Other than his work on Nehring The Edge and Australia’s best web site It’s A Matter of Opinion Scott Nehring spends his time teaching film and raising two boys. Scott has a background in theatre and film and produced in both mediums. While he’s always looking for another writing gig, he’s currently working on a Bible Study program concentrating on film.
Simon Owens: When doing film reviews, do you ever focus on documentaries? What are some of the best documentaries you’ve seen recently?
Scott Nehring: Absolutely. Documentaries tend to be thrown aside like used Kleenex in favor of fictional pieces in our culture. This is a mistake since this type of film often has the ability to connect with the audience in a way a regular narrative piece is incapable of doing. The problem with many documentaries is that the filmmaker often gets in the way of their subject (in the case of Michael Moore, I’m certain he gets in the way of many things.) Many times this is due to an egotictic filmmaker who is unable to contain their desire to be the star instead of just the filmmaker (Fahrenheit 9/11
, Super Size Me, Grizzly Man.) While the filmmaker often makes appearances in their film out of necessity, I think we’re seeing more and more documentary filmmakers inserting themselves out of ego. This is proportional to the number of hack pieces that have been made as of late. If I see another hyper-political piece with no regard to facts or actually documenting anything other than the filmmaker’s myopia I’m going to spew.
I just used myopia in a sentence. Who the hell do I think I am? Myopia? I’m starting to read like a Gore Vidal Word-A-Day Calendar.
Back to your question. Recently, I watched two documentaries that blew me away. Born into Brothels and Murderball. The first focuses on children growing up in the slums of India as they wait to become old enough to join the lines of prostitutes working outside their homes. The latter is about the American full-contact wheelchair rugby team at the Paralympic Games. The films are entirely different in subject and style, obviously. The two productions, when put next to one another show the wide expanse of the form. Born Into Brothels is a quiet, and deeply moving film shot with cheap cameras on the fly. We are taken to a place normally hidden from the view of the international community and meet people we’d never otherwise know existed. Conversely, Murderball is a big explosion of a film. There are plenty of set up interviews, pre-ordained events that are shot (the competitions) and the personal dramas are played out in the open on the international stage. The films couldn’t be more different. What they do have in common is a strong focus on their subject and a willingness to let the stories speak for themselves. We are confronted with needless taunts of politics, and there are no self-promoting showboats. Both films simply offer a look at humanity.
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