Top Docs: Award-Winning Documentary Filmmakers

”20 Days in Mariupol” with Mstyslav Chernov

 The letter “Z” seems innocent enough – until you see a Russian tank painted with that mark slowly turn its turret in your direction. For AP journalist Mstyslav Chernov, who, at the time, was covering the Ukrainian war from behind enemy lines in Mariupol, this was the moment when the Russians were closing in. As seen in his harrowing new documentary “20 Days in Mariupol”, in the period leading up to this, Mstyslav and his team had filmed graphic scenes of destruction and carnage at the hands of Russian bombs and shells. Contrary to Putin’s claims, civilians were being targeted by the Russian military and this team, the only international journalists left in the city, had managed to get the images out to the world.
 
Joining Ken on the podcast, Mstyslav discusses his frightful on-the-ground experience in Mariupol and the remarkable film that came out of it. How did Mstyslav find himself on the front lines of the propaganda war being waged by the Putin regime? Who was the enigmatic Vladimir, a kind of sage and protector, who ultimately led Mstyslav and his team to safety? And why does Mstyslav feel that, notwithstanding the terrible suffering documented in the film, there are also glimmers of hope?
 
Released by PBS Distribution, “20 Days in Mariupol” opens theatrically in NYC on July 14 and in LA and SF on July 21.
 
Hidden Gem:
Sans Soleil
 
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@mstyslav.chernov on Instagram and @mstyslav9 on twitter
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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”The Accused: Damned or Devoted?” with Mohammed (”Mo”) Ali Naqvi

A young woman who gets into an argument over a drinking glass.  A student who is suspended from his university for calling out its exorbitant fees.  An activist who runs afoul of the government.  All–and many more–are accused of violating Pakistan’s blasphemy laws: some of the strictest on the planet, featuring death as their ultimate punishment.
 
But the director of “The Accused:  Damned or Devoted?” Mohammed (“Mo”) Ali Naqvi not only tells these individual stories but charts the rise of the cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi and his TLP party who use the furtherance of the blasphemy laws as the signature plank of their political platform.  And while Rizvi claims that he is more interested in “chopping heads” than winning votes, Naqvi’s film asks if the same can be said for Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Pakistani government.
 
“The Accused” has been nominated for the Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking.  It can be seen on World.
 
Hidden Gem:
All That Perishes at the Edge of Land
 
Follow:
@manaqvi on twitter
@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter
 
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Bobi Wine: The People’s President” with Moses Bwayo & Christopher Sharp

It’s one thing to be a socially conscious pop musician; it’s an entirely different matter when that musician attempts to parlay his popularity in the music world into the political arena. For Afrobeat star Bobi Wine — whose personal and political journey is the centerpiece of the remarkable new documentary “Bobi Wine: The People’s President” — the stakes couldn’t be higher. His home country of Uganda faces daunting economic challenges and experiences rampant political corruption. When Bobi becomes a candidate in the 2021 presidential election, his campaign catches fire with tens of thousands of Ugandans, In response, the country’s longtime strongman, President Yoweri Museveni, perceives a serious threat to his hold on power and will stop at nothing to prevent Bobi from winning the election.
 
Joining Ken on the podcast, directors Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp chart the remarkable rise of Bobi Wine and the frightening acts of violence perpetrated by the ruling government against Bobi, his team and their supporters. How did Bobi Wine first come to the attention of the two directors and what brought them together to begin documenting this campaign? With so many graphic scenes of violence captured on film, how did they choose which scenes would be the most impactful? And, in the course of getting to know Bobi and his wife Barbie, how did the couple’s enduring love for each other become a central part of the story and a source of strength that not even the government of Uganda could touch. 
 
Released by National Geographic Documentary Films, “Bobi Wine: The People’s President” opens theatrically July 28.
 
Hidden Gem:
Coach Zoran and His African Tigers
 
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@natgeodocs on Instagram and twitter
@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter
 
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields” with Lana Wilson

Director Lana Wilson says that in “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields” she’s showing how Shields found her way from “object of beauty to becoming a human being.”  It’s a dramatic thesis, but one that Wilson brings to life in this Emmy-nominated documentary series.  After the original “Pretty Baby”, “The Blue Lagoon”, and the Jordache Jeans commercials, Brooke found herself in her 4 years of college–where she developed both intellectually and artistically– and ultimately became the comic actor we see in “Suddenly Susan”.  While the series is grounded in the deep archive of film from Booke’s career, some of the most telling footage is shot at her contemporary dinner table, surrounded by her two teenage daughters and her loving husband as they respectfully but seriously consider the meaning and undercurrents of her youthful work.
 
“Pretty Baby” is available on Hulu.
 
Hidden Gem:
Of Men and War
 
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@lanawilson on Instagram and twitter
@brookeshields on Instagram and twitter
@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter
 
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Being Mary Tyler Moore” with James Adolphus

She could turn the world on with her smile. But, for the “real” Mary Tyler Moore — one of the biggest television stars of the 1970s — what lay beneath that smile? In his engrossing and incisive documentary “Being Mary Tyler Moore”, filmmaker James Adolphus (“Soul of a Nation”, “You Ain’t Got These”) presents a three-dimensional portrait of MTM, placing her in cultural context and illustrating what made her such a singular talent.
 
Joining Ken on the podcast, James describes his unexpected and thorough approach to the topic and how, eventually, Mary completely won him over. How is it that someone who had never seen a minute of the “Dick Van Dyke Show”, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” or the film “Ordinary People” came to direct this project? In what ways did Mary’s appearance on “The David Susskind Show” and in an interview with Rona Barrett illuminate both how Mary was perceived and how she asserted herself? And how did Mary’s final marriage with Dr. Robert Levine prove to be a truly liberating love story?
 
