The Thousand Roads Podcast

June Cross is a documentary filmmaker who has Emmy, Peabody, and DuPont-Columbia Journalism awards under her belt. She also founded and directs the doc program at the Columbia University Journalism School. So you could say she's helped bring not only documentary films into the world but also a lot of documentary filmmakers. We talk about her own films, which include the autobiographical Secret Daughter, a film with many twists about her upbringing as the daughter of a white mother and a Black father, and Wilhemina’s War, about a grandmother caring for her HIV-positive granddaughter in South Carolina. We also discuss what she teaches her students about the craft and ethics of documentary filmmaking and how her own thoughts about those things have evolved over the years. 

More about June here.

Films mentioned in the episode:
Wilhemina's War (2015), Dir. June Cross
Secret Daughter, June Cross
The Territory (2022), Dir. Alex Pritz
Imitation of Life (1959), Dir. Douglas Sirk
A Kid Kills (1992), Dir. June Cross
Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), Dir. Michael Moore

Other Mentions:
Bill Moyers
Fredi Washington
Amiri Baraka
Anna Deavere Smith
David Fanning
Frontline
Jigsaw Productions

Follow us on Instagram! @ThousandRoadsPod

Special thanks for helping make this series happen: Sara Archambault, Florence Barrau-Adams, Jon Berman, Ben Cuomo (music), Jax Deluca, Pallavi Deshpande, Nancy Gibbs, Kathleen Hughes, Caroline Kracunas, Laura Manley, Alexis Pancrazi, Liz Schwartz, Jeff Seelbach, Lindsay Underwood (logo/graphics)

This episode was supported by a fellowship at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

Caty Borum heads the Center for Media and Social Impact at the American University School of Communication, and she's the author of Story Movements: How Documentaries Empower People and Inspire Social Change. She studies “creative, independent investigative documentary,” her term for docs that are as thoroughly artistic as they are journalistic. We chat about the techniques and challenges that make these stories and their storytellers unique. More about Caty here.

Films mentioned in this episode:
Newtown (2016), Dir. Kim Snyder
An Insignificant Man (2016), Dir. Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla
Citizenfour (2014), Dir. Laura Poitras
The Feeling Of Being Watched (2018), Dir. Assia Boundaoui
The Murder of Emmett Till (2003), Dir. Stanley Nelson
Attica (2021), Dir. Stanley Nelson

Other mentions:
Tabitha Jackson
Errol Morris
Doc Society
International Documentary Association
World Press Freedom Index
Exposé: America’s Investigative Reports
Peter Nicks
Jon Shenk
Tom Jennings

Follow us on Instagram! @ThousandRoadsPod

Special thanks for helping make this series happen: Sara Archambault, Florence Barrau-Adams, Jon Berman, Ben Cuomo (music), Jax Deluca, Pallavi Deshpande, Nancy Gibbs, Kathleen Hughes, Caroline Kracunas, Laura Manley, Alexis Pancrazi, Liz Schwartz, Jeff Seelbach, Lindsay Underwood (logo/graphics)

This episode was supported by a fellowship at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

Brian Newman is one of the more trenchant observers on the documentary scene. He’s worn many hats in the industry: as an indie film producer, as the CEO of the Tribeca Film Institute, as a programmer for the Atlanta Film Festival, and much more. He currently leads a consultancy called Sub-Genre, doing content, strategy, development, distribution and marketing, for which he writes the Sub-Genre newsletter that a lot of media folks read. He has, as you'll hear in this conversation, some hope for the independent documentary world, even in the face of recent media consolidation, as we talk about how an ecosystem friendly to independent documentary once sprung up, and also how it might be sustained in the world of commercial media. More about Brian here.

Note: In this episode, we mention that one of my favorite films of 2022, Reid Davenport’s “I Didn’t See You There,” is not streaming. Reid says he hopes to have it available on iTunes and Amazon on 1/10/24. Highly recommended!

