Each week, I'll cover the documentaries that are worth a view. Consider it a primer to be becoming a docuphile. I encourage you to leave your favorite documentaries in the comments or tweet at me at @robinhardwick. This week, I was lucky enough to have a chat with a real-life documentary filmmaker.
As I've begun my concerted effort to watch more documentaries, I've become more interested in the production and "behind the scenes" side. As an avid film fan for years, I've seen and read a lot about the production of mainstream films and of course, many of those rules are out the window when it comes to documentaries. Fewer full-length documentaries are produced than feature films, and the public demand for them is less (hopefully not for long).
Documentary shorts are even less acknowledged by the typical theater-going public, but are just as, if not more, compelling. I had the privilege of viewing the film There She Is, which profiles Allison and Jenny, two best friends competing in the 2011 American Beauties Plus Pageant. The film is about the women as they compete in the pageant as both a statement and a celebration of their body acceptance. Both yearn for full acceptance of women of all sizes and have full confidence in themselves.
However, the unfortunate reality is that they do live in a world where women's body sizes are so obsessed over and judged, they can't help but escape the constant reminders in their world about how they are viewed. These women are open in their insecurities, which include scared to be out of the house in full makeup and never finding acceptance from a potential romantic partner. Although the film is only 18 minutes, the viewer easily relates to and makes the connection with the women. A good documentary should transport you into the subject's full world, and to do that so quickly is a tribute to the talent of the filmmakers.
At first, I was surprised that Allison and Jenny would willingly participate in something like a "pageant" that mimics the demeaning "beauty contest" that pageants do represent, but for them, it's a way to reclaim what beauty is. They also enjoy makeup and dressing up, which at times is seen as a conflict with "empowered women," but why can't a woman be empowered and enjoy such things?
Co-director Emily Sheskin was also gracious enough to answer my questions about the process of producing documentaries:
