The American Cinematheque’s This Is Not a Fiction festival, which kicks off this week in Los Angeles, has emerged as something truly special in the documentary exhibition space. The third edition of the event, running April 16-24, will welcome some of the biggest names in nonfiction filmmaking, among them Barbara Kopple, Gianfranco Rosi, Ross McElwee, Caveh Zahedi, Liz Garbus and more.
The festival is offering a complete retrospective of Rosi’s work, which includes the Oscar-nominated Fire at Sea (2016), and his latest film, Pompei: Below the Clouds. Kopple, a two-time Oscar winner, will appear for a screening of Harlan County, USA, marking that film’s 50th anniversary, as well as a 4K restoration of her documentary American Dream.
On the new edition of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, we’re joined by American Cinematheque film programmer Cindy Flores to discuss the festival lineup. She tells us about honoring the late Frederick Wiseman with a screening of his very first documentary, 1967’s Titicut Follies, and the tribute to Zahedi, an Iranian American filmmaker known for pioneering works in which he interrogates himself.
This Is Not a Fiction balances a lineup of premieres and new films with retrospectives and restorations of classic documentaries. It’s also distinguished by a bold approach to programming – in addition to docs, This Is Not a Fiction attracts audiences with a robust slate of mockumentaries. This year it will showcase Popstar: Never Stop Stopping on its 10th anniversary (with co-star and co-director Akiva Schaffer set to appear), and the 20th anniversary of Jackass Number Two (with filmmakers Jeff Tremaine and Johnny Knoxville booked to appear). In what promises to be a remarkable night, This Is Not a Fiction will screen Best in Show, the hilarious mockumentary directed by Christopher Guest that stars the late Catherine O’Hara. Guest and O’Hara’s co-star and friend Eugene Levy will take part in a conversation after the screening.
We talk with Flores about the festival’s innovative approach to programming that has seen the likes of Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, Jeff Probst and Conan O’Brien join luminaries of nonfiction filmmaking.
Doc Talk cohosts John Ridley and Matt Carey begin with a discussion of President Donald Trump’s recent comments threatening to destroy Iranian civilization, as well as the recent visit of Vice President JD Vance to Hungary, an ill-fated attempt to boost the reelection prospects of strongman Viktor Orbán (trust me, we tie it in with documentaries).
That’s on the new episode of Doc Talk, hosted by Oscar winner Ridley (12 Years a Slave, Shirley) and Carey, Deadline’s senior documentary editor. The pod is a production of Deadline and Ridley’s Nō Studios.
Listen to the episode above or on major podcast platforms including Spotify, iHeart and Apple.