Thursday, January 17, 2013

Top 10 Documentaries of 2012


The year of the eclectic male, the understated woman and dynamic film. But 2012 was also the year of the thrilling documentary. Some of the docs below shocked me, others moved, all have remained in my mind as great works of nonfiction cinema. Please note that this list is not comprehensive. I saw a lot of great documentaries last year, but I certainly didn’t see all of them. I still have yet to see the latest from three of my favorite documentarians (Alex Gibney’s Mea Maxima Culpa, Amy Berg’s West of Memphis, Steve James’ Head Games) so please, tell me what I’ve missed in the comments.

10. Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap – dir. by Ice-T & Andy Baybutt
The narrative is simple: rapper-turned pretty decent actor (and now director) Ice-T travels to some of America’s biggest cities to trace the history of rap music. He interviews legends (Doug E. Fresh, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, Chuck D.) and contemporaries (Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Nas, Kanye West) alike. The result: a wildly entertaining exposé about the most misunderstood genre of music. At the end of his interviews, Ice-T encourages each of his subjects to stare into the camera and spit one verse (any verse) of rap. It’s pure gold, everytime.

9. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry – dir. by Alison Klayman
Following one of the world’s most famed and controversial artists should be cause enough for an engaging documentary. But director Alison Klayman got lucky. Ai Weiwei was suddenly and inexplicably detained by Chinese authorities for several weeks, which sparked outrage from admirers around the world. Sure, Ai Weiwei’s misery was Klayman’s fortune, but damn if it doesn’t make for compelling cinema.

8. Side by Side – dir. by Christopher Kenneally
The biggest criticism of Side by Side is that it may only be of interest to die hard cinephiles. Well, here I am, and consider me interested. The film follows its producer, Keanu Reeves, as he asks a simple question of some of our most brilliant cinematic minds: digital or film? Some, like Christopher Nolan and Wally Pfister, lament that film is film, and should be shot and viewed as such. Others, like Steven Soderbergh, admit that his career exists because of digital filmmaking. While vets like Martin Scorsese and David Lynch say they are slowly making the digital conversion. For or against, celluloid or memory card, Side by Side is a fascinating examination into the stylized evolution of film.

7. This is Not a Film – dir. by Mojtaba Mirtahmasb & Jafar Panahi
While awaiting the verdict of his appeal against a prison sentence and a ban on filmmaking, Iranian director Jafar Panahi sits aimlessly in his home under strict house arrest. After a while, he calls his filmmaking buddy Mirtahmasb, and the two document a mundane day in the life of a filmmaker stripped of his resources. Panahi grumbles, he worries, he watches his own films, and in the documentary’s most heartbreaking sequence, animatedly finishes a screenplay by fleshing out its scenes in his small living room with the use of masking tape. Don’t be fooled, mundane though it may be, This is Not a Film is indeed just that: a film. One of subtle devastation and impossible concern.

6. The Invisible War – dir. by Kirby Dick
Kirby Dicks aims to shock. His game is to cook up controversy, whether it’s from the absurdly restrictive MPAA (This Film Is Not Yet Rated), closeted gay republicans (Outrage), or a sexually abusive Catholic Church (Twist of Faith), Dick thrives on causing a stir. His latest documents a criminally ignored epidemic of rape within the American military system. Countless women (and a few men) share their stories with Dick, holding nothing back, and demanding justice. Individually, they’ve received none, but collectively, Dick’s film has proved to cause just the right amount of trouble. After seeing this film, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta (who James Gandolfini played in Zero Dark Thirty) ordered that all military sexual assault cases are to be handled by people who rank colonel and higher. That’s a small step in the right direction, but a step nonetheless.

5. How to Survive a Plague – dir. by David France
David France’s searing film tracks the suspicion, rise, and ultimate outbreak of AIDS in America. How to Survive a Plague enlists the narratives of people living with the disease, scientists who have studied it, politicians who have ignored it – all of who comment about the frustration, fear and panic of a disease that took many American citizens anonymously and remorselessly. Using a great amount of archival footage to reveal the political inaction and public stigmatization of AIDS, How to Survive a Plague proves to be an unsettling, wholly effective documentary about the power of the fight. As of now, my money’s on this to win the Oscar.

