I am not so deluded as to think that the majority of people turn to a nice, juicy, critical analysis of a real-life topic in the form of a full-length film on a Friday night. I’m probably in the (very cool, very sophisticated) minority with my love of a good documentary. It’s pretty rare for me to find someone who shares my appreciation for a good talking head. (Not to be confused with the iconic David Byrne band). I have a friend who is my twin in many ways. In fact, we refer to each other as “my twin.” We once spent a night eating tacos, playing Dance, Dance, Revolution, and watching a cult documentary. The classic documentary structure is so ingrained in us that we don’t even notice it anymore. The lower thirds, the montages, the expert talking heads/family members/witnesses/celebrities. Of course, some documentaries do it better than others. The choice of subject is important, to start with. The ones that captivate my attention foray into a completely unexplored topic. Sure, I’ll catch the odd true crime documentary that’s trodding over familiar territory, but those ones have their own, unique appeal. In general, I want to know something I’ve never known before. The following documentaries are in our physical collection or we provide access to them through the Kanopy streaming app. They might not be the most flashy or spectacle-driven media in existence, but if you give one a chance, it might just prompt you to do your own deep dive into the granular detail of reality.
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and writer Jean-Thomas “Tomi” Ungerer. He emigrated from France to the United States in his twenties, and experienced the Golden age of advertising illustrations in NYC. He then stepped into children’s book industry, later flourished in creating political posters. It provides an overview of his creative career is visually and intellectually stimulating. Ungerer’s personal experience put the audience in perspective of his work. For instance, Ungere’s children’s books often have elements of fear, this is due to his childhood experience. This film is true to the artist’s creative process, which is influenced very much by what’s around him. It is amazing to see his journey pursuing what he is interested in, and at the same time, pushing the public’s boundary on the image of a children’s book author–Ungerer was in the middle of the controversy when he did erotic illustrations while famously known as a children’s book author, his books were banned from public libraries at one point.