Fog of Truth

In this special episode of 'The Fog of Truth', hosts Bart John and Justina discuss the current state and future of documentaries, while recording together in Dallas for the first time. They talk about the attendance and challenges at regional film festivals, the shift towards streaming, the types of documentaries that succeed, and the impact of socio-political climates on documentary viewership. The conversation also touches upon the role of publicists, the importance of eventizing documentary screenings, and the potential threats from political changes. Despite the challenges, they express hope for the future of documentaries and stress the need for communities to support and engage with documentary films. Introduction and ReunionWelcome to a very, very special episode of The Fog of Truth.... Discussing the State of DocumentariesWhat do you think about the year 2024 in documentary?... Audience Engagement and Festival AttendanceOh, John, let me ask you a question, since you brought up that you, um, work with a lot of regional.... Challenges in Documentary DistributionAnd all of that is absolutely true.... Impact of Social Media on Documentary ConsumptionI, I think what feeds that for me now is social media.... The Importance of Visual StorytellingWhen we get our dose of what's true from TikTok and social media and not from documentaries and, and, and that's context.... Diversity in Documentary ProductionI. Um, there's another kind of interesting thing to talk about in terms of, you know, the current state of documentary and there, there are, as anybody who judges at regional festivals, there are many, many, many, many documentaries at many different budget levels.... The Struggle of Selling Award-Winning FilmsLike, you know, archival footage and some sit down interviews and what have you, but how it was presented was, was slick and amazing.... The Importance of Entertainment Value in DocumentariesYou know, uh, uh, you know, and there, and there are other, but I think again, we are in a time where at the entertainment value, it's really the onus is on the filmmakers.... Opportunities for Women in Documentary FilmmakingAnd also, you know, as, as a woman, uh, in filmmaking, there is, uh, a danger here because the ratio of, uh, women filmmakers in narrative film is very low still.... The Future of Documentary: Engaging AudiencesAnd, and I think part of this, if we think about the future of documentary and if we want a future documentary is, is we have to learn how to get people excited about it.... Creating Events Around DocumentariesMore and more we're seeing, you know, that, that even with documentaries, you know, we talked about this in narrative films all the time, that you need to create an event.... The Role of Impact ProducersWell, and, and, and we're seeing more and more what we call impact producers.... Challenges in Documentary FundingSomething I, I wanna talk about this film called No Other Land, which is a film about, um, uh, it's a Palestinian who's whose, um, small town is being destroyed over and over again by the Israeli government in a really harsh and ugly, wet manner.... The Role of Regional Film FestivalsHere's an interesting thing also, is that this brings us around to something that, you know, I'm constantly, you know, singing out this, the, the, you know, the, the, this song of, um, the Business Benefit of the Regional Film Festival tour.... Hopes for the Future of DocumentariesUh, last year we all got exhausted and didn't wanna see anything at all....