Factual America examines America through the lens of documentary filmmaking. Guests include Academy Award, Emmy and Grammy-winning documentary filmmakers and producers, their subjects, as well as experts on the American experience. Find out more about the current and upcoming documentaries on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Sky Documentaries and other platforms directly from the creators. Whether we discuss true crime, music, burning social and political topics, history, or arts, Factual America is your #1 documentary film podcast. Factual America is produced by Alamo Pictures, a London- and Austin-based production company that makes documentaries about the US from a European perspective for international audiences.
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episode 8: Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore, and Climate Change
An Inconvenient Truth (2006) won two Academy Awards, and turned former Vice President of the United States Al Gore into an international celebrity.
More importantly, it brought climate change and global warming to the forefront of our collective consciousness.
Drawing on his own research, our guest Dr James Lyons shows how director Davis Guggenheim uses performance to dramatically animate risk in the film.
In doing so, does he change the focus, away from climate change? Do the camera lights instead shine more brightly on the former senator from Tennessee, rather than the existential threat facing our planet?
Time Stamps:00:58 – Introducing the guest and our topic: the animation of risk in modern documentary film
01:45 – Dr James Lyons’ background and work
04:40 – What documentary performance and risk research is about
06:04 – Two documentary films we will be looking at today and why James chose them
08:37 – Synopses of Inconvenient Truth and an Inconvenient Sequel
10:45 – Commentary on Al Gore and his performance as a presidential candidate in 2000
11:50 – Watching the first clip from Inconvenient Truth on climate change
13:10 – Why James chose this clip
15:40 – How the trailers for both films present the risk of climate change
18:40 – Watching the clip from Inconvenient Sequel on the terrorist attack in Paris in 2015
22:00 – James’ commentary on the clip and why he chose it
25:50 – How Inconvenient Truth is actually about Al Gore and not climate change
27:50 – Trying to keep a documentary on topic, and the influence of performance and risk
30:00 – The beginning of a successful wave of independent documentary filmmaking in America
36:45 – Commentary on James Lyons’ interactive documentary Risk Taker’s Guide
39:20 – Commentary on James’ book and different categories of risk
An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power (2017)
The Risk Takers Survival Guide
Documentary, Performance and Risk, a book by James Lyons
Free Solo (2018)
Roger And Me (1989)
Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)
Factual America Ep #03: Alex Gibney’s Theranos Scandal Documentary
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