Films mentioned:
Shored Up (2013), Ben Kalina
I Didn’t See You There (2022), Reid Davenport

Other mentions:
Atlanta Film Festival
Tribeca Film Institute
Ted Sarandos
Cara Mertes
Frontline
POV
Independent Lens
Camden International Film Festival
The D-Word
International Documentary Association (IDA)
Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers (AIVF)
Sundance Film Festival

Follow us on Instagram! @ThousandRoadsPod

Special thanks for helping make this series happen: Sara Archambault, Florence Barrau-Adams, Jon Berman, Ben Cuomo (music), Jax Deluca, Pallavi Deshpande, Nancy Gibbs, Kathleen Hughes, Caroline Kracunas, Laura Manley, Alexis Pancrazi, Liz Schwartz, Jeff Seelbach, Lindsay Underwood (logo/graphics)

This episode was supported by a fellowship at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

Carrie Lozano has played a lot of important roles in the documentary field. Until not long ago she headed the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film and Artist Programs. Before that, she designed and directed the International Documentary Association’s Enterprise Fund. Her gig right now is heading up ITVS, the Independent Television Service, which, among other things, funds and distributes public TV docs, and brings us the long-running, much-decorated PBS series Independent Lens. All her experience puts her smack in the middle of a lot of the conversations going on in the documentary world about cinema, journalism, and about the role of both in a democracy, and we talk about all that and more. More about Carrie here. 

Note: In this episode, we mention the fact that one of my favorite films of 2022, Reid Davenport’s “I Didn’t See You There,” is not streaming. Reid tells me he hopes to have it available on iTunes and Amazon on 1/10/24. Highly recommended!

Films mentioned in this episode:

I Didn’t See You There (2022), Dir. Reid Davenport

The Day After Trinity (1981), Dir. Jon Else

The Devil Never Sleeps (1994), Dir. Lourdes Portillo

Oppenheimer (2023), Dir. Christopher Nolan

Other mentions:

Independent Lens

Fault Lines

Independent Television  Service (ITVS)

Frontline

POV

America Reframed

Firelight Media

Follow us on Instagram! @ThousandRoadsPod

Special thanks for helping make this series happen: Sara Archambault, Florence Barrau-Adams, Jon Berman, Ben Cuomo (music), Jax Deluca, Pallavi Deshpande, Nancy Gibbs, Kathleen Hughes, Caroline Kracunas, Laura Manley, Alexis Pancrazi, Liz Schwartz, Jeff Seelbach, Lindsay Underwood (logo/graphics)

This episode was supported by a fellowship at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

Tia Lessin and Carl Deal are filmmaking partners whose careers have run the gamut from directing their Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning Trouble The Water about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, to producing several of Michael Moore’s films, and more. Tia also directed, with Emma Pildes, 2022’s Emmy Award-winning The Janes, about women providing abortion care in pre-Roe v. Wade Chicago. Tia started out as a labor organizer and an activist. And while Carl has an activist background as well, he also attended Columbia University Journalism School. We talk about how journalism and activism play out in their filmmaking, the creative use of stock footage, and documentary ethics.

More about Tia and Carl here.

Films mentioned in the episode:

Trouble the Water (2008), Dir. Tia Lessin and Carl Deal 

 The Janes (2022), Dir. Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes 

Where To Invade Next (2015), Dir. Michael Moore

The UnRedacted (originally Jihad Rehab) (2022), Dir. Meg Smaker

Follow us on Instagram! @ThousandRoadsPod

Special thanks for helping make this series happen: Sara Archambault, Florence Barrau-Adams, Jon Berman, Ben Cuomo (music), Jax Deluca, Pallavi Deshpande, Nancy Gibbs, Kathleen Hughes, Caroline Kracunas, Laura Manley, Alexis Pancrazi, Liz Schwartz, Jeff Seelbach, Lindsay Underwood (logo/graphics)

This episode was supported by a fellowship at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

David Siev, a first-time feature filmmaker, made a splash in 2022 with his film Bad Axe, which began with his documenting the mundane proceedings of his family’s restaurant in the small town of Bad Axe, Michigan, and wound up a stunning, personal portrait of America in the Black Lives Matter summer of 2020. The film was shortlisted for an Academy Award for its portrayal of the events of 2020. We talk about what it was like to come out of seemingly nowhere to earn that honor, what it meant to him, as well as what it cost him. He also shares his thoughts about the intersection of documentary film and journalism, as well as what kinds of doc films he'd like to see made and honored by the industry. 

