Subjective truth: Subject

DOCS: Some of the biggest non-fiction films of the past years go under the microscope, investigating the ethics of documenting trauma. As a film journo who’s spent the past half-decade interviewing the characters (or protagonists – as I’ve had a prickly aversion to the word «subject» since long before its colonialist connotation became generally accepted) in front of the nonfiction lens for my «Doc Star of the Month» column at Documentary magazine, Jennifer Tiexiera, and Camilla Hall’s Subject was a no-brainer to catch. And lucky for me, the tongue-in-cheek-titled film, world-premiering in the Documentary Competition at the 2022 Tribeca Festival (June 8-19), turned out to be one of those rare selections that actually lives up to its «essential viewing» synopsis hype. Tiexiera and Hall, who met at Tribeca Festival 2017 (with the premieres of A Suitable Girl and Copwatch, respectively), have now joined forces to highlight the highs and lows of the real-life, flesh-and-blood folks who’ve put their mental, physical, and emotional health on the line in five of the genre’s highest-profile (sometimes controversial) docs: The Staircase, Hoop Dreams, The Wolfpack, Capturing the Friedmans, and The Square; while also interviewing a wide array of insightful academics, experts and, most notably, fellow documentary directors (though, in the smartest of twists, none behind the aforementioned quintet).

To read my entire essay visit Modern Times Review.