Well, here’s something that will sit nicely alongside our 15 Best Documentaries Of 2013—a one hour THR roundtable with some of the filmmakers who brought forth some of biggest highlights of the year: Errol Morris (“The Unknown Known“), Lucy Walker (“The Crash Reel“), Alex Gibney (“The Armstrong Lie,” “We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks“), Morgan Neville (“20 Feet From Stardom“), Teller (“Tim’s Vermeer“) and James Toback (“Seduced and Abandoned“). And as always, the talk is fascinating.
For example, Morris—who managed to get the controversial and divisive Donald Rumsfeld to be the subject of his documentary—reveals that the politician wasn’t even a fan of his work. “He told me that he had seen ‘The Fog of War,’ my film about a former secretary of defense like himself, Robert McNamara. And he told me he hated the movie,” he explained. But perhaps more fascinating is Morris’ anecdote about voting for “Bruno” for Best Film at the Oscars. No, really.
“I’m now a member of the Academy, and I wrote in as the best film of the year [in 2009]—not best documentary, but best film—[Sacha Baron Cohen‘s] ‘Bruno.’ And someone asked me, ‘How could you do such a thing? This is unspeakable.’ (Laughter.) I said, ‘Well, there was a very simple reason. It was the best film of the year.’ Aside from that fact, it’s a great documentary,” Morris explained. “There are things that are happening in that film which are clearly unscripted—things that capture something about the real world that perhaps is distasteful, but it’s also extremely funny and revealing.
Much more below in the 1-hour conversation. And if you missed them, check out the awards season roundtables for actors, actresses, directors, screenwriters, producers and cinematographers.