I’ve always been a little bothered by what I perceive as the different standards with which film critics (and audiences) approach docs, basically giving greater leniency toward a film because of its noble subject matter. That’s partly why I’ve been talking about Dear Zachary here at Doc Soup. Well, I think it’s time to put […]

You’ve heard me talk about it before, but, finally, Ellen Kuras‘ The Betrayal is making it to the public this Friday, at the IFC Film Center so forgive me if I have little more to say. The movie, 23 years in the making, is about a Laotian immigrant family’s experience in America; after its opening […]

This past week was a busy one in the doc world. The Full Frame Documentary Festival took place in North Carolina; Young@Heart, the first documentary acquired by distribution company Fox Searchlight in a decade was released to wide acclaim; and the upcoming release of his Standard Operating Procedure has Errol Morris all over the news. […]

Yance Ford, POV’s series producer, attended the inaugural Cinema Eye Awards on March 18th. She writes in with some of her thoughts on what she liked and didn’t like about the awards. For a complete list of winners, visit the website of the Cinema Eye Honors. Gathered in decidedly more casual attire than the Academy […]

Earlier this month, I headed to Austin for my first SXSW festival. I attended both the interactive and film portions of the festival, and found myself quickly overwhelmed by all the panels, conversations and parties that transform this college town into a creative mecca every March. I kept thinking, if I were ten years younger, […]

This weekend, the documentary The Unforeseen will begin trickling into theaters. On the surface, it’s about urban sprawl in Austin, Texas. It traces the history of the booming growth of that city, and the tensions that arose between developers and environmentalists trying to protect a natural spring-fed watering hole called Barton Springs. As a piece […]

Adele Horne is the filmmaker behind The Tailenders (POV 2006), which examines missionary activity, the loss of languages around the world and global capitalism in an unusual and essayistic way. Adele, winner of the “Truer Than Fiction” Award at the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards, writes in with her thoughts on the history of essay films. […]

I have a suggestion to fictional filmmakers and critics alike: Let’s update the definition of “documentary style” shooting.

Over the years, we’ve conducted hundreds of Behind the Lens interviews with POV filmmakers. These interviews air during the broadcast of the films on PBS, and are made available as podcasts and edited interviews via the POV website. But in the interest of brevity, a lot of fascinating insights, materials and advice end up on […]

One of the questions we’re asked most often here at POV is: “What do you look for in a POV film anyway?” Every year, more than 1,000 films compete for 12-15 slots on the POV broadcast schedule, so what’s a documentary filmmaker to do if she wants to fill one of those coveted slots? As […]

So you’ve got a great idea for a documentary short, and you want to get started making your film. But how do you light your shoot? What music is legal for you to use? What releases should you have your subjects sign? How do you edit, compress and upload your video? Luckily, there’s a ton […]