The Documentary Makers

Book excerpt: A series of in-their-own-words interviews with 15 directors whose work has, in some way, extended the boundary of the documentary. They constitute a tiny proportion of those working in the field, but they represent the state of the documentary across the world -- from the limited resources of China's only independent director with no access to his nation's television, to the big budget series that attract tens of millions of American viewers. Some will only work on film, with all its paraphernalia of moviemaking, while others insist on working alone with nothing more than a Handicam. Some question, even abhor, the use of commentary, others wouldn't dream of doing without. Some work by the rules of cinema verite, and some use dramatization while still labeling their work "documentary". Regardless of the where and the how, they all seek to reproduce reality -- whatever that might be. Book jacket.