4. Searching for Sugar Man – dir. by Malik Bendjelloul
A well-made documentary about a search for one man can, in the right hands, prove to be the best, most effective kind of documentary available. Malik Bendjelloul is equipped with such a set of hands, as his Searching for Sugar Man turns into so much more than two fans trying to discover if a once-famed musician is still even alive. Many said Rodriguez was better than Bob Dylan and more resonate than The Rolling Stones. Although his music never reached mass acclaim in the States, his singing was (and is) idolized in South Africa. As two Cape Town fans get closer to discovering the whereabouts of Rodriguez, we’re privy to investigative cinema at its finest. Will they track the insanely modest musician down? I’ll never tell. See and marvel for yourself.

3. The Imposter – dir. by Bart Layton
There’s something so refreshing about listening to a real person openly admit all of the pointless, violentless, crimes they committed. Such as Frédéric Bourdin, who shortly into Bart Layton’s fascinating film, freely confesses that, in order to avoid capture, he impersonated Nicholas Barclay, a young Texan who disappeared at age 13. That’s enough to make The Imposter electrifying, but then something happens. Once the dust settles on Bourdin and his shenanigans, Layton and many of his subjects finally wonder what the hell did actually happen to the real Nicholas Barclay? Nicholas’ family doesn’t anticipate the question, but that certainly doesn’t stop Layton from asking. A seriously chilling work of art.

2. The House I Live In – dir. by Eugene Jarecki
The American War on Drugs has been in effect since Nixon, and, by all accounts, not a damn thing has changed in the years since. America has spent upwards of a trillion dollars to combat drug usage in this country, and with usage continually on the rise, imprison rates consistently increasing, more crime, purer drugs, and on and on, it’s fair to ask: What exactly is all that money going toward? Well, that’s just one question Jarecki attempts to shed light on, and believe me, there are many.

The House I Live In forces people of persuasion to atone for what’s happening in America. Like the candid Judge who admits that pre-determined sentences for crack offenders are completely unfair. Or the New Mexico Sherriff who says that part of being a cop today is to racially profile. “Every police officer does it,” he says. And then there’s David Simon, the creator of The Wire, a monumental television series that examined this war unflinchingly. Simon is a flawless talking head, consistently making solid points while letting just the right amount of frustration push through. He’s one aspect that makes The House I Live In essential viewing for all Americans. A note to our foreign friends: yep, this is a large part about who we are. Sad, but undeniably true.

1. The Central Park Five – dir. by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns & David McMahon
In April of 1989, a white woman was discovered in Central Park, beaten to a pulp and savagely raped. Within mere hours, the police had a handful of young boys in custody (young, black boys) and a few hours later, four of them had signed confessions that they had indeed senselessly beaten and raped investment banker Trisha Meili in the park. Months later, the four boys (and another one of their suspected cohorts) were all sentenced to years in prison.

Open and shut. Done and done.

Ken Burns and his daughter Sarah, along with David McMahon, decided to look closer. Well, technically, their film is a document of the few brave souls who looked closer. The people who found the individual confessions of the Central Park Five to be wildly inconsistent. The people who put the NYPD’s interrogation practices under a microscope to discover abuse and unlawful intimidation. The people who exposed racial discrimination within the judicial system. The people who demanded to know what Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Kharey Wise and Yusef Salaam knew already: that they had nothing whatsoever to do with what happened to Meili, and were coerced into admitting they did.

I have no interest in disclosing how these revelations came to be. You’re far better off discovering that for yourself. But I do want to make specific note of the fact that I have seen many films about prison life, and the after effects that life can have. But never, in all my years of film viewing, have I heard the true hell of coming home from prison better than it is articulated here. The Central Park Five were children when they went to prison, and they came out scared shitless grown men. This is a haunting film about the damage that is caused when the system fails.

2012 in Review

45 comments:

  1. Looks like a solid list. I've only seen three of the movies you listed, and while I found This Is Not A Film more "important" than actually fascinating, I'm definitely a big fan of How to Survive a Plague and The Invisible War. The latter in particular is just a heart-breaker.

    My favorite 2012 documentary that I've seen so far is The Queen of Versailles. Utterly interesting, and a heightened snapshot of America today. I'd also recommend the striking 5 Broken Cameras, as well as the light, fluff-y and informative Indie Game: The Movie.

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    1. Thanks man, glad you dug the picks. The Invisible War really crushed me. I mean... Jesus.

      I can't wait to see 5 Broken Cameras. Really need to get ahold of that one before Oscar night.

      The Queen of Versailles: I loved that documentary and blankly left it off this list. You're right, a perfect snapshot of America as it is today. Really great film there.

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  2. I need to see a lot of these though I would want to mention a couple of docs that appeared on TV that is worth watching. The first is Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007 about the James Bond franchise and Crossfire Hurricane about the Rolling Stones' decadent lifestyle and their road to respectibility.

