Fog of Truth

What are the ethical standards of a filmmaker portraying subcultures to which they do not belong? How does it shift if they are a member? How does the relationship between the filmmaker, subject and intended audience play out? This week we discuss all of this and sprinkle in alien stuff too, for fun, with a review of Calling All Earthlings and an interview with Laura Wexler, one of the writers behind the VR movie Dinner Party.

Group Review Documentary:

CALLING ALL EARTHLINGS (2018) / USA (Director / Producer: Jonathan Berman)

Available to stream on Amazon, YouTube, Google Play

 

Film Featured in Interview Portion:

DINNER PARTY (2016) / USA (Director: Angel Manuel Soto,  Writers: Charlotte Stoudt, Laura Wexler)

Now playing at select film festivals

 

Other Books / Documentaries Mentioned:

American Movie / 1999 (Director: Chris Smith)

Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony / 2012 (Director: Laurent Malaquais)

Did We Go / 2005 (Director: Aron Ranen)\

Hoop Dreams / 1994 (Director:Steve James)

Introduction to Documentary by Bill Nichols

Nanook of the North / 1922 (Director: Robert J. Flaherty)

Three Identical Strangers / 2018 (Director: Tim Wardle)

Twinsters / 2012 (Directors: Samantha Futerman & Ryan Miyamoto)

 

Timestamps:

00:45 - Intro discussion about ethics in documentary portrayals of subcultures

11:20 - Group review of CALLING ALL EARTHLINGS

23:10 - Bart, Chris & Summre interview Laura Wexler of DINNER PARTY

41:25 - Doc Talk

 

Hammer to Nail Links by Christopher Llewellyn Reed:

• Hammer to Nail review of CALLING ALL EARTHLINGS
• Film Festival Today coverage of Tribeca Film Festival, with capsule review of Dinner Party

 

Website/Email:

www.fogoftruth.com

[email protected]

 

Credits:

Artwork by Hilary Campbell

Intro music by Jeremiah Moore

Transitional music by BELLS (thanks to Christopher Ernst)

Following up from Toronto International Film Festival, we discuss the new Michael Moore film, Fahrenheit 11/9 and interview Thom Powers, the Documentary Programmer from TIFF.

 

Group Review Documentary:

FAHRENHEIT 11/9 (2018) / USA (Director: Michael Moore,  Producers: Michael Moore, Carl Deal)

Now Playing in Select Theatres

 

Group Interview with Thom Powers:

Thom Powers is the documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival, artistic director of America's largest documentary festival DOC NYC and host of Pure Nonfiction Podcast.

Pure Nonfiction Podcast

DOC NYCToronto International Film Festival

 

Other Documentaries Mentioned:

28 Up / 1985 (Director: Michael Apted)

American Dharma / 2018 (Director: Errol Morris)

Biggest Little Farm / 2018 (Director: John Chester)

Bowling For Columbine / 2002 (Director: Michael Moore)

Breasts A Documentary / 1996 (Director: Meema Spadola)

Despotism / 1946

Divide and Conquer / 1943 (Directors: Frank Capra & Anatole Litvak)

Elephant Queen / 2018 (Director: Victoria Stone)

Ghost Fleet / 2018 (Directors: Jeffrey Waldron & Shannon Service)

Heartbound / 2018 (Directors: Janus Metz & Sine Plambech)

Holy Hell / 2016 (Director: William Francesco Allen)

Hotel Terminus / 1988 (Director: Marcel Ophüls)

Maiden / 2018 (Director: Alex Holmes)

Meeting Gorbachev / 2018 (Directors: Werner Herzog & Andre Singer)

Our New President / 2018 (Director: Maxim Pozdorovkin)

Putin’s Witnesses / 2018 (Director: Vitaly Mansky)

Roger and Me / 1989 (Director: Michael Moore)

Run Like the Devil / 2018 (Director: Steve Mims)

Screwball / 2018 (Director: Billy Corben)

Seventeen / 1983 (Directors: Joel DeMott & Jeff Kreines)

Sicko / 2007 (Director: Michael Moore)

