Doc Corner: Gianfranco Rosi's 'In Viaggio'

By Glenn Dunks

I will be honest with you. I initially had no real desire to watch In Viaggio: The Travels of Pope Francis. I believe my words were “because of the whole pope thing”, which I personally think is entirely fair. Especially after another European filmmaker, Wim Wenders, had his own Pope Francis doc not too long ago. It does, however, prove to be a much more interesting than initial perceptions would have suggested. And, to be honest, director Gainfranco Rosi—a director whose work only seems to be getting better and better (which is saying quite a lot)—deserves better than a ‘thanks, but no thanks.’ After all, I don’t think any other filmmaker can claim both a Golden Bear and a Golden Lion for works of non-fiction.

Rosi’s film is not the immersive experience that recent works like Notturno and Fire at Sea were, but it was probably never going to be. Reset expectations then, and we have In Viaggio, a surprising documentary built almost entirely out of archival footage as Pope Francis jet-sets around the world. Again, it’s better than it sounds.

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SXSW: The Impact of the Pandemic on "Food and Country"

by Abe Friedtanzer

There are many ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed the world. Among the hardest-hit industries has been food, with in-person restaurants closed for an extended period of time and many typically available items scarcely found throughout the early months of the pandemic. The road to recovery has been a difficult one and has sadly forced many longtime establishments to shutter permanently. Festival Favorite documentary Food and Country, stopping at SXSW after its premiere at Sundance, looks at the deeper history of food in America and the tectonic shift that has recently happened.

Food writer Ruth Reichl is the guide for this educational journey, one that starts decades ago when quick cooking was advertised as the new hot thing...

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SXSW: Fighting for ALS Care in "No Ordinary Campaign"

by Abe Friedtanzer

There are many diseases and medical conditions that may be known by name to a large percentage of the public without there being any true understanding of what they are. One of the most prominent is ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neurodegenerative disease with an unpromising life expectancy for those diagnosed. As the stirring new documentary No Ordinary Campaign explores, there is much that can be done to combat ALS, but there are important changes required within the system to help offer hope to those who are currently facing a death sentence.

At the center of No Ordinary Campaign is Brian Wallach, who met his wife Sandra while working on President Barack Obama’s campaign and was diagnosed with ALS at age thirty-seven...

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SXSW: The High Cost of Insulin in ‘Pay or Die’

By Abe Friedtanzer

It should surprise virtually no one that there are tremendous issues with the healthcare system in the United States today, and that pharmaceutical and insurance companies are a big part of those problems. The award-winning limited series Dopesick showed just how detrimental the prescription of excessively powerful drugs can be. A new documentary premiering at SXSW, Pay or Die, looks at another side of the coin: the exorbitant cost of medication necessary to a person’s survival and the dire consequences of falling short…

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Oscar Volley: Best Documentary Feature captures the real world

Team Experience is teaming up to discuss each Oscar category. Here's Glenn Dunks and Baby Clyde...

GLENN: Hi Baby Clyde, are you ready to talk documentaries? I just published my best documentaries of the year feature here at The Film Experience so I am ready to tie this year's world on non-fiction in a bow.

Will Laura Poitras win a second Oscar to go with her Golden Lion?

First things first, what do you think of this year's batch of nominees for Best Documentary Feature? As is pretty common for this category as of late, I don't think there's a bad film in the bunch, with a good coverage of American and international fare. It's a line-up that even has the added bonus of featuring the best documentary of the year in its ranks (that would be Laura Poitras' All the Beauty and the Bloodshed). Last time that happened was just two years back with Collective so the category, for me, continues to remain strong and getting stronger as the number of contenders rises and rises...

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