We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks
Alex Gibney—the prolific documentarian behind Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, the Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side and Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God—turns his lens on WikiLeaks, the nonprofit website dedicated to making public secret and classified materials from anonymous sources. At the center of Gibney’s latest exposé is the enigmatic Julian Assange, founder and editor-in-chief of the site. But unassuming Private First Class Bradley Manning, who launched the organization into the big time when he allegedly leaked hundreds of thousands of documents from classified U.S. military and diplomatic servers, gets equal time in... read more
Found in: Movies, ReviewsThe 20 Best Documentaries of 2012
It was quite the unusual year for documentaries. One director made our list twice, with a movie about pop music and a movie about child murder. And our top three docs of the year were made by new feature filmmakers. read more
Found in: Blogs, List of the DayMea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, the latest documentary from Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney, delves into the history of sexual molestation in the Catholic Church as cases began to emerge in the late ’50s. While examining the scandals, cover ups and generally appalling abuse of power throughout the church on a global scale, the film also focuses on the story of Father Lawrence Murphy, a Milwaukee priest who sexually molested more than 200 deaf children and remained a free, unprosecuted man until the day of his death from natural causes. The story of the church’s dark history... read more
Found in: Movies, ReviewsSundance Review: Magic Trip
Directed by Alison Ellwood and Alex Gibney, Magic Trip is a vibrant time capsule, a treasure trove of images from Ken Kesey and the Merry Band of Pranksters’ cross-country trek to the 1964 World’s Fair. read more
Found in: Movies, Reviews2010 Person of the Year in Documentary Film: Alex Gibney
It's safe to say that Alex Gibney just turned in one of the most impressive years in the history of documentary film. After winning an Oscar for Taxi to the Dark Side, he shot no less than four complete documentary features... read more
Found in: FeaturesCatching Up With… ESPN Films’ Connor Schell
One of the most audacious documentary projects of 2010 was ESPN’s 30 For 30 series, in which the series found 30 of the best documentarians working today and commissioned a film from each of them on a sports-related event from the last 30 years. Volume 1 of the DVD set came out last month, and Connor Schell, executive producer of both ESPN Films and the 30 for 30 series, spoke with Paste about the series. You can hear the complete interview in the January 6 edition of the Indie Minded Film Podcast on Paste Culture Club.... read more
Found in: Movies, FeaturesCasino Jack and the United States of Money DVD review
Alex Gibney just may be the most important documentarian in America, and Casino Jack and the United States of Money certainly doesn’t do anything to diminish that standing. It’s a story so juicy that Kevin Spacey signed on to play the lad role in the narrative film version (entitled, confusingly enough, Casino Jack) as Jack Abramoff, liar, cheater, and all-around bad guy (or, as we call him in America, a lobbyist). It’s difficult to imagine how a narrative film could have been any more intriguing or exciting than Gibney’s treatment here. He’s an expert in the art of pastiche, weaving... read more
Found in: Movies, ReviewsTop 11 Musical Moments in Alex Gibney Films
Counting his compelling segment of Freakonomics, Academy Award winner Alex Gibney has released four documentaries this year alone: Client 9: The Eliot Spitzer Story, Casino Jack: The United States of Money and My Trip to Al Qaeda. We talk with him about his brilliant use of music in each. read more
Found in: Blogs, List of the DayWatch Paste's Interview with Casino Jack Director Alex Gibney
Part 1 of a series of Tribeca 2010 interviews Documentarian Alex Gibney has quite a few notches under his belt: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Taxi to the Dark Side and Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson to name his most famous films. His most recent film was released theatrically on May 7 by Magnolia Pictures: Casino Jack and the United States of Money, a documentary exploring the career of infamous D.C. lobbyist-cum-shyster Jack Abramoff. Paste caught up with Gibney at Tribeca, wherein he talked about Casino Jack, the creative process and what’s next... read more
Found in: Movies, NewsFreakonomics Documentary Coming to Theatres This Fall
In 2007, work began on turning Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s nonfiction best-seller Freakonomics into a documentary. Three years later, Variety+ reports that a team of directors—including Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), Alex Gibney (Gonzo), Rachel Grady, Heidi Ewing, Eugene Jarecki and others—are all involved in the finished project, each adapting one segment of the book for the screen.... read more
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