Educational Media Reviews Online

Simply, a film comprised of interviews of contemporary documentary filmmakers telling us how they make their films, accompanied by a second disc equally useful for film studies teachers, is why Pepita Ferrari’s Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary is a required purchase for film studies collections. I also highly recommend it for purchase by libraries serving a community of film buffs; and it would be an interesting addition to libraries interested in social science research methods.

Becoming a documentary filmmaker is often not a goal in and of itself, but a realization that another career or ambition results in the diverse skill set that makes up the documentary filmmaker job title. This is the collective voice I heard from the individual interviews opening the film. From here, the film then distills to a topical focus on aspects of the filmmaking process. “Planning and Preparation”, and “Narration: A Voice in Your Ear” are some of the chapter titles.

The very well known are included here: Errol Morris (The Thin Blue Line; The Fog of War); Werner Herzog (Encounters at the End of the World), and Albert Maysles (Salesman, co-directed with brother Dravid). However, Capturing Reality is not the history of documentary filmmaking. While Maysles and his 1968 Salesman seem to be the most senior here, works prior to this are not discussed. Nor are contemporary filmmakers Ken and Ric Burns, Roger Moore (though he is mentioned) nor journalists or new media-only producers. In general, it is an interesting observation on the population of documentary filmmakers to note both who is and who is not included in this film.

I feel need to mention one of the highlights of Capturing Reality, because it illustrates why the film is valuable. There is an indirect exchange between Barry Stevens and Werner Herzog. “Indirect” because I was uncertain if Herzog’s response was directly answering Stevens’ criticism or if it was just a consequence of good editing. In one interview clip, Stevens describes a scene as it is shown in Herzog’s Little Deiter Needs to Fly. Deiter opens and closes doors repeatedly, behavior resulting from his imprisonment in Laos. However, Stevens tells us that “Herzog made that up” and in documentary filmmaking, “I think that’s a lie.” The calm response given from Herzog: “If you want to have facts, go and buy yourself the phone directory of Manhattan: you’ve got eight million entries and they’re all correct.”

This difference in perspective on the perennial topic of “What should truth be in documentary film?” provides doc film viewers and makers with an opportunity for critical thinking. View these multiple perspectives edited together by topic on the first disc, then look at different and equally rewarding footage on the second disc, organized by filmmaker and by the chronological process of filmmaking. The lovely website, http://films.nfb.ca/capturing-reality/ is equally useful.