This Changes Everything / 2015 (Director: Avi Lewis)

The Truth About Killer Robots / 2018 (Director: Maxim Pozdorovkin)

Where to Invade Next / 2015

Women Make Film / 2018 (Director: Mark Cousins)

 

Timestamps:

00:45 - Intro discussion about Film Festival Programming

12:30 - Group review of FAHRENHEIT 11/9

28:49 - Bart, Chris & Summre interview THOM POWERS

46:22 - Doc Talk

 

Film Festival Today Links by Christopher Llewellyn Reed:

Fahrenheit 11/9 Review

 

Website/Email:

www.fogoftruth.com

[email protected]

 

Credits:

Artwork by Hilary Campbell

Intro music by Jeremiah Moore

Transitional music by BELLS (thanks to Christopher Ernst)

In this bonus episode we take a look at the content The Guardian has been producing and chat with Charlie Phillips about being the Head of Documentaries there and overseeing the commission and production of almost 25 short films a year.

 

Guardian Films Mentioned:

Fish Story / June, 2017 (Director: Charlie Lyne)

Little Pyongyang / August, 2018 (Director: Roxy Rezvany)

Radical Brownies / January, 2017 (Director: Linda Goldstein Knowlton)

Gun Nation / September, 2016 (Director: Zed Nelson)

Muxes / October, 2017 (Director: Shaul Schwarz)

Climate and the Cross / April, 2018 (Director: Chloe White and Will Davies)

 

Unreleased Guardian Films Mentioned (as of 9/12/18):

Skip Day (Director: Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas)

Black Sheep (Director: Ed Perkins)

 

Other Films and Websites Mentioned:

Sorry to Bother You / 2018 (Director: Boots Riley)

The Force / 2017 (Director: Peter Nicks)

NYT Op-Docs

Field of Vision

 

Timestamps:

00:46 - Bart, Chris and Summre introduction conversation

14:09 - Group interview with Charlie Phillips

 

Website/Email:

www.fogoftruth.com

[email protected]

 

Credits:

Artwork by Hilary Campbell

Intro music by Jeremiah Moore

Transitional music by BELLS (thanks to Christopher Ernst)

 

We sat down with director Steve James at AFI DOCS 2018 to discuss his body of work as a whole, his most recent series, AMERICA TO ME, and working in various modes of documentary storytelling.

 

Films Mentioned (Directed by Steve James):

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail / 2016

America to Me / 2018

Head Games / 2012

Hoop Dreams / 1994

The Interrupters / 2011

Life Itself / 2014

No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson (30 for 30) / 2010

Pep / announced 2018

Prefontaine / 1997

The Ride of Their Lives (New Yorker Presents - Episode #1.2) / 2016

Stevie / 2002

Timestamps:

00:48 - Bart, Chris and Summre introduction conversation

08:18 - Group interview with Steve James

 

Website/Email:

www.fogoftruth.com

[email protected]

 

Credits:

Artwork by Hilary Campbell

Intro music by Jeremiah Moore

Transitional music by BELLS (thanks to Christopher Ernst)

Looking back at history under a contemporary lens can be a powerful tool to provide context and take action in difficult political times.This week we look at holocaust documentaries as we review THE LAST LAUGH and Bart interviews Ruth Zylberman of 209 RUE SAINT-MAUR, PARIS 10EME.

 

Group Review Documentary:

THE LAST LAUGH - (2016) / USA (Director: Ferne Pearlstein; Producers: Robert Edwards, Amy Hobby, Anne Hubbell, Ferne Pearlstein and Jan Warner)

Available to stream on Netflix

 

Film Featured in Interview Portion:

209 RUE SAINT-MAUR, PARIS 10EME - (2018) / France (Director: Ruth Zylberman; Producers: Céline Nusse, Paul Rozenberg)

 

Other Documentaries Mentioned:

An American Story: Norman Mineta and His Legacy / 2018 (Director: Dianne Fukami)

The Atomic Cafe / 1982 (Directors: Kevin Rafferty, Jayne Loader & Pierce Rafferty)

