MetaFilter posts tagged with Documentary

"I just want to leave enough images behind that I'll never be forgotten"

Brandon Blatcher — Sat, 18 May 2013 06:20:09 -0800

The project centers on nine women in the feminist lesbian porn industry who are recorded for a 24-hour period, with 10-second blips of their everyday lives playing out in five-minute intervals. What’s revealed is an intimate portrait of a marginalized community opening up about sex, gender politics, depression, and their daily grind in a way that’s downright real.

This is victory. This is what winning looks like.

Drexen — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:13:16 -0800

"This is What Winning Looks Like is a disturbing new documentary about the ineptitude, drug abuse, sexual misconduct, and corruption of the Afghan security forces as well as the reduced role of US Marines due to the troop withdrawal." [via vice] "In part one, we see just how chaotic and hopeless the situation is in Sangin, one of the most violent towns in Afghanistan." "In part two, we see on-the-ground footage of fighting between the Afghan forces and the Taliban as well as insightful commentary from the documentary's producer, Ben Anderson. There are also exclusive interviews with the US Ambassador and the British Deputy Ambassador to Afghanistan about the prospect of peace in the region." "In part three, we see that the sad truth is, at the end of the day, we will be leaving behind ill-prepared security forces, which will likely lead to an increase in Taliban attacks, civilian casualties, and, overall, an increasingly dangerous and fragile nation." Based on the work of British journalist Ben Anderson, who also produced Taking On the Taliban, showing his time embedded with the British Armed Forces.

(working title)

liketitanic — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:50:56 -0800

The Untitled Black Lesbian Elder Project is an amazing Tumblr with photos, quotations, film excerpts, and ephemera that accompanies a feature-length documentary, now in production, that "will highlight interviews with black lesbian elders in their 60s, 70s and 80s from across the United States and situate them in a range of black historical movements, spanning the decades between the 1930s and 1980s."

"I'm interested in the way we tell stories about our lives"

the man of twists and turns — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:06:38 -0800

Sarah Polley, previously, is a Canadian actress and director whose new documentary Stories We Tell is about her own family's story. Or stories. And how storytelling shapes us. Sarah Polley's Meta Masterpiece In a blog post for Canada's NFB, Polley writes:

I’m not claiming that my film lacks self involvement but what I wanted most was to examine the many versions of this story, how people held onto them, how they agreed and disagreed with each other, and how powerful and necessary creating narrative is for us to make sense of our bewildering lives. I wanted the story told in the words of everyone I could find who could speak about it. Whatever my own feelings are about the events that are outlined, about the many dynamic and complicated players or the stunning, vibrant woman my mother was, they are ephemeral, constantly out of my grasp, they change as the years pass.

Can Science Explain Why We Tell Stories?

Stories, more even than stars or spectacle, are still the currency of life, or commercial entertainment, and look likely to last longer than the euro. There’s no escaping stories, or the pressures to tell them. And so the pathetic story-pitcher turns to pop science—to Jonathan Gottschall’s new book, “The Storytelling Animal,” for instance— for some scientific, or at least speculative, ideas about what makes stories work and why we like them. Gottschall’s encouraging thesis is that human beings are natural storytellers—that they can’t help telling stories, and that they turn things that aren’t really stories into stories because they like narratives so much. Everything—faith, science, love—needs a story for people to find it plausible. No story, no sale. O.K. Anyone in dissent? But this claim, itself hardly momentous, then opens onto something sadly like a forced march of the platitudes: We all like stories.

Creatures of Coherence: Why We're So Obsessed With Causation

Others who have replicated Michotte’s test have discerned similar results. “Experiments have shown that six-month-old infants see the sequence of events as a cause-effect scenario, and they indicate surprise when the sequence is altered,” Kahneman writes. “We are evidently ready from birth to have impressions of causality.”

Freaks out there who are freakier than I am...

OmieWise — Fri, 10 May 2013 11:33:06 -0800

Vinyl -- Alan Zweig feat. Harvey Pekar -- 2000 -- M VG+

"Yeah, the music is the most important thing. I wish it were the only thing. It's not. I'd be better off if it were the only thing."

A documentary about the most noble mania.

Teenage Diaries Revisited

Slap*Happy — Fri, 10 May 2013 11:19:39 -0800

Teenage Diaries Revisited Beginning in 1996, Radio Diaries gave tape recorders to teenagers around the country to create audio diaries about their lives. NPR’s All Things Considered aired intimate portraits of five of these teens: Amanda, Juan, Frankie, Josh and Melissa. They're now in their 30s. Over this past year, the same group has been recording new stories about where life has led them for our series, Teenage Diaries Revisited. - The conversation at the end of the 2013 update on Josh is a complete gut-punch - it left me speechless and unable to breathe.

