Now and Then: What Can We Demand of the Documentary--Subjects, Aesthetics, Goals and Business Models?

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• Rahul Chadha | March 13, 2013 4:24 PMReply

  Hey Matt, thanks for referencing my interview with Thom and posting a link, but I actually conducted it for the Stranger Than Fiction website, and not Sydney's Buzz. If you could change your copy to reflect that and include the link to the original interview I would appreciate it. http://stfdocs.com/sundance/a-conversation-with-thom-powers-on-the-sundance-film-festival/
  
  Thanks.

• joeS | March 12, 2013 6:13 PMReply

  I'm a bit saddened that so much "controversy" has greeted SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN and it's long list of Doc wins culminating in the Academy Award. While I often seek out political minded docs myself, I think it's important that topics coverered are as diverse as possible. Documentaries are still films first and foremost. SUGAR MAN was a well done film. Period. Just because it wasn't based on an "important topic" doesn't mean it wasn't worthy as a piece of cinema.
  A film such as AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH wasn't criticized when it won the Oscar because it was about global warming (and starred Al Gore, a person who most in Hollywood felt deserved to be President). But, as a movie, INCONVENIENT wasn't much more than a filmed power-point presentation. IMHOP it didn't deserve the Oscar (or its other many awards) because it wasn't compelling cinema, even if it illuminated a vitally important issue. SUGAR MAN is a better FILM than INCONVENIENT TRUTH.
  P.S. I am concerned with the Academy's decision to open up voting for Best Documentary to all Oscar voters. I think this makes it more and more of a burden for serious minded and difficult docs to win.

• Matt Brennan | March 12, 2013 6:38 PM

  It was my own discomfort with some of these questions that led me to write this piece, particularly the idea of "importance." I hope it doesn't sound like I'm trashing "Searching for Sugar Man," a lovely film, though in fact I would have ranked it 4th or 5th of the nominees. For me, the question of "importance" is tied to advocacy, and in some cases, like "The Thin Blue Line" and "The Invisible War," to political consequences. As I conclude, my object of affection may not be "Sugar Man," but new platforms have made it possible to hear every nonfiction voice with a camera, a good idea, and a little luck. (All to the good, as you say.)
  
  But many documentaries, and our reading of them, remain tied to politics. Your note on "An Inconvenient Truth" is trenchant, in particular because I remember finding its power to be inextricable from its PowerPoint simplicity. Nearly seven years hence, though, its message about climate change seems to have fallen largely on deaf ears. My question is: did its style make it forgettable, or its lack of impact?