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    1. I remember you discussing Everything or Nothing a while back, I really need to check that one out. Sounds like something I'd love. Likewise Crossfire Hurricane. I mean, the fact that the title is taken from my favorite Stones song is reason enough for me to check it out.

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  3. You're gonna enjoy Mea Maxima Culpa when you get to it. I certainly did when I caught it at tiff. Out of curiosity, have you had the chance to watch Queen of Versailles, The Gatekeepers or Stories We Tell yet?

    I'm watching 5 Broken Cameras and The Invisible War tonight and tomorrow but so far my top 5 is this:

    1. Searching For Sugar Man
    2. Stories We Tell
    3. Queen of Versailles
    4. The Gatekeepers
    5. Mea Maxima Culpa

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    1. Gibney is one of my favorite filmmakers, and the subject material of Culpa is something I find interesting (and horrifying), so I can't wait to see that one. I have seen The Queen of Versailles and stupidly left it off this list. No excuse, but completely forgot about it.

      Great Top 5. I really need to see all of the Oscar nominees before the big night. Thanks for sharing!

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    2. Just noticed that I need to revise the top five if we're considering US release dates (as you have, by including This Is Not a Film). I got around to the film last year at tiff and it ended up as my number 6 films of the year, so obviously it would be at the top of my doc list this year.

      Truly fantastic and visionary filmmaking, and also a story that I deeply care about because of being Iranian and having grown up watching Panahi's The White Balloon countless number of times.

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    3. Glad you connected with it :)

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    4. I really did love that movie. It was so heartbreaking to me, that poor guy just sitting there, forced to let his creativity waste away.

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  4. I need to see most of these but the Invisible War really took me by storm. The Imposter was good, that is, until they started making that dude's actions seem so glamorous and smart, whereas he's just a petty criminal who just so happened to get away. Great list regardless!

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    1. Thanks!

      I'm glad you said that about The Imposter, because I completely agree with you. It was so glamorized and stylized, but that was one of the reasons I liked it so much. Plus, Charlie Parker... that dude just cracked me up.

      The Invisible War knocked the wind out of me. Goddamn.

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  5. I've only seen The Invisible War and Something from Nothing, but this looks like a great place to start. Always manage to get behind on documentaries, so I'll be sure to look into these.

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    1. I get behind on them too, but mostly because the distribution for them sucks. Unless you're Michael Moore, you're doc probably isn't getting a very big push. Damn shame. I love a good documentary.

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  6. Great list. My only criticism: This Is Not a Film should be number one. But that's a matter of opinion haha, I love that "effort." The only other one on this list I've seen is The Imposter, which I loved. Definitely going to seek out more.

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    1. Thanks man. Wasn't This Is Not a Film just remarkable? Really, one of the most heartbreaking sequences I've witnessed all year was Panahi constructing that scene in his living room. It was so passionate yet pathetic. Goddamn shame. Hell of a film.

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    2. By the way, I can't believe I forgot to mention my favourite doc of 2012: SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS. It's about the final concert of James Murphy's wonderful band LCD Soundsystem who released Sound of Silver, one of my all-time favourite albums. It's a truly brilliant doc though really it's mostly for fans of the band. It features on my newly updated Top 25 films of 2012 list, which I think you want to see (check out #15): http://letterboxd.com/southernvision/list/top-25-films-of-2012/

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    3. Whoa whoa whoa, what the fuck!?!? Dude that is... Jesus, I can't even type right now. I mean, to see it there AT ALL floors me, but to be included among so many miraculous films... and to BEAT the Up Series, The Imposter, Bernie. Whoa.

      Thanks for that man, really. Knocked the wind out of me.

      I loved Shut Up and Play the Hits. Actually, my friend got the limited edition Blu-Ray for me for Christmas, and last night he asked if I had opened it yet. I hadn't, so he said I should sell it on Amazon, because it's going for like $200, which is fuckin' nuts. Had no idea it was that limited.

      Anyway, great choice for best doc of 2012, and thank you thank you thank you for including Earrings on your year-end list. I'm speechless.

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  7. Nice list. I'm doing the Doc Features for "LAMB Devours The Oscars" so I've seen some of these. I watched 5 Broken Cameras tonight and was quite impressed. You should check it out.

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    1. Just saw that it's on iTunes. Gonna have to check it out this weekend. Really glad to hear it's good!

