Podcast
Top Docs: Award-Winning Documentary Filmmakers
Hosted by michaellouismerrill · EN
Mike and Ken talk to award-winning documentary filmmakers about their art, their subjects, and their process.
29episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
"Perfectly a Strangeness" with Alison McAlpine
Feb 1900:20:00Tap to summarize”Three donkeys are in an unnamed desert and they discover an abandoned astronomical observatory. And the universe.” That’s how Alison McAlpine (“Second Sight”, “Ghostmen of Skye”, "Cielo") describes her Oscar-nominated short documentary “Perfectly a Strangeness” to Mike. In this wordless film, McAlpine uses the “fundamentals of cinema”– sound, movement, light, shadow, reflections – to craft a “conversation” between the muscular, visceral donkeys and the advanced, technological observatory. The resulting 15 minutes are a rare amalgam of mundanity and profundity, one which will make you see living creatures, man-made objects, and even the night sky anew. The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Follow: @perfectly_a_strangeness on Instagram @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter
Transcribe →"The Devil is Busy" with Christalyn Hampton & Rose Arce
Feb 1600:32:38Tap to summarizeA day in the life of a women’s reproductive healthcare center is unlike any other. In this post-Roe world, potential danger lurks in the dark or right out in the open. In the tense and nuanced Oscar-nominated documentary short “The Devil Is Busy” (directed by Christalyn Hampton and Geeta Gandbhir), we follow Tracii, the head of security at an Atlanta women’s health clinic, as she goes through her routine to ensure that no physical harm comes to those seeking care or dispensing it. Christalyn and producer Rose Arce join Ken on the pod to discuss the intense stress facing Tracii, her colleagues, and the clinic’s patients (referred to as “guests”), many of whom have traveled hundreds of miles for an appointment at one of the few remaining abortion providers in the region. Over the course of the film, we learn more about Tracii, the difficult decisions she has had to face, and the role that religion and a forgiving God play in her life. Countering the shrill voices of the male anti-abortion protestors outside, Tracii’s simple acts of kindness transform an average day into something extraordinary. “The Devil Is Busy” has been nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary Short. It can be streamed on HBO MAX. The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix. Follow: @cwdivadance and @rose_marie_arce on Instagram @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter
Transcribe →"Jane Elliott Against the World" with Judd Ehrlich
Feb 1000:27:03Tap to summarizeIn a special, in-person conversation from the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, director Judd Ehrlich (“Keepers of the Game”) joins Ken in Park City to discuss his new documentary “Jane Elliott Against the World,” which just had its world premiere in the festival’s U.S. Documentary Competition section. In the opening scene of “Jane Elliott Against the World,” the film’s eponymous protagonist rather provocatively calls herself a “bitch” — actually, an acronym for “Being in Total Control, Honey.” As a teacher in a rural Iowa school in the 1960s, Jane devised a provocative social experiment called “Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes” intended to make her students understand what it feels like to be an oppressed minority based on outward appearance. The effect on her students was immediate and profound, and the experiment reverberated across the country, making Jane famous. Judd describes getting to know Jane and learning from her daughters how, growing up, Jane’s full-time anti-racism activism took its toll on the family. Now 92, Jane shows few signs of slowing down. She may not be in total control, but, to anyone who tries to stand in her way, be forewarned. Follow: @juddehrlich on Instagram and X @topdocspod on Instagram and X The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.
Transcribe →"Never Get Busted" with David Anthony Ngo & Erin Williams-Weir
Feb 700:35:27Tap to summarizeCop. Drug agent. Preacher. Marijuana activist. Cop buster. Can this really be one man? In their documentary “Never Get Busted”, David Anthony Ngo and Erin Williams-Weir follow the protean Barry Cooper. In this special interview recorded live late last year at the Hot Spring Documentary Film Festival (where our own Ken Jacobson serves as Executive Director), David and Erin share the lives, loves and ever-shifting mission of a man who despite constantly changing, continually seems rooted in an authentic calling. And they explore with him a legal system deeply compromised by misaligned incentives and financial corruption. Follow: @davidanthonyfilm & @nevergetbustedfilm on Instagram @topdocspod on X and Instagram The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.
Transcribe →2026 Sundance Preview with Basil Tsiokos
Jan 1700:45:09Tap to summarizeThis is it! The final Sundance Film Festival to be held in Utah is just around the corner. The 2026 Sundance Film Festival — the 42nd edition — runs from January 22 – February 1 in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah (and online from Jan. 29 – Feb 1). Next year, this iconic event moves to Boulder, Colorado. To help get us fired up for the festival, we welcome back Basil Tsiokos, Sundance Senior Programmer, Nonfiction, to “Top Docs” to preview Sundance’s stellar documentary lineup. From among the 40+ feature documentaries having their world premieres at this year’s festival across multiple sections, Basil spotlights first-time feature filmmakers, as well as those returning with exciting new works. And don’t miss Basil’s take on this year’s Oscar Shortlist and predictions for the final nominees. With 9 of this year’s 15 Oscar-shortlisted feature docs having premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, you can bet that many of 2026’s most talked about documentaries will be making their debuts at Sundance. For more info about the Sundance Film Festival program, go to festival.sundance.org. Follow: @1basil1 on X, @sundancefest on X and @sundanceorg on Instagram @topdocspod on X and Instagram The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.
