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Amir Bar-Lev's Shortlist

Published on January 14, 2008

The Shortlist article series is your opportunity to learn about the films that inspire intellectual, artistic and activist leaders—leaders like filmmaker Amir Bar-Lev. We asked Amir to share his favorite films and his thoughts on the power of documentary to change the world. So what films make Amir Bar-Lev's Shortlist? Keep reading to find out.

Filmmaker Amir Bar-Lev

Who is Amir Bar-Lev?

Amir Bar-Lev's feature directorial debut, Fighter, won 6 international awards and was named one of the top documentaries of the year by Newsweek, The Rolling Stone and The Village Voice. Fighter was released theatrically in the fall of 2001 and broadcast on IFC. His second film, My Kid Could Paint That, premiered at Sundance 2007, and was picked up for international distribution by Sony Pictures Classics. Variety called the film "One of the few competition docs at Sundance this year that's as striking in its craftsmanship as in potent subject matter...a fascinating subject handled with intelligently provocative care." Bar-Lev also directed several award winning documentary and narrative shorts, including New Orleans Furlough, and Chris Donahoe: Independent Filmmaker. Bar-Lev has also produced numerous television programs for VH1, Sundance Channel, SpikeTV, MTV, and The Weather Channel.

Amir Bar-Lev on the Power of Film

I am continually surprised and challenged by documentary filmmaking—the ethical knots every filmmaker must grapple with, and the limitless breadth of storytelling styles under the banner of "documentary." I tried to choose films below that are not only great documentaries, but also ones that can teach aspiring filmmakers something about the craft.

Amir Bar-Lev's Film Picks

My Country, My Country: There was a period of time when the violence in Iraq was so brutal and so continual, that I found my senses becoming dulled to the horror over there—after months and months of horrible headlines I became inured. ONE scene—an unbelievable vérité moment in which we see an Iraqi father "pocket dial" his son's kidnappers accidentally—suddenly gave me back my capacity to empathize with all that suffering thousands of miles away. This is the power of great filmmaking, and it's why those newsmen with their slo-mo superimposed swishing graphics aren't qualified to be our interns.

Driving Me Crazy: This is the film that taught me how to turn a disaster into the best thing that ever happened to your film. You have to know how to do this if you want to make documentaries.

Tokyo Olympiad: Just goes to show that sometimes the most conventional approaches are the most appropriate. This is what I love about the medium—you have to take every film on a case by case basis, and figure out how best to tell the story.

The Staircase: A friend of mine demanded I see this and wouldn't tell me anything about it. Not knowing the first thing about this film made it a sumptuous film watching experience, so I'm going to do the same for you.

O Amor Natural: Heddy Honigmann proves that even a string of "vox pop" man on the street interviews can be a vehicle for transcendence. It's all about YOU the filmmaker having your [stuff] together and actually knowing how to LISTEN!

Hands on a Hardbody: Proves that there are great stories all around us if you have respect for people and love and curiosity about humanity. Yeah, you can go for cheap laughs at the expense of people you think are provincial, but then you will make sarcastic, aloof films that you and your friends can be snarky about in the privacy of your own home. The rest of us will aspire to films like Hands on a Hardbody.

Darwin's Nightmare: The beauty of this film is that ANYONE could have made it. You just have to have a camera, compassion, and balls of steel.

51 Birch Street: Like any great film, it resists tying things up into tidy bows at its end. This is the kind of filmmaking that creates mythology for our time and actually affects people's lives more than a lot of religions do.