David is a first-generation Cambodian-Mexican-American. His first film was an award-winning narrative short, Year Zero, based on his father’s escape from the killing fields of Cambodia. More about David here.

Follow us on Instagram! @ThousandRoadsPod

Special thanks for helping make this series happen: Sara Archambault, Florence Barrau-Adams, Jon Berman, Ben Cuomo (music), Jax Deluca, Pallavi Deshpande, Nancy Gibbs, Kathleen Hughes, Caroline Kracunas, Laura Manley, Alexis Pancrazi, Liz Schwartz, Jeff Seelbach, Lindsay Underwood (logo/graphics)

This episode was supported by a fellowship at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

Byron Hurt wears a lot of hats: filmmaker, journalist, activist, mentor and more. He’s also brave, if his 2022 film Hazing is any indication. Hazing takes on the subculture of humiliation and often violence that people endure when they wish to join certain organizations, including college fraternities and sororities. It’s taboo to talk about hazing if you’ve taken part in it, but Byron, a fraternity member who’s seen it from both sides, does just that. We talk about the challenges he encountered in making Hazing, including something that could have scuttled the film’s release two days before it premiered on the PBS Independent Lens series. We also talk about Byron’s evolving philosophy as to how he treats the participants in his films, as well as his influences as inspirations in the documentary business. 

Byron’s other films include 2023’s Lee & Liza’s Family Tree, for the PBS NOVA series, as well as Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes and Soul Food Junkies. More about Byron here.

Films mentioned in this episode:

Hazing (2022), Dir. Byron Hurt

Soul Food Junkies (2012), Dir. Byron Hurt

Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes (2006), Dir. Byron Hurt

Tongues Untied (1989), Dir. Marlon Riggs

Black Is… Black Ain’t (1995), Dir. Marlon Riggs

Ethnic Notions (1987), Dir. Marlon Riggs

Color Adjustment (1992), Dir. Marlon Riggs

Other mentions:

Documentary Accountability Working Group

Marlon Riggs

Stanley Nelson

Andrew P. Jones

Orlando Bagwell

Michael Moore

Bill Moyers

Follow us on Instagram! @ThousandRoadsPod

Special thanks for helping make this series happen: Sara Archambault, Florence Barrau-Adams, Jon Berman, Ben Cuomo (music), Jax Deluca, Pallavi Deshpande, Nancy Gibbs, Kathleen Hughes, Caroline Kracunas, Laura Manley, Alexis Pancrazi, Liz Schwartz, Jeff Seelbach, Lindsay Underwood (logo/graphics)

This episode was supported by a fellowship at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

The Documentary Accountability Working Group (DAWG) is making quite an impact in the documentary film world, promoting a framework for values-based documentary ethics and practices. Natalie Bullock Brown is its director, and she’s my guest this time around. We talk about DAWG’s suggestions as to how people agreeing to appear in documentaries ought to be treated, with regard to compensation, psychological services, community outreach and more. There’s some great overlap between this conversation and my podcast conversations with Byron Hurt and Jennifer Tiexiera & Camilla Hall, so please check those out too. 

Along with her work at DAWG, Natalie is an award-winning film producer who also teaches at North Carolina State University. She's held several fellowships, including one at the Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. More about Natalie here.

Films mentioned in this episode:

Hazing (2022), Dir. Byron Hurt

Sabaya (2021), Dir. Hogir Hirori

Subject (2023), Dir. Jennifer Tiexiera & Camilla Hall

Other Mentions:

Documentary Accountability Working Group

Documentary Magazine

“Documentary Future: A Call For Accountability”

Sonya Childress

Bhawin Suchak

Youth FX

Molly Murphy

Hannah Hearn

Getting Real

Dr. Kameelah Mu’Min Rashad aka Oseguera

Follow us on Instagram! @ThousandRoadsPod

Special thanks for helping make this series happen: Sara Archambault, Florence Barrau-Adams, Jon Berman, Ben Cuomo (music), Jax Deluca, Pallavi Deshpande, Nancy Gibbs, Kathleen Hughes, Caroline Kracunas, Laura Manley, Alexis Pancrazi, Liz Schwartz, Jeff Seelbach, Lindsay Underwood (logo/graphics)