Transcribe →"Folktales" with Rachel Grady
Jan 1500:30:02Tap to summarizeThe premise of Rachel Grady’s and Heidi Ewing’s (“Jesus Camp”, “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You,” Endangered) new Oscar-shortlisted documentary, “Folktales” is simple enough: They follow three students at a post-high school program in Norway’s Arctic circle as they learn survival skills and dog sledding. But by almost literally weaving in Nordic tales of the Fates, demonstrating the healing ties that grow between the students and the dogs, and exploring the profound wisdom proffered by two capable, insightful teachers (Iselin and Thor-Atle), Ewing and Grady provide a deep meditation on coming of age in the time of putatively frictionless lives and ubiquitous cell phones. Rachel joins Mike on the pod to explain how she found joy in the challenges of shooting in darkened forests in polar winter--how in effect she “went to Folk High School too!” And she shares the wisdom she garnered from Iselin and Thor-Atle as well: Throughout our lives, doors open and close. You can watch “Folktales” on streaming platforms including Amazon. Follow: @rachelgrady on Instagram @heidewing on Instagram @topdocspod on Instagram and twitter/X The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.
Transcribe →"Mistress Dispeller" with Elizabeth Lo
Jan 10Summary readyYou find out your husband of many years is cheating on you, but you still love him anddesperately want to keep your family together. What do you do? In Elizabeth Lo’s (“Stray”) remarkable documentary “Mistress Dispeller,” we are introduced to a heart broken Mrs. Li, who hires a mistress dispeller to end her husband’s affair and save her marriage. Yes, it’s true: in modern-day China, mistress dispelling is an actual profession, and Teacher Wang has more business than she can handle. Elizabeth joins Ken on the pod to discuss the fascinating world of mistress dispelling and how she and her creative collaborators managed to win the trust of Mrs. Li and the other players in this doomed love triangle. From the time Teacher Wang “injects herself organically” into the threesome until the film’s inevitable dénouement, we can hardly believe the access we have to such an enthralling domestic drama unfolding in real-time. But as lies and deceptions give way to a final confrontation, the filmmaking itself remains steadfast, as real and beautiful as it gets. “Mistress Dispeller” has been named to this year’s Oscar shortlist in the Documentary Feature Film category. The film is available for rent on Apple TV. Follow: @elizabethbklo on Instagram @topdocspod on Instagram and X Hidden Gem: “Gunda” The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.
Summary"Pee-wee as Himself" with Matt Wolf
May 22, 2025Tap to summarizeAs Director Matt Wolf shows in his insightful and fun 2-part HBO series “Pee-wee as Himself”, in Pee-wee, Paul Rubens found a persona that allowed him to both reveal and yet hide some core truths about who he was. Fascinated with television and show business since he was a boy, Rubens combined elements of his childhood’s pop culture with the art world of Southern California in the 70s and early 80s to craft a character that would both conquer the then punkish milieu of Melrose Avenue as well as create a nationally televised children’s TV show. To achieve this, Wolfe delineates how Rubens deliberately foreclosed both his potential love life as well as cast aside long-held friendships. Wolfe’s series demonstrates both the costs as well as the benefits of outsized talent and ambition. You can watch “Pee-wee as Himself” on HBO and HBO Max starting Friday, May 23rd. Follow: @mattpwolf on Instagram @topdocspod on Instagram and X The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.
Transcribe →2024 Toronto International Film Festival Doc Lineup with Thom Powers
Sep 3, 2024Tap to summarizeThe 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, which runs September 5 – 15, 2024, promises, once again, to be one of the world’s premier showcases for documentaries. TIFF’s renowned Documentary Programmer and DOC NYC co-founder Thom Powers (Pure Nonfiction, WNYC’s Documentary of the Week) joins Ken to break down the TIFF DOCS lineup and discuss what are sure to be some of the Fall awards season’s most talked about and acclaimed documentaries. Featuring 21 feature documentaries from 24 countries, the TIFF DOCS section is more international in scope than ever, covering a wide range of topics, from highly topical political docs (“The Last Republican”, “From Ground Zero”) to deeply intimate personal stories (“Mistress Dispeller”, “A Sister’s Tale”) and awe-inspiring cinematic experiences (“Space Cowboy”, “The Last of the Sea Women”). The Fall doc season is here, and Toronto is ground zero. Follow: @thompowers1 on Instagram @topdocspod on Instagram and X/twitter The Presenting Sponsor of "Top Docs" is Netflix.
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