Home The Babushkas of Chernobyl. Chernobyl disaster, some 1. Exclusion Zone.” While most of their neighbors have long since fled and their husbands have gradually died off, this stubborn sisterhood is hanging on — even, oddly, thriving — while trying to cultivate an existence on toxic earth. Why do they insist on living on farms that the Ukrainian government and radiation scientists have deemed uninhabitable? How do they manage to get by, isolated, in an abandoned landscape guarded by soldiers, and rife with wild animals?

The biggest issue facing the modern documentary is that there are too many documentaries. This complaint may sound silly or prosaic, but it’s true. Since its. Issuu is a digital publishing platform that makes it simple to publish magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online. Easily share your publications and get.

How has the radiation affected them these past 3 decades? At her cottage, Hanna Zavorotyna brews homemade moonshine and slices thick chunks of salo, raw pig fat - though it is strictly forbidden to eat local food. Starvation is what scares me, not radiation,” she says. That stark choice reveals an incredible journey the women have traveled: from Stalin’s enforced famines in the 1.

Nazi occupation, to nuclear disaster. Like the wolves, moose, wild boar and other wildlife not seen for decades that have come back to the abandoned forests around Chernobyl, the women of the Exclusion Zone, too, have an extraordinary story of survival, and offer a dark yet strangely affirming portrait of life post- apocalypse. HOLLY MORRIS (Director, Producer) makes films that explore the lives of risk- taking, contemporary women around the globe; including, Behind Closed Chad- ors (Iran), Holy Cow (India), Mana Wahines (New Zealand) and Paradox Found (Cuba) - all broadcast on PBS, and internationally, as part of her Adventure Divas documentary series. Her award- winning journalism on the Babushkas of Chernobyl (2.

The Women Living in Chernobyl's Toxic Wasteland and The Best Travel Writing (Travelers Tales) first reported on the women of the Zone and is also the subject of her popular TED Talk. She’s the author of Adventure Divas: Searching the Globe for a New Kind of Heroine (Random House), a New York Times Notable book about exploration. Her story the subculture of illegal 'Stalkers' inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone was originally published in Slate.

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Morris a longtime presenter for the internationally broadcast series Globe Trekker. ANNE BOGART (Director, Producer) has filmed around the world for the PBS travel series “Globe Trekker” for 1. She has produced and directed programming for both French and English- based broadcasters, including the long- running pop culture magazine “Eurotrash” in the U. K. Bogart has written for W magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Women’s Wear Daily, and Elle.

Decor. She divides her time between London and Los Angeles. NANCY NORDHOFF & LYNN HAYS (Executive Producers)
 Nancy Nordhoff is American philanthropist and environmentalist. She and artist Lynn Hays work to empower women, support rural communities, and promote environmentalism.

Nancy Nordhoff is the founder of Hedgebrook, a residency that supports women writers. JILL MAZURSKY (Executive Producer) is a screenwriter, film producer, and director. Her films include two with JJ Abrams - Taking Care of Business and Gone Fishin. Recently she executive produced Award- winning documentary Keep On Keepin On. STACY SHERMAN (Executive Producer) was nominated for an Academy Award for God Sleeps In Rwanda (2. Emmy. Stacy was Associate Producer of Chasing Ice, a documentary, which won the Emmy in 2. She recently directed a feature The Break Up Girl, which was released by Gravitas Ventures.

BILLY RAY (Executive Producer) is the Oscar- nominated screenwriter of Captain Phillips; co- wrote The Hunger Games and State Of Play, and wrote and directed Shattered Glass and Breach. He wrote and directed his new film, Secret In Their Eyes, starring Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, and Chiwetel Ejio for IM Global and STX. ABIGAIL E. DISNEY & GINI RETICKER (Co- Executive Producers) Abigail E.

Disney is an award- winning filmmaker, philanthropist and the CEO and president of Fork Films. Disney's directorial debut, The Armor of Light, was selected for the 2. Tribeca Film Festival. Gini Reticker is an Academy Award nominated documentary filmmaker. Her directorial debut, The Heart Of The Matter, received the Sundance Freedom of Expression Award. In 2. 00. 4, Reticker was nominated for an Academy Award for the documentary short Asylum, In 2.

Abigail Disney to direct the renowned Pray The Devil Back To Hell. MARINA OREKHOVA (Field Producer & Translator) Marina is a Kyiv- based producer working with American documentary directors and European TV crews in Ukraine. She has co- produced the Sundance Grand Jury winner. The Russian Woodpecker by Chad Gracia (2.

The Babushkas of Chernobyl by Holly Morris and Anne Bogart (2. Watch Monsters University Megavideo. Bloody Moneyby Havana Marking (2. She has collaborated with ARTE, ZDF, BBC, RBB on a number of TV programs shot in Ukraine. Marina has rich background in festival management in Ukraine and event management worldwide.

JAPHET WEEKS (Cinematographer)
is an American video journalist and cinematographer based in Cairo, Egypt. Formerly Moscow- based, Weeks speaks Russian and Mandarin and films for PBS's Frontline, Al Jazeera, New York Times Television and Voice of America. RICHARD HOWARD (Editor)
is a UK based editor whose edited numerous documentary, travel, lifestyle, crime, drama and historical TV films and series’. He is the BBC series editor for In Cold Blood and edits the Globe Trekker travel series (National geographic, PBS), Bazaar, Planet Food (Food Network), Ottomans vs Christians.

MARY MANHARDT (Editor)
 Mary's extensive credits include: The Farm, The Execution of Wanda Jean, Girlhood, Farmingville, Street Fight, American Teen, Racing Dreams, Mystic Ball, Monica & David, Pelotero, Wham! Bam! Islam!, A Son's Sacrifice, Bronx Princess, Camp Victory, Afghanistan, American Promises, Medora, Tough Love, and most recently, Tig (Sundance 2. Mary won an Emmy award in 1. Picture Editing for The Farm. MICHAEL TAYLOR (Editor) Documentary credits include Youth Knows No Pain (HBO Documentary Films), The Order of Myths (Sundance Film Festival, Peabody Award winner and Cinema Guild’s Truer than Fiction Spirit Award winner) Lost Bohemia (DOC NYC Special Jury Prize winner), Girl, Adopted, (PBS Global Voices), and All Eyes and Ears, (Tribeca Film Festival).

ROB TEEHAN (Composer) Documentary scores include: This is Gay Propaganda, The Unsinkable Captain John, The Sugar Bowl, and Flor de la Mar. As a musician he played tuba and toured with many bands in Toronto including the Lemon Bucket Orkestra, has recorded on over 4. JUNO nominations (Canada's Grammy equivalent).

Breaking up With G- d Is Hard to Do. The biggest issue facing the modern documentary is that there are too many documentaries. This complaint may sound silly or prosaic, but it’s true. Since its creation, the format has never been in such high demand. On streaming services, from Netflix to Amazon Prime to Hulu, documentaries are often the most played and downloaded.

The audience is there, and so are the films. Complaining about an embarrassment of riches can only take you so far. The point is: where there’s endless choice, there’s endless mediocrity. Worthwhile stories that are hurried and unfocused, made by people with good intentions but not- so- good execution. This is where directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady stray from the pack.

Responsible for films like “Jesus Camp” and “Detropia,” the directing duo have a knack for presenting lives as they are: rich, complex, idiosyncratic. With “One of Us,” their sixth collaboration — premiering on Netflix Oct.

Hasidic Judaism. These three subjects are wildly different from one another; what binds them together is their shared fear of alienation. Watch Video: Morgan Spurlock Opens His Own Fast Food Shop in 'Super Size Me 2' (Exclusive)There is Etty, a strong mother of seven, who has dealing with the fallout of violent, unseemly divorce. Then there is Ari, a bright and uncharacteristically warm teenager who’s grappling with his own problems with addiction. Lastly, there is Luzer, a burgeoning actor whose transition into the secular world has not been an easy one. Ewing and Grady share a few gifts as filmmakers. Throughout the duo’s evolving body of work, they’ve figured out how to foster trust with their subjects.

Part of this has to do with their insistence on limiting how many crew members are on set. Often times, the room will include the subject, Ewing or Grady (they rarely shoot a scene together), and the DP. This information may seem ancillary, but it’s vital to how something like “One of Us” comes together. Watch Video: Lady Gaga Fights 'Like F- -ing Hell' in New Teaser for 'Five Foot Two'There’s intimacy on screen that other documentaries only dream of creating. Together Ewing and Grady strike the perfect balance between informal, fly- on- the- wall chatter, and rigorous, journalistic questioning. They appear to be direct aesthetic descendants of Errol Morris.“One of Us” also benefits from a genuine visual language.

The composition is not rushed. There’s been serious consideration for how an image is going to look.

