Top Docs: Award-Winning Documentary Filmmakers

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.  

“I was drowning”. Acclaimed filmmaker Brett Morgen (“Kurt Cobain Montage of Heck”, “The Kid Stays in the Picture”) knew he was in deep trouble creatively when he sat down to write the script for his latest documentary and days stretched to weeks and then months. When your film subject’s own creative output is as varied, unpredictable, and brilliant as rock star David Bowie’s was throughout his legendary career, the pressure to measure up can be paralyzing. But, eventually, Brett cracked the narrative code, and the result is his remarkable new documentary, “Moonage Daydream”. Following the film’s successful launch on IMAX screens, Brett joined Mike and Ken to talk about the emotional rollercoaster of his seven-year odyssey to bring this cinematic exploration of David Bowie’s creative and spiritual journey to life. Faced with two visions of how to approach the topic, why did Brett choose the road less traveled — “a non-biographical experiential non-fiction film” — rather than the more linear musical jukebox that would have surely been the easier path? What is the “covenant” that Brett created with the audience? And after experiencing a massive heart attack at the beginning of the project, how did Brett draw inspiration from Bowie and gain insight into how to live his own life? Join us for this wide-awake conversation that is not intended to answer all of your questions about this extraordinary film, but will, hopefully, provoke more questions. That’s just how it is with David Bowie… and Brett Morgen. A Neon release, “Moonage Daydream” is now showing in theaters worldwide.   Hidden Gem: “The Nuer” by Hilary Harris and George Breidenbach, produced by Robert Gardner and Hilary Harris   Follow on Twitter: @MoonageMov @brettmorgen @topdocspod   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

A mustard-colored Porsche races through the streets of Washington, DC. A crazed political operative holds a pencil to the throat of a former presidential advisor. An orgy hosted by a prominent businessman rages through the night. Does this sound like a documentary about Watergate? Well, it’s not actually. These entertaining, adrenaline-fueled moments are brought to you by the 8-part Starz limited series “Gaslit” starring Julia Roberts and Sean Penn about Martha Mitchell, John Dean and the events of Watergate. So, did this stuff really happen? In this special podcast that we’re calling “Fact or Fiction”, Ken sits down with a Watergate expert to see how well the series measures up to the facts and discusses why it matters. Where did the idea for “Fact or Fiction” come from? Recently, as Ken was preparing to interview the two directors of the Netflix documentary “The Martha Mitchell Effect”, he was also watching “Gaslit”, which covers most of the same historical terrain. With each new episode, Ken began to wonder how much of this is true and wouldn’t it be great to be able to put that question to an expert on Watergate. Enter Jim Robenalt. Jim is a lawyer and writer who has co-taught a course with central Watergate figure (and “Gaslit” main character) John Dean. He’s also someone who practically lives and breathes the facts of Watergate. The format is simple: Ken describes a scene from “Gaslit” and Jim weighs in on whether the events depicted in that scene are mostly fact or fiction. We can’t guarantee that this podcast will hold your attention as much as that orgy, but it is certainly inspired by actual events, and we swear that Jim Robenalt is a real person, not a composite character. Directors Anne Alvergue and Debra McClutchy talk about “The Martha Mitchell Effect” on “Top Docs” Jim Robenalt is the author of “January 1973: Watergate, Roe v. Wade, Vietnam, and the Month That Changed America Forever”   Follow on Twitter: @themarthafilm @gaslitSTARZ @jimrobenalt @topdocspod   The Presenting Sponsor of Top Docs is Netflix.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Executive Editor of Awards Scott Feinberg joins Mike and Ken to break down this year’s Emmy nominees in all the major documentary categories, including Outstanding Documentary Program; Outstanding Series; Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking; and Outstanding Directing. After considering all the angles, Scott pulls no punches in giving his take on who he thinks will take home top honors. Scott also sheds light on this year’s Emmy rule changes, how the voting process really works, recent historical trends… and even gives a sneak peak of this year’s early documentary Oscar buzz. Let the awards season begin! An award-winning columnist and podcast host (“Awards Chatter”), Scott Feinberg is The Hollywood Reporter’s Executive Editor of Awards. Scott anchors THR’s coverage of the Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy races, as well as major film festivals. His work has been recognized with six National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards and five SoCal Journalism Awards from the Los Angeles Press Club.   Our Presenting Sponsor is Netflix.   Follow on twitter: @ScottFeinberg @topdocspod

When the writer Glenn Kurtz stumbled upon an old home movie buried in his parents’ closet in Florida, he inadvertently discovered a whole world that, tragically, had been nearly erased from history. Returning as a tourist in 1938 to the small village of Nasielsk outside Warsaw where he grew up, his grandfather David Kurtz brought with him a brand new 16mm Kodak movie camera. The three minutes of footage he shot there, which later turned up in the closet, are now among the only surviving moving images of any of the Polish villages destroyed in the Holocaust. Years later, the writer and critic Bianca Stigter (“Three Minutes – Thirteen Minutes – Thirty Minutes”) would see those three minutes posted on the website of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and embark on her own investigative journey. The result is the extraordinary documentary Three Minutes: A Lengthening. Joining Ken to discuss her film, which includes Kurtz’ original footage, Bianca describes her creative “lengthening” process, which involved adding fascinating historical context and an almost microscopic level of detail. With very few markers, how were Glenn and Bianca able to identify people and places in the footage? Why was it so important to Bianca that viewers experience the footage actively rather than passively — and how did her filmmaking encourage that dynamic? And how did a key sequence in the film turn into an unforgettable memorial to over 150 people whose faces were captured by David Katz’ camera? While nothing can bring back the Jewish community of Nasielsk, the efforts of first David, then Glenn, and now, Bianca, have at least ensured that their stories and faces will live on in our own collective memories. “Three Minutes: A Lengthening”, which is being released by Super LTD, can be seen in select theaters nationwide starting on August 26.   Hidden Gem: Rose Hobart   Follow on Twitter: @BStigter1 @topdocspod   The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Listen to our recent conversations with these Emmy®-nominated directors whose documentaries are currently on Netflix: Andrew Rossi on "The Andy Warhol Diaries" Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah on "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy" Felicity Morris on “The Tinder Swindler”