Top Docs: Award-Winning Documentary Filmmakers

"The Barber of Little Rock" with John Hoffman

The fact that Arlo Washington, featured as the main protagonist in John Hoffman and Christine Turner’s inspiring documentary “The Barber of Little Rock”, is, indeed, a barber is almost beside the point. From owning one and then multiple barber shops, to founding the Washington Barber College and starting People Trust Credit Union, the first minority-owned financial institution in Arkansas, Arlo is a force of nature. He’s always thinking of new ways to address issues of equity in the Black community and create generational wealth. 
 
Joining Ken on the podcast, John Hoffman describes not only Arlo’s big picture ideas but also his deep compassion for those in need and his unique ability to truly listen to others. Once Arlo mastered the arcane details of Community Development Financial Institutions, he was off-and-running, creating the only bank in a Black neighborhood that previously had none. A single bank won’t reverse decades of discrimination, but one barber has made a remarkable head start.
 
“The Barber of Little Rock” has been nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary Short. It can be streamed on newyorker.com.
 
Hidden Gem: “Audible”
 
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.
 
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“Island in Between” with S. Leo Chiang & Jean Tsien

The island of Kinmen is a small island with a potentially big problem. Situated just off the coast of China, but part of Taiwan, Kinmen would likely be the first line of defense should the Chinese government decide to invade Taiwan. Emmy-nominated director S. Leo Chiang, who was born in Taiwan, worked in China and also lived for years in the U.S., explores the complex relationship between place, identity and politics in his insightful and masterfully crafted documentary short “Island in Between”.
 
Joining Ken on the pod, Leo and producer Jean Tsien delve into the backstory of Kinmen — a flashpoint between Taiwan, China and the U.S. going back to the Chinese Civil War —and its present day role as a tourist spot, military base and home to thousands of people who live betwixt and between. Leo and Jean also illuminate how their personal backstories of growing up in Taiwan informed the making of the film and what makes their creative partnership so special.
 
“Island in Between” has been nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary Short. It can be streamed on The New York Times Op-Docs site.
 
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.
 
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"The Last Repair Shop" with Kris Bowers & Ben Proudfoot

Continuing our coverage of Academy Award-nominated shorts, Mike speaks with Kris Bowers (previously nominated for “A Concerto is a Conversation”)  and Ben Proudfoot (an Academy-Award winner for “The Queen of Basketball”) , directors of “The Last Repair Shop”.  
 
The film sketches the stories–both representative of the Los Angeles workforce, as well as fascinating in their own right–of 4 repair workers who fix the instruments of students from the LAUSD.  Lyrical in presentation, and symphonic in structure, the film can be seen not only as a paean to the redemptive powers of music, but a call for reconciliation in a time of deep polarization.
 
You can watch “The Last Repair Shop” on Disney+.
 
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.
 
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Hidden Gems:  
The Act of Killing
The Sentence of Michael Thompson

"Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó (Grandma & Grandma)" with Sean Wang

Continuing our coverage of Academy Award-nominated shorts, Mike speaks with Sean Wang about his loving tribute to his grandmothers.  As he describes the film:  “Nǎi Nai is my grandma. Wài Pó is my grandma. Together they are a grandma super team that dances, stretches, and farts their sorrows away.”  Despite its seeming insularity, and its general mood of fun and mischief, the film opens up to become as well a profound meditation on mortality.
 
You can watch “Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó (Grandma & Grandma)” on Disney+.
 
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.
 
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Hidden Gem:  The Scared is Scared

"To Kill a Tiger" with Nisha Pahuja

When Ranjit and his family turn to the Indian legal system to seek justice for his daughter who had been raped by three local young men, they face not only daunting odds from the system but deep resistance from their village.  
 
Nisha Pahuja’s Academy Award-nominated film “To Kill a Tiger” traces the profound tension Ranjit experiences: on the one side is the promise of recent national legislation that empowers children who have been sexually assaulted; on the other are the restrictions of the customs and traditions of a village which would like to “make peace” and marry Ranjit’s daughter off to one of her assailants.  But throughout it all, Ranjit finds support to carry on in the courage of his daughter, who wants to tell her story in court, who insists on justice.
 
“To Kill a Tiger” will stream on Netflix at a date to be announced.
 
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.
 
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"Daughters" with Angela Patton & Natalie Rae

We’ve saved the last of our live, in-person interviews at Sundance 2024 for the winners of the Sundance U.S. Documentary Competition Audience Award and overall Festival Favorite, the incredibly moving, tear-jerking, and, hopefully, policy-shifting documentary “Daughters”. Directors Angela Patton and Natalie Rae join Ken to discuss their world premiere screening and the life-changing organization “Girls For a Change” that Angela founded.
 
Over the course of the film, we meet Lashawn (5), Diamond (10), Unita (11), Sherita (15), and their families. Missing from their home lives are their fathers who are all incarcerated in a Washington, DC prison and who long to have some physical contact with their daughters, which is prohibited by prison policy. As the film unfolds, we learn about the “Date with Dad” program, a father-daughter dance which represents the only opportunity for these fathers and daughters to experience a so-called “touch visit”. When the “date” finally arrives, the hugs are tight, the emotions raw and the tears flow — both on-screen and off.
 
