Subject

Essential viewing for anyone interested in telling (or watching) true-life stories during this golden age of documentaries, Subject is sure to be the most talked about nonfiction film of the season. The film follows several “stars” of some of the most significant documentaries of the past few decades (Capturing the Friedmans, Hoop Dreams, Minding the Gap, The Square, The Staircase, and The Wolfpack) to discuss how participating in these projects changed their lives. Additionally, influential figures in the documentary world (including past Wex guests Kirsten Johnson, Bing Liu, and Sam Pollard) candidly discuss the ethics of presenting real people’s traumatic moments to wide audiences. The result is a thought-provoking, insightful, moving, and satisfying film that will fundamentally alter the way you watch documentaries. (97 mins., DCP)

Stay after the screening for a sure-to-be-lively conversation and Q&A featuring codirector Camilla Hall along with a number of the film’s coproducers and participants: Jesse Friedman from Capturing the Friedmans, Ahmed Hassan from The Square, and Margaret Ratliff from The Staircase. Due to a late-breaking change, Hall joins us virtually for the Q&A.

Camilla Hall, Jennifer Tiexiera, and Rita Baghdadi (in person October 28 with her film Sirens) founded Lady & Bird, a female-run documentary production company focused on stories from underrepresented voices.

See the complete Unorthodocs 22 lineup.

IMAGE CAPTION
Ahmed Hassan, Subject, image courtesy of The Film Collaborative.