WHAT HAVE WE BEEN WATCHING?
This month we’ve been watching lots of documentary films.
Currently, we are making our own documentary feature film about the life of an extraordinary individual named Ryan Anthony, a world-renowned classical musician who, when diagnosed with a rare and terminal cancer, chose to use his music and his platform to give hope.
In making our documentary “Song For Hope” over the past 2 years, we have been immersed in Ryan and his family’s lives, we have become friends with his friends and we have learned more and grown more from this experience than we will ever be able to encapsulate in the feature film itself.
That is what documentary filmmaking is. It’s the journey that we go on with our subjects, the laughs we share with them and the endless stories we have surrounding what you eventually see on the screen.
So this month, we’ve chosen to focus on some documentaries we’ve been watching recently and want to recommend to you. They go from the outright shocking to the totally hilarious, from one released just last month to one released over 20 years ago.
All of them can be found on streaming platforms and we hope you enjoy them and how they tell their stories.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
This documentary will blow you away! There is no doubt about it. From the visionary director, Brian Fogel, who brought the world “Icarus” (now available on Netflix) about the Russian Olympics doping scandal, this brand new film “The Dissident” unveils the shocking story behind the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Kashoggi. The Dissident is a non-stop thriller that shines a light on some of the darkest secrets of the deep state that will leave your jaw on the floor. It’s a phenomenal example of how influential documentary journalism can be when bold filmmakers aren’t afraid of the risks of exposing and speaking truth to power as Kashoggi did.
WHERE CAN I FIND IT?
Apple TV - $19.99 to rent or $24.99 to buy, Not too cheap, but believe us, it’s worth every penny.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
Without a doubt, one of the craziest stories around about a Russian strip club owner called Tarzan, a Miami drug dealer with a passion for power boats, a Cuban cartel member linked to Pablo Escobar and their purchase of a soviet submarine to traffic huge quantities of cocaine. It’s really quite a wild ride with lots of nudity, spies, secret agents, a liberal, yet hilarious use of the F-word from an international fugitive and even an appearance from 90’s pop sensation Vanilla Ice!
WHERE CAN I FIND IT?
Netflix
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
By stark contrast to the above documentaries, this one follows Mark Sargent and several of the people behind the flat earth theories and movement. Yes, we said it and yes, they exist. And while we laugh at the kookiness of this group of Flat Earthers, their wild internet-based theories of us all being on a Truman Show style Hollywood soundstage and their infighting over whether the earth has a cheeseboard style glass dome over it or not. What this documentary does well is to eek out the sympathy for how these people who have come together after being outcast because of their conspiracies.
WHERE CAN I FIND IT?
Netflix
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
Not only a funny documentary about the angriest man in the world, but also a look at how a video, pre-youtube, used to go “viral” and how people, including a raft of renowned filmmakers found comfort in them. Winnebago Man follows Jack Rebney whose angry outtakes from a series of Winnebago Advertisements from the 1980s were like watching someone lose his grasp on reality. His persistent anger at his film crew, the legion of flies, himself for his overly ambitious script and his assistant “Tony” for just getting in the way really are a thing to behold. You can find those outtakes, in all their glory, right here.
WHERE CAN I FIND IT?
Amazon Prime - $0.99
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
For the filmmakers amongst you, this is an absolute MUST. American Movie follows a wannabe film director, writer and actor named Mark Borchardt in Wisconsin who sets out to make a feature film called “Northwestern”. However, in order to generate the money to make it, he has to make a short horror film called “Coven” - which he mispronounces as Coa-vin (as in Covid). This movie is all of us who had to beg for money for filmstock from relatives, get friends to appear as extras and family members to shoot his scenes (despite them not knowing where the frame is). The perpetual problems of the film set, crazy and overly-ambitious stunts, a dad who wants his son to get a proper job make this movie incredibly entertaining.
WHERE CAN I FIND IT?
Amazon Prime - $2.99 (and it’s worth it!)
