PN 64: First Person Documentary with Yance Ford, Bryan Fogel & Jeff Orlowski

Directors Yance Ford ("Strong Island”), Bryan Fogel (“Icarus”) and Jeff Orlowski ("Chasing Coral”) each put themselves on camera in different ways. The three filmmakers sat down with Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers at the DOC NYC festival last November to discuss how they chose their first person approach. In “Strong Island,” Ford investigates the 1992 murder of his older brother William and reflects on racial bias in the American justice system.In “Icarus,” Bryan Fogel sets out to examine sports doping by testing a drug regimen on himself as a bicyclist. In the process, he meets Russian doping expert Grigory Rodchenkov and they uncover an Olympic scandal. In “Chasing Coral,” Jeff Orlowski teams with undersea divers to document the destruction of coral reefs due to the ocean’s rising temperatures. The film is a follow up to his previous work “Chasing Ice” about the melting of glaciers.All three films are available on Netflix. Both “Strong Island” and “Icarus” are Oscar-nominated for Best Documentary Feature.For more, hear our previous interview with Yance Ford on Pure Nonfiction #59.