Doc Talk: A Deadline and Nō Studios Podcast

Doc Talk goes live from the Milwaukee Film Festival with Sav Rodgers, director of Chasing Chasing Amy, and Mary Louise Schumacher, director of Out of the Picture. Schumacher's film trains a sharp eye on the state of art criticism, while Rodgers explores how Kevin Smith's 1997 film Chasing Amy saved his life but continues to stir controversy today.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone...

The announcement that Participant is shutting down has sent shock waves through the documentary community. Joining us to discuss the unsettling news are Oscar-nominated filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen, who have made two documentaries with Particpant - 'RBG,' and 'My Name Is Pauli Murray.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emmy-winning filmmaker Kirsten Johnson discusses the impact of AI on filmmaking and society. And she talks about her two new documentaries and a scripted films she's directing about Susan Sontag that will feature actress Kristen Stewart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss discuss Girls State, a documentary they describe as a “sibling” – not a sequel – to their Emmy-winning 2020 film Boys State. The filmmaking couple reflect on documenting young women engaged in an exercise in mock government just as the Supreme Court appeared set to reverse Roe v. Wade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We talk with the directors of two films at the True/False film festival: Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó of 'Agent of Happiness' and Rachel Elizabeth Seed of 'A Photographic Memory.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Doc Talk reports from the field at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen. We sit down with Artistic Director Niklas Engstrøm and filmmakers premiering work at one of the most prestigious documentary festivals in the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director Simon Chambers' hilarious story of becoming a caretaker to his ailing octogenarian uncle won the directing award at IDFA where it premiered in 2022. Despite winning that award and others, for over a year the film languished without distribution. Happily, that has changed with a theatrical release secured through First Run Features. The British filmmaker joins Doc Talk to discuss his odyss...

Hosts John Ridley and Matt Carey discuss Sunday night's Oscar wins for 20 Days in Mariupol and The Last Repair Shop. And Ridley shares an in-depth report from the True/False documentary festival in Columbia, MO, where he spoke with filmmakers Sylvain Cruiziat, Sumira Roy, and True/False Artistic Director Chloe Trayner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oscar winners Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin discuss Photographer, their new documentary series that zooms in on National Geographic's greatest image makers. And Emmy nominee Carla Gutiérrez goes inside her new film Frida, about the extraordinary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Filmmaker Amber Fares discusses her documentary Speed Sisters, about Palestinian women who formed the "first all-women race car driving team in the Middle East." Several years after the film premiered, the story is more timely than ever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Oscar nominations for documentary feature have sparked dissension in the nonfiction film community. By rewarding five international films, did the Academy's doc branch hurt American filmmakers, and unfairly punish documentaries with broad appeal? Three distinguished panelists join us for a vigorous debate: Lois Vossen, executive producer of Independent Lens, filmmaker Marjan Safinia, and forme...

Doc filmmakers Maite Alberdi of 'The Eternal Memory' and Kaouther Ben Hania of 'Four Daughters' discuss earning the second Oscar nominations of their careers. Plus, we revisit our conversation from last fall with fellow Oscar nominees Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp, directors of 'Bobi Wine: The People's President.'  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

20 Days in Mariupol director Mstyslav Chernov and To Kill a Tiger director Nisha Pahuja join us to talk about earning Academy Award nominations for their urgent documentaries. Chernov’s film provides a harrowing look inside the siege of Mariupol in the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while Pahuja documents an Indian family’s fight for justice after their daughter becomes the victim of...

Doc Talk co-hosts John Ridley and Matt Carey react to the Oscar nominations for documentary feature, drilling down on major snubs of American Symphony and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie. Plus, Matt reports from the field at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, interviewing Best Director winners Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie of Sugarcane, Kerry Washington, EP of Audience Award winner Daughters,...

Director Scott Cummings discusses his highly cinematic documentary 'Realm of Satan,' which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. The film, made in collaboration with the Church of Satan, immerses viewers in a world of people who manifestly do not worship the Devil (or believe Satan is real) but do embrace the carnal, the temporal, and the indulgent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Programmers Basil Tsiokos and Sudeep Sharma discuss the documentary lineup for the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, including films about Frida Kahlo, Christopher Reeve, and a road trip movie with Will Ferrell and his friend Harper Steele, who came out as trans. And they talk about whether Sundance will see a resurgence of doc sales after last year’s sluggish acquisition market.  Learn more about your...

Directors Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers explore a hidden corner of Los Angeles in their Oscar-shortlisted short documentary ‘The Last Repair Shop,’ a place where dedicated professionals keep tens of thousands of musical instruments in perfect working order for the city’s public-school students. They share stories of these unsung technicians, and the kids whose lives are transformed by gaining acce...

Co-hosts John Ridley and Matt Carey react to the announcement of the Oscar documentary feature shortlist, parsing the snubs, surprises, and biggest takeaways. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director Amy Schatz and executive producers John Legend and Mike Jackson discuss their inspiring documentary 'Stand Up & Shout: Songs From a Philly High School,' about an innovative public school program where kids learn to write and record their own music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sheila Nevins, who has earned more than 30 Emmys in her incredible career, joins us to talk about making her directorial debut at age 84 with ‘The ABCs of Book Banning.’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Filmmaking teams behind 'Bad Press,' 'King Coal,' and 'Joonam' join Doc Talk to discuss their unusual alliance. They have banded together to launch a joint DIY For Your Consideration Oscar campaign. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon joins us to talk about her award-winning documentary ‘King Coal,’ a film that reframes our understanding of Central Appalachia where every aspect of life is permeated by coal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Five filmmakers, including Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams and Oscar nominee Nicole Newnham, join us from Amsterdam to talk about their documentaries playing at IDFA, the world's biggest doc film festival. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director Michael Kirk joins Doc Talk to discuss his Frontline investigative documentary on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginni Thomas. The Washington power couple has been making headlines repeatedly -- he for a failure to report lavish vacations paid for by wealthy Republican friends, and she for her efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Learn mor...

Filmmaker Dawn Porter joins Doc Talk to discuss ‘Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court,” her Showtime docuseries that explores how the High Court has gone from an institution perceived as rising above politics to one mired in left-right battles, with record-low approval ratings.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices