As Hussain Currimbhoy sees it, this is a golden age for documentary filmmaking, a time when the criss-crossing narratives of the world tangle with audiences' growing suspicion over traditional media. The emergence of streaming services has also revolutionised distribution philosophy and connected doc-makers with audiences in ways unseen before, especially with audiences who once had little interest in documentary titles.
A documentary and VR programmer at Sundance Film Festival, Currimbhoy was in Bangkok recently on his Southeast Asian trip to watch films, give talks and connect with filmmakers in the region. Sundance may not be a stage where Thai or Southeast Asian films have shone, but it is known as an important launch pad for feature and documentary films that usually dominate the festival circuit and critical discussion. This January, Sundance premiered several new doc titles, including City Of Ghosts (about citizen journalists in Syria, which will be released in Bangkok soon), Tokyo Idols (about Japanese girl bands and their middle-aged male fans, which is now showing at SF CentralWorld), Joshua: Teenager vs Superpower (about the Hong Kong activist; available on Netflix), Dina (about a relationship between two people with Asperger's syndrome; here in a special screening last week) and many more.
Currimbhoy talks to us about trends in documentary films and why this is an exciting time for both documentarians and documentary fans.
What's your impression of this part of Asia based on your current trip?
There are definite movements here in the creative scene and in film circles, and I'm here to tap into what's happening. [Sundance Film Festival] last year showed Apichatpong Weerasethakul's film Cemetery Of Splendour, and this year we had Pop Aye, a Singaporean film shot in Thailand. So whether documentary or fiction or VR works, I want to get a sense of what happens in the context of the country a film is being made in.
Sundance is a champion of documentary films. Meanwhile, in Thailand, we've seen more documentary titles in the cinemas. What's your take on the people's perception of documentary and the market outlook for it?
I think it's an incredibly exciting time for documentary films for various reasons. One is technology. Right now there's all the means at all the levels -- from coming up with ideas to production and distribution -- that make it way easier to get your film seen by audiences. Because of technology -- because of the rise of Netflix, Amazon and Apple -- there's a real hunger for documentary films that are cinematic and original and that translate to all kinds of audiences.
Hussain Currimbhoy. Photo: Kong Rithdee
So streaming services are the main force causing this disruption?
A big part of this revolution is the streaming services. But it's also a cultural phenomenon. This is a time when there's a different connection between people and the media -- the print media, TV, newspapers, whatever -- but this connection is changing. People are unclear what the truth is, and they're looking for other perspectives. Usually we make our decisions through our religion, our friends, our culture, our tribalism, but more people are looking outside of that. They say, 'What's really going on? How is the world being formed today?'. They say, 'I can't trust the media, I can't trust tribalism anymore', and sometimes documentaries can fill that void. That can't be stopped, because people want to have more information about the world, and documentary films are fulfilling in that role.
And they also expand the general interest in documentary.
Say, with Netflix, if your film gets bought by them, you have 100 million [potential] viewers [subscribers of the service], and that's incredible. Usually, to have an audience of a few hundreds for a documentary [in a screening], it's like, 'Yes!'. But 100 million can really define a movie, and it really challenges the cultural notion and preconceived ideas about a subject. People who're not documentary viewers can stumble across a film, because the access to documentaries is huge now. The idea of what a documentary film is, is shifting because of that.
Is there a difference between made-for-TV documentaries and those intended for cinemas?
Yes and no. Lots of great TV documentaries are greater on the cinema screen as well. A lot of what you see on streaming services are well-shot and they look beautiful in the cinemas. Look at the O.J. Simpson TV series; it's so well done, such a compelling, well-crafted story. That works on TV and also on cinema. Or the documentary on Joshua Wong [which was shown at Sundance and is now on Netflix]. A lot of films Sundance has shown have been co-produced by broadcasters. If it's good, it's good. I'm not too bothered by the format.
You mentioned before about how people are unclear what truth is and that's why documentaries can fulfil that role. But documentary isn't always a truthful observation of an event. It has its own way of managing reality and truth.
In documentary there has always been re-enactment and a manipulation of reality. The moment you point a camera at something, there's a decision behind that, and that decision can be linked to politics or culture. What I think documentary films are doing now is using cinematic techniques to look for emotional truth, as opposed to factual, cold, hard truth. In the UK in the 80s, when you saw a documentary on TV, and if it's a re-enacted scene, there's text saying it's re-enacted. I don't think we need that any more. Audiences are more sophisticated, more informed and more able to think for themselves, to watch and feel what the truth is. It doesn't always work. It can be distracting or destructive, or used as propaganda -- but for the most part, it can change your point of view, open a door in your mind you didn't know was there. And what you want to do about it is up to you.
Recommend five documentary titles we should see this year.
Icarus, about doping in sports [available on Netflix]. Machines, a documentary from India [about workers in a textile factory]. Tickled, which is about a tickling competition, but then it takes you somewhere else you didn't expect. Lo And Behold, Reveries Of The Connected World, a very good one from Weber Herzog. And Hypernormalisation by Adam Curtis [available on YouTube].
