Top Docs: Award-Winning Documentary Filmmakers

Elvis Mitchell, longtime host of KCRW’s “The Treatment”, and producer of “The Black List”, joins Mike to discuss his new documentary “Is that Black Enough for You?”  The film recounts an explosion of Black Film which occurred mainly in the period of 1968-1978, placing it within the context of both the prior failure of Hollywood to provide real representation of Black characters, as well as a strand of chiefly independent African American-produced film that Elvis traces back to as early as the 1910s and 1920s.   Elvis tells Mike how the movies affected his grandmother’s (literal) dreams, as well as how they drove the (figurative) dreams and fantasy life of his stellar cast.  Elvis explains to Mike his nuanced view of the legacies of such luminaries as Alfred Hitchcock, Laurence Olivier, and Orson Welles.  What role did Mohammed Ali play for Black filmmakers?  And how did Diane Sands embody the promise of this era?  Mike and Elvis also discuss his process–narration first, clips second–and why he passed on the declamatory “They call me Mr. Tibbs” moments in favor of clips which demonstrate the interiority and development of characters. And, of course, Elvis and Mike had to talk about the music:  Isaac Hayes; Earth, Wind & Fire; Curtis Mayfield… and Alessandro Alessandroni!? “Is the Black Enough for You” streams on Netflix starting Friday, November 11th.   Hidden Gem: Portrait of Jason   Follow on Twitter: @ElvisMitchell @topdocspod   The presenting sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

From its lyrical opening shot of rats scurrying across an empty, moonlit lot somewhere in New Delhi, Shaunak Sen’s (“Cities of Sleep”) thoroughly original new documentary “All that Breathes” makes it clear that generous helpings of the cinematically sublime will be served up along with gritty doses of reality. The film follows Nadeem and Saud, two brothers who run a makeshift bird clinic and tend to the ubiquitous black kites of Delhi, which are falling out of the sky at alarming rates. Equal parts character study, environmental/ecological think piece and spiritual contemplation, “All That Breathes” exists in that rare space between the mythological and the all too real. Shaunak joined Ken on “Top Docs” to discuss the film’s rich visual approach, thought-provoking themes and complex relationships. Sitting in his car stuck in a traffic jam, what inspired Shaunak to go home and immediately begin to research the topic that would lead him to the brothers’ basement clinic? In the midst of the climate change crisis, why did Shaunak find Nadeem and Saud, with their “head down” approach, to be such philosophically interesting figures? And with India’s anti-Muslim fervor creeping ever closer to the brothers’ sanctuary, how did Shaunak figure out the best way to reveal what was happening in the world outside without losing focus on the brothers and their birds? Join us for this engaging conversation with the director of one of the year’s most acclaimed films. Please note: we apologize for some audio issues experienced during the recording of Shaunak’s interview and ask you to please bear with us. “All That Breathes” is currently in limited theatrical release and will be on HBO and available for streaming on HBO Max at a date to be announced.   Hidden Gem: ¡Vivan las antípodas!    Follow on twitter: @allthatbreathes @topdocspod   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

