Subject’s release is finally approaching, with a special Q&A Tour around the UK from 17th February and releasing in cinemas nationwide on 3rd March. The new Dogwoof documentary explores the life-altering experience of sharing one’s life on screen through key participants of acclaimed documentaries The Staircase, Hoop Dreams, The Wolfpack, Capturing the Friedmans, and The Square. These erstwhile documentary “stars” reveal the highs and lows of their experiences as well as the everyday realities of having their lives put under a microscope. Also featuring commentary from such influential names in the doc world as Kirsten Johnson, Sam Pollard, Thom Powers and Sonya Childress, the film unpacks vital issues around the ethics and responsibility inherent in documentary filmmaking. As tens of millions of people consume documentaries in an unprecedented "golden era," Subject urges audiences to consider the often profound impact on their participants.
Discover the five featured documentaries and let us know how many you have watched by completing our Letterboxd List!
THE STAIRCASE
The Staircase is about Michael Peterson, a crime novelist who is accused of killing his wife Kathleen after she is found dead at the bottom of a staircase in their home. As the investigation continues, the family is thrown into a tumultuous legal battle. Meanwhile, a French documentary team takes an interest in the story.
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HOOP DREAMS
An Oscar™-nominated film and one of the most widely discussed and well-received documentaries of the decade, Hoop Dreams chronicles the universal process of growing up, coming of age, the love and conflict between fathers and sons, brothers, best friends and spouses. Hoop Dreams tells the remarkable true story of two American dreamers plucked from poverty and given the opportunity to attend a suburban prep school and play for a legendary high school basketball coach. These two young men soon discover how easily their dreams of basketball glory can become obscured amid the intense pressures of academics, family life, economics and athletic competitiveness. But in the end, both boys fight to remain focused on their dream, no matter how hard tragedy strikes or how desperate their situation becomes.
THE WOLFPACK
Locked away from society in an apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the Angulo brothers learn about the outside world through the films that they watch. Nicknamed, 'The Wolfpack,' the brothers spend their childhood reenacting their favorite films using elaborate homemade props and costumes. Their world is shaken up when one of the brothers decides to revisit the outside world and everything changes.
Capturing the Friedmans
Capturing the Friedmans is a 2003 HBO documentary film directed by Andrew Jarecki. It focuses on the 1980s investigation of Arnold and Jesse Friedman for child molestation. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2003.Some of the Friedmans' alleged victims and family members wrote to the Awards Committee, protesting the nomination.
The Square
From director Jehane Noujaim ("Control Room"; "Startup.com"; "Rafea: Solar Mama") and producer Karim Amer ("Rafea: Solar Mama"), The Square follows Magdy, a member of the Muslim brotherhood, Khalid Abdalla, an Egyptian actor who played the lead in "The Kite Runner" and the charismatic Ahmed, each young activists who have sought for the last two years to build a better Egypt. Armed with nothing more than cameras, social media, deep consciousness, and a resolute commitment to change, the film captures the immediacy and intensity of the protests in Tahrir Square.
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