POV's Documentary Blog

Doc Soup: Docs Takes Round One in the Nonfiction vs Fiction Death Match

The numbers are in. It may not be a knockout, but nonfiction is our Round One champ!

Here are the results from last week’s fiction vs. nonfiction bout between me, on the side of docs, and indieWIRE’s heavyweight blogger Anne Thompson, taking the side of fiction:

The Devil Wears Prada (61%)   vs.   The September Issue (39%)
Winner: Fiction
Slumdog Millionaire (14%)   vs.   Born into Brothels (86%)
Winner: Nonfiction
Mean Girls (43%)   vs.   American Teen (57%)
Winner: Nonfiction
Ali (6%)   vs.   When We Were Kings (94%)
Winner: Nonfiction
Gone With the Wind (32%)   vs.   The Civil War (68%)
Winner: Nonfiction
Fiction 1, Nonfiction 4
Round One Winner: Nonfiction!

And, just like a boxing match, it was brutal… and beautiful… and also a little unfair. Yes, the fix was in. I say this because the voting took place here, at POV, which is very much nonfiction territory, so it’s a biased audience. Not that my victory is any less sweet, mind you, but I want to be on the level.

Many thanks to Anne Thompson for stepping into the ring with me. And if you know of any other good match ups out there between fiction and nonfiction films, let me know in the comments or on Twitter @DocSoupMan. I’m spoiling for a fight.

Join the fiction vs. nonfiction debate on POV’s blog, Twitter @povdocs and Facebook.