Westdoc Online

Gabriel_Francis_Paz_Goodenough_and_Mayor_Brandon_Scott_Body_Politic

Cameraman Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough directs his first feature documentary and it's a doozy. His cinema vérité crew spent five years in Baltimore, following our other guest Mayor Brandon Scott, an idealistic young leader with an ambitious plan to stop chronic violence. Recorded December 7, 2024. Throughout his first year in office, he fights powerful political forces to save lives in Baltimore and reveal a pathway toward healing for the nation.

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Peruvian born Gutiérrez speaks with Westdoc about her own connection with Kahlo’s art - as a woman, an artist, and a Latina  - her struggle with learning English as a teen, and the importance of using Kahlo’s own words, in Spanish, for the film’s narration.  FRIDA the documentary is available on Amazon Prime.

RAOUL PECK – Ernest Cole: Lost & Found

Producer Director Raoul Peck in a conversation about the making of his new feature documetary ERNEST COLE: LOST AND FOUND, the injustices of apartheid, the grueling necessity of film promotion, the connections between all stories, cinema’s death-by-streaming, and the need to sometime self-finance. 32 minutes, recorded November 19, 2024.

IAN BONHOTE & PETER ETTEDGUI – Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Christopher Reeve played the Man of Steel in four films, but his real superpowers didn’t emerge until after his tragic accident. Filmmakers Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, who made Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, speak with Westdoc about their long journey to get the film made, Reeve’s family and their personal memories, clearance, licensing, financing and the essence of documentary characters. Heroism requires challenge. Christopher Reeves met the challenge and soared faster than a speeding bullet.

JACOB PERLMUTTER & MANON OUIMET – Two Strangers Trying Not To Kill Each Other

Four extraordinary artists — an older couple moving toward the end, a younger couple chronicling the journey — come together to make "Two Strangers Trying Not To Kill Each Other." Filmmakers Jacob Perlmutter and Manon Ouimet spent a year living with world famous photographer Joel Meyerowitz and his wife writer Maggie Barrett, resulting in an exquisite cinéma vérité of tremendous depth and intimacy. The filmmakers spoke from their London home about their “soulful collaboration,” small light camera gear, large emotional gains, and of course, distribution. Quite a journey.

ANNIE RONEY – Roco Films, Join or Die

In this conversation with Westdoc’s Chuck Braverman, Annie Roney discusses her extensive experience in the documentary film industry, particularly through her global distribution company Roco Films. She elaborates on the difficult challenges faced today in documentary distribution, both foreign and domestic, the launch of the In Real Life Movie Club aimed at fostering community engagement through film, and the evolving landscape of documentary filmmaking. The feature doc “Join or Die” is the first film the non profit distributed. Roney emphasizes the importance of civic engagement and the role of documentaries in addressing social issues, while also highlighting the need for innovative distribution methods in a changing market.

MARC MARRIOTT – Tokyo Cowboy

Documentary filmmaker Marc Marriott directs his first scripted feature film and discusses the challenges of a very low budget and short shooting schedule. The film is charming, funny, and beautifully shot by cinematographer Oscar Jimenez. “This is a story about finding untapped reservoirs of courage and empathy from your own culture, while also reaching out and connecting with others. Highlighting this character journey is the natural beauty of the Montana landscape.

WE WILL DANCE AGAIN – Yariv Mozer, Susan Zirinsky and Terrance Wrong

In the year that has passed since the brutal Hamas attack of October 7, families grieve for lost love ones, other families pray for the return of hostages, and a sympathetic movement has arisen for the Palestinians of Gaza. The horror of the attack, told in first-person video accounts, unfolds in director Yariv Mozer’s profound documentary, We Will Dance Again. Westdoc talks with Mozer, along with See It Now executive producers Susan Zirinsky and Terrance Wrong about access to the restricted war zone, gathering and editing hundreds of hours of footage from both sides, finding and interviewing survivors, and the path forward. This important film, which everyone should see, will be released on Paramount + this Tuesday, September 24.

DAYTIME REVOLUTION – Erik Nelson

DAYTIME REVOLUTION chronicles one week in 1972 when John Lennon and Yoko Ono co-hosted the most popular show on daytime TV, bringing together iconic leaders of the cultural, musical, and political revolution. Producer/director Erik Nelson found the old video, restored it beautifully, and created this powerful feature doc. A return guest on Westdoc, with Chuck Braverman he talked about the three essentials of doc films; subject, access, filmmaker, and the two most important moments in any film; the open and the close, and his only option in today’s climate as a filmmaker, to fund the film himself. Join us for this very interesting conversation.

ALEX GIBNEY – Wise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos

The HBO Original two-part documentary WISE GUY David Chase and The Sopranos directed by Academy Award®-winner Alex Gibney (HBO’s “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief” and “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley”) debuts SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. 25 years after the show first debuted, HBO’s paradigm-shifting series “The Sopranos” remains a cultural phenomenon and a touchstone for prestige television. On a replica set of Dr. Melfi’s psychiatrist’s office, Gibney flips the script on David Chase, excavating and analyzing the origins of “The Sopranos,” his creative process, and the intimate connections between his own life and many of his characters.