Claude Lanzmann's Spectres of the Shoah / 2015 (Director: Adam Benzine)

The Eternal Jew / 1940 (Director: Fritz Hippler)

A Film Unfinished / 2010 (Director: Yael Hersonski)

Five Came Back / 2017 (Director: Laurent Bouzereau)

Forgiving Doctor Mengele / 2006 (Directors: Bob Hercules & Cheri Pugh)

The History of the World Part I / 1981 (Director: Mel Brooks)

Hitlers Hollywood / 2018 (Director: Rüdiger Suchsland)

Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust / 2004 (Director: Daniel Anker)

Kitty and Ellen / 2017 (Director: Leah Galant)

Natan / 2013 (Director: Paul Duane & David Cairns)

Nazi Concentration Camps / 1945 (Director: George Stevens)

Night and Fog / 1955 (Director: Alain Resnais)

Relocation Arkansas / 2016 (Directors: Johanna Demetrakas & Vivienne Schiffer)

Shoah / 1985 (Director: Claude Lanzmann)

The Silence of Others / 2018 (Directors: Robert Bahar & Almudena Carracedo)

The Sorrow and the Pity / 1972 (Director: Marcel Ophüls)

The Stay Proud Project / 2018 (Creators: Andrew Putschoegl and Sam Harris)

Triumph of the Will / 1935 (Director: Leni Riefenstahl)

 

Timestamps:

02:59 - Intro discussion about Holocaust Documentaries

16:15 - Group review of The Last Laugh

26:55 - Bart Interviews Ruth Zylberman of 209 Rue Saint-Maur, Paris 10eme

48:17 - Doc Talk

 

Hammer to Nail Links by Christopher Llewellyn Reed:

http://www.hammertonail.com/film-festivals/the-last-laugh-2017/

 

Website/Email:

www.fogoftruth.com

[email protected]

 

Credits:

Artwork by Hilary Campbell

Intro music by Jeremiah Moore

Transitional music by BELLS (thanks to Christopher Ernst)

This week we cover documentary films that at first appear to be about a bunch of wildly different ideas but then manage to tie it all together under a coherent and satisfying theme. THE KING is reviewed followed by an interview between Bart and the director of CUBA AND THE CAMERAMAN.

 

Group Review Documentary:

THE KING - (2018) / USA (Director: Eugene Jarecki; Producers: Eugene Jarecki, Christopher St. John, Christopher Frierson, David Kuhn)

Available in select theatres

 

Film Featured in Interview Portion:

CUBA AND THE CAMERAMAN - (2017) / USA (Director: Jon Alpert; Producers: Jon Alpert, Matthew O'Neill, Tessa Treadway)

Available to stream on Netflix

 

Other Documentaries Mentioned:

Berlin Symphony of a Great City / 1927 (Director: Walter Ruttman)

Bowling for Columbine / 2002 (Director: Michael Moore)

County Fair Texas / 2015 (Director: Brett Whitcomb)

Elvis 56 / 1987 (Directors: Susan Raymond, Alan Raymond)

Ex Nihilo / 2017 (Director: Timo Wright)

F For Fake / 1977 (Directors: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach, Gary Graver)

Fast Cheap and Out of Control / 1997 (Director: Errol Morris)

Fog of War / 2003 (Director: Errol Morris)

Freedom for the Wolf / 2017 (Director: Rupert Russell)

GLOW: The Story of The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling / 2012 (Director: Brett Whitcomb)

How the World Went Mad / 2018 (Director: Rupert Russell)

Instant Dreams / 2017 (Director: Willem Baptist)

A Life in Waves / 2017 (Director: Brett Whitcomb)

Man with a Movie Camera / 1929 (Director: Dziga Vertov)

RKO Productions 601: The Making of ‘Kong, The Eighth Wonder of the World / 2005 (Writers: Ron Magid and Phil Savenick)

Sherman’s March / 1985 (Director: Ross McElwee

Where to Invade Next? / 2016 (Director: Michael Moore)

Why we Fight / 2005 (Director: Eugene Jarecki)

 

Timestamps:

