Mark Cousins Explores 1980s Documentaries

Filmmaker and critic Mark Cousins presented chapters eight and nine of his extensive "The Story of Documentary Film" series at the Karlovy Vary film festival, focusing on documentaries from the 1980s. These two hour-long episodes delve into the decade's cinematic landscape, exploring themes of empathy and investigative journalism.

Chapter eight, subtitled with a line from Robert Frost, "Something there is that doesn’t love a wall," centers on empathy and the dismantling of barriers, both literal and metaphorical. Cousins connects this theme to the films that challenged the status quo and contributed to the eventual fall of the Berlin Wall at the decade's close. The episode begins and ends at Checkpoint Charlie, symbolizing the division and eventual reunification.

Chapter nine, titled "detectives," shifts focus to investigative documentaries. This segment highlights films that sought answers to pressing questions, particularly concerning the wartime past. Cousins references the work of prominent documentary filmmakers such as Marcel Ophuls, Claude Lanzmann, and Michael Moore, whose films exemplified this investigative spirit and demanded accountability.

Cousins' approach to film history is characterized by his distinctive voice, which aims to educate, intrigue, and challenge viewers. His historical surveys are described as invitations to an almost trance-like state, where films are explored with a discreetly emphasized overarching theme. Viewers consistently report learning something new from his work, a testament to his insightful and humane perspective on cinema.