, I had heard nothing but rave reviews from filmmakers who had shown their films there; I knew it was in a small town and that it would be the furthest inland I’d ever been in the US. After a fourteen hour journey from the UK, I landed in Kansas City Airport. From the airport, you face a two-hour drive to get to Columbia, where the festival takes place, but after travelling that amount of time what’s an extra two hours?

After a minor hotel mixup, which was actually quite fun, we stayed the first night in the host hotel The Regency before moving a little further out to the Hampton Inn Suites. After having this dual lodging experience I can say that if scrappy fun is your style The Regency is the way to go – if comfort is the main priority then it’s the Hampton.

The next day we made our way into downtown Columbia. The festival hadn’t started yet, so we made the most of having time to have a look around. Despite being a small town, Columbia has a fair amount going for it, with many great places to eat and extremely good vintage stores. We did also manage to sneak in a screening of Justin Bieber: Never Say Never 3D (The Fan Cut). I will not go into my love of this film here, but check out the next podcast for further explanation.

(note: I don’t condone taking pictures in theatres; this was just a happy accident)

That evening, we went along to the opening night gala: The Jubiliee, at the Missouri Theatre. There was a masked ball theme, and after accidentally breaking several of the amazing masks created by the volunteers I gave up and tried some of the delicious and wonderfully strange drinks provided by local bartenders. It was an incredible atmosphere, which carried into the screening of Benda Bilili! The Missouri Theatre is a wonderful place to watch a film – its architecture is absolutely beautiful.

I was fortunate enough to have been asked to introduce and host Q&As for a few of the films and my first was for Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles by Jon Foy (listen to our interview with Jon on the podcast here). The screening took place at the RagTag Theatre and even though my brain was telling me it was 6am it was a fantastic experience. The thing that immediately struck me about the festival was the level of audience engagement. Many other festivals have an element of public attendance, but nothing quite like True/False. This is a festival that feels entirely for the local people and it really thrives because of this. I’ve seen many other public Q&As, but never with such an engaged, documentary-knowledgable audience.

By Friday, the festival was in full swing. My day began moderating a panel called Africa 11…the Pulse of a Continent, which looked at filmmaking in Africa from both an African and outsider perspective. The panel was comprised of filmmakers from three of my favourite films of the festival – Jarreth Merz from An African Election, Renaud Barret from Benda Bilili!, and Frank Piasecki Poulsen and Sekombi Katondolo from Blood in the Mobile. It was a fascinating discussion that ranged from the technicalities of filming in Africa to the responsibilities of representation and the further purpose of making films there.

I followed the panel with a screening of Zielinski by local filmmakers Chase Thompson and Ryan Walker. It tells the story of author and photographer John M. Zielinski who, after a devastating legal dispute over the publishing of one of his books, turns investigative reporter and dedicates his life to exposing issues through his writing and cable tv shows. Zielenski is a really fun watch, and reminded me of a less scary Collapse. During the screening there was a minor weather apocalypse with extreme tornado warnings. Lucky we were in the right place and safely stayed away from the thunder and lightning outside. However, this meant the weather wasn’t on our side for the next activity of the festival, the March March.

The March March is a festival tradition in which everyone parades through downtown in costume, or with handmade drums and shakers, making serious levels of noise and having a lot of fun. Despite the rain it was fantastic, with the University of Missouri drum line following the procession.

One of my favourite aspects of True/False is that they actively stay away from the premiere rule that often stifles other festivals. To do this they create several Secret Screenings. There is an unspoken contract with the audience that they must not make it public which films they’ve seen secretly. I managed to get to a few of these and so will keep any reviews at bay until the films have premiered elsewhere. Later that day I went to see the screening of Steve James’ The Interrupters at the Missouri Theatre, and the Q&A was incredible. The Interrupters was the recipient of the True Life Fund which promotes documentaries that create change. We’ll be posting a review of the film soon, but in the meantime check out the interview we did with Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz at Sundance here.

The rest of the day was taken up with a screening of Andris Gauja’s jawdropping Family Instinct, followed by the Gimme Truth game show. Gimme Truth pits three panellists against a host of short docs – each as ambiguous as the next – with them guessing as to which is true and which is false. The shorts were so well made it was near impossible to tell and Ameena from the Interrupters frustrated outbursts at guessing nearly all wrong were amazing. Host Johnny St. John was one of the highlights of the entire festival, creating a hilarious comedy routine against every burst of frustration from the panel.

The last day of the festival was by far my busiest day, with intros and Q&As for two films amongst screenings. The first was Buck, a film that absolutely wowed me. Rather than being largely about horses, as one might expect, it’s a portrait of real life horse whisperer Buck Brannaman who is an absolute joy to watch – from his level of skill to his incredible anecdotes and life view. I highly recommend seeing this film when you get a chance.

My last Q&A was for Resurrect Dead for the second time and, again, the Q&A was nothing short of incredible. It’s a wonderful experience to stand in front of an audience and hear such a range of views and perspectives that really honour the film and show real engagement.

After this I managed to run and catch the Q&A for James Marsh’s Project Nim. James was this year’s True Vision Award recipient, which is an award given to a filmmaker whose work shows a dedication to the creative advancement of the art of nonfiction filmmaking. In honour of this the festival screened his most recent film, Project Nim, and two previous works, Wisconsin Death Trip and Burger and the King, the latter of which is one of my favourite films of all time and, by the reaction during the festival, was also a highlight of the programme.

One of the most notable aspects to True/False that makes it stand out from other festivals is the real attention to detail when it comes to overall festival experience. One of these aspects is the addition of live music in the form of buskers who perform before each screening. All the acts I saw were fantastic, and I left with several CDs picked up from the box office. On the last night this culminates in the Buskers’ Last Stand in which all the bands head to the Missouri Theatre and play. As we got there, Bramble and Pearl and the Beard (highly recommend checking out both) had formed into a super group and had the entire room singing.

True/False is now in its eight year; created by Paul Sturtz and David Wilson, it’s a festival that lives and breathes for its audience. The programme is excellent, with a diverse range of documentary styles and themes and a wonderful balance of high profile and hidden gems. The external events, which range from the march to a campfire stories evening with filmmakers relaying the stories that got away to a morning fun run, give True/False the extra element of fun, and a community spirit which makes the festival now a definite yearly trip for me.

The Missourian got witty the day after the festival, but they had a point.

In Episode 10 of The Documentary Blog Podcast, host Josh Ligairi has yet more filmmakers interviews and this time from the 2011 Slamdance Film Festival. Featuring four interviews with the filmmakers of Superheroes, Last Fast Ride, Fordson, and Bhopali we really hope you enjoy this special episode.

As always links to more information about each film and trailer are below.

00:00 Intro

Slamdance Filmmaker Interviews

04:47 Superheroes
19:20 Last Fast Ride
27:56 Fordson
37:05 Bhopali

50:46 Outro

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Credits:
Intro Music: “Slamdance” – Paperclip People [itunes link]
Outro Music: “Whore” – The Insaints [link]

Superheroes Website
Superheroes Facebook
Last Fast Ride Website
Last Fast Ride Facebook
Fordson Website
Fordson Facebook
Bhopali Website
Bhopali Facebook

Josh’s Twitter
Cleanflix Website
Cleanflix Facebook

Slamdance Website
Slamdance Facebook
Slamdance Twitter

The Documentary Blog Facebook Page
The Documentary Blog Twitter
Related videos and trailers

Bhopali Trailer

Fordson Trailer

This month’s highlighted Kickstarter campaign is The Last Battle. With full disclosure, I should mention this is a project I’m advising on. The filmmaker, Jemma Gander, began working on this project over a year ago and has done so on her own, with very little financing, and the film is 99% completed. Having seen the project progress from the initial idea to the fine cut stage I’ve been incredibly impressed with the quality of the film, and how far it’s come with little to no resources.

