REQUEST INFO
1-800-611-FILM | 1-212-674-4300
With more outlets than ever before for documentary filmmakers to showcase their work, the Documentary School’s section looks at the different demands faced by working documentary filmmakers while providing a foundation in the essentials of documentary filmmaking through how-to guides, Q&A’s and interviews, and articles on industry trends.
How to Shoot a Documentary
April 2, 2015As we’ve covered previously, 2014 was a solid year for documentary filmmaking, and this raises a question…
… are you going to be part of 2015’s legacy?Whether ...
» Read more
How To Deal With Ethical Challenges In Documentary Filmmaking
September 23, 2014Documentary filmmakers are lurking in murky waters when it comes to ethical challenges. They are aware that boundaries need to be set and that there ...
» Read more
How To Write A Documentary Script
September 18, 2014Documentaries are fascinating and capture the brilliance of humanity when executed thoroughly. Every director and producer has his or her own routine of writing a ...
» Read more
Creating Emotion-Driven Documentaries: Five Excellent Examples
July 8, 2014At its heart, filmmaking is about telling stories. Whether real or imagined, the job of the filmmaker is to communicate the story well and connect ...
» Read more
How To Edit An Interview For A Documentary
May 28, 2014Author: Andrea Fumagalli, Documentary Alumnus, New York Film AcademyEditing an interview is not always easy, but it can be a lot of fun.
The way I ...
» Read more
7 Of The Best (And Most Disturbing) War Documentaries
December 11, 2015Perhaps as an unfortunate reflection of the times, the theater of war has been the focus of some excellent (if harrowing) fictional movies in recent ...
» Read more
Cinéma Vérité Vs. Direct Cinema: An Introduction
November 20, 2015From its very beginnings in 1877 when Eadweard Muybridge took sequential photographs of moving horses and animated them with the zoópraxiscope—a device he invented two ...
» Read more
The Best Documentaries: The Films Of Jehane Noujaim
November 12, 2015
Although female names among the incessant list of filmmakers in a male-dominated industry seem as scarce as hen’s teeth, there are quite a few females ...
» Read more
The Best Documentaries: The Films Of Werner Herzog
November 11, 2015If there’s ever a documentarian that hires cast and crewmembers whose endurance levels match their professional skills, it’s German filmmaker, Werner Herzog. Born on September ...
» Read more
The Feminist Cinema Of Kim Longinotto
October 29, 2015Oprah, Beyoncé, Emma Watson, Angelina Jolie; when talking feminism, art, and pop-culture, these are the names that immediately spring to mind. But what about the ...
» Read more
The History of the Mockumentary Artform
August 25, 2015“I believe virtually everything I read, and I think that is what makes me more of a selective human than someone who doesn’t believe anything.” – ...
» Read more
5 Fallen Musical Idols Immortalized in Documentary Form
August 25, 2015It’s a sad fact of life and with way too much precedent that some of the finest musicians bow out early, leaving the rest of ...
» Read more
5 Essential Documentaries To Watch This Summer
August 4, 2015It’s been something of a banner year for documentaries so far, with many feature-length releases already being touted as candidates for the best non-fiction releases ...
» Read more
5 Of The Best Space Documentaries Now Streaming
June 16, 2015What lies beyond the confines of our own atmosphere is mind-boggling in the truest sense of the word, so it’s little wonder that space—and the ...
» Read more
6 Female Documentary Filmmakers To Watch
May 26, 2015While the number of female directors in Hollywood is depressingly few and far between, the state of play is a lot more balanced in the world ...
» Read more
6 of the Best Environmental Documentaries
April 28, 2015Documentaries have the power to change perceptions about the world around us on both a personal and societal level, and as we’ve seen time and ...
» Read more
The Best Documentaries – Nine Films of Alex Gibney
April 2, 2015On the short list of current documentary filmmakers that can create a world of buzz with a new film, Alex Gibney is near the top. ...
» Read more
New Eminem Documentary – Watch ‘Not Afraid’ Now
March 6, 2015The music documentary industry has never been better or more prominent. From 2012’s flawless Searching for Sugar Man to the DJ essential Scratch ten years ...
