Welcome to ‘Doctober’: 12 documentaries that have the world buzzing
By Zoe Sottile, CNN
(CNN) — People lined up from early morning for the slim chance they might get a first public view of “You Can See Everything,” Nathan Fielder’s top-secret Elizabeth Holmes documentary, which held a sold out premiere in New York on Wednesday before heading to theaters in two weeks.
One lucky person had a ticket — a subpar seat, near the back — that they had to get rid of because of a childcare commitment. They dropped the news into a Discord chat organized for the New York Film Festival, where the documentary was showing after a surprise peek at Telluride in September. The seller was swarmed, first by dozens, then eventually over 200 people. They organized a raffle, streamed live on YouTube — the interest was too much to handle.
The hype has been building online for weeks. A short clip of Fielder opposite Holmes has racked up nearly 8 million views on YouTube since it was released alongside the Telluride showing and immediately entered the zeitgeist, memed nearly to death. Ask people what they can’t wait to see this October, and it’s probably at the top of their list.
“You Can See Everything,” a collaboration between Fielder and documentary wunderkind Lance Oppenheim, is one of several docs that have grabbed the cultural conversation in recent weeks, ranging from features tackling human rights or beloved musicians to experimental fan favorites. That’s in addition to high-profile documentary series streaming about Jay-Z and the late “Friends” actor Matthew Perry, respectively. Are we living through a documentary renaissance? Call it … Doctober.
You can read the documentary glut as one response to a world where nothing feels real. In an AI-inundated world, “we’re teetering on the precipice of the uncanny valley,” said documentary filmmaker Christopher Chambers, who’s prepping to release human rights doc “A Fire Within.” “We’re in this abyss and we all want to feel something real. I think nothing brings us closer to that feeling that something is real and something is true than documentary.”
That doesn’t mean it’s an easy time to be a documentary filmmaker.
“Raising money for documentaries is extremely difficult,” said Chambers. But when a big doc gets buzz, like the “Tiger King” craze of 2020, “it creates within the minds of investors, but even more importantly, in the minds of buyers, the idea that there’s an audience for this.”
Here are some of the documentaries we’re excited about this fall:
“You Can See Everything”
Just a month before she was set to report for prison, disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes invited the man who’s made social awkwardness an art form into her home. The result is perhaps the year’s most-hyped doc.
“The History of Concrete”
John Wilson’s essayistic feature debut tackles the subject of documentary-making directly by tracking his maddening struggle to secure funding, even after he achieved relatively mainstream success on HBO.
As much as it wanders, Wilson’s movie is rooted in a celebration of reality — marked by episodes weirder than the strangest AI deepfake, moments that “you can’t predict or even write,” Wilson said in an interview.
And people are into it. The film “has blown past all our expectations,” with the biggest premiere for a documentary ever at NYC’s IFC Center, the theater’s vice president Harris Dew said. For Wilson, the success of a film largely dismissed by mainstream funders is a sign that viewers are eager for films that break the mold.
“People should try to experiment and make weird stuff because I think everyone is so tired of the same stuff out there,” he said.
“Musk”
Alex Gibney’s four-hour survey of the life and failures of the world’s wealthiest man moved up its theatrical premiere to October 9 due to high demand. The film has relatively little new to add to the barrage of reporting journalists have undertaken over the past few years on Elon Musk’s financial failures and pursuit of power. It is most successful as an archival document. When Elon has brought us all to Mars, people will watch this documentary for the definitive account of how we got there.
“NAZA”
Featuring interviews with anonymous members of the Israeli military speaking about systems used to target civilians in Gaza en masse, “NAZA” is this year’s festival favorite, opening at Venice to a record-breaking 25-minute ovation. The film — executive produced by “Zone of Interest” director Jonathan Glazer — has drawn widespread acclaim and also prompted Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu to threaten to revoke the citizenship of its two Israeli directors, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor (who, alongside Palestinian filmmakers Basel Adran and Hamdan Ballall, were part of the team behind the Oscar-winning “No Other Land”).
“Barbara Forever”
When director Brydie O’Connor pitched “Barbara Forever,” a documentary about avant-garde lesbian filmmaker Barbara Hammer, one network executive told her it was difficult to fund documentaries whose contents fell outside the “three C’s”: cults, crime and celebrity. But the film has been more successful than O’Connor ever expected, winning awards at Sundance and the Berlinale.
“It makes me so hopeful for the future of documentary filmmaking because I think it shows that there’s an appetite,” O’Connor said in an interview. “The reception for this film, for ‘Barbara Forever,’ is like hope in itself.”
“My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile”
If “My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow” was not enough for you, at nearly six hours long, fear not: Director Julia Loktev has released a part two, also nearly six hours long. A cinema verite exploration of independent journalists in Russia facing increasing authoritarianism amid the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the subject is worthy, even if the runtime is a cinephile crime.
“Clown Panic”
Remember when creepy clowns took over the suburbs? Hulu does, and it’s ready to remind you with a doc trailer that looks more like that of a horror film.
“Once Upon a Time in Harlem”
In 1972, the last surviving participants of the Harlem Renaissance got together at Duke Ellington’s Harlem townhouse. What transpired hasn’t been seen until now, with a father-son collaboration that’s been 50 years in the making.
“Making Marie Antoinette”
Two decades ago, Sofia Coppola’s frothy pastel reimagining of the life of Marie Antoinette splashed onto the big screen and never really left. Coppola’s depiction of the loneliness and confusion of a young woman put on display still resonates today — perhaps even more so in our hyper-documented world. This behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of the film is composed of footage by the late Eleanor Coppola, Sofia’s mother.
“Cameron Winter at Carnegie Hall”
How do you follow up taking home the Oscars for best picture and best director? If you’re Paul Thomas Anderson, it’s by documenting emerging rock darling Cameron Winter, the frontman of Geese, as he takes on a solo show at New York City’s most prestigious venue.
“Norm: The Tale of Norm MacDonald”
Comedian on comedian: Judd Apatow takes on the life of the late comedian Norm MacDonald, who died in 2021. The Netflix doc is largely based on archival footage of the comic’s many performances.
“Don’t Look Back in Anger”
The Oasis doc reportedly offers few answers about what preceded the Gallagher brothers’ long-awaited reunion tour. But it does feature a lot of gorgeous concert footage, brought to you by the team behind the LCD Soundsystem concert film “Shut Up and Play the Hits.” You just gotta roll with it.
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