Tom Roston shines a light on the slate of documentaries that Hulu has recently added. Amir Bar-Lev's Re:Generation Music Project is of particular note and should play well to Hulu's core audience.

When the 2012 Sundance Film Festival begins this Thursday, attendees will be treated to the premiere of a real-life version of When Documentary Subjects Attack!

There’s something rotten in the house of docs, or so it was declared at last week’s Independent Filmmaker Conference panel discussion entitled "Cage Match: Filmmaking or Social Activism?," expertly moderated by POV’s very own Yance Ford. Ford kicked things off with the question, "Is the medium in an identity crisis?" And panelist Nick Fraser, of […]

Joaquin Phoenix with David Letterman in 2009. This week, actor Joaquin Phoenix will go on the Late Show and he and David Letterman are going to share some laughs. They will wink and nudge and roll their eyes, indicating that they are being sincerely ironic about the sincerity of what they are talking about — […]

I’m back! I’ve been out of commission the last few weeks, because there’s a new baby in the Soup Man’s kitchen, and, well, new babies can be very demanding. But I had to take off my baby-bottle goggles to tell you about a great documentary that’s coming out this Friday, August 20. Pat Tillman, left, […]

Damien Echols‘ eyesight is becoming increasingly dim. He is experiencing a lot of pain, especially in his teeth, because living on concrete without sunlight or adequate nutrition can ravage a body over the course of 15 years. How’s that for an update? Of all the documentaries I’ve come to love, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders […]

As the curtain closes on another hectic festival — the Tribeca Film Festival — it’s worth taking a peek at some of the work that continues to go on after the red carpets get rolled up and put away. Ryan Harrington, who works with the Tribeca Film Institute’s Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund and I spoke […]

Avijit Halder at 11 years old. Photo from Kids with Cameras. It makes sense to me to start off the “What Happened to the Subject?” series with a child who starred in a documentary, because it seems to me that we can see greater changes than with an adult subject. And, boy, has Avijit Halder, […]

What ever happened to the boys — now, men — from Hoop Dreams? Where did Little Edie, now deceased, end up after Grey Gardens? Are any of those old guys from Brother’s Keeper still kicking? If you have ever found yourself asking any of these, or similar, questions, then I’m here to help. I want […]

This month, Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story, about the cult-fave stand-up comedian and actor, was released on DVD. The documentary explores Izzard‘s comic talents as well as his upbringing, revealing a very complete portrait of the man. And that’s going to mean a lot to some of us who are huge Izzard fans. And it won’t mean too much to the […]

As promised, it’s time for my “Best Documentary Characters of All Time” list. You may be wondering: How does one go about compiling a list of best characters from nonfiction films? These “characters” aren’t the products of imagination and craft, after all; they are real people. But, wait, don’t we have the expression, “He/she is […]

Writing about documentaries ain’t what it used to be. Not that I would know — I’m just talking with my tongue in my cheek about the supposedly sepia-tinted times before docs were (relatively) big business. I recently wrote a piece for Spin magazine about the great doc, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, which is getting […]

I’ve got collateral damage on my mind. And I’m not thinking about what’s happening in Iraq — what’s bothering me is the potential path of hurt that documentary films themselves might leave behind in their wake. Believe me, I know that documentaries do the world good. Through their social activism, political advocacy and plain ol’ […]