Top Docs: Award-Winning Documentary Filmmakers

Siouxsie and the Banshees. Ice-T.  Nine Inch Nails.  All were on the slated for the first Lollapalooza lineup in 1991.  But as Michael John Warren, director of the new 3-part Paramount+ series “Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza,” tells us in our live interview at Sundance, his account of the history of the festival–first intended as a goodbye tour for Jane’s Addiction–is more than a trip down memory lane for Gen X.     The festival, he explains, pulled together a number of threads from the LA Alternative scene and beyond:  Not just tattoos and piercings, but politics as well.  As Michael describes it, the results of his nostalgia trip revealed that the themes over 30 years ago still are “heartbreakingly” relevant today:  LGBTQ rights, abortion rights, and censorship amongst others.   The result is a series that like much of Michael’s work is both incredibly fun as well as attuned to the issues that still matter today.   Thanks to Amos Cochran of Edit/Score for hosting our 2024 Sundance interviews.  Edit/Score is a new music library with an innovative approach to finding music for your film. Listen to the library and learn more at editscoremusic.com    The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.   Follow: @MJWfilms on twitter and @mjwfilms on Instagram @topdocspod on twitter and Instagram

Award-winning documentary filmmakers Brett Story and Stephen Maing, along with Chris Smalls, president of Amazon Labor Union, join Ken to discuss their film 'Union'. The documentary follows the grassroots labor movement to unionize Amazon's largest fulfillment center in NYC. The guests talk about the challenges faced by the union, their effective efforts to galvanize Amazon workers, and the creative collaboration between the two acclaimed filmmakers. They also discuss the choice of observational documentary style, the balancing of external input within the union, and the gap between media headlines and real experiences.

Kicking off our on-the-ground coverage of Sundance 2024, Julian Brave Noisecat and Emily Kassie join Mike to discuss their new film, “Sugarcane”.     In this film, they explore the legacy of the St. Joseph Mission, one of many segregated residential schools promulgated by the Canadian government and run by the Catholic Church.  The stories they tell are deeply personal (Julian’s grandmother attended the school, and his father was born there) as well illustrative of a wider history of abuse within the schools.  As they explain, they deploy and reshape various filmic conventions–the Western, archival, the travel doc–in innovative ways to do justice to the lives and stories of their subject.  The result is a many-layered testament to survival and renewal despite deep, still-ongoing pain.   Thanks to Amos Cochran of Edit/Score for hosting our 2024 Sundance interviews.  Edit/Score is a new music library with an innovative approach to finding music for your film. Listen to the library and learn more at editscoremusic.com  The Presenting Sponsor of Top Docs is Netflix.   Follow: @emilykassie on Instagram & twitter @jnosiecat on Instagram & twitter @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

Mixing the traditional documentary form with elements of Brechtian theatre, director Kaouther Ben Hania’s (“The Man Who Sold His Skin, “Beauty and the Dogs”) Cannes-winning “Four Daughters” creates a highly intense and emotional experience — for both the audience and the principal characters.   Joining Ken on the pod, Kaouther discusses the challenges and breakthroughs of her hybrid approach. In the film, actors play various roles and intermingle with the “real” sisters and mother in a Tunisian family ripped apart by family strife and Islamic extremism. How did the four sisters respond to their mother’s controlling grip and violent outbursts? What happened during a particularly intense scene to cause the lone male actor in the film to ask the director to shut off the cameras? How does this troupe navigate a familial and cultural landscape in which women are marginalized but also forge an unbreakable bond of sisterhood?   “Four Daughters” is shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film and Best International Feature Film. The film is released by Kino Lorber.   Follow: @kaoutherbenhania on Instagram @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

In his vivid, pulsating new documentary, Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams (“Music by Prudence”; “Life, Animated”) puts his own creative stamp on Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s best-selling book “Stamped from the Beginning” about the history of racist ideas in America.   Joining Ken on the pod, Roger describes how the racial reckoning of 2020 inspired him to make a film version of “Stamped”. What were the keys to unlocking the film’s vibrant visual aesthetic and dynamic editing style? How did seeing a list of potential scholars to interview for the film become a lightbulb moment for Roger? And in what ways did humor, amidst such an intense and serious topic, play a vital role in telling this story.     “Stamped from the Beginning” is shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film. The film is currently streaming on Netflix.   Follow: @rogerrosswilliams on Instagram and @RogerRossWill on twitter @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