"a job that is so vital to human dignity and human rights."

the man of twists and turns — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:37:16 -0800

Last month, HBO Documentaires released "Which Way Is The Front Line From Here? The Life And Times Of Tim Hetherington." It is a "posthumous recounting of one of the most impressive photojournalism careers to date." "'Restrepo' director has sorrowful Sundance return. Produced by Sebastian Junger (interviewed in We Kind Of Assume We Won't Be Killed), the documentary covered "a war photographer who was more than just an adrenaline junkie." After Hetherington's death, Junger founded Reporters Instructed In Saving Colleagues, which is "dedicated to promoting the safety of freelance journalists in combat zones." Some of Hetherington's photos Abu Muqawama interviews Bryan Denton about the risks of photojournalism in a war zone. Previously on MetaFilter: Tim Hetherington Killed In Libya Restrepo

Dystopian Future (and present)

antonymous — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:18:04 -0800

Panopticon is a documentary which details how our concept of privacy is altered by the modern surveillance state.

Much Ado About Nuttin'

Atreides — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:19:27 -0800

In 2005, he was considered the finest high school football player in the country. Heavily recruited, the quarterback was sought after by Notre Dame, Alabama, and the school just down the road from home, Arkansas. Many believed that he was a better player than another promising high school quarterback, Tim Tebow. In 2013, Mitch Mustain is the back up quarterback to the San Jose SaberCats, an arena football league team. The documentary,The Identity Theft of Mitch Mustain, seeks to understand what happened.* *Trailer for documentary. The documentary defines itself as:

In 2005, Mitch Mustain was the most decorated high school football player in all of America. Named the first ever consensus Gatorade, Parade, and USA Today Player of the Year, Mustain grabbed the spotlight from future NFL players such as Tim Tebow and Matthew Stafford. At the age of seventeen, USA Today ordained Mustain as “Football’s Future”. He was destined to become a game-changing college and pro quarterback. Unfortunately, football was not the only thing Mitch saw in his future, and while the game came easy to Mitch, finding joy in the game eventually became a job. The film, narrated by Nolan Richardson, follows Mitch’s present-day struggle to find balance between who he once was, and who he now wants to be.

Mitch Mustain was a leading member of the Springdale (Arkansas) High School champion football team and part of the affably labeled "Springdale Five," five players from the team who all received Division I football scholarships. The five were:

Mitch Mustain
Damian Williams
Ben Cleveland
Bartley Webb
Andrew Norman

The head coach of the Springdale team was Gus Malzahn. The rise of Springdale coincided with a rocky time for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks football team. The folksy head coach, nicknamed the Right Reverend, Houston Nutt, had suffered two losing seasons in a row, going 5-6 in 2004, and 4-7 in 2005 (including an historic and humiliating defeat at the hands of the University of Southern California, 17 - 70). In the high pressure atmosphere of the Southeastern Conference, expectations were high that Nutt had to turn around the program or face termination. Springdale's success, only minutes away from Razorback Stadium, placed a spotlight on the Springdale Five and on their coach. Many believed that the answer to the school's football woes lay just down the road and it would be virtually a disaster if Arkansas could not bring home it's talented natives. A Grantland article (cached) on Gus Malzahn covered the moment:

Arkansas doesn’t have a surplus of four- and five-star recruits, so the Springdale Five became intense objects of desire for University of Arkansas coach Houston Nutt. “We’re going to protect what’s ours, first and foremost,” Nutt told Scout.com. How do you keep great players in Arkansas? You pull the old AAU trick and hire their coach. That December, Nutt made Malzahn his offensive coordinator. Which isn’t to say Malzahn didn’t have credentials. He’d won state titles at two schools. He’d published a book outlining his offensive philosophy. But his hiring clearly had a transactional element. In February 2006, four of the Springdale Five committed to Arkansas. "I'm going to let Gus go," Nutt said of his new offensive guru. "I'm going to turn him loose.”

