Top Docs: Award-Winning Documentary Filmmakers

“Stranger at the Gate” charts one man’s delusion:  That his neighbors are not the peace-loving, hard-working people they seem to be, but actually dangerous radicals deeply embedded in America’s heartland.  But it also subtly portrays a more universal phenomenon of dehumanization–and then offers a hopeful example of where respect and love were able to provide a remedy. Director Joshua Seftel sat down with Mike to talk about his Academy Award-nominated short documentary that tells the story of Mack, his family, and the good people of the Muncie Islamic Center as they found themselves on what seemed to be an inevitable collision course.  Joshua and Mike discuss the classic “Middletown”, the changing landscape of central America, and the challenges not only of immigrants but of veterans as well.   “Stranger at the Gate” is available on the New Yorker website as well as YouTube.   Hidden Gem: LBJ   Follow: @strangeratthegate on Instagram @jrseftel on Instagram & @JSeftel on twitter @topdocspod on twitter and Instagram   The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

It’s an age-old query:  Can humans live in harmony with other creatures on the planet?  On their way to speaking to this question, in  “The Elephant Whisperers” director Kartiki Gonsalves and producer Doug Blush show us the beauty, intelligence, and even danger of the creatures who share our world. Kartiki and Doug joined Mike to talk about their Oscar-nominated short documentary.  They tell Mike how the elephant caretakers, Bomman and Belli, both helped the young elephant Raghu and were helped by him as well.   Why did they choose not to forefront some of the most dire threats to the elephants, including global warming, but instead focus on what they call “a family drama”?  And what hope do they have for the future of India’s wildlife, and for the greater planet as well? The Elephant Whisperers can be seen on Netflix.   Hidden Gems: Writing with Fire (our conversation with directors Rintu Thomas & Sushmit Ghosh) Bad Axe (our conversation with director David Siev) Last Flight Home (our conversation with director Ondi Timor)   Follow: @theelephantwhisperers on Instagram Kartiki: @EarthSpectrum on twitter & @kartikigonsalves on Instagram Doug: @madpixfilm on twitter @topdocspod on twitter and Instagram   The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

Luke Lorentzen made a brilliant feature debut at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival with his sparkling documentary “Midnight Family”, a fast-paced look at a family-owned private ambulance business in Mexico City. Luke is back at this year’s Sundance, and this time he’s focusing on life inside one hospital in New York City. “A Still Small Voice” is an intimate portrait of the spiritual care department at the Mount Sinai Hospital and of one aspiring chaplain and her mentor.    Luke sat down with Ken at Sundance to discuss how he came to his latest topic, how he approached the role of time and pacing in a much different way than “Midnight Family”, and how he applied the principles of the spiritual care program to his own filmmaking practice. After the festival, Luke was honored with the Sundance U.S. Documentary Competition Directing Award.   Follow: @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter @LorentzenLuke on twitter   The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.  A big thanks to Portrait for hosting this conversation at Sundance.

As a realistic account of the deprivations Alzheimers can bring, “The Eternal Memory” is harrowing.  But it’s also the story of Augusto’s and Paulina’s determined love in the face of this challenge.  And, finally, it’s the tale of Chile’s tragic yet ultimately triumphant democracy. Maite Alberdi (director of the Oscar-nominated “The Mole Agent”) sat down with Mike at Sundance to discuss her film and how it shows memory as not the finished product of individual solitude, but ever-created between people and even within nations. “The Eternal Memory” was recently acquired by MTV Documentaries. Follow: @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter @lamaitealberid on twitter @maitealberdi on instagram Also mentioned in the pod:  No The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix. A big thanks to Portrait for hosting this conversation at Sundance.

10 years ago, filmmakers Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster premiered their epic personal documentary “American Promise” at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Special Jury Prize. Now, Michèle and Joe have returned to Sundance with the world premiere of their highly inventive, transcendent documentary portrait “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project”. Once again, the pair find themselves being honored for their dazzling work — this time taking home the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Documentary category. Fresh off the first public screening of the film, Michèle and Joe joined Ken to discuss how each discovered the revolutionary poetry of Nikki Giovanni, the process of finding the film’s visual language that was itself a poem, and the rich sources they were able to draw from, and blend together, to build an entire universe to honor the work of this extraordinary artist.   Follow: @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter @michele_0608 on Instagram and twitter @brewsterjoe on Instagram and @2joedigital on twitter   The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix. A big thanks to Portrait for hosting this conversation at Sundance. 

Premiering at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, Academy Award-nominated director Elaine McMillion Sheldon’s ("Heroin(e)", "Recovery Boys") elegiac, stirring, and magical new documentary “King Coal” gives an insider’s unique perspective on the profound impact that coal has had on the people and mythos of Central Appalachia. As the daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter of coal miners, Elaine’s narrative comes from a place of personal experience and deep reflection — and stretches the boundaries of traditional documentary. Sitting down with Ken in Park City the night before her film’s world premiere, Elaine discusses the liberating effect of using hybrid storytelling strategies, the challenges of presenting a nuanced approach to a highly politicized issue, and her nervous anticipation of watching the film with her family for the first time. "King Coal" was produced by Diane Becker, Shane Boris, and Peggy Drexler.   Follow: @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter @elainemsheldon on twitter   The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix. A big thanks to Portrait for hosting this conversation at Sundance. 

