Watergate, Aleppo & Facebook
10 years of extraordinary documentary films - Part 2 (2019)
Continuing my short series about the most impactful documentaries I've seen during a decade of attending Sheffield International Documentary Festival (DocFest), this week's article focuses exclusively on the exceptional films showcased in 2019.
As mentioned in the first post in the series, the nature of my own journalism work steers my choices towards documentaries about conflict, human rights, frontline journalism, and state corruption — but for each year I’ll also recommend a film or two that’s slightly different.
Watergate: One of the most absorbing political scandals in modern history
One of my all-time favourite films, and an influential one in my decision to become an investigative journalist, is All The President’s Men.
In the 1976 film, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford play journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they pursue an investigation into the Watergate scandal, which ultimately toppled the administration of US President Richard Nixon.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that a documentary on the same subject lasting more than four hours might be too much even for me.
But the combination of a story more compelling than fiction with the incredible archive of tape recordings President Nixon made of his conversations as the scandal unfolded means that Watergate never sags.
Directed by Charles Ferguson, the film provides a remarkable insight into the succession of political developments that eventually brought down the president. I could happily have watched another four hours.
For Sama: Essential viewing on Syria’s civil war
For Sama is one of the most powerful films I’ve ever seen. Directed by Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts, it was filmed over five years in Aleppo, Syria, during the Assad regime’s brutal bombardment of the city.
As bombs lay waste to entire districts of Aleppo — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — Waad is in the heart of it all, filming. Her husband, Hamza al-Kateab, is one of the only doctors left in the city. His makeshift hospital, managing on only the most basic supplies, is forced to relocate as the Syrian army deliberately targets Aleppo’s health facilities.
Amidst all this, Waad and Hamza welcome a baby into the world, Sama. Waad narrates the film as a story for her daughter about the deadly maelstrom into which she has been born.
I had the opportunity to meet Waad and Hamza at a conference on disinformation last year, at which Hamza was speaking. I mentioned to Waad how much I’d appreciated seeing For Sama. “The same thing is happening all over again now in Gaza,” she said.
The Great Hack: How personal data became a political weapon
The Great Hack (Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim) is a gripping work of investigative filmmaking that delves into the nefarious activities of a UK company called Cambridge Analytica, which exploited Facebook user data in an effort to influence voters — including in the UK’s 2016 referendum on EU membership (Brexit) and the election of US President Donald Trump that same year. It was a chilling watch.
The film is a powerful exposé of the influence of social media on elections and the abuse of user data. It brings to the fore issues that are becoming increasingly problematic today, such as user privacy and data rights, echo chambers, and political polarisation.
The issues raised in The Great Hack are also an important backdrop to current concerns about a digital world that is expanding beyond the reach of regulation (some of which I explore in this article), including the dangers of digital discrimination, the growing use of AI to shape what information people see, and influence operations, in which a foreign country or other group aims to shift public opinion using targeted data manipulation.
Watch The Great Hack
Also worth exploring…
In Edge of Democracy, director Petra Costa brings a different perspective to the corruption investigations known as ‘Operation Car Wash’ that led to the incarceration of Brazil’s former President Lula. The film focuses not only on the targets of the investigations, but also on the political weaponisation of the institutions of state that conducted them.
The Brink (Alison Klayman) tells the story of former Trump administration chief strategist Steve Bannon, and in particular his efforts to build a global alliance of far-right parties that share their experiences and expertise in order to convert populist appeal into political power.
And for something different…
Apollo 11 (Todd Douglas Miller) uses original footage without addition or narration to tell the story of the 1969 US mission to land humans on the moon. It’s one of the most awe-inspiring films I’ve ever seen. There was a deliberate plan for the mission to have state-of-the-art cameras shooting on 70mm film, and the results are spectacular.
The opening night film of DocFest 2019, Diego Maradona (Asif Kapadia) is an immersive account of the extraordinary skills that made Maradona one of the best footballers ever to play the game, alongside an exploration of his background, personality and drug addiction, and how, while playing for Napoli, he was manipulated by the Italian mafia.
The next post in the series will feature a selection of the best documentaries from 2022-23, including films about a fatal clash of interests in the Amazon rainforest, the brutality of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the chilling influence of Christian evangelists on US President Donald Trump.
If you liked this newsletter, please click the ❤️ to help Substack’s algorithm show it to more people. 🙏🏻☀️
Thanks so much for this, Richard. Great film recommendations nicely done. Some I’ve seen, some I missed. I also saw some of my favourite films for the first time at Sheffield, including We Are Many, dir. Amir Amirani, about the global Stop the War movement in 2003 protesting the Iraq war; Seed, The Untold Story, dir. Taggart Siegel, about biodiversity and the politics of seeds; A Year in a Field, dir. Christopher Morris, filmed in a field during the Covid 19 pandemic, meditating on climate change and how everything is interconnected. This year, Takkuuk was the winner for me. DocFest is always inspiring, motivating, and surprising, as well as a chance to boogie and meet the people involved in making these great films. Cheers Rich!