Subjective Realities is an ebook that explores the art of creative nonfiction film, the spectrum between fiction and nonfiction in documentary filmmaking, also known as hybrid documentaries and experimental documentaries.
Subjective realities:
The art of creative nonfiction film
Explore the spectrum between fiction and nonfiction in documentary filmmaking
This ebook is available as a PDF and ePub.
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Why we wrote the book
About
Subjective realities
Discover how ‘creative nonfiction’ documentaries, otherwise known as hybrid or experimental documentaries, push the boundaries of what we traditionally conceive of documentary to be.
Subjective realities is a six part ebook composed of interviews and essays. Discover the myriad forms of nonfiction filmmaking, from animation to archival and beyond, and find out what funding structures exist to make them possible.
Subjective realities focuses on how the past ten years have changed the course of nonfiction filmmaking. Creative approaches to the medium have become more mainstream; for example, animated documentaries (e.g., Flee) and personal documentaries (e.g., Dick Johnson is Dead) are increasingly being programmed alongside more traditional documentaries and receiving wider releases.
Whether you’re a nonfiction fanatic, or a skeptic who’s tired of watching boring info dump docs, Subjective realities will be an eye-opening read.
This is our second book on nonfiction filmmaking; the first is In their own words: Documentary Masters.
Discover exclusive behind-the-scenes artifacts from the films in the book
In addition to in-depth interviews with the filmmakers, the book will take you behind the scenes, visually, with photos from the set, as well as excerpts from the scripts and storyboards.
Director’s notes from Ninth Floor
Behind-the-scenes still of cinematographer Franklin Dow on Evelyn
Behind-the-scenes stills of Still Processing
Behind-the-scenes still from Searchers
What is documentary vs. creative nonfiction?
The films and filmmakers in Subjective realities defy easy classification. Here’s how some of the filmmakers featured think of their films and the terms we have for nonfiction film.
“With documentary, you’re making some kind of pact with the audience about the type of creative license you either are or aren’t taking.”
-Penny Lane, director of NUTS!, Our Nixon, and Hail Satan?
“Nonfiction’ still feels to me like… what is that? The negatively defined thing.”
-Kirsten Johnson, director of Dick Johnson is Dead
“Is Little Ethiopia creative nonfiction? Yeah, I can see that. Is it nonfiction is another question, just based on [the fact that] some things are fabricated. It is definitely based on truthful things.”
-Joe Bini, director of Little Ethiopia
READ: What is creative nonfiction? >>
READ: The case for Bo Burnham: Inside as creative nonfiction >>
READ: Learning about nonfiction isn’t just for documentary fans >>
Table of contents for Subjective realities: The art of creative nonfiction film
Explore the spectrum between fiction and nonfiction in documentary filmmaking
Part 1: What is creative nonfiction?
- An introduction to creative nonfiction with Penny Lane and Carol Nguyen
- How do you classify your nonfiction film?
Case study: Funding nonfiction
- United States: Tabitha Jackson on Sundance’s Art of Nonfiction Initiative
- Canada: Executive Producer David Christensen on producing at the National Film Board of Canada
Part 2: Where is the line between fiction and reality?
- ‘Documentary is contradiction, period’: Robert Greene on fictionalising nonfiction
- Embracing auto fiction: Merawi Gerima on Residue (2020)
- Arabian Nights (2015) and the director self insert
- Sofia Bohdanowicz on turning grief into cinema in Point and Line to Plane (2020)
- Kirsten Johnson on filming life and staging death in Dick Johnson is Dead (2020)
Case study: Animated nonfiction filmmaking
- Leanne Pooley on 25 April (2015), an impressionistic recreation of Gallipoli
- Tomasz Wolski on bringing telephone recordings to life through stop motion in 1970 (2021)
- Jonas Poher Rasmussen on animating memory in Flee (2021)
- Félix Dufour-Laperrière on deconstructing archival footage through animation in Archipelago (2021
Part 3: How can nonfiction reframe and reclaim history?
- Reclaiming Black Canadian history: Cheryl Foggo on John Ware Reclaimed (2020)
- Mina Shum on past and present racism in Canada in Ninth Floor (2015)
- Innovating the talking head doc in Ava Duvernay’s 13th
- Reclaiming transmasculine history: Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt on No Ordinary Man (2020)
- Marie Clements on recounting Indigenous history through musical numbers in The Road Forward (2015)
Part 4: How can nonfiction paint a portrait of a person?
- Joe Bini on editing with Werner Herzog’s documentary character studies
- Gillian Armstrong on capturing the vibrant wit of costume designer Orry-Kelly in Women He’s Undressed (2015)
- No set truth: How the casting conceit embraces ambiguity
- ‘He cannot tell his story in an easy way’: Eliane Raheb on Miguel’s War (2021)
- Pacho Velez on Searchers (2021), a portrait of New York City through its online daters
- ‘Once again without you’: Chantal Akerman’s portraits of the lonely artist in News from Home (1977) and No Home Movie (2015)
- Self-portrait of the artist through her desktop: An interview with Chloé Galibert-Laîné
Part 5: Does nonfiction filmmaking have the power to heal?
- Sophy Romvari on Still Processing (2020) and processing her grief through film
- ‘You need to make the film only you can make’: Mira Burt-Wintonick on Wintopia (2020)
- Orlando von Einsiedel on making Evelyn (2018) to confront his family’s grief
- Evelyn cinematographer Franklin Dow on facilitating the grieving process through technical innovation
- ‘Talk therapy can only go so far; you have to act things out’: An interview with Robert Greene on Procession (2021) and his career
Part 6: Can creative nonfiction change our conception of cinema?
- ‘I don’t think we’ve scratched the surface of what forms are possible’: Joe Bini on Little Ethiopia
- ‘There are tons and tons of ways for moving images to exist and be seen’: Zia Anger on My First Film
Films featured in Subjective realities: The art of creative nonfiction film
Hover over the still for the film title and a list of accolades received.
Dick Johnson is Dead (2020); Winner, Critics’ Choice, Best Documentary
No Ordinary Man (2020); Winner, Best Feature New Visions Award, Montreal International Documentary Festival
Residue (2020); Winner of the John Cassavetes Award, Film Independent Spirit Awards
John Ware Reclaimed (2020); Nominee, Best Documentary, Writers Guild of Canada
Point and Line to Plane (2020); Selected at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival and 2020 Festival du Nouveau Cinema
Still Processing (2020); Selected at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival and 2020 Indie Memphis Film Festival
Flee (2021); Winner, Grand Jury Prize World Cinema Documentary, Sundance Film Festival; Winner, Grand Angel Audience Award, Nyon Visions du Réel; Winner, Best Feature (Cristal), Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
Ninth Floor (2015); Nominee, All King Award for Excellence in Documentary, Directors Guild of Canada
The Road Forward (2017); Winner, Best Director, American Indian Movie Award
Women He’s Undressed (2015); Nominee, Best Documentary, Australian Film Critics Association Awards
Miguel’s War (2021); Teddy Award, Berlinale
Searchers (2021); Winner, Best Documentary Feature, Sun Valley Film Festival
Wintopia (2019); Selected at HotDocs 2020
Evelyn (2018); Winner, Best Documentary, British Independent Film Award
How to buy Subjective realities: The art of creative nonfiction film
The ebook will be delivered to you as both an ePub and PDF, which are readable on all tablets, smart phones, and eReaders.
Purchase the ebook now for $29.99 USD.
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