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Aron Gaudet’s Shortlist

Published on July 21, 2011

The Shortlist article series is your opportunity to learn about the films that inspire intellectual, artistic and activist leaders – leaders like Aron Gaudet. We asked Aron to share his favorite films and his thoughts on the power of documentary to change the world.

So what films make Aron’s Shortlist? Keep reading to find out.

Who is Aron Gaudet?

Aron Gaudet

Aron Gaudet began his career in 1996, working in television news as a promotions producer. The daily deadlines of the nightly news allowed Aron to hone his skills as a writer, director, and editor. While working at a local FOX affiliate in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Aron met his future wife and producer, Gita Pullapilly. Gita was working as a television news reporter at the ABC affiliate. In December 2004, Aron took Gita home to meet his mom, and discovered the story that would become their first documentary film together.

Aron made his feature directorial debut with the Emmy-nominated documentary, The Way We Get By—a heartfelt story about three senior citizens finding purpose in their life by greeting over one million U.S. troops at a small airport in Maine. The film had its world premiere at the South By Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) and won the Special Jury Award. The Way We Get By went on to win a total of 18 festival awards. The Way We Get By was released theatrically in July 2009, playing in over 60 cities across the U.S. It aired on the critically acclaimed, independent television series P.O.V. on PBS as a primetime special on Veterans Day. AARP’s “Movies For Grownups” Awards honored The Way We Get By as “Best Documentary” of 2009.

In October 2009, Aron and Gita were married on the coast of Maine. They currently live in Maine as they work on their next project—a narrative feature set in northern Maine during a fall potato harvest.

Aron Gaudet on the Power of Film

I spent ten years working at television news stations all across the country. Ten years watching great stories passed over in favor of town hall meetings, and lame live shots long after the story had become old news—all in the name of time and resources. Good stories take time to tell. If you can’t go out and tell the story in one day, and have it all packaged up and ready to roll for the 6pm news, it often does not get told in the budget-tightening, staff-shrinking world of local news. It was those stories, that got thrown out in news meetings and quickly shot down, that first inspired me to move towards documentary storytelling. I’ve had a passion for film and filmmaking for most of my life, but this is what led me to making my first documentary.

When I watch films, both narrative and non-fiction, I tend to lean towards films that may have a powerful social message, but it’s usually buried deep down inside a great story. I can enjoy social issue docs, and informational driven docs as much as the next guy. After watching The Cove, I hoped for an absolute and instant change; Inside Job had me incensed and ready to march down Wall Street by the closing credits. Films like this are important and I’m glad people see them, but they don’t have the “re-watchable factor” I crave most in my favorite films. When I truly love a film, I want to buy it, learn all about how it was made, search out updates on the subjects, and watch it again and again and again. For me, it’s not so much how the film changes the way we all think, but how the film changes the way I think—about society, about the human condition, about myself. That is really what I look for in a film.

I think you’ll know exactly what I mean when you see my shortlist…

Aron Gaudet’s Shortlist

American Movie (1999)

For my money, Chris Smith’s 1999 documentary is the funniest non-fiction film ever. Christopher Guest would have a hard time creating a world full of colorful characters quirkier than Mark Borchardt, his best friend Mike Schank, and Uncle Bill. You can’t help but get swept up in Mark’s ambitious American dream to finish his low budget horror movie Coven (pronounced COE-ven…of course!).

By the time Mark is trying to smash his friend Tom’s head through a cupboard door, you’ll be just as passionate as he is about filmmaking. And just like making any film—there are plenty of ups and downs, but as Uncle Bill would say, “It’s alright, it’s okay, there’s something to live for… Jesus told me so!”

Crumb (1994)

Terry Zwigoff’s fascinating and, at times, unsettling look at eccentric comic book artist Robert Crumb, and his fractured and stunted family, is a film I find myself revisiting often. I recommend it to others, only to hear back they found it depressing. Yes. It is depressing. But it is also a funny as hell and intimate look at a family with so much wasted potential—all locked up in a torturous childhood.

Through interviews with him and his brothers, and explaining the inspiration behind his comics, Crumb gives viewers a glimpse of the world through his eyes—a view that could easily fuel an album worth of Radiohead songs. Crumb can probably really only be seen as slightly normal when viewed next to his completely broken down brothers Charles and Maxon. Since 1994, I’ve been unable to sit on a bed of nails, and pass a string through my digestive tract without thinking of this film. That says a lot.

Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997)

While Fast, Cheap & Out of Control is probably considered by many to be Errol Morris-lite; I can’t get enough if this doc and the eccentric foursome of passionate professionals at the heart of it. A topiary gardener, a lion tamer, a robot scientist and a naked mole rats expert might not seem to have much in common, but slowly and surely their four stories become one overlapping meditation mash up on science, man vs. animal vs. machine, human behavior, and just about anything else you can think of.

Beautiful cinematography, and a perfect score bring the film to life, but the editing by the late Karen Schmeer is the real highlight of the film for me. This is what I keep going back for. The inventive and intricate ways the four men’s stories are woven together makes the film always worthy of another visit for this “editor at heart.” The phrase “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” was invented for a story like this.

Strongman (2009)

Strongman was on the film festival circuit with The Way We Get By back in 2009. And I met director Zachary Levy long before I was finally able to catch his debut documentary—chronicling the struggles of strongman Stanley “Stanless Steel” Pleskun—on the big screen. When I finally did see it, my wife and I sat stuck in our seats, transfixed by this hulking man that can bend steel with his will and might, but can’t get a single person in his life to do what he wants.

Like a worn VHS tape found in an old shoebox, it’s not a perfect film—it’s rough around the edges, drifts out of focus, and might even be too long…and I wouldn’t change a single frame. In fact, I’d watch Stanless do just about anything, and every time I meet up with Zach he tells me another Stanless story that I’d kill to have seen in the film. Now if I can only get my friend to put Strongman out on DVD, so I can finally show all my friends what I’ve only been telling them about…my favorite documentary since American Movie.

Dark Days (2000)

Having spent my fair share of time on New York City subways, my curiosity and interest in the Big Apple’s underground homeless community always seems to be growing. But before I ever set foot on a subway platform and peered down the tunnel to see if anyone peered back, it was Marc Singer’s grainy, B&W film that first fueled my subterranean inquisitiveness. Dark Days introduces us to a tight knit community of men and women living along a stretch of an abandoned Amway track beneath Manhattan.

Singer actually lived underground with his subjects, shooting on film with creative low budget techniques. In fact, a bonus to Dark Days is the story behind making the film—which is just as interesting as the film itself. Singer was learning as he went, and the tunnel dweller subjects became his de facto crew—helping with camera, lighting, and even building a homemade dolly for tracking shots. This film taught me there was a solution for every production problem…and it might involve finding down and out—but still human—beings ready to show their worth.

Paradise Lost – The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)

This is one of those films that aggravates and frustrates me as I watch it, but I can’t get enough of it. Along with Errol Morris’s The Thin Blue Line, Andrew Jarecki’s Capturing The Friedmans, and a host of other films, it leaves me questioning our justice system in the United States and yelling at the screen. In the case of Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s Paradise Lost, the questions surrounding the grisly murders of three young boys in West Memphis, Arkansas and the subsequent trial that leaves three convicted teenage boys in prison—one on death row—are too many to mention.

Even after a 2000 sequel, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, shed more light on Damien, Jason, and Jessie’s apparent raw deal, I find myself wanting more. I still have http://wm3.org/ bookmarked for easy updates on the plight of the West Memphis Three. The fact that a 15-year-old documentary remains fresh in my mind, all these years later, speaks volumes to the power of nonfiction storytelling. It also taught me that if a documentary is done well, the audience will keep following the story long after the final frame.

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That list is truly awesome. American Movie is so good it should be battling Citizen Kane for AFI’s tops of all-time soon. Strongman leaves you in an emotional bear-hug that never lets go… If I could find a DVD of it I’d watch it once a day. Thanks Zach—the world is better knowing “Stanless Steel” is in it.

Posted on 2011 08 05 by Dan Ferrigan

Great list Aron! Wondering if you’ve seen Morris’ *Tabloid* yet?!? Saw it at the IFC center the week before last (Morris was present for the Q&A) and loved it. Just goes to show that sometimes the very real people of the world are infinitely more fascinating than any character a screenwriter can dream up – no offense. Also, I might’ve added at least one documentary on the process of filmmaking itself (*The Kid Stays in the Picture*, *Burden of Dreams* or *Hearts of Darkness* comes to mind), ‘cause sometimes the best action takes place behind the camera.

Posted on 2011 08 08 by Alex Martin