Nutt turned Malzahn loose for one game and then reverted back to his own play calling after a season opener re-match against USC that resulted in another lopsided defeat. Out of the disaster of the first game, Mustain's star began to shine. Jumping in to replace an injured Casey Dick, Mustain lead the team to a quick touch down, and in the next eight games, started and won every match up, helping the team to rise to 12th in the nation; all as a true freshman. Not all was well during this successful and successive streak. A book about the Springdale High championship team and its coach quoted a pre-Arkansas Mustain calling his new coach a "dork" and insulted Nutt's "boring offense." In turn, Teresa Prewitt, a close friend of the coach who often was allowed on the sideline at games, fired off a rage-filled e-mail to the freshman quarterback. Addressed to "Hello Mr. Interception King," the letter dismissed Mustain's talents, accused him of arrogance, and was riddled with insults.(For the actual e-mail, just check out the link at the bottom). At the same time, the parents of the Springdale Five were alleged to have complained to the school's athletic director about the treatment of their sons, with Mustain's mother, incensed by her son's treatment, front and center. After an interception in the first half of Mustain's eighth game starting, Nutt pulled him and sent in the sophomore, Casey Dick. Mustain never played again. In the turmoil of the off season, Malzahn left Arkansas for the University of Tulsa, where his offenses broke records in points and yardage. Of the Springdale Five who signed on for Arkansas, all but Ben Cleveland, transferred out, with both Mustain and Damian Williams going to USC under Pete Carrol (where Williams became a star receiver and Mustain a perennial back up to a line up of top drafted quarterbacks). At the end of his college career, Mustain reflected in a USA Today article about what happened at USC and his hope to still find a path in professional football. Houston Nutt, however, took the team to the Citrus Bowl, where he lost to present day Arkansas head coach, Brett Bielema, a first year coach at Wisconsin. In 2007, his successful team stumbled and finished with a winning, but worse record than the year before. The losses of 2007 helped break open the possibility of Nutt being terminated, a cause promoted by a small but loud minority. A major player in the process was Thomas McAfee, who filed a FOIA request which unleashed rumors of adultery with a local news anchorwoman (an affair of thousands of text messages) among other allegations. In the end, after an upset win over the expected winner, Louisiana State University, Nutt ceremoniously resigned from the team, only to sign with Ole Miss four days later. For the deeply interested, here's a comprehensive 46 page reconciliation of the events surrounding Houston Nutt.

Come un Lampo di Vita

zarq — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 22:32:57 -0800

Cirque du Soleil Reinvents the Circus: La Cirque Réinventé. Nouvelle Expérience. Saltimbanco. A Baroque Odyssey. Alegría. Quidam. La Nouba. Dralion. Journey of Man. Varekai. Midnight Sun. Kà. Corteo. Delerium. Koozå. All Together Now. Amaluna. Worlds Away. Performance at 74th Academy Awards (2002) Performance at 84th Academy Awards (2012) (Alt link, vimeo) Discovery Channel show Time Warp: O Cirque du Soleil: Solstrom: Episode 1: Wind of Romance Episode 2: Twin Winds With Spanish Subtitles Episode 3: Howling Winds Episode 4: Rockin' Wind Episode 5: Once Upon a Wind Episode 6: Wind of Freedom Episode 7: Ghostly Wind (Missing) Episode 8: Gone With the Winds With Spanish Subtitles Episode 9: Wind from the Past (Missing) Episode 10: Winds of Courage (Missing) Episode 11: Wind of Imagination Episode 12: Wind of Life (Missing) Episode 13: Cosmic Wind 16x9: Getting into Cirque Du Soleil [Audition Documentary] Previously on Metafilter: Wonder Woman

‘Why do people always want things from me?’

the man of twists and turns — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:01:16 -0800

Unsung Color Photographer Saul Leiter Is In No Great Hurry. "In No Great Hurry" is a documentary about a photographer who started shooting in color in the 1940s, and about whom you may have never heard.

Mozart in Turkey: parts biography, history, documentary, and performance

filthy light thief — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 20:47:44 -0800

Mozart in Turkey is film made of three distinct, but related, elements. First, it is a look into Mozart at the time of his courting Constanze, a bit on his new patron, the "enlightened monarch" Joseph II, and other influences, including the Turkish music and culture, along with thoughts on Mozart's opera as a work created in the Age of Enlightenment, all through the running commentary by opera director Elijah Moshinsky, who also interviews Alev Lytle Croutier, the author of Harem: The World Behind the Veil. Then there is the production of an opera in Turkey, specifically set in and around the Topkapi Palace (virtual tour; Wikipedia). And the last piece is the performance of Die Entführung aus dem Serail, or The Abduction from the Seraglio. You can watch the entire film online on Vimeo, thanks to Directors Cut Films.

The Labrador Duck, the Great Auk, the Carolina Parakeet...

spamandkimchi — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 21:49:01 -0800

The Lost Bird Project documents the stories of five North American birds driven to extinction in modern times and sculptor Todd McGrain's road-trip to memorialize them. (via)

The Japanese Version

Monsieur Caution — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 20:19:13 -0800

In the late '80s, documentarians Louis Alvarez and Andrew Kolker spent six months in Tokyo looking at how symbols and imagery familiar to Americans had been appropriated and given new significance in Japan. Though more than 20 years old, the resulting video remains popular in undergraduate courses across the social sciences and humanities in part because it's so entertaining.

Viewing guide distributed with the video.
Transcript of the video.
Viewing notes from Anthro 254 at Yale.
Critical commentary by a prof of Japanese history at Columbia.
Source for the DVD.

Nuit et Brouillard

timsteil — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 11:45:31 -0800

Night and Fog is a 1955 documentary directed by Alain Resnais.

