Whilst ploughing my way through most of this years’ film awards-season offerings, I’ve also been enjoying some fantastic documentaries lately. Last weekend I was invited to Open City Docs Fest’s ‘History of Documentary Weekend’, by a friend (who is way more in the know about these things). We headed to UCL for a screening of American Movie, a funny 1999 documentary about an independent horror film maker, Mark Borchardt, and the clan of family and friends he ropes in to help his quest from script to screen. The brilliance of the film lay with its incredible characters, who make the whole two hours hilarious, and whom you grow to feel total affection for.

This week I’ll be attending a DocHouse screening of Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia, directed by Nicolas Wrathall. I’m looking forward to finding out more about the novelist, playwright, political activist, critic (the list seems to go on!), through interviews and archive footage. Coming fairly late to the world of documentary, I’m enjoying seeing how learning via film captures my attention in a different way to reading non-fiction, or a biography. I’ll let you know which I prefer!

Have you watched any great documentaries lately? Take a look at DocHouse’s website for inspiration, and the chance to see some great films.

By Kathryn, Publishing Assistant