Top Docs: Award-Winning Documentary Filmmakers

“Mr. Nobody Against Putin” with David Borenstein

Pavel “Pasha” Talankin may seem like just another primary school events coordinator, but when he is forced by Vladimir Putin’s new dictates to not only implement a pro-war curriculum but to record teachers delivering its absurd, self-contradictory nonsense, he decides to use his camera to document the effects of the war in Ukraine and the propaganda war at home on his community, and especially his students. 
 
David Borenstein (“Dream Empire”, “Can’t Feel Nothing”), who along with Pasha co-directed the Oscar-shorlisted “Mr. Nobody Against Putin”, joins Mike to talk about how he came to work with Pasha through a casting call as well as the importance of tone in a movie filled both with humor as well as off-screen carnage.  And they speak too of one of the best villains in documentary film:  Pavel (no “Pasha” he!) Abdulmanov, the school history teacher who delivers Putin’s pablum with enthusiasm and who wishes he could’ve met the worst of the worst of Stalin’s henchmen, notably the infamous torturer, Lavrentiy Beria.
 
Hidden Gem:
“The Mountains”
 
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"Yanuni" with Richard Ladkani

There are power couples… and then there is Juma Xipaia and Hugo Loss. As illustrated in Richard Ladkani’s (“Sea of Shadows”) riveting, urgent, and Oscar-shortlisted documentary “Yanuni,” the two are fierce defenders of the Amazon rainforest engaged in a life-and-death struggle against illegal mining operations that threaten the existence of Brazil’s Indigenous territories.
 
Richard joins Ken on the pod to discuss how he was first introduced to Juma — who, in 2016, became the first female chief of the Xingu peoples — and their subsequent filmmaking collaboration that included many unpredictable twists and turns. Not least among the surprises was Juma’s transformation from protest leader to government official when newly elected Brazilian President Lula da Silva tapped her to lead an initiative to promote Indigenous rights. Meanwhile, Hugo is put in charge of a special operations unit whose dangerous missions involve identifying and destroying illegal mining operations in protected Indigenous areas. Together, Juma and Hugo’s love of the forest can only be matched by the birth of their daughter Yanuni, who is destined to carry their fight into the next generation.
 
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The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Come See Me In the Good Light" with Ryan White

When Tig Notaro suggested to filmmaker Ryan White that he make a documentary about Tig’s friend, the poet Andrea Gibson, two words gave Ryan pause: “cancer” and “poetry.” He wondered who would fund (and watch) such a documentary. But, to Ryan’s great surprise, as evident in his deeply moving, funny and highly engaging documentary “Come See Me in the Good Light,” following Andrea and their wife, the writer Megan Falley, during some of the hardest moments of their lives ended up producing a film full of joy and humor, not to mention a final poetry performance worthy of a rock star.
 
Ryan joins Ken on the pod to discuss his initial foray to Andrea and Megan’s home in Colorado and the enveloping family atmosphere that lovingly entangled him and his crew throughout the making of this extraordinary documentary. For Ryan, who has directed approximately one documentary a year for the past 15 years, this was the one that ended up being his most personal and favorite project. When Andrea overcomes the ravaging effects of ovarian cancer long enough to perform a final show, the audience roars its approval and, in the spirit of one of Andrea’s remarkable poems, we are all left with goosebumps.
 
“Come See Me in the Good Light” has been named to this year’s Oscar shortlist in the Documentary Feature Film category. The film is available for streaming on Apple TV.
 
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@white815 on Instagram and @ryanwhiteIV on twitter
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Hidden Gem:
“Predators”
  
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

"Mistress Dispeller" with Elizabeth Lo

You find out your husband of many years is cheating on you, but you still love him anddesperately want to keep your family together. What do you do? In Elizabeth Lo’s (“Stray”) remarkable documentary “Mistress Dispeller,” we are introduced to a heart broken Mrs. Li, who hires a mistress dispeller to end her husband’s affair and save her marriage.  Yes, it’s true: in modern-day China, mistress dispelling is an actual profession, and Teacher Wang has more business than she can handle.
 
Elizabeth joins Ken on the pod to discuss the fascinating world of mistress dispelling and how she and her creative collaborators managed to win the trust of Mrs. Li and the other players in this doomed love triangle. From the time Teacher Wang “injects herself organically” into the threesome until the film’s inevitable dénouement, we can hardly believe the access we have to such an enthralling domestic drama unfolding in real-time. But as lies and deceptions give way to a final confrontation, the filmmaking itself remains steadfast, as real and beautiful as it gets.
 
“Mistress Dispeller” has been named to this year’s Oscar shortlist in the Documentary Feature Film category. The film is available for rent on Apple TV.
 
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@elizabethbklo on Instagram
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Hidden Gem:
“Gunda”
  
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.

“Coexistence, My Ass!” with Amber Fares

You might assume that receiving a fellowship to Harvard University represents the culmination of a burgeoning academic career. But, as director Amber Fares (“Speed Sisters”) shows in the amusing opening scenes of her Sundance award-winning documentary “Coexistence, My Ass!,” when Noam Shuster Eliassi, the main participant in her film, receives such an honor, she has actually been invited by Harvard’s Peace and Divinity School to prepare material for her one-woman comedy show about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.  
 
Amber joins Ken on the pod to discuss Noam’s winding path from an Israeli cooperative village that is home to both Jews and Arabs to a dream job at the UN to finding her true voice as a comedian and activist. As we see throughout the film, and in a performance of Noam’s completed show that provides the narrative spine for the film, Noam faces hard truths, both on and off the stage. She brings a fresh perspective to an age-old conflict and to the everyday realities of post-Oct 7th Israeli society.
 
“Coexistence, My Ass!” has been named to this year’s Oscar shortlist in the Documentary Feature Film category.
 
Follow:
@amber_fares on Instagram
@topdocspod on Instagram and X
 
Hidden Gem:
“We Are Pat”
 
The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.