2186 films
And a new one every day
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of true documentary lovers
Half of all revenue goes
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Documentary cinema does not live only on screens. It also lives in inboxes.
Every week, thousands of filmmakers, producers, programmers, journalists and documentary lovers receive curated newsletters that summarize the most important developments in nonfiction storytelling. From festival announcements and funding opportunities to deep reflections about the craft of documentary filmmaking, these newsletters have become essential tools for anyone who wants to stay connected to the global documentary ecosystem.
Some focus on industry news and financing. Others offer thoughtful criticism and curated recommendations of films to watch. Together they form a fascinating map of how the documentary world thinks, produces and evolves.
Here are some of the most influential documentary newsletters in the world today.
The Woman Who Wasn’t There by Angelo Guglielmo (2012)
The Woman Who Wasn’t There tells the story of a girl who managed to escape from the 78th floor of the World Trade Center. Of all the survivors of the 9/11 attacks, her story is the most harmful one, because she made it up completely.
Cropsey by Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio (2010)
For decades, children growing up in the state of New York have heard the legend of Cropsey a mysterious murderer who takes children who misbehave. The directors of this best horror documentary, which have also grown in New York, went to the streets to find the origins of this children’s fable. And what they ended up finding was even scarier than the legend itself.
Capturing the Friedmans by Andrew Jarecki (2003)
Perhaps, this is the best known of the three, Jury Prize at Sundance 2003 and 2004 Oscar nominee (The Fog of War won that year, bad). Capturing the Friedmans is the story of a “typical” upper middle class American family in the eighties. One day, the father, a computer science teacher, is surprised possessing child porn, so the police opens an investigation to determine whether he has also harassed students. The film follows the trial of the Friedmans and plays with the audience in a battle between perception and truth.
If you haven’t seen it yet, we don’t know what you’re doing reading this article.
2186 films
And a new one every day
The preferred platform
of true documentary lovers
Half of all revenue goes
directly to the filmmakers
