A second DPReview film festival
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It’s Oscar weekend, so we’ve assembled another DPReview film festival celebrating our favorite star: photography!
Last year, we focused on fictional films starring the humble camera for a hypothetical single-day film festival you could do at home. So, it only feels fitting to turn the coin over and unearth the gems on the factual side.
Within the world of documentary films lies a rich tapestry of stories about photographers, the meaning of photography, and studies on the motivations that guide creators. With the right lineup, you can cut close to a graduate school level of learning and inspiration. If you’re lucky, perhaps some life lessons as well.
We’ve assembled seven documentaries and one interview (to break up the pace), which we hope you’ll enjoy. This isn’t a comprehensive list of every great documentary film, and I’m certain some of your favorites may feel “missing.” Our intention is to be mindful about what to include and in what order, and we didn’t want to list things to list them without being able to say why we enjoyed them or why they fit into this flow for a hypothetical single-day film festival. That isn’t genuine, nor is it the DPReview way.
Enjoy the show!
Alfred Stieglitz: The Eloquent Eye
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Let’s start by rewinding to the early 1900s, Alfred Stieglitz, and modern photography’s origins.
Regarded as the father of modern photography, the man who once remarked, “Where there is light, one can photograph,” helped usher in a new era of photography that sought to change how the public views photography.
Stieglitz embraced the camera and elevated photography as a new art form, emphasizing the ideals of competition, juxtaposition, light and interpretation above documenting for its own sake or seeking sharpness above all.
Produced for PBS’s American Masters series, “Alfred Stieglitz: The Eloquent Eye” can be slow at points, painfully so as it slow pans across images while narrators read old letters he and his contemporaries wrote, but it’s also packed with nuggets of history worthy of uncovering.
It’s the right starting point for any conversation about the impact of photography on culture in the 20th century.
I give it 3/5 stars.
War Photographer
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2001’s “War Photographer” shadows photojournalist James Nachtwey during assignments in the West Bank, Kosovo and Indonesia. We see firsthand how he approaches his work and the people he works with.
A tension soon emerges as we must consider what photography represents for the people in the images and the people, like us, who later view them. What is our responsibility to the people in the pictures? How close is too close? When is it not okay to take a picture?
With inventive camera work and an unguarded look at a type of photography often overly romanticized, this film allows us to see the personal toll it takes on the photographer and the responsibility of protecting the stories others have allowed you to witness.
If the only thing you take away from this film is that Nachtwey uses a Canon, you’ve missed the point.
I give it 5/5 stars.
Marwencol
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A tightrope of a film, “Marwencol,” deftly navigates the question of who our photography is for and what happens when others want in.
Following a violent attack outside a bar that left him with brain damage and amnesia, Mark Hogancamp spent nine days in a coma and another 40 days in recovery. Unable to afford proper mental healthcare after leaving, he began to isolate himself and turned to a fictional world he created in his backyard.
He created Marwencol, a 1/6th scale World War II-era fictional Belgian town filled with elaborate stories deeply rooted in his past and present struggles. Out of these motifs would emerge hundreds of images of soldiers being tortured, rescued and fighting. Others get wind of his work and seek to celebrate it, risking taking it away from its creator in the process.
I give it 4/5 stars.
The Jazz Loft According to W. Eugene Smith
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As the story goes, former LIFE Magazine photographer W. Eugene Smith had left his job in 1955 and then his family two years later to move into a rundown New York City loft space. This is where he went a little mad.
The building became a late-night spot for jazz musicians to hang out after a performance or a stopping point for musicians traveling through. Among the big names were Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Bill Evans and more, and these gatherings eventually turned into jam sessions.
Seeing and hearing this, Smith knew he had to document it and proceeded to wire virtually every inch of the building, from the sidewalk to the top floor, with microphones. Between sounds of creaking stairs and busses passing by, there are overheard conversations between musicians about life on the road, racism and many, many hours of the masters of jazz riffing off each other.
Smith made nearly 40,000 photographs and over 4,000 hours of audio recordings from 1957 and 1965 until he was evicted from the building.