It is mortifying, for both its brutal imagery, and poetic narration, but moreso, the fact those two could seemingly live together.

Censored by the French over one shot it only came to fruition after writer Jean Cayrol, a camp survivor himself, agreed to write the script.

The soundtrack was by Hanns Eisler, whose music was banned by the Nazis in 1933.

[What follows is 30 minute documentary film concerning two Nazi concentration camps. Please be warned there are some very NSFL/triggers ahead.] [previously] Night and Fog Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Today we begin a "cyber march" on Washington

Potomac Avenue — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 07:44:27 -0800

A group of respected entertainers (and some not-as-respected celebrities), businessmen, Civil Rights leaders and academics have signed an open letter calling on the President to #EndTheWarOnDrugs. In conjunction with the PBS Documentary "The House I Live In" an examination of the small scale effects of America's longest war. Bonus link: Take the PBS drug test!

Les Blank

latkes — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:49:12 -0800

Beloved indy ethnographic documentarian Les Blank died yesterday. This interview gives a good overview of his background, and this post includes clips. Watch a couple of his public domain films here. Or do yourself a favor and find the complete version of Garlic is as Good as Ten Mothers. His films and life were woven within a community of filmmakers who were enormously influential. One whimsical piece famously portrayed his colleague Werner Herzog eating his shoe on the occasion of their mutual acquaintance Errol Morris' making of his first film, Gates of Heaven. Burden of Dreams shows Herzog in full craziness making Fitzcarraldo . Also check out long time collaborator Maureen Gosling, and Les' son Harrod Blank: art car enthusiast and fellow documentary filmmaker.

Dreams of your Life

Bistle — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 20:53:45 -0800

This interactive experience is a sister project to Carol Morley's documentary Dreams of a Life.

Sound Of The Underground.

empath — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 21:23:42 -0800

Jungle Fever, a 1994 Documentary from Canal+ on the origins of Drum & Bass with some live footage, and interviews with MC's, DJs and producers. It's en Français, but most of the interviews are in English.

Murica

timsteil — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 20:39:47 -0800

My fellow Mefites, I implore you. Don't even think about clicking the more inside if you have anything pressing to do. [previously] Black Delta Religion The Ballad of Frankie Silver Les Blues de Balfa Carnival Train All part of what I can only say is an epic collection of Americana documentaries, at Folkstreams.

Michael Peterson and The Staircase, redux

BibiRose — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 05:54:18 -0800

Jean-Xavier de Lestrade’s documentary gets new installments. Previously. Eight years later, Michael Peterson went back to court and Lestrade filmed it again.

Down but not out.

Miko — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:46:51 -0800

After Forbes magazine declared Dayton, OH, one of America's " fastest dying cities," a group of local media makers created Reinvention Stories. The interactive film/multimedia experience rolls out this month in three acts.

I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.

ersatz — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 09:33:22 -0800

Pablo Neruda (bio, pics, recordings) was a Chilean poet and Nobel Prize winner. His work comprises 48 books* (excluding posthumous publications), the most famous of which remain Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (scribd, alt) (Spanish, alt) and Canto General (Spanish). Documentary. In this remake of the 1983 Ardiente Paciencia by Antonio Skarmeta, the time and place have been changed to Italy in the 1950s, but the relationship between the Chilean Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda and Mario (Massimo Troisi), the postman who delivers his copious mail, is still the focus of attention. Previously. *There is a full Spanish bibliography by the Neruda Foundation in the second link. In the extended version, skip to page 92 for English translations.

Nevermind the Oscars, what's for dinner?

spamandkimchi — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 19:00:23 -0800

The food documentary is a ripening genre complete with its own film festival circuit. On the menu for 2013 are Symphony of the Soil and Edible City, but fans of tatertots should check out the school lunch documentary Lunch Line. Two to chew on for the carnivores: Meat Hooked! and American Meat. Pescetarians can polish off End of the Line Prefer your films dry-aged instead of freshly slaughtered? City mice can gnaw on the Detroit agricultural revival Urban Roots or What's On Your Plate? Got a strong stomach? Films that pull back the curtain on food production, besides the Marion Nestle-recommended Food Inc., include the immigration op-ed American Harvest and the elegiac, voice-over-free Our Daily Bread. You might have caught Jiro Dreams of Sushi back in 2012 but try also chewing on Dream Cuisine for a post-colonial eulogy to Chinese cuisine... in Tokyo. Previously, a list of short food-related films and films (or books) on factory farming

You've Come a Long Way, Baby...?

Miko — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:34:25 -0800

Makers: Women Who Make America is a sweeping 3-hour documentary of the movement for women's equality in the last half of the twentieth century. Airing this month on US public television, it's accompanied by an online archive of videos of interviews with individual women in leadership across a variety of fields. Leaders and activists, celebrities and pioneers, and everyday women retell the story of their awakening, organizing, and world-changing efforts.