Westdoc Online

Here is an episode of Westdoc Online with Chuck Braverman that is an interview with the director of the documentary "The Only Girl in the Orchestra" about Orin O'Brien, the first full time member and a double bassist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

An interview with defense council Dean Strang. A Netflix Documentary and true crime story.

An interview with the director of "Being Mary Tyler Moore," a documentary about the Emmy award winning actress and women's rights activist.

An interview with the director of the documentary "Introducing Selma Blair," a documentary about her fight with Multiple Sclerosis and a stem cell replacement surgery.

An interview with Thom Powers, the Programmer at the Toronto International Film Festival.

An interview with the director of the documentary that tells the story of an alleged lost painting from Leonardo DaVinci.

CEO of Jukin Media discusses how he took home videos from other people and turned it into a multi million dollar business.

The story of a wheelchair bound online World of Warcraft gamer who lived his life through a character in Azeroth making friends all across Europe and bringing joy to his life.

An interview with the directors of The Big Conn, the largest Social Security scam in history. They also talk about the McDonald's fraud for the Monopoly game.

An interview with the director of the documentary "I am Richard Pryor."

Director Benjamin Ree and Executive Producer Morgan Neville discuss the documentary "The Painter and the Thief," as story of an unlikely friendship that occurred after an art thief was arrested.

Director Marina Zenovich discusses her documentary "What do Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, Roman Polanski, and ESPN have in common?" and other highlights of her career. 

An interview with the director of the documentary "Belushi," R.J. Cutler. Cutler discusses the making of that film and others.

Director Tim Wardle discusses the making of the documentary "Three Identical Strangers," a story about triplets who were separated at birth and only found each other as adults.

Cameraman Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough directs his first feature documentary and it's a doozy. His cinema vérité crew spent five years in Baltimore, following our other guest Mayor Brandon Scott, an idealistic young leader with an ambitious plan to stop chronic violence. Recorded December 7, 2024. Throughout his first year in office, he fights powerful political forces to save lives in Baltimore...

Peruvian born Gutiérrez speaks with Westdoc about her own connection with Kahlo’s art - as a woman, an artist, and a Latina  - her struggle with learning English as a teen, and the importance of using Kahlo’s own words, in Spanish, for the film’s narration.  FRIDA the documentary is available on Amazon Prime.

Producer Director Raoul Peck in a conversation about the making of his new feature documetary ERNEST COLE: LOST AND FOUND, the injustices of apartheid, the grueling necessity of film promotion, the connections between all stories, cinema’s death-by-streaming, and the need to sometime self-finance. 32 minutes, recorded November 19, 2024.

Christopher Reeve played the Man of Steel in four films, but his real superpowers didn’t emerge until after his tragic accident. Filmmakers Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, who made Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, speak with Westdoc about their long journey to get the film made, Reeve’s family and their personal memories, clearance, licensing, financing and the essence of documentary charac...

Four extraordinary artists — an older couple moving toward the end, a younger couple chronicling the journey — come together to make "Two Strangers Trying Not To Kill Each Other." Filmmakers Jacob Perlmutter and Manon Ouimet spent a year living with world famous photographer Joel Meyerowitz and his wife writer Maggie Barrett, resulting in an exquisite cinéma vérité of tremendous depth and intimacy...

In this conversation with Westdoc’s Chuck Braverman, Annie Roney discusses her extensive experience in the documentary film industry, particularly through her global distribution company Roco Films. She elaborates on the difficult challenges faced today in documentary distribution, both foreign and domestic, the launch of the In Real Life Movie Club aimed at fostering community engagement through...

Documentary filmmaker Marc Marriott directs his first scripted feature film and discusses the challenges of a very low budget and short shooting schedule. The film is charming, funny, and beautifully shot by cinematographer Oscar Jimenez. “This is a story about finding untapped reservoirs of courage and empathy from your own culture, while also reaching out and connecting with others. Highlighting...

In the year that has passed since the brutal Hamas attack of October 7, families grieve for lost love ones, other families pray for the return of hostages, and a sympathetic movement has arisen for the Palestinians of Gaza. The horror of the attack, told in first-person video accounts, unfolds in director Yariv Mozer’s profound documentary, We Will Dance Again. Westdoc talks with Mozer, along with...

DAYTIME REVOLUTION chronicles one week in 1972 when John Lennon and Yoko Ono co-hosted the most popular show on daytime TV, bringing together iconic leaders of the cultural, musical, and political revolution. Producer/director Erik Nelson found the old video, restored it beautifully, and created this powerful feature doc. A return guest on Westdoc, with Chuck Braverman he talked about the three es...

The HBO Original two-part documentary WISE GUY David Chase and The Sopranos directed by Academy Award®-winner Alex Gibney (HBO’s “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief” and “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley”) debuts SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. 25 years after the show first debuted, HBO’s paradigm-shifting series “...

Producer Director JEFF ZIMBALIST has two terrific documentaries released at the same time. HOW TO COME ALIVE with NORMAN MAILER explores the rollercoaster life of America’s most controversial and bestselling author of the 20th Century. Propelled by his tremendous ego and contrarian spirit, Mailer’s ceaseless visibility in the public eye lasted 6 decades, during which he had 6 tumultuous marriages,...