» Read more
Documentary Filmmaking in 2014 – Trends & Five of the Best Documentary Films
February 11, 2015All in all, 2014 was a great year for documentary filmmaking with some brilliant work having been released by both returning professionals and new talent ...
» Read more
2015 Oscars: A Look At The Documentary Short Subject Nominees
January 29, 2015The Documentary Short category often gets overlooked during the hype and blitz of the Academy Awards, but the films nominated for the Oscar are almost ...
» Read more
2015 Oscars: A Look at the Best Documentary Feature Nominees
January 22, 2015This year’s Oscar nominees in the Best Documentary Feature are an eclectic group—producers and directors of varying levels of experience. Their films are just as ...
» Read more
The Best Documentaries: The Films Of Patrick Creadon
January 12, 2015Patrick Creadon is an American documentary filmmaker, well-known for his movies on puzzles, education, and the economy. Born in 1967, Creadon started out as a ...
» Read more
The Best Documentaries: The Films Of Errol Morris
January 9, 2015Errol Morris is an Oscar winning filmmaker who has been making documentaries for over thirty-five years, and is one of the few documentarian directors that ...
» Read more
5 Hacktivist Documentaries Worth Checking Out
December 9, 2014It seems like every week another story makes the news about hacker groups and skirmishes in a worldwide cyber war. These stories and acts of ...
» Read more
The Best Documentaries NOT On Netflix
December 1, 2014Think your options for streaming original and compelling documentaries begins and ends with Netflix?
Think again.
Online streaming is a rapidly evolving medium, and for documentary filmmakers ...
» Read more
Nonfiction for November: 10 New Documentaries On Netflix
November 21, 2014Netflix is constantly adding new titles to its vast library of movies and television shows. If you find yourself in a nonfiction mood this November, ...
» Read more
The Polls Are In: Five Fantastic Election Day Documentaries
November 4, 2014It’s a wonder there aren’t more campaign and Election Day-themed films out there. Sure, there’s more than a few, but considering just how intense and ...
» Read more
Fake Shark Week Documentaries: They’re Actually Dangerous.
August 15, 2014The Discovery Channel are at it again, putting out documentaries for this year’s Shark Week which are more full of pseudoscience and sensationalism than any ...
» Read more
Just Like Being There: The Most Essential Music Documentaries On Netflix
August 13, 2014For fans of film and music, there isn’t a more ideal genre than the music documentary. While the genre used to be primarily the provenance ...
» Read more
Interactive Storytelling: Pairing Documentary Filmmakers With Technologists
May 28, 2014Author: Caron Allen, Chair, Documentary Department, New York Film Academy Los AngelesOne of the most exciting developments in the non-fiction world is interactive storytelling, pairing ...
» Read more
Q&A With NYFA Grad and Documentary Filmmaker Jon Mann
January 16, 2015NYFA: Hi Jon, would you mind giving us a bit about your background and what drew you to NYFA’s screenwriting program?
Jon Mann: Hi! Thanks for ...
» Read more
Be Bold, Be You: An Interview With Franck Onouviet
July 16, 2014NYFA: Could you tell us about your background and what drew you to documentary filmmaking?
Franck Onouviet: First I would like to thank you for the ...
» Read more
Interview With Karsonya Whitehead, Author Of ‘Notes From A Colored Girl: The Civil War Pocket Diaries of Emilie Frances Davis’
June 27, 2014Check out our interview with New York Film Academy graduate & author of ‘Notes from a Colored Girl: The Civil War Pocket Diaries of Emilie ...
» Read more
The Effect Of The Camera: An Interview With Documentary Filmmaker Paul Gallasch
June 23, 2014NYFA: What is your background and what attracted you to the field of documentary filmmaking?
Paul Gallasch: I have always had quite a short attention span. ...
» Read more
Every Person Has A Story: An Interview With Documentary Filmmaker Susanne Dollnig
June 19, 2014NYFA: Hello Susanne, to get started, would you mind telling us a little bit about your background and what drew you to documentary filmmaking?
Susanne Dollnig: ...
» Read more
Q&A With Andrea Swift, Chair, Documentary Filmmaking, New York Film Academy
May 28, 2014Q: What is the first lesson to learn in becoming a successful documentary filmmaker?
AS: Story. Story. Story. Tell a good story well—and cinematically—and the film ...
» Read more