Top Docs: Award-Winning Documentary Filmmakers

Anatomy of a Scene from "Porcelain War" with Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev

We invited directors Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev back to “Top Docs” to discuss the unique art that animates their Sundance award-winning documentary “Porcelain War,” an intimate portrait of three Ukrainian artists and their responses to the Russian invasion of their country. Brendan and Slava analyze one of the film’s magical moments, about halfway through the film, in which Anya (Slava’s creative partner and wife) transforms memorable experiences from Slava and Anya’s lives in Kharkiv into scenes and characters that she paints on small porcelain figurines.
 
Over the course of this extraordinary three-minute scene, Brendan and Slava discuss the highly imaginative animation that brings Anya’s drawings to life on the surface of a small porcelain owl. The scene brilliantly encapsulates the filmmakers’ idea that art and metaphor can be used as a powerful expression of empathy in time of war.
 
“Porcelain War” is playing in select theaters. You can listen to our original interview with Brendan and Slava from earlier this year.
 
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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Separated" with Errol Morris & Jacob Soboroff

Today our guests are Errol Morris, director of the new MSNBC documentary “Separated”, and Jacob Soboroff, executive producer, upon whose 2020 book, “Separated: Inside an American Tragedy,” the documentary was based. 
 
We had Errol on the show last year to discuss his Oscar-shortlisted portrait of John le Carré, “The Pigeon Tunnel”, which with its implicitly self-reflective focus on the ability of representation to capture reality, can be read as a career-culminating masterpiece. “Separated” is a bit of a departure, one the topic of which has been made ever more urgent by the return of Donald Trump to the white house. In it, Errol draws upon Jacob's reporting–for which he was awarded the Walter Cronkite award for individual achievement by a national journalist as well as the Hillman Prize for broadcast journalism–on the child separation policy at the border in the first half of the first Trump administration. Jacob and Errol, with the help of the hero of this story, Captain John White, demonstrate this policy was not a “byproduct” of a tighter immigration approach, but an abusive tool used to terrify migrants by deliberately harming their children. Cruelty as the saying goes, was the point. 
 
“Separated” will first air on MSNBC on December 7th.  
 
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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Elton John: Never Too Late" with RJ Cutler

RJ Cutler (“The War Room”, “The September Issue”, “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry”) joins Mike and Ken once again to talk about his latest documentary, “Elton John: Never Too Late.”
 
As RJ tells us, the film “ Tells the story of two monumental decisions in the life of Elton John. The first, a decision he makes [to come out] in an interview in 1976 to Rolling Stone Magazine. And the second, a decision he makes in the middle of his seventies to give up touring In order to spend more time with his family and his young sons.”  The result is a film filled with denial, drug dependency, and despondence, but ultimately also music, joy, and love as well.
 
“Elton John: Never Too Late” begins streaming on Disney+ on December 13th.
 
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@rjcutler928 on Instagram and @rjcutler on X
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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"No Other Land" with Basel Adra & Yuval Abraham

For Palestinian villagers in the rural southern West Bank community of Masafer Yatta, life under the Israeli occupation is terrifying. The Israeli military can show up, without warning, waving orders to demolish your house; those resisting can be arrested or even shot. Among the Palestinians who call Masafer Yatta home is filmmaker Basel Adra. Basel’s extraordinary new documentary “No Other Land” — made by a Palestinian/Israeli collective that includes Basel, Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Ballal, and Rachel Szor — demonstrates how Basel, like his father before him, has relied on the power of the camera to document and protest the community’s treatment under the Israeli army’s orders to demolish Palestinian homes, schools and infrastructure.
 
Basel and Yuval join Ken on the pod to discuss the history of Masafer Yatta, the community’s efforts at resistance, and the enduring on- and off-camera alliance between the two of them built over the course of making the film. Recently awarded three IDA awards, including Best Documentary and Best Directors, “No Other Land” is screening at film festivals and in select theaters.
 
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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Anatomy of a Scene from Sugarcane with Emily Kassie & Julian Brave NoiseCat

Today’s pod features one of our special “Anatomy of a Scene” episodes.  Emily Kassie and Julian Brave NoiseCat join us once again to discuss their feature documentary, “Sugarcane”.   Emily & Julian were first on the show when we recorded them live from Sundance.  We wanted to have them back on to dig in deep on a scene from the movie that spans continents, involves world leaders, and features some of the most stark revelations of the film.  
 