This episode was supported by a fellowship at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

Robert Greene is a professor at the University of Missouri's Journalism School, where he runs the Murray Center for Documentary Journalism. But he's better known as a filmmaker whose documentaries are anything but “traditional” journalism. These include two that we talk about in this podcast, Procession, about the pedophilia scandal in the Roman Catholic Church, which was shortlisted for the documentary Oscar in 2021, and the award-winning Bisbee ‘17, about a mass deportation of immigrants that took place in the American Southwest about a century ago. We also discuss his influences, his filmmaking philosophy, and some of his favorite documentaries.

Robert’s other films include Kate Plays Christine and Actress. More about Robert here.

Films mentioned in this episode:

Procession (2020), Dir. Robert Greene

Spotlight (2015), Dir. Tom McCarthy

Bisbee ‘17 (2018), Dir. Robert Greene

Written On The Wind (1956), Dir. Douglas Sirk

Imitation of Life (1959), Dir. Douglas Sirk

Racetrack (1985), Dir. Frederick Wiseman 

Strong Island (2017), Dir. Yance Ford 

Cameraperson (2016), Dir. Kirsten Johnson

Hale County This Morning, This Evening (2018), RaMell Ross

Time (2020), Garrett Bradley

 Primary (1960), Dir. Robert Drew

Gimme Shelter (1970), Albert and David Maysles

Other Mentions:

Eric Hynes

Museum of the Moving Image

Peter Watkins

Chantal Ackerman

Robert Flaherty

Michael Moore

Direct Cinema movement

Follow us on Instagram! @ThousandRoadsPod

Special thanks for helping make this series happen: Sara Archambault, Florence Barrau-Adams, Jon Berman, Ben Cuomo (music), Jax Deluca, Pallavi Deshpande, Nancy Gibbs, Kathleen Hughes, Caroline Kracunas, Laura Manley, Alexis Pancrazi, Liz Schwartz, Jeff Seelbach, Lindsay Underwood (logo/graphics)

This episode was supported by a fellowship at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

I think it’s safe to say Jennifer Tieixiera and Camilla Hall have created a documentary unlike any other. It's called Subject, and it profiles people whose stories have appeared in some of the most acclaimed documentaries of the last three decades or so, including Hoop Dreams, The Square, The Wolfpack, and The Staircase. But what makes Subject different is that it focuses on what happened to these folks after their participation in documentaries made them famous. It’s a film that asks filmmakers to take a hard look at their own processes and motives, and we discuss not only filmmaking practices and ethics, but also the state of the doc world both from a creative and business perspective.

More about Jennifer and Camilla here.

Films mentioned in this episode:

Subject (2023), Dir. Jennifer Tiexiera & Camilla Hall

The Staircase series (2022), Dir. Leigh Janiak, Antonio Campos

Hoop Dreams (1994), Dir. Steve James 

Capturing The Friedmans (2003), Dir. Andrew Jarecki

The Square (2013), Jehane Noujaim

Winter On Fire: Ukraine’s Fight For Freedom (2015), Evgeny Afineevsky

Other Mentions: 

Gordon Quinn

Pat Aufderheide

Margie Ratliff

Kirsten Johnson

Michèle Stephenson

Joe Brewster

Assia Boundaoui 

Sam Pollard

Bruce Shapiro

Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma

Documentary Accountability Working Group

Sonya Childress

Dr. Kameelah Mu’Min Rashad aka Oseguera 

Ahmed Hassan

Rita Baghdadi

Follow us on Instagram! @ThousandRoadsPod

Special thanks for helping make this series happen: Sara Archambault, Florence Barrau-Adams, Jon Berman, Ben Cuomo (music), Jax Deluca, Pallavi Deshpande, Nancy Gibbs, Kathleen Hughes, Caroline Kracunas, Laura Manley, Alexis Pancrazi, Liz Schwartz, Jeff Seelbach, Lindsay Underwood (logo/graphics)

This episode was supported by a fellowship at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.