The Sundance Film Festival marks its 40th edition on January 18 - 28. To help get us ready for the big event, Basil Tsiokos, Sundance Senior Programmer, Nonfiction, makes his third visit to “Top Docs” to preview this year’s sure-to-be-killer documentary lineup. As the first Sundance under new Festival Director Eugene Hernandez, what are the new wrinkles of this year’s fest? What are some of the doc standouts and special treats? Check out our annual January “Top Docs” Sundance preview special to find out!   For more info about the festival and to see which titles will be available to be screened in-person and online, go to festival.sundance.org.   Follow: @sundanceorg on Instagram and @sundancefest on twitter @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Not just a movie about sound, but an interactive feast for the senses, “32 Sounds” is the latest in filmmaker Sam Green’s (“The Weather Underground”, “A Thousand Thoughts”) unique “live” documentaries. Inspired by the great 1993 film “Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould”, the film delivers a heightened sensorial experience through an incredibly wide array of interviews, original footage, archival material and, of course, sounds.   Joining Ken on the pod, Sam goes deep inside his own creative process. What exactly is a “live” documentary, and how did Sam come up with this innovative concept? What is the idea behind “ghost voices”, and how did Ken’s random connection to one of the film’s interviews cause him to experience his own ghost voice? Of all his films, why is “32 Sounds” the one that has changed Sam the most? It’s only appropriate that we invite you to listen to our interview with Sam Green. Let’s call that the 33rd sound.   “32 Sounds” is shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.   Hidden Gem: “Tongues Untied”   Follow: @sam_b_green on Instagram @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

 Surrounded by a Bohemian cast of characters, she was conceived and grew up in an avant-garde theater in Paris; she aspired to be a painter. What could be more romantic than that? In “Apolonia, Apolonia”, director Lea Glob’s epic and fascinating portrait of Apolonia Sokol, romantic ideals intermingle with the hard realities of what it takes for a talented young woman without a trust fund or family connections to make it in the art world.   Joining Ken on the pod, Lea describes how, as a Danish film student, she became intrigued by Apolonia, so much so that she continued filming with her off-and-on for 13 years. What was it about Apolonia and her life that grabbed Lea’s attention and held her focus for so long? What was the key moment in Los Angeles when Apolonia, facing a personal crisis, called on Lea’s camera to make a bold statement of freedom? And how did a health crisis in Leas’ life widen the film’s lens and help save her own life? It’s a story as captivating and complex as any painting.   “Apolonia, Apolonia” is shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.   Hidden Gem: ”The World is Family”   Follow: @apolonia_apolonia_film on Instagram @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

The only movie to win an Academy Award for Best Picture with an X rating, “Midnight Cowboy” is one of those movies that once you see it, you never forget it. It broke taboos and made American movies relevant again; it both reflected the changing times and was revolutionary. And it had Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman in the indelible roles of Joe Buck and Ratso Rizzo. The late Nancy Buirski’s final film, “Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy”, masterfully captures the expanding universe of “Midnight Cowboy” and the creative powerhouses who turned James Leo Herlihy’s novel into legend.   Producers Simon Kilmurry and Susan Margolin join Ken on the pod to discuss “Midnight Cowboy” director John Schlesinger’s vision, his influences and constraints. In what ways did a gay novelist and gay director, and a blacklisted screenwriter, infuse the film with its outsider ethos? Is/is not “Midnight Cowboy” a queer film? And how does the documentary aesthetic invigorate the movie? Simon and Susan also reflect on the legendary career of Nancy Buirski, a creative force whose life and career impacted so many in the documentary field.   “Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy” is shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.   Hidden Gems: Simon Kilmurry: “In the Shadow of Beirut” Susan Margolin: “Lovin’ Stuff”   Follow: @midnight_cowboy_doc on Instagram and @SKilmurry twitter @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

This holiday season, discover another side to “The Painter of Light”!  In our final installment of "Live from Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival", Miranda Yousef joins Mike to discuss her feature documentary, “Art for Everybody”.  From an early age, Thomas Kinkade struggled with the impact of his impoverished youth, torn between emulating van Gogh’s critical regard and seeking the economic success of a Norman Rockwell or Walt Disney.  As Yousef explains, turning himself into a successful brand cost Kinkade dearly, and in the thousands of “unpublished” works that he left behind, we can sometimes glimpse revealing aspects of Kinkade as an artist as well as a living, breathing human with a multi-faceted personality.   While firmly grounded in her subject, Yousef’s film manages to go well beyond the life and oeuvre of this one individual to ask questions about the nature of art:  Is it meant only to “talk to” other art, to problematize representation, or can it also properly provide joy and even comfort?  And her film may ultimately be read as a plea that no matter what value we place on Kinkade's art, that we not hold disdain for those who appreciate it differently.   Follow: @artforeverybody on Instagram @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.