When your dad — who is also your best friend and your family’s source of inspiration — announces that he has made the decision to die, the immediate reaction is shock and revulsion. But, after careful consideration and discussion, it became clear to the Timoner family that paterfamilias Eli, who had been battling very severe illness and a rapidly deteriorating quality of life, was ready to take this final step in his life’s journey. In “Last Flight Home”, her shattering, deeply moving and, ultimately, spiritually restorative new documentary, acclaimed filmmaker Ondi Timoner (“DIG!”, “We Live in Public”) embraces her most challenging and personal project by documenting her father’s last 15 days of life. Ondi joined Ken on “Top Docs” to discuss what it was like to experience this devastating loss while, at the same time, “quarterbacking” her father’s care and orchestrating the shooting and editing of this extraordinary portrait of an exceptional man. How did Ondi go from iPhone recordings of her dad to making a full-blown feature doc — and how did she ensure that everyone in her family, especially her dad, was supportive of it? How does California’s End of Life Option law work, and how has it changed since the film was made? What does Ondi mean when she describes this as “the greatest experience of my life”, and what does she hope the film will accomplish? Join us for this intimate conversation. You’ll begin to understand why Eli’s “last flight home” is one more leg on a journey that goes on and on. “Last Flight Home” is currently in limited theatrical release and will be released by MTV Documentary Films at a date to be announced.   Hidden Gem: Keep On Keepin’ On   Follow on twitter: @InterloperFilms @topdocspod   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Can we all agree that the date of August 20, 2015 should be enshrined as one of the most important in the history of documentary? In case you’ve forgotten, that’s the date that “Documentary Now!” burst on the scene with the airing of its first episode: “Sandy Passage”, an unforgettable debut starring Fred Armisen and Bill Hader parodying the Maysles’ classic documentary “Grey Gardens”. Somehow, this crew of on and off-camera SNL talent (the show’s co-creators are Armisen, Hader, Seth Meyers, and Rhys Thomas) managed to pull off the not-so-small miracle of parodying the high priests and priestesses of documentary in half-hour masterpieces and, just as miraculously, found a network to actually air the program (IFC, for the record). Fast forward seven years and “Documentary Now!” has just premiered its first episodes of season 4 (actually, season 53 in the bizarre-o world of “Doc Now!”). Seth, Rhys and Alex Buono (who directs with Rhys and is also the show’s cinematographer) took time away from whatever else they were doing to join Mike and Ken on Top Docs and talk about the collective creative genius (our words, as they are far too modest) behind this unique show. Stay tuned for answers to such questions as: “Why did it take until season 4 (er, 53) to parody the highly imitable Werner Herzog and Les Blank’s portrait of him, “Burden of Dreams”? How did the team find itself on a remote Welsh mountainside trying to build a sitcom set as howling winds threatened to blow the whole thing to smithereens? And what do you say to Cate Blanchett when she asks, “Is it OK if I wear giant Coke bottle glasses?” Join us as we peal back the layers on the show that dances on the line between the sublime and the ridiculous while never straying from its love of documentary. To paraphrase the show’s host, the immortal Helen Mirren, “I give you ‘Documentary Now!’” Documentary Now! season 4 episodes discussed in this podcast include: “Soldier of Illusion” (written by John Mulaney) (parts 1 and 2), “Two Hairdressers in Bagglyport” (written by Seth Meyers), and “How They Threw Rocks” (written by Seth Meyers) Documentary Now! can be seen on IFC and streaming on AMC+.   Follow on twitter: @DocumentaryNow @sethmeyers @AlexBuono @RhysThom2 @topdocspod   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

It’s not really about the ship. The first thing you have to understand about Margaret Brown’s (“The Great Invisible”, “The Order of Myths”) brilliant new Netflix documentary “Descendant” about the Clotilda, the last known ship to arrive with enslaved Africans in the U.S., is that it’s not primarily about the search for and discovery of this historic vessel. What carries her complex and lyrical film along in its looping journey across time and place are the stories of the descendants themselves. Lorna Woods, Joycelyn Davis and Emmett Lewis are just a few of the remarkable “treasure keepers” of Africatown, now part of Mobile, Alabama, who, for generations, have shared and protected the stories of their ancestors. But, when, as Margaret documents, the ship is discovered, who is to say where the narrative will go from here? Margaret joined Mike and Ken to discuss how she picked up where she left off from her 2008 film “The Order of Myths”, also set in her hometown of Mobile, to embark on this unique creative journey. How did the work of writer, anthropologist and filmmaker Zora Neale Hurston’s inspire Margaret and become, through Hurston’s book “Barracoon”, a key narrative device in the film? Why did Margaret turn off the camera in the midst of shooting one of the most powerful moments in the entire film? And why is the issue of zoning, as unsexy as it is, so crucial to understanding the past, present and future of Africatown? As Margaret puts it, “Where I ended the film is not the end of their story…. The story continues”.   Hidden Gem: Last Flight Home   Follow on twitter: @margaretbrown @topdocspod   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.     

“It’s a caper story, a heist movie, with women at the center. They were outlaws.” So says Tia Lessin (“Trouble the Water”), one of the directors of “The Janes”, the thoroughly engrossing new HBO documentary about… abortion. Set in Chicago, in the late 60’s and early 70’s, “The Janes”, also directed by Emma Pildes (“Jane Fonda in Five Acts”), tracks the mostly forgotten story of a courageous band of women, who, fed up with the lengths to which women had to go to seek abortions, took matters into their own hands (literally). “The Janes” was an underground service which provided safe, affordable – and illegal – abortions but also a social movement that transformed the lives of countless women. Tia and Emma joined Ken on Top Docs to discuss how the film came together, why, after so many years, the Janes were eager to share their stories and how the film’s timing couldn’t be more impactful. How did Emma’s family connection to the Janes unlock the door to this incredible story? What led this group of diverse women to embark on such a project, at great personal risk to themselves? And, how was it that an illegal abortion service was allowed to operate as an open secret in this heavily Catholic city — until the day it wasn’t? Now that we are in a post-Roe world, nothing could be more timely, instructive or inspiring than “The Janes”. “The Janes” is now available on HBO and for streaming on HBO Max.   Hidden Gem: Tia Lessin: “In Search of Monsters” Emma Pildes: “Inquiring Nuns”   Follow on Twitter: @TheJanesFilm @topdocspod   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.  