03:20 - Intro discussion about tying together disparate ideas into a cohesive theme

14:55 - Group review of THE KING

24:42 - Bart Interviews Jon Alpert of CUBA AND THE CAMERAMAN

15:08 - Doc Talk

 

Website/Email:

www.fogoftruth.com

[email protected]

 

Credits:

Artwork by Hilary Campbell

Intro music by Jeremiah Moore

Transitional music by BELLS (thanks to Christopher Ernst)

This episode is all about sports and athleticism documentaries. We review COMING TO MY SENSES which tells the story of Aaron Baker who was paralyzed in a motocross accident and is now trekking 20 miles across Death Valley and Chris interviews the director and subject of CHI-TOWN.

 

Group Review Documentary:

COMING TO MY SENSES - (2017) / USA (Director: Dominic Gill, Producer: Nadia Gill)

Available to stream on Amazon

 

Film Featured in Interview Portion:

CHI-TOWN - (2018) / USA (Director: Nick Budabin, Producers: Nick Budabin, Neal Usatin, Terrence Elenteny)

 

Other Documentaries Mentioned:

30 for 30

The Bad Boy of Bowling / 2015 (Director: Bryan Storkel)

Big Bang in Pyongyang / 2015 (Director: Colin Offland)

Big Men, Small Dogs / 2017 (Director: Cat Mills)

Birth of a Nation / 1915 (Director: D.W. Griffith)

Discovering Bigfoot / 2017 (Director: Todd Standing)

Hoop Dreams / 1994 (Director: Steve James)

The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg / 2010 (Director: Aviva Kempner)

Muhammed and Larry / 2009 (Directors: Albert Maysles, Bradley Kaplan)

Murderball / 2005 (Directors: Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro)

Nanook of the North / 1922 (Director: Robert J. Flaherty)

No Crossover / 2010 (Director: Steve James)

No No: A Dockumentary / 2014 (Director: Jeff Radice)

O.J.: Made in America / 2016 (Director: Ezra Edelman)

Olympia / 1938 (Director: Leni Riefenstahl)

Love Means Zero / 2017 (Director: Jason Kohn)

Pumping Iron / 1977 (Directors: George Butler, Robert Fiore)

Red Army / 2015 (Director: Gabe Polsky)

Supergirl / 2016 (Director: Jessie Auritt)

Touching the Void / 2004 (Director: Kevin Macdonald)

Transformer / 2017 (Director: Michael Del Monte)

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson / 2004 (Director: Ken Burns)

 

Timestamps:

01:19 - Intro discussion about Sports Documentaries

14:54 - Group review of COMING TO MY SENSES

27:47 - Chris Interviews Nick Budabin and Keifer Sykes of CHI-TOWN

45:30 - Doc Talk

 

Hammer to Nail Links by Christopher Llewellyn Reed:

http://www.hammertonail.com/reviews/coming-to-my-senses/

http://www.hammertonail.com/film-festivals/chi-town-review/

http://www.hammertonail.com/interviews/chi-town-interview/

 

Website/Email:

www.fogoftruth.com

[email protected]

 

Credits:

Artwork by Hilary Campbell

Intro music by Jeremiah Moore

Transitional music by BELLS (thanks to Christopher Ernst)

Depicting masters of their craft through documentary is the theme this week. In FILMWORKER, Leon Vitali spent his life working with Stanley Kubrick to develop and preserve a level of quality that Kubrick is known for to this day and in our interview Chris speaks with Sam Pollard, director of SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME.

