Early this year, I was invited to attend the True/False Film Festival. It was my first time going to the festival, now in its 10th year, and I was curious after hearing good things about the weekend event, which celebrates the best in documentary filmmaking (not to mention the occasional fiction film that also studies the relationship between truth and fiction). I reviewed several films for Screen International during my time there, and now for Paste I have a lengthy rundown of my time in Columbia, Missouri. A combination of first-person account and critical analysis, this piece looks at the current state of nonfiction film, festival culture and the experience of having my family with me during the festival. I hope you enjoy.
And while I'm at it, here's my ranking of the films from True/False, including those I saw during the festival and ones I screened in advance. Links lead to individual reviews...
15. Computer Chess
14. I Am Breathing
13. Which Way Is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington
12. The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear
11. Twenty Feet From Stardom
10. Blackfish
9. Dirty Wars
8. After Tiller
7. The Last Station
6. No
5. Sweetgrass
4. The Gatekeepers
3. Cutie and the Boxer
2. Stories We Tell
1. Leviathan