Now the last final hurdle is to raise the money for the archive featured in the film. There’s only a small amount but it’s vital to the story, and so Jemma has turned to Kickstarter to try and raise the funds. Being able to include the archive would see the project come to fruition so please do check out the Kickstarter video below, and Jemma’s description of the film after the jump.

We have spent the last year and a half filming with four Kenyan claimants who are petitioning the British Government for torture they experienced in colonial Kenya during the ‘Emergency’ 1952-1960.

We’re hoping to create a feature length documentary that offers a platform for the story to be told and for the elderly Kenyan’s to be heard after years of being silenced by their government and mine. We’ve been working with a small team as Director, Editor and Producer all working for free. We have cut a fine cut of the film in terms of the case so far and we are hoping to film the hearing (externally) that is being heard at The Royal Courts of Justice in April 2011, online in post-production, get the film onto the festival circuit and hopefully broadcast.

The case is not without it’s surrounding debates and disagreements with some claiming the alleged torture did not take place in the detention camps as is claimed by the four elderly Mau Mau test claimants from Kenya. Both sides of the story are apparent within the film so far. We however have heard the testimonies and many American, English and international historians, scholars and legal experts have proved that torture did take place.

We aim to tell the claimants story, those who disagree and to show a fair and balanced portrayal of what happened in Kenya in the 1950s.

The link to The Last Battle on Kickstarter is here

Set in the Atacama desert in Chile, Patricio Guzmán’s Nostalgia for the Light is a beautiful and emotive film that introduces us to the importance of astronomy to his country, and the relevance it has to its turbulent past.

Using the desert as a microcosm to explore Chile’s past, present and future and beyond that to the universe itself, the film takes us on a journey of ideas and investigation, all of which circle back to the desert.

The film begins by showing one of Atacama’s many telescopes. The desert is one of the world’s centres for astronomers and using this uniquely humidity-free environment, with the clearest views of the stars, has created thousands of Chilean astromony enthusiasts. Through Guzmán’s own voiceover we learn the experience of being a child in Chile and the relevance, and importance, of astronomy to the culture.

Completely devoid of life, the Atacama desert has no animal, plant or bird life. Previously a trade route, it is permeated with salt and minerals. Meteorites buried deep under the rocks still have an effect on compasses and, above them, just below the cracked surface, are petrified fish and mollusks. Layer by layer, Guzman guides us through the desert’s history.

Through interviews with an astromoner and archaeologist, both working in the desert, Guzmán introduces two of the main themes of the film: time and history. The astronomer’s main work consists of searching for origins. Trawling through billions of years for answers, he explains in fascinating how the present simply doesn’t exist and how we are always in the past. The paradox of the desert is then introduced by the archaeologist: that astronomy is so important to Chile, yet its more recent past is concealed due to the coup d’etat and subsequent dictatorship.

This guides us back to the relevancy of Atacama and the introduction to Luis and Miguel, two political prisoners who had been held in the Chacabuca concentration camp in the middle of this barren land. A former mine, the camp still exists, and shots of the dilapadated buildings standing in silence are stunning and haunting. Luis describes an astronomer also detained at the camp who taught the other prisoners how to build a makeshift telescope and to appreciate the stars above them and the freedom within.

Architect Miguel, possibly the most fascinating character of the film for me, memorised every inch of the camp, each night mapping out a section in his head, drawing the layout, and then shredding his drawing for fear of being caught. He has since produced incredible illustrations of every aspect of the camp, this vivid and honed memory being one of the only remaining records of the camp. This importance of painful memory is made more poignant as we learn Miguel’s wife is suffering from Alzheimers and losing hers.