Frequently, cinematographers Alex Takats and Jenni Morello will frame a scene in ingeniously creative ways. Throughout there are layered shots where two people are talking, but only one can be seen. The other is tucked away, or hidden behind a door. Takats and Morello make it seem like we’re watching something we’re not supposed to. It’s this clandestine approach that makes some of “One of Us” especially thrilling when it’s not intimately focusing on the heart of what’s being said. Avoiding the standard shot- reverse- shot technique, the filmmakers decide to have a camera oscillate back and forth from person to person — except that the individual talking is rarely who we see in the frame. Instead, they focus on the subject receiving information.

It’s a small technical move, but it’s significant, capturing the intricacies of an interaction. The gestures, the facial tics, the moans, sighs, and hand movements. A face can say everything. Also Read: PBS and Independent Lens Launch New Documentary- Driven You. Tube Channel (Exclusive)Unlike some of their peers, Ewing and Grady don’t let their style overrun the film’s substance.

One of Us” is first and foremost a heart- wrenching account of three lives, lost and scared and searching for repair. The film shows us how painful it can be to turn your back on all that you once knew. All that seemed familiar and comfortable and regenerating, and just how quickly good things can transmute into bad ones. The directors don’t look at these individuals from a distance, either with despair or sympathy. There’s human empathy, because of course there is: Ewing and Grady have routinely demonstrated curiosity; it’s what fuels their life’s work.

May it continue to do so. Documentaries and chill? If you're getting a bit tired of endlessly scrolling through Netflix movies, try these films on for size. Added plus: You might even accidentally learn something."The 1. Ava Du. Vernay's latest documentary, "The 1.

United States. It's titled after the 1. Netflix"Blackfish"We can pretty much credit the downfall of Sea World to Gabriela Cowperthwaite's "Blackfish," which tells the story of Tilikum, a killer whale living in captivity that killed its trainer in 2. The film discusses the dangers to humans and the orcas who are confined in theme parks.

Magnolia Pictures"The Black Power Mixtape"This 2. Black Power Movement by using footage found 3.

Swedish journalists. It covers the time period between 1. Angela Davis, Huey P.

Newton and Eldridge Cleaver, along with others central to the movement."The Imposter"This British- American documentary is about a French imposter, Frédéric Bourdin, who presents himself to a grieving family as their missing boy Nicholas Barclay - - a 1. Texas who went missing."Room 2.

If you've ever wondered what mysteries lied behind Room 2. Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining," this is the film for you. Each segment of the film, focuses on a specific element in "The Shining" and offers different interpretations."What Happened, Miss Simone?"Academy Award- nominated "What Happened, Miss Simone" features previously unreleased footage and interviews with singer Nina Simone's friends and family that tells the life story of the activist and music legend. The film was also executive produced by Simone's daughter, Lisa Simone Kelly. Sundance"Into the Abyss"Werner Herzog's "Into the Abyss" focuses on capital punishment in Texas by profiling Michael Perry, a convicted killer on Death Row for the murder of a 5. Some of his interviews were filmed only eight days prior to his execution. The documentary neither focuses on Perry's innocence nor his guilt.

IFC Films"Virunga"This one is for all the animal lovers out there. Virunga" focuses on four park rangers who risk their lives to protect critically endangered mountain gorillas from poachers in Congo's Virunga National Park. Grain Media"Biggie & Tupac"If you've ever been curious of the mysteries surrounding the deaths of two of rap's most prominent artists, watch "Biggie & Tupac."While the documentary doesn't give a clear answer of who killed the rap icons, the director suggests that Suge Knight was responsible for the latter's murder. Lionsgate"The Invisible War"While the military is known for fighting our wars overseas, there's one silent battle within the armed forces that few are talking about - - sexual assault.

Kirby Dick's "The Invisible War" features interviews with veterans who share their experiences of sexual assault in the U. S. military. Cinedigm/Docurama Films"Super Size Me"This documentary can pretty much be credited for pushing Mc. Donald's to alter their menu to include more healthy items and getting rid of their super size option.

Morgan Spurlock takes on a 3. Mc. Donald's. The film documents the changes that occur in his physical appearance, as well as his health.

Roadside Attractions"2. Feet From Stardom"Most of us see backup singers providing support to the main act, but rarely do we recognize their talent. This documentary follows backup singers like Judith Hill, Darlene Love and Merry Clayton and sheds light on their lives through behind- the- scenes footage. Radius- TWC"Hot Girls Wanted"The appropriately titled doc features interviews with several young porn actresses, as they discuss their experiences in the industry. Netflix. Previous Slide. Next Slide. Stay woke. Documentaries and chill? If you're getting a bit tired of endlessly scrolling through Netflix movies, try these films on for size. Added plus: You might even accidentally learn something.