Bride kidnapping. What sounds like a practice from long ago or even a tale out of folklore is actually a Lunar New Year tradition among the Hmong community of the mountains of northern Vietnam. First-time feature filmmaker Diem Ha Le explores this controversial custom through the lens of Di, a young Hmong girl, in the fascinating coming-of-age documentary “Children of the Mist”.   Joining Ken on “Top Docs” to discuss her extraordinary film, Diem describes how she didn’t set out to make a film about bride kidnapping, but, eventually, the story led in that direction. How does the issue of bride kidnapping divide parents, the Vietnamese government, and teachers? What drove Diem to enter the fray and become directly involved in the events unfolding in front of her? And what caused the close relationship between Diem and Di to rupture? With no easy answers at hand, it’s obvious that, as the mist clears, the Di at the end of the film will be very different from the young girl at the beginning.   “Children of the Mist” is one of 15 documentaries named to the Oscar Shortlist in the category of Best Documentary Feature and is released by Film Movement.   Follow: @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter @filmmovement on Instagram and @Film_Movement on twitter   Hidden Gem: Slowly Forgetting Your Faces   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Hundreds of years ago, cut off from the outside world and confined to so-called chamber rooms, rural women in Jiangyong in southern China did something radical and transformative: they invented their own secret language. Speaking and writing “Nushu” to each other, the women found their voice and created a community of sisterhood. In her poetical and powerful documentary “Hidden Letters”, director Violet Du Feng (“Maineland”, “Confucian Dream”) explores the fascinating history of Nushu and follows two contemporary women who are fighting to keep the language alive and true to its original spirit.   Violet joins Ken on “Top Docs” to discuss Nushu, its current context, and her multi-layered creative approach. How did Violet decide that the key to the film was not just focusing on Nushu but on the “modern” Chinese woman and the staggering societal pressures she faces? In the midst of her production, why did she abandon the idea of animation and go in a completely different direction? And, in the face of Nushu’s recent commercialization, how can its practitioners ensure that Nushu continues to exist “in the internal space of who we are”?   “Hidden Letters” is one of 15 documentaries named to the Oscar Shortlist in the category of Best Documentary Feature. Distributed by Cargo Film and Releasing, the film premieres on Independent Lens on March 27th.   Follow: @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter @violetdufeng on Instagram and @HiddenLetters_ on twitter   Hidden Gem: Happiness is £4 Million   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Children in a shelter in Eastern Ukraine–many of whom have all but lost their parents to war, alcohol, homelessness.  But the director of “House Made of Splinters”, Simon Lereng Wilmont (“The Distant Barking of Dogs”) insists that his film is one founded not only on tragedy, but on hope.   Hear Simon speak with Mike on “Top Docs” (co-Creator: Ken Jacobson). Simon discusses the cyclical nature of his film–“When one child leaves, another arrives”–and how it is reflected in his depiction of the seasons, even in the structure of the film.  They speak about Eva’s fate, Sasha’s strength of character, and Kolya’s intelligence.  And finish with the ultimate moral of the “Scorpion and the Frog”.   Hidden Gem:  American Movie.   Follow: @simonlerengwilmont on Instagram and @simonwilmont on twitter @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

It’s back! After two years of being virtual, the Sundance Film Festival, one of the world’s great film showcases, returns from January 19 – 29, 2023 to Park City and Salt Lake City, UT for a robust lineup of live, in-person screenings and events. While the second half of the festival will also feature online screenings, there is nothing like showing films “up on the mountain” to a packed audience of film fanatics. For the second year in a row, “Top Docs” caught up with a very busy Basil Tsiokos, Sundance Senior Programmer, Nonfiction, to preview this year’s lineup of (no-doubt) extraordinary documentary features and give us a programmer’s inside view of this amazing festival. And don’t miss Basil’s predictions for this year’s Oscar nominations in the Best Documentary Feature category! To check out more info about the films and to find out which titles are available to view both in-person and (during the second half of the fest) online within the US, go to: festival.sundance.org   By the Numbers: Sundance Feature Submissions and Documentary Competition Sections: FEATURE FILM SUBMISSIONS: Of the 4,061 feature film submissions, 1,662 were from the U.S. and 2,399 were international; 1,105 (27%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as women; 91 (2%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as nonbinary individuals; 1,676 (41%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as people of color; 547 (13%) were directed by one or more filmmakers who identify as LGBTQ+.   U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION: 63% or 10 of the 16 directors in this year’s U.S. Documentary Competition identify as women; 63% or 10 of the 16 identify as people of color; 13% or 2 of the 16 identify as LGBTQ+; 6% or 1 of the 16 identify as a person with a disability.   WORLD DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION: 46% or 6 of the 13 directors in the World Documentary Competition identify as women; 38% or 5 of the 13 as people of color; 23% or 3 of the 13 identify as LGBTQ+; 8% or 1 of the 13 identify as a person with a disability.   Follow: @whatnottodoc on Instagram and @1basil1 on twitter @sundanceorg on Instagram and @sundancefest on twitter @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.