One note on the audio:  Some of my spoken explanations for what we are seeing on the screen didn’t come out so well.  But that’s really besides the point.  The real heart of this pod are the incredible explications from Julian & Emily, founded in how they got some of these shots, the creative decisions they took to achieve their ends, and, notably, their engagements with the most telling moral issues of their film, rooted in the inadequacies of explanations for past crimes from everyone from a leader of a religious order, to a Canadian Prime Minister, to a Pope.
Sugarcane has just started streaming on Disney+. 
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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Oscar Shortlist 2024 Rundown with Anne Thompson

Welcome to our Anne-ual Top Docs Holiday Special featuring the one-and-only Anne Thompson, Editor-at-Large at IndieWire! Anne joins Mike and Ken to tackle this year’s Best Feature Documentary Oscar Shortlist, released on December 17th. One day following the release of the list, Anne is already fired up and ready to go. How competitive is this year’s race? Who are the Frontrunners, Runners Up and Dark Horses? Which film will win it all? Park yourself in front of a roaring fire and pop in those earbuds. It’s Oscar time!
 
IndieWire Editor-at-Large Anne Thompson has been a contributor to the New York Times, Washington Post, The Observer, and Wired. She has served as film columnist at Variety, and deputy editor of Variety.com, where her daily blog, Thompson on Hollywood, launched in March 2007. 
 
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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Frida" with Carla Gutiérrez

Frida Kahlo is everywhere. From pajamas imprinted with her likeness to exhibitions of her work, Frida’s image and art are omnipresent. But what about Frida’s own perspective on life, art, politics and love? Taking inspiration from Frida’s letters, illustrated diary and other writings, filmmaker Carla Gutiérrez’s stunning documentary portrait “Frida” offers a new perspective on this remarkably durable 20th Century icon by letting Frida speak for herself.
 
Joining Ken on the pod, Carla discusses how she was influenced and inspired by Frida. What did Carla hope to achieve by animating Frida’s paintings in the film, and how did the creative team go about pulling off this ambitious feat? In what ways did Carla bring her skills as an experienced editor of such films as “RPB” and “Julia” to her first project as a feature documentary director? And how did several life-changing events leave their indelible mark on Frida, while at the same time, fuel her determination to create art that “completed her life”? By not just looking at what she created, but by listening, too, we get a pretty good idea.
 
Recently named to the Oscar Shortlist for Best Documentary Feature, “Frida” is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
 
Hidden Gem:
“The Only Girl in the Orchestra”
 
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@carlargutierrez on Instagram and @CarlitaGu on X
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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

Sundance 2025 Preview with Basil Tsiokos

“Hello, 2025!” And as the doc calendar turns to a new year, we turn our attention to the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The 41st edition runs from January 23 – February 2 in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah (and online from Jan. 30 – Feb 2). To help get us fired up, we welcome back Basil Tsiokos, Sundance Senior Programmer, Nonfiction, for his fourth visit to “Top Docs” to preview this year’s stellar documentary lineup.
 
Basil offers his insights and tips on the three dozen documentary features and episodics having their world premieres at this year’s festival across multiple sections. Whether you are headed to “the mountain” yourself, hope to catch some Sundance docs online, or just want to get the jump on what are sure to be some of 2025’s most talked about documentaries, our conversation with Basil is the perfect way to start the new year. And don’t miss Basil’s take on the Oscar Shortlist and his predictions for the final nominees!
 
For more info about the Sundance Film Festival program, go to festival.sundance.org.
 
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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"The Only Girl in the Orchestra" with Molly O’Brien

The first thing you should know about double bassist Orin O’Brien is that she doesn’t think she’s anything special. The second thing you should know — as director Molly O’Brien’s thoroughly endearing Oscar-shortlisted documentary short “The Only Girl in the Orchestra” makes perfectly clear — is that Orin O’Brien is very special, indeed. The first female musician hired full time by the New York Philharmonic in 1966, Orin has gone on to have a brilliant and unparalleled 55-year career playing the double bass in the Philharmonic.  
 
Molly joins Ken on the pod to talk about this remarkable musician, teacher and pathbreaker — who also happens to be Molly’s beloved aunt. Set in the magical world of Manhattan and taking place as Orin begins a new chapter in her life, this heartfelt documentary shows us that talent, dedication, and a pure enjoyment of playing in the orchestra can make for a deeply fulfilling life. Now, isn’t that special?
 
“The Only Girl in the Orchestra” is now streaming on Netflix.
 
Hidden Gem:
“The Children’s Storefront”
 
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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Makayla's Voice" with Julio Palacio

Due to a rare form of autism, 14-year-old Makayla has grown up with plenty to say but lacking the ability to say it — until  now. Thanks to a groundbreaking therapy, she has found her voice and is making up for lost time. In Julio Palacio’s deeply moving Oscar-shortlisted documentary short, “Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World,” Makayla uses a letter board to communicate with her family and to share her amazing writings.
 
Julio joins Ken on the pod to discuss how he first met Makayla when he was working on an earlier film about her father (a very successful music producer) and then recently found out about Makayla’s remarkable breakthrough. What followed was a beautiful collaboration between Makayla, her family and the film team. The result is a joyful celebration of a young woman’s difficult but inspiring journey and a truly special voice that can finally be heard.
 
“Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World” is now streaming on Netflix.
 
Hidden Gem:
“When There Are No Words”
 
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@jpalpictures on Instagram
@topdocspod on Instagram and X
  
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.