“Being Mary Tyler Moore”, which is nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, is available for streaming on Max.
 
Hidden Gem:
Killer of Sheep
 
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@JamesAdolphus on Instagram and twitter
@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter
 
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Dear Mama” with Allen Hughes

On the pod today, legendary director Allen Hughes (“Menace II Society”, “Dead Presidents”, “The Defiant Ones”) joins Mike to talk about his Emmy-nominated “Dear Mama”.  The series traces the legacy of Afeni Shakur, Tupac’s mother and once a member of the Black Panthers, on her son’s life and music.  Hughes’ series demonstrates how the many modes that Tupac worked in–party music, socially conscious hip hop, and gangsta rap–were informed by the revolutionary ethos of the Panthers. 
 
“Dear Mama” is streaming on Hulu.
 
Hidden Gems:
Portrait of Jason
F for Fake
 
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@Hughes2Society on twitter
@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter
 
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”Secrets of the Elephants” with Lucinda Axelsson

It’s not easy being an elephant these days. Devastating droughts (exacerbated by climate change), encroaching development, and relentless poachers force elephants across Asia and Africa to go on the run, literally, in the pursuit of food, water and, a place to call home.
 
Executive Producer Lucinda Axelsson (“Elephant Diaries”, “Elephants of Samburu”, “Meerkat Manor”) of the fascinating National Geographic series “Secrets of the Elephants” joins Ken on the podcast to discuss the almost insurmountable obstacles — largely manmade — facing elephants today and the extraordinary adaptability and intelligence that keeps these remarkable animals one step ahead of extinction. Lucinda takes us behind the scenes with the production team, which managed to capture some extraordinary, never-before-seen moments in the wild, and shares her own “secrets” about what keeps drawing her back to the elephants’ special world.
 
“Secrets of the Elephants”, which is nominated for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series and Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program, is available for streaming on National Geographic.
 
Hidden Gem:
“Three Salons at the Seaside”
 
Follow:
@oxfordscientificfilms on Instagram and @oxfordsf on twitter
@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter

”Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” with Davis Guggenheim

As Director Davis Guggenheim explains, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie is “the story of a short kid from Canada who drops out of high school to become a movie star, and he does. Then a few years later, he wakes up with this crazy diagnosis, in a Florida hotel room, and the movie's about what does he do with that?” 
 
Davis sat down with Ken & Mike to discuss how his team arrived at deploying montages of recreations mixed with contemporaneous footage from Michael’s televisions and movie work to illustrate the events of his life.  They also explore how Davis used a special lens as well as a frank interview approach to provide his documentary a sense of immediacy.  The results are a film that is ultimately, despite the deprivations of Parkinson’s, an optimistic take on a life well-lived.

”The 1619 Project” with Shoshana Guy

The legacy of slavery and the contributions of Black American are intrinsic to nearly every aspect of what makes America America.  It’s a simple enough thesis, but the makers of the documentary series of  "The 1619 Project"–based on the original essays published in The New York Times–bring it to life with stories from history, of course, but also those of contemporary people whose lives and experiences illustrate this deep truth.
 
Executive Producer and showrunner Shoshana Guy sat down with Mike to discuss how her team managed to fashion a work of great craft while sticking to their core argument throughout 6 episodes, each of which explores a key aspect of current American life.  Why is Nikole Hannah-Jones such a great guide, and what’s up with that notebook?  What is the deeper cause of elevated child and maternal mortality of Black women, no matter their income?  How did a failed attempt to get into Studio 54 inspire Niles Rodgers to compose the ultimate party song–but one actually deeply imbued with the spirit of social activism?  Throughout, we witness that from pain comes not just survival but a complicated pride of country and even joy.
 
"The 1619 Project" has been nominated for 3 Emmys, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series and is available on Hulu.
 
Hidden Gem:
The Death of My Two Fathers
 
Follow:
@shoshan_guy on twitter and @shoshanaguy on Instagram
@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter
 
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

”The U.S. and the Holocaust” with Ken Burns & Lynn Novick

Closing out our Emmy coverage, today we feature Ken Burns (“Brooklyn Bridge”, “The Civil War”, “Jazz”) and Lynn Novick (“Frank Lloyd Wright”, “Baseball”, “Hemingway”) discussing their thrice-Emmy nominated “The U.S. and the Holocaust”.  As Ken tells us, this PBS series addresses the “Holocaust, one of the low points of humanity and what Americans knew and what they didn't know, what they did, and more importantly, what they didn't do.”
 
Ken and Lynn first explain why they start with the story of Anne Frank and her family, and how it reveals how we often don’t fully understand the American context of such stories.  They speak with Mike about the deep anti-immigrationist and antisemitic feelings of America between the world wars.  They explain in particular how Eugenics was used to buttress the laws severely limiting immigration, especially from Southern Europe and Eastern Europe–the latter being where most of the world’s Jews then lived.  They go on to explain how American Eugenics, along with the ideology of Manifest Destiny and even Jim Crow laws influenced the Nazis and gave them a template for their atrocities.  And they discuss some of what Ken calls “the points of light” in this most horrific time:  Some of the Americans–singularly or in organizations–who stepped up to help Jews escape.
 
Throughout, as the series shows the depths of the Nazi horrors and the failure of the U.S.--with the notable exception of winning the war–to muster a meaningful response, it demonstrates the importance of maintaining what writer Daniel Mendelsohn calls “the particularity” of the stories of those who died and those who survived.
 
Hidden Gems:  The Better Angels
 
Follow:
@KenBurns on twitter and @kenlburns on Instagram
@LynnNovick on twitter and Instagram
@topdocspod on Instagram and twitter
 
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.