 

Group Review Documentary:

FILMWORKER - (2018) / USA (Director: Tony Zierra, Producers: Tony Zierra, Elizabeth Yoffe)

Available in limited theatrical release

 

Film Featured in Interview Portion:

SAMMY DAVIS, JR..: I’VE GOTTA BE ME - (2017) / USA (Director: Samuel D. Pollard  Producer: Sally Rosenthal)

 

Other Documentaries Mentioned:

Amy / 2015 (Director: Asif Kapadia)

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2017) / (Director: Alexandra Dean)

Crumb / 1994 (Director: Terry Zwigoff)

Evil Genius / 2018 (Director: Barbara Schroeder, co-director Trey Borzillieri)

Floyd Norman: An Animated Life / 2016 (Directors: Michael Fiore, Erik Sharkey)

The Fourth Estate / 2018 (Director: Liz Garbus)

Gaga: Five Foot Two / 2017 (Director: Chris Moukarbel)

I Am Not Your Negro / 2016 (Director: Raoul Peck)

Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words / 2015 (Director: Stig Björkman)

Itzhak / 2017 (Director: Alison Chernick)

Jim & Andy / 2017(Director: Chris Smith)

Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold / 2017 (Director: Griffin Dunne)

Listen to Me Marlon / 2015 (Director: Stevan Riley)

Man on Wire / 2008 (Director: James Marsh)

Miss Sharon Jones / 2015 (Director: Barbara Kopple)

My Architect / 2003 (Director: Nathaniel Kahn)

Room 237 / 2012 (Director: Rodney Ascher)

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda / 2017 (Director: Stephen Nomura Schible)

The Salt of the Earth / 2014 (Directors: Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado)

Searching for Sugarman / 2012 (Director: Malik Bendjelloul)

Tig / 2015 (Directors: Kristina Goolsby, Ashley York)

Tongues Untied / 1989 (Director: Marlon Riggs)

What Happened, Miss Simone? / 2015 (Directors: Liz Garbus, Hal Tulchin)

 

Timestamps:

03:15 - Intro discussion - Documentaries about Creative Process

10:00 - Group review of FILMWORKER

23:50 - Chris Interviews Sam Pollard of SAMMY DAVIS, JR..: I’VE GOTTA BE ME

36:00 - Doc Talk

 

Hammer to Nail Links by Christopher Llewellyn Reed:

http://www.hammertonail.com/reviews/filmworker/

http://www.hammertonail.com/reviews/sammy-davis-jr-doc/

 

Website/Email:

www.fogoftruth.com

[email protected]

 

Credits:

Artwork by Hilary Campbell

Intro music by Jeremiah Moore

Transitional music by BELLS (thanks to Christopher Ernst)

In this episode, we look at WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR through the lens of radical kindness and the context of social activism documentaries and Chris interviews the directors of RBG.

 

Group Review Documentary:

WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR (2018) / USA (Director: Morgan Neville,  Producers: Morgan Neville, Nicholas Ma and Caryn Capotosto)

Now Playing in Select Theatres

 

Film Featured in Interview Portion:

RBG (2018) / USA (Directors / Producers: Julie Cohen & Betsy West)

Now Playing in Select Theatres

 

Other Documentaries Mentioned:

44 Pages / 2017 (Director: Tony Shaff)

A Brief History of Time / 1992 (Director: Errol Morris)

An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power / 2017 (Director: Directors: Bonni Cohen & Jon Shenk)

An Inconvenient Truth / 2006 (Director: Davis Guggenheim)

Big Sonia / 2016 (Directors: Leah Warshawski & Todd Soliday)

Dolores / 2017 (Director: Peter Bratt)

Forgiving Doctor Mengele / 2006 (Directors: Bob Hercules & Cheri Pugh)

Freedom Riders / 2010 (Director: Stanley Nelson)
Harlan County, USA / 1976 (Director: Barbara Kopple)

Hondros / 2017 (Director: Greg Campbell)

I Am Not Your Negro / 2016 (Director: Raoul Peck)

Jane / 2017 (Director: Brett Morgen)

Life Itself / 2014 (Director: Steve James)

Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry / 2017 (Directors: Laura Dunn & Jef Sewell)

Love and Bananas / 2018 (Director: Ashley Bell)

Manufacturing Consent  / 1992 (Directors: Mark Achbar & Peter Wintonick)

Marley / 2012 (Director: Kevin Macdonald)

Off the Tracks / 2018 (Director: Bradley Olsen)

Pope Francis: A Man of His Word (Director: Wim Wenders)

The RFK Tapes (Podcast)

The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo / 2018 (Director: Phillip Rodriguez)

Theo Who Lived (Director: David Schisgall)

