Skip to main content

Let the Documentary Films Roll

Wesley Hogan on five Full Frame films that she isn't going to miss

For four days beginning April 7, Durham will be the world’s capital for documentary films. The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will showcase more than 70 films, telling moving stories from around the world.

For Wesley Hogan, director of Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies and a documentary historian herself, it’s one of the best times of the year. The city will be filled with people talking about the power of documentary film to tell moving and unexpected stories about humans and the world we live in.

Below, Hogan lists five reasons why she’s excited about this year’s festival:

1. Political Films: It’s exciting that Full Frame has positioned itself to be a public forum for reflective thoughtful discourse on politics in a year where the presidential race takes up so much public space, but appears haphazard, uncivil and lacks reflection. I’m so glad they have chosen RJ Cutler to curate the political documentaries series, "Perfect and Otherwise: Documenting American Politics.” To that end, the stellar opening night film, “Weiner,” (below) is sure to provoke interesting reflections and conversations.

2. Southern Life: I’m also excited about Dawn Porter’s “Trapped” — she is so good at illuminating the places in Southern life where our humanity is most challenged, telling the important interesting stories that others shy away from.

3. Durham: “I Destiny” is an astonishingly cogent collaboration between a Durham teenager and a Duke MFA student, a story with a unique and fresh approach to a family dilemma with universal resonance.

4.  Filmmaker Deborah Stratman: “The Illinois Parables” shows a filmmaker at the height of her power.

5. A Poet’s Life: “Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise” provokes, inspires, and questions just as the poet and performer Angelou did in her long lifetime of work toward a more perfect union.

Tickets remain available for most of the Full Frame movies. For the full schedule of showings and to buy tickets, visit the Full Frame website.

Discounts are available for members of the Duke community. Your Duke ID is good for a $2 discount on all films at the festival, any day. For more information, click here.