The power of documentary photography is on full display in “The Jazz Loft According to W. Eugene Smith.” If you’re a fan of storytelling and music, this is some of the most fun you’ll have at the movies.
I give it 5/5 stars.
Charlie Rose interviews Henri Cartier-Bresson
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Strictly speaking, this isn’t a documentary film, but we’ve included it sheerly for the treat of hearing from Henri Cartier-Bresson himself how he approaches photography.
Interviewed later in life, when he wasn’t taking as many pictures or granting interviews, it’s a rare firsthand account of his approach and the thoughts of a master on his legacy. As an added treat, Richard Avedon also briefly appears to discuss Cartier-Bresson’s influence and place in photo history.
It’s a perfect intermission for our day of film.
I give it 3/5 stars.
Born into Brothels
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In the previous interview clip with Cartier-Bresson, we heard him reflect on the power of a ‘decisive moment.’ This concept of impact and the ability of images to stop time and reveal something new is on full display in “Born into Brothels.”
This film is about adapting and the little joys that go unnoticed. Put another way, I sometimes think of a real-life “Amélie,” with more truth and less manic pixie girl energy.
Filmmakers had intended to document life in the brothels of Calcutta, but the community wanted no part of it. However, the kids in the area were curious about the filmmakers’ cameras, and there was no resistance to teaching them about photography and filmmaking, so that’s what they did.
Handed cameras and empowered by their new interest in photography, the youth of the district embraced the chance to make images. The result is a powerful and intimate film that gives the children of prostitutes autonomy over the stories of their lives in the red-light district of Calcutta.
I give it 4/5 stars.
Half Past Autumn
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In a biopic disguised as a documentary, photojournalist and film director Gordon Parks reflects on his life and photographic history in a film that will have you smiling and laughing one moment and break your heart the next. If Stieglitz helped us take photography as a serious medium for art, Parks propelled it forward as an agent for change.
In lengthy interviews, Parks takes us through his first forays into photography (he wished to become a fashion photographer), his transition into photojournalism almost by accident, and finally, his recognition of photography as a means to induce civic reckoning and social change.
In the pantheon of photo greats, there have been few like him. The film was created during Park’s first US retrospective of his life’s work, and the melancholy tone reflects the reverence many photographers of the era felt for him.
The film can be hard to find, but thankfully, the film’s producer/director has uploaded it to their Vimeo page, and you can watch it below.
I give it 5/5 stars.
Watch Half Past Autumn on Vimeo
Cameraperson
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This film will challenge you. It may even infuriate you. But by the end, it will reward you by not letting go of you, and that’s why we’re ending our film marathon with it.
A pseudo-autobiographical chronicling of Kirsten Johnson’s lifetime as a globetrotting documentary filmmaker and cameraperson, the film takes us from interviews with a Bosnian woman to an Al Qaeda detention facility in Yemen, with stops to visit her family sprinkled throughout.
At first glance, it may appear as a disparate association of slices of life from around the globe, something borrowed from the quiver of “Koyaanisqatsi” or “Samsara,” perhaps. But that is where you’d be wrong. At some point during “Cameraperson,” when you are on the verge of giving up on it, it will ‘click,’ you’ll be rewarded with a document of ethics and humanity, a meditation on memory and a journey into our relationships, all rolled into one.
It’s never straightforward in its intentions but always inviting. Step through.
At the core of “Cameraperson” is a life lesson that celebrates why we capture images and their value as a document of the people witnessed and those witnessing.
I give it 5/5 stars.
That’s a wrap!
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Our day-long documentary film festival has come to an end. If you attempted to follow along at home, what moments stood out for you most? What would you suggest we watch next?
There can only be so many films in a single day, and creating a mix that challenges us to dig deeper and lets us breathe when needed can be tricky. Let us know if we missed your favorites in the comments.
And if you’re not entirely “filmed out,” we have even more cinema suggestions to keep you glued to the TV for another day. Take a look at our non-fiction lineup of films on photography.
Author:
This article comes from DP Review and can be read on the original site.