The Times of Harvey Milk / 1984 (Director: Rob Epstein)

Triumph of the Will / 1935 (Director: Leni Riefenstahl)

Virunga / 2014 (Director: Orlando von Einsiedel)

Weather Underground / 2003 (Director: Sam Green)

 

Timestamps:

00:45 - Intro discussion about Tikkun Olam

12:15 - Group review of WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR

31:26 - Chris Interviews Julie Cohen & Betsy West of RBG

49:16 - Doc Talk

 

Hammer to Nail Links by Christopher Llewellyn Reed:

WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR Review

RBG Review

Interview with Julie Cohen & Betsy West of RBG

 

Website/Email:

www.fogoftruth.com

[email protected]

 

Credits:

Artwork by Hilary Campbell

Intro music by Jeremiah Moore

Transitional music by BELLS (thanks to Christopher Ernst)

This week we met up in person at AFI DOCS in Washington DC to interview the directors of some of our favorite films from the festival, which we discussed in our previous bonus episode.

 

Filmmakers Interviewed:

Marilyn Ness (Director), CHARM CITY

Erik Nelson (Director), THE COLD BLUE

Richard Miron (Director), FOR THE BIRDS

Michael Sparaga (Director), UNITED WE FAN

 

Note: Charm City is playing this week (6/20/18) at Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York!

 

Other Documentaries and Television Shows Mentioned:

Arrested Development (TV) / 2003 - 2006, 2013 - Present (Creator: Mitchell Hurwitz)
Avatar / 2009 (Director: James Cameron)
Black Panther / 2018 (Director: Ryan Coogler)
Cagney & Lacey (TV) / 1982 - 1988 (Creator: Barbara Avedon and Barbara Corday)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams / 2011 (Director: Werner Herzog)
Chuck (TV) / 2007 - 2012 (Creator: Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak)
Crime Story (TV) / 1986 - 1988 (Creators: Chuck Adamson and Gustave Reininger,)
Dreams with Sharp Teeth / 2008 (Director: Erik Nelson)
Encounters at the End of the World / 2007 (Director: Werner Herzog)
Firefly  (TV) / 2002 - 2003 (Creator: Joss Whedon)
A Gray State / 2017 (Director: Erik Nelson)
Grizzly Man / 2005 (Director: Werner Herzog)
Into the Abyss / 2011 (Director: Werner Herzog)
Jericho (TV) / 2006 - 2008 (Creator: Stephen Chbosky, Josh Schaer and Jonathan E. Steinberg)
Koyaanisqatsi / 1982 (Director: Godfrey Reggio)
Longmire (TV) / 2012 - 2017 (Creators: John Coveny and Hunt Baldwin)
Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress / 1944 (Director: William Wyler)
Person of Interest (TV) / 2011 - 2016 (Creator: Jonathan Nolan)
Saving Private Ryan / 1998 (Director: Steven Spielberg)
Sense 8 (TV) / 2015 - 2018 (Creator: The Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski)
The Sopranos (TV) / 1999 - 2007 (Creator: David Chase)
Stranger Things (TV) / 2016 - Present (Creator: The Duffer Brothers)

Veronica Mars (TV) / 2004 - 2007 (Creator: Rob Thomas)
The War / 2007 (Director: Ken Burns)
The Wire (TV) / 2002 - 2008 (Creator: David Simon)

Timestamps:

00:45 - Introduction

03:15 - Interview with Marilyn Ness

16:49 - Interview with Erik Nelson

33:09 - Interview with Michael Sparaga

49:15 - Interview with Richard Miron

 

Hammer to Nail Links by Christopher Llewellyn Reed:

http://www.hammertonail.com/film-festivals/charm-city-review/

http://www.hammertonail.com/film-festivals/the-cold-blue-review/

http://www.hammertonail.com/film-festivals/for-the-birds-review/

 

Website/Email:

www.fogoftruth.com

[email protected]

 

Credits:

Artwork by Hilary Campbell

Intro music by Jeremiah Moore

Transitional music by BELLS (thanks to Christopher Ernst)