Kyzen Del Aguia’s The Last Musketeer is a documentary in tribute to the late Canadian fencer, Douglas Jackson. Slated to be a character study of the fencer and coach with the man himself on screen, the film diverged down a different path when Douglas passed away early in 2023. In its place, Douglas’ peers and… Continue reading The Last Musketeer: A Portrait Defined by Its Missing Subject
Tag: Documentary
Bloom in the Mirror: A Feat of Editing in Account of Relentless Movement
Eri Sawatari’s Bloom in the Mirror is a 6-minute fashion short for the brand Jill Stuart. Its subject, actress and model Kiko Mizuhara flits and struts through what doubles as a dreamlike character study. As glamorous as a magazine photoshoot, the cacophonous collage of Mizuhara’s professional life and persona shines a glossy light on the… Continue reading Bloom in the Mirror: A Feat of Editing in Account of Relentless Movement
Pvt. Ravel’s Bolero: A Fictional Foray Into the Context of a Musical Masterpiece
JZ Murdock’s 28-minute film-poem Pvt. Ravel’s Bolero uses the documentary format to imagine the private life of French composer Maurice Ravel during his service in WWI. Through this, Murdock imagines Ravel’s process that ended with the composition of one of the most famous pieces of classical music, Bolero. Set to the piece itself and other… Continue reading Pvt. Ravel’s Bolero: A Fictional Foray Into the Context of a Musical Masterpiece
Kasama: Documenting Food through Struggle and Comfort
Nick Cavalier’s culinary documentary Kasama is a sumptuous 17-minute story of how the eponymous Chicago-based restaurant came into being, struggled through COVID-19 lockdowns, and a menu flavoured with immigrant heritage. As its subjects are Tim Flores the chef and Genie Kwon the baker, couple and co-founders. The subjects are shot with languid natural lighting; the… Continue reading Kasama: Documenting Food through Struggle and Comfort
Sundance Institute Announces the 2023 Documentary Fund Grantees
In an exciting announcement today, the Sundance Institute revealed the recipients of this year’s grants from the Sundance Institute Documentary Fund. A total of 23 projects were selected for unrestricted grant funding, amounting to just over $1,000,000 in support. These grants are made possible by generous contributions from the Open Society Foundations, the John D.… Continue reading Sundance Institute Announces the 2023 Documentary Fund Grantees
The Story of Mama Butterfly: Painstaking Creation and All its Poetic Ripples
YuQi-an’s 4-minute The Story of Mama Butterfly is short for a documentary but impactful nonetheless. Dispensing with perspective representation to a significant degree, it records the cultural history of a group through its embroidery tradition. The film documents the place of butterfly embroidery in the Miao group in China. Startlingly graphic in its non-perspectival layout,… Continue reading The Story of Mama Butterfly: Painstaking Creation and All its Poetic Ripples
The (Other) 700 Club: A Documentary That Lets You Peek Into A Sidelined Community
What director Araque Blanco hopes to achieve through his 9:54-minute long documentary is to let his audience know that there is a way to understand the system without truly being at its epicentre. That, at times it’s the over-the-fence view that lets one have a proper, nuanced take of what’s truly brewing within an organisation.… Continue reading The (Other) 700 Club: A Documentary That Lets You Peek Into A Sidelined Community
Folded Whispers: A Body of Work Spanning Fifteen Years
Mark Anthony Thomas, Jordon Rooney, and Shane McFarland’s Folded Whispers is a 25-minute documentary on Thomas’s first performance as a poet in fifteen years. Featuring a collection of seventeen poems, the documentary interweaves the performance with its impact on the live audience and sound bytes from Thomas. The camera is trained on Thomas for large… Continue reading Folded Whispers: A Body of Work Spanning Fifteen Years
6 Educational Documentaries That Can Change The World
Educational documentaries are some of the best ways to build and learn more about the society we are in. Aside from giving us essential details and insights into our world, they affect our general behavior and response. As a result, these documentaries are changing public opinion. They also educate us on climate change, racial injustice,… Continue reading 6 Educational Documentaries That Can Change The World
Turtle Game: A Way to Address Social & Political Failure
EJ Moonshot’s Turtle Game is a 36-minute documentary dealing with contemporary American issues and the proposal of a solution. Given a foundation of human interest, the documentary lays out the director’s own personal story as a segue into its subject. This might be an eye-opener for those unaware of the American socio-cultural-political structure. But, for… Continue reading Turtle Game: A Way to Address Social & Political Failure