The microcosm of the desert as a representation of the situation in Chile is a beautiful way of taking a country’s history and problems far beyond a currents affairs-style film to a beautiful and highly emotive portrait of a country and its past and present problems. The section showing the many women who search for their disappeared relatives, many of whom were killed and buried in the desert, is heartbreaking and explores the idea of collective loss, and memory as sole record, in a way that you are left with for a long time.

There is a lot of talk these days about hybrid documentaries and I would say this would be my ideal kind. Guzmán’s considered artistry combines many genres of subject and theme to create a beautiful film that has real importance historically and culturally and leaves you asking questions about future issues.

Yes Sundance was a few weeks ago, but I promise this will have been worth the wait. Jay was busy finishing his film, but Josh and I were fortunate enough to go to the festival again this year, and while we were there we recorded a special Sundance episode of the Documentary Blog Podcast. Josh must take all the credit as he ran around getting no less than seven interviews for this show with filmmakers at the festival (I think he may even have a few more up his sleeve for future shows).

We really hope you enjoy the podcast, the filmmakers featured are Steve James of The Interrupters, Peter D. Richardson of How to Die in Oregon, Joy Foy of Resurrect Dead, Constance Marks of Being Elmo, Leonard Retel Helmrich of Position Among the Stars, Matthew Bate of Shut Up Little Man! and Göran Olsson of Blackpower Mixtape.

00:00 Intro
02:56 Recommendations:
Josh: If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Satan Since 2003
Charlotte: Reagan, Hell and Back Again, Beats Rhymes and Life, Project Nim, Life In a Day
19:45 Interviews with the Sundance Documentary Filmmakers
19:52 Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz of The Interrupters
38.06 Joy Foy of Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles
48.09 Constance Marks and James Miller of Being Elmo
1:00:23 Leonard Retel Helmrich of Position Among the Stars
1:08:35 Matthew Bate of Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure
1:24:50 Peter Richardson of How to Die in Oregon
1:35:28 Trevor Anderson of The High Level Bridge
1:40:22 Göran Olsson of The Blackpower Mixtape: 1967-75
1:52:48 Outro

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Credits:
Intro Music “Check the Rhime” – A Tribe Called Quest [i-Tunes link]
Outro Music “Trains X” –  Bramble [link]

Links and clips mentioned in the show after the jump.

-The Interrupters Website
-Resurrect Dead Website
-Being Elmo
-Position Among the Stars Facebook
-Shut Up Little Man! Website
-How to Die In Oregon Facebook
-The High Level Bridge Website
-Blackpower Mixtape Website
-Josh’s Twitter
-Cleanflix Website
-Cleanflix Facebook
-Charlotte’s Twitter
-The Documentary Blog Twitter

Related Videos

The Interrupters Trailer

Resurrect Dead Trailer

Being Elmo Teaser

Position Among the Stars Trailer

Shut Up Little Man! Teaser

The High Level Bridge Trailer

The Blackpower Mixtape Teaser

Bramble Live at Sundance Last Year

Diary is a short film made by Tim Hetherington, co-director of the recently Oscar nominated Restrepo. The film is particularly interesting as it’s a very personal look into the experience of working in conflict zones. Prior to Restrepo, Tim was best known for his photojournalism–both freelance and as a contributing photographer for Vanity Fair. He is one of many photojournalists who have made a move into feature documentary, with another notably being Danfung Dennis who won two awards last week at Sundance. It seems a natural progression for people working in this field to move into feature-length filmmaking, as photojournalists need to consider both visual and narrative when covering a story.

Tim describes Diary as “a highly personal and experimental film that expresses the subjective experience of my work, and was made as an attempt to locate myself after ten years of reporting. It’s a kaleidoscope of images that link our western reality to the seemingly distant worlds we see in the media.”

Shown at this year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest and IDFA, Diary aims to create the atmosphere, and experience, of working in areas from Afghanistan to Liberia in an unusual but highly successful way.

To see more of Tim’s work visit his website here.