Four young men arrive in South Africa from their native Zimbabwe and find each other through their love of–and professional dedication to–wine.  Tinashe the big picture philosopher; Pardon the competitive jokester; Marlvin, pious and warm; and Joseph, the stalwart leader of Team Zimbabwe--all will overcome the obstacles facing them as refugees to arrive at the World Championship of Wine Tasting in France. Directors Rob Coe and Warwick Ross join Mike to discuss their film “Blind Ambition”.  They talk about everything from the socio-political challenges of Southern Africa to how they sought to show (not tell) what it means to determine the varietal, country, region, even producer of a wine “blind”, by sight, smell, and taste alone.   Hidden Gems: Stories we Tell 2040   Follow on twitter: @blind_ambition @topdocspod @pardon_taguzu @tnashenyamudoka   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.  

Ben Crump knows what it’s like to be in the eye of the storm. As a civil rights attorney representing families in some of the most high-profile cases involving police killings in recent years (including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor), Ben is constantly in the spotlight. But as Nadia Hallgren’s (“Becoming”) powerful and incisive documentary portrait “Civil” reveals, it is in the more private moments that Ben really shines, offering the kind of support and genuine concern, in addition to expert legal advice, that these grieving and enraged Black families so desperately need and deserve. Joining Ken on “Top Docs”, Nadia goes beyond the edges of the film frame to offer insights into what makes the extraordinary Ben Crump tick, as well as to share stories about her own creative journey. How did George Floyd’s tragic murder drive Nadia’s search for a new film and why was this project the perfect answer? What did Nadia learn by seeing Ben with his family that gave her a new perspective on his life and work? And what do Ben’s other, not-so-high profile, cases tell us about his ongoing struggle to see that Black people are treated fairly once-and-for-all? Just as Ben seeks justice for his clients, Nadia’s camera is there, too, revealing how things are — and showing us how they should be. “Civil” is now available for streaming on Netflix.   Follow us on Twitter: @AttorneyCrump @topdocspod   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.  

What happened to Sinead O’Connor?  It can be too easy to misremember the “after” story, of  how quickly in the wake of her appearance on Saturday Night Live in October of 1992, this once megastar largely disappeared from the brightest lights of the world stage .  But it also is too easy to ignore the “before” story of what brought her to fame early in life.  In “Nothing Compares”, Kathryn Ferguson traces Sinead’s story from her childhood years with an abusive mother and time in a reformatory school in Ireland to stardom–first in London, and then worldwide.  Along the way, Ferguson skillfully weaves in the story of what the film posits as another abusive relationship:  that between Ireland and the Catholic Church.  From these twinned stories Sinead emerges as not just a pioneer in the realm of music, but one who cut a path for other activists to follow–within Ireland and beyond. You can watch “Nothing Compares” on Showtime starting September 30th.   Hidden Gem: The Arbor   Follow on twitter: @Kath_Ferguson @topdocspod   The Presenting Sponsor of “Top Docs” is Netflix.

He survived a government-orchestrated poison attack. He pranked the Russian security agency. He endured (and continues to endure) solitary confinement in a remote gulag. Oh, and he also made some pretty cool TikTok videos. His name is Alexei Navalny, and, as Russia’s leading opposition figure, he will use whatever means possible to try to end the authoritarian regime of President Vladimir Putin. He’s also the subject of Daniel Roher’s (“Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band”) timely and relentlessly gripping documentary political thriller “Navalny”. In the midst of Putin’s unprovoked and disastrous war on Ukraine, Daniel joined Mike and Ken for an engaging conversation about Navalny’s perilous journey, from surviving an assassination attempt to his recovery in Germany and subsequent return to Russia and imprisonment. What led Daniel, in October 2020, from “a place of desperation” to the “Hail Mary pass” of his filmmaking career? How did he navigate the complexity of making a film about a man, who, as a master deployer of media tools himself, was at first skeptical of the documentary and then participated in a battle of wits about creative control over its direction? Finally, how did Daniel ensure that the film retained the sense of hope that Navalny, against all odds, continues to deploy against the dark forces conspiring against him and the Russian people? With its layered narratives, “Navalny” has as much in common with a classic Russian novel as it does with a James Bond thriller. We hope you will enjoy peeling back the layers with us and Daniel at least as much as those TikTok videos. “Navalny” is available on HBO and HBO Max.   Follow on Twitter: @DanielRoher @Navalny @topdocspod   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.