“Daughters” will be released later this year on Netflix.
 
Thanks to Amos Cochran of Edit/Score for hosting our 2024 Sundance interviews.  Edit/Score is a new music library with an innovative approach to finding music for your film. Listen to the library and learn more at editscoremusic.com 
 
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.
 
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Oscar Nominees Special with Clayton Davis

Joining us for the third year in a row, Variety’s Senior Awards Editor Clayton Davis breaks down this year’s Oscar races for Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short and offers his predictions for who will be victorious at the 96th Academy Awards on March 10th. With the feature doc category taking on a very international flavor this year, what does Clayton think of how the process unfolded from the shortlist to the nominations? How might Netflix’s late acquisition of “To Kill a Tiger” affect the outcome? In what is considered a very tight race, what might tip the balance?
 
With his encyclopedic knowledge of the Oscars (you’ll even catch a reference to “How Green Was My Valley” in the pod) and his finger-on-the-pulse of the overall Awards season, Clayton takes us through each of the nominees and gives you his unique insights into the process.
 
Also, be sure to catch our “Top Docs” interviews with all of the Oscar-nominated directors in the documentary feature and shorts categories.
 
Clayton Davis is Variety’s Senior Awards Editor. He is also one of the hosts of the "Variety Awards Circuit Podcast" and the video web series, "The Take." He's been an awards, film and television analyst and critic for more than 15 years and has co-hosted the Oscars Pre-Show on ABC. Clayton is also co-founder and president of the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association and is a board member of the Critics Choice Association.
 
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.
 
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Oscar Nominees:
Features:
20 Days in Mariupol
Bobi Wine:  The People’s President
Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger
 
Shorts:
The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
The Last Repair Shop
Island In Between
Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó (Grandma & Grandma)
 
Other recent documentaries discussed:
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
American Symphony
Beyond Utopia
Apolonia, Apolonia
Dick Johnson is Dead
Every Body
Little Richard: I am Everything
Flea

"Reality Winner" with Sonia Kennebeck

How much do you really know about Reality Winner, the veteran and NSA contractor who shared a document regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election with “The Intercept”, and then subsequently served several years in Federal prison as a consequence?  
 
Sonia Kennebeck’s (Enemies of the State, National Bird) “Reality Winner” melds a host of timelines–before the arrest & after; during the FBI interrogation in her home; from the viewpoint of family as well as others who have bucked the national security state–to tell a broader story than the one you may have heard.  What was the actual reason Reality shared the document?  What really constitutes National Defense Information?  How common is it for the US Government to imprison people for sharing a single document?  How much is “The Intercept" to blame for revealing her as their source? Should we celebrate Trump’s conviction under the WWI-era Espionage Act?  Your views on these questions and much more may be complicated by Kennebeck’s deep dive into Reality’s story:  Her putative crime, her treatment by the government, as well as her personal ambitions, past and current.
 
Hidden Gem:  Q
 
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.
 
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"Anxious Nation" with Laura Morton & Vanessa Roth

Many of the issues that plagued the young people of America decades ago–binge drinking, drunken driving, teenage pregnancy, smoking, to name a few–have greatly declined in significance.  But in their place we have witnessed a seemingly ever-deepening mental health crisis amongst our youth, one partly rooted, as our guests tell us, in a rise of anxiety.
 
The directors of “Anxious Nation,” Laura Morton and Vanessa Roth, join Mike to explain how their own family experiences drove them to engage with this essential topic.  In their film they explore the deep roots of anxiety–not only on the personal level of family dynamics, but reaching far into our evolutionary past.  And they explain as well many of the current accelerants of the endemic anxiety experienced by our children.  Finally, they broach ways to alleviate the suffering for the kids and for their parents:  While none are a magic bullet, families can find methods and tools to help manage anxiety, and ultimately can seek solace in activities that can provide a deeper meaning and a resulting perspective on their daily struggles.  
 
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.
 
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"Girls State" with Amanda McBaine & Jesse Moss

So much for campfire singalongs and Capture the Flag. Directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss once again plunge into the world of summer camp for young politicians-in-training with “Girls State”, a riveting and exhilarating follow up to their Emmy Award-winning 2020 documentary “Boys State.” The comparisons may be inevitable, but “Girls State” forges its own path with memorable characters, a compelling narrative arc and richly layered themes.
 
Joining Ken on the pod, Amanda and Jesse discuss how they took a fresh approach to “Girls State” embracing the idea of creative risk taking. What led them to choose Missouri as the location for the film, and how did the fact that the Missouri Boys State program was taking place simultaneously on the same college campus as Girls State present both a challenge and an opportunity? Were they surprised to find that Missouri’s red state politics weren’t necessarily reflected in the political leanings of the majority of young women participating in the program? And how did the leaked Supreme Court ruling on Dobbs, which happened during the production of “Girls State,” become an important backdrop for the drama happening inside the camp, as well as in society at large?
 
“Girls State” launches on Apple+ April 5th.
 
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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.