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  8. 'The Waiting Room' will be on my best of 2012 list, and yes, How to Survive a Plague is the frontrunner for the oscar. I would also say it was a good year for T.V documentaries, like Ghosts of Ole Miss, the ESPN doc about the race riots in 60's Mississippi how they have become a mark of shame for the University and the white community at large. But I would say definitely look for HBO's Witness series, that'll knock your proverbial socks-off, man. Incredible journeys into the hearts of darkness around the globe.

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    1. (sigh) I know how much you loved The Waiting Room, and I still have had no way to see it. It isn't anywhere near me or Washington DC. Nothing on iTunes, On Demand... sucks man. That really does seem like my kind of doc.

      Ghost of Ole Miss sounds good. And I love HBO's documentaries. Often, the best docs I see in any given year are on HBO. They do great stuff there.

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  9. Good choices, The Imposter is my favorite documentary of 2012 so far. Going to try and track down The Central Park Five-reminds me a little of Paradise Lost Trilogy.

    I also have these docs on my watchlist: Room 237 (2012), The Act of Killing (2012), Anton Corbijn Inside Out (2012)

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    1. Shit man, I've been trying to find Room 237 for months now. No luck. That sounds like a film dork's dream.

      The Central Park Five is incredible and yeah, not unlike the Paradise Lost trilogy. Great examples of the system not doing what it's supposed to.

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  10. Wow. I remember the publicity surrounding the "Central Park 5" case vividly -- it was a horrific attack. However, I didn't know suspects were wrongly convicted. Chilling.

    I'm adding This is Not a Film, The Imposter, The House I Live In, and The Central Park 5 to my watchlist. I also added Lake of Fire based on your strong recommendation.

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    1. There are SO MANY people in the movie who had no idea that the Five were wrongfully convicted. I mean... it was obviously a huge deal when they were convicted, but so little press was given to the fact that they were acquitted. That's much of what the movie is about, actually. Damn shame.

      Great docs going on your watchlist!

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  11. 'The House I Live In' and 'Something From Nothing' were both great films. My only other nomination would be 'Neil Young Journeys.' Will definitely look into some of these - particularly 'Sugarman.'

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    1. Ahh I still haven't seen Neil Young Journeys. Must get around to that. Hope you like the other docs you check out!

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  12. Oh, this is a great list, I already wrote down some titles. I think I only saw Searching for Sugarman from your list, and I really liked that one. I am also eager to see The Imposter and The Art of Rap!

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    1. Thanks! Glad you liked the picks. The Imposter is so so good, and The Art of Rap is a lot of fun. Great stuff there.

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  13. Oh man, I really need to see some of these! Judging by how much I enjoyed Searching for Sugar Man + The Imposter I'm pumped already. Side by Side was excellent too.

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    1. That's so cool, really glad you liked all of those docs. The Central Park Five... I really cannot recommend that one enough.

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  14. The only one I have seen from this list is The Imposter, and that is one of my favorite films from 2012 period. Masterful storytelling.

    Have you seen Indie Game: the Movie? I would put that one a close second behind it, actually.

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    1. The Imposter was just perfect, wasn't it? Loved that film.

      Indie Game: haven't seen it. I'm all over it. Thanks for the reco!

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  15. One doc I'd really recommend from this year is Under African Skies, a film which looks at the recording of Paul Simon's album Graceland, which took place in South Africa while there was a cultural embargo in place. I may be biased because its one of my favourite albums, but I really rate it.

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    1. Damn that sounds really good. Honestly never even heard of that before. Gonna have to seek it out ASAP. Thanks man!

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  16. I'm way behind on documentary film from last year so this is perfect. I'm going to get stuck into these films as they appear on DVD/blu-ray in the coming months.

    NB. Alex, I'm highlighting this list as my weekly "Saturday List" on my Facebook page, where I pick my fave top 10 from the week...

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    1. Nice man, hope you like the flicks from the list. Also, thanks so much for the tweet and FB shout out!

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  17. You really forgot Indie Game: The Movie and The Ambassador.

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    1. Didn't forget. The Ambassador was 2011, and I didn't like Indie Game as much as the 10 listed films.

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    2. No, The Ambassador was released in 2011 in Denmark and Netherlands (via IMDb), it was in 2012 in US at Sundance.

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    3. Have you seen the 10 films I listed?

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    4. Oh yes, I didn't saw #10 but The House I Live In and Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry were good, the others weren't bad, but not as good as The Ambassador or Indie Game: The Movie. You know I can't really disagree with you. All are solid and I enjoyed them all. But still, have you seen Samsara? That I'd say it is way better than any of these films.

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    5. I haven't seen Samsara but it sounds really interesting. I need to see that ASAP.

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  18. Nice version! I like watching this film. It is so interesting.

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