Grierson Documentary Awards - The Nominations

With the Grierson Documentary Awards happening tonight, I thought I'd look back at some of the stand-out nominations.

Among the films nominated for Best Doc on Contemporary Theme, is My Son the Jihadi (MSTJ) and Breaking into Britain: The Lorry Jumpers (BIB).

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MSTJ was the perspective we'd been waiting to hear from the first instance of Brits leaving to fight with IS. Who are these people, why are they leaving, how can their families let this happen - the doc gave us answers to most things, how easy it was to find yourself trapped, how it felt to be a part of a cause (a feeling you'd never felt before) and how grooming takes place bit by bit so that it doesn't seem so extreme. I'd seen a play earlier in the year 'Losing Our children to Islamic State' where this viewpoint was further explained. The only thing missing from both, was someone who had been there, who had joined IS and who had defected. I wanted to hear all the answers from them personally, because listening to a loving mother unable to understand the actions of her son, and mourning the loss of his life, twice over - just asked more questions. It was a documentary that explored the makings of how ordinary men and women spiralled towards extremism.

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BIB is another highlight. There was some great covert film-making at work here by Leo Maguire. The stakes were high, the risks obvious. Our cameraman even finds himself physically attacked by a police officer despite his journalist status. We meet men and women desperate to jump the border, regardless of the risks that accompany the crossing and the filmmaker doesn't shy away from that risk. It was a tough watch, but a good one too. Either of these films deserve the title for me.

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In the Best Arts Doc category, Amy soars to the top of my list. For someone who never truly appreciated her talent (I was only 11 when she sprung to fame) this was the side of the story I never got to hear. It portrayed the instant tabloid madness that came with her fame, and the overwhelming attention paid to all aspects of her personal life. It's a story about a young girl who just wants to sing. The things that come with it are often unwanted. The failure of those around her to recognise her suffering. The way that the success of her shows was put well before her well-being. It's a tragic story. Even on retreat across the ocean her father brings a camera crew - she's over it. Tabloids have long painted Amy in a negative light, as a bad egg, and Amy the film totally transformed the headlines I'd been fed throughout my teenage years about her. It's sad, I feel we all realised that too late.

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Best Historical Doc lines up My Nazi Legacy and Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners. Although it gave glimpses of investigative brilliance, I was disappointed with the latter I have to be honest. David Olusogo did a worthy job, but it felt very static. I wanted dynamic, it is slavery we're talking about after all. It felt a bit restrained to artefacts housed in stale environments and although the concept excited me, the content failed to match. My Nazi Legacy is top of my watchlist at the moment, so it'll be interesting to see how it does at the awards!

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For Best Science Documentary, it's no doubt My Beautiful Broken Brain that comes out on top (& it's now excitingly on NetFlix). The visuals were immersive, the story was intimate and the ups and downs were made all the more powerful with that. It explored the after effects of suffering a stroke that I'd never thought about and Lotje is completely inspiring. The fact this documentary exists is testament to her resolute ability to carry on, despite the hardships and emotional challenges that we witness throughout the film. It was a fascinating from start to finish and so well presented, a definite winner in my opinion.

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Best Natural history and Best Documentary Series, goes to The Hunt for some great wildlife cinematography, some intense life or death chases, some great music - need I go on. I don't need to say anymore than the Gogglebox contributors have already given us on screen - particularly following the scene of monkey vs monkey survival (I honestly had no idea that they ate each other). Best nature series we've had in a while I think.

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Best Entertaining Doc, Secret Life of 4, 5 and 6 years olds by a mile. I can't actually pin down what's so brilliant about it. I find kids entertaining anyway, but there's something about the psychology of it that absolutely fascinates me. I find myself thinking I'm a child psychologist in every episode. The challenges are brilliant, the fixed rig cameras expertly placed and the children brilliantly cast. It's just a great format and having  run around with a C300 shoulder rig for a taster tape for a similar idea, I have even more respect for the team that manages to construct and capture the brilliance.

It's nominated for best constructed documentary series too, alongside the tough opposition of Gogglebox and Hunted. Gogglebox gives us all of the emotions we like to experience through television in one sitting. Hunted likes to allow us to think we could escape the state way better (when actually we'd all probably be worse). And Secret Life, is well, see above. This is a tough category for me and I think any of the three deserve the prize.

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Best Cinema Documentary is hands down Cartel Land for me (now on Netflix too). I went to a talk about acceptable risk on productions at Sheffield DocFest last year and then saw this film, which blew the 'should-dos' out of the water. Watching Matthew Heineman capture gun fights made me hold my breath sure that the camera would hit the ground. Heineman evokes hope in his audience, in a rising leader against the cartels and a hardened vigilante member whose face told a thousand stories of its own. A doctor and family man, the story feels like your common good vs evil, and only towards the end do the lines appear to blur. It's got some great cinematography and the story is brilliantly crafted to allow the audience to witness the same feelings of fear, hope and hopelessness as the Mexican people, from the comfy seats of a cinema. He won the Tim Hetherington Award for a reason and he deserves this one too.

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The last category I mention, is the Best Doc Presenter. Louis Theroux's Drinking To Oblivion just pulls itself above the others I think. To watch as Louis was powerless to help as a young man discharges himself and heads to the local off-licence - we wait in hope that he returns without a bottle. Louis conveys exactly what the professionals, families, friends of alcoholics feel every day. They hope, they support, they wait, they worry - it's a constant see-saw of ups and downs, never knowing at which point they'll get off. Seeing the young man walk through the doors and tell Louis he decided against it was a moment of victory for 'man vs addiction'. Great honest work from Theroux again. Give the man a Grierson.

That's it from me, over to the judges to announce the worthy Winners tonight, 7th Nov, 2016!

The Privatisation of Channel 4

Television has been the backbone of British culture right from the UK's first public service broadcast in 1932. It’s connected us with others worldwide and now, with privatisation on the agenda, its unique position and reputation is under threat. Channel 4 is at risk of being hijacked.

The biggest challenge is that C4’s remit of taking risks, will now be at risk. Although Lord Burns is preparing proposals to allow C4 to continue providing distinctive and diverse public service programming, I’m not convinced. The challenge in becoming private, is that C4 is less likely to take risks, in order to secure financial gain for private investors. This will only ever come at the expense of new talent, as recruiting reputable programme makers will take precedence over younger, less experienced talent, in the quest for greater financial return. Say goodbye to talent schemes and diversity then – isn’t that what C4’s all about?

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Perhaps there’s an opportunity here then. With a £1billion pound sale, C4 could devote funds to the talent schemes that privatisation threatens. The future and quality of Channel 4 programming and television in general, depends upon the social representation of its workforce. We cannot freeze out talent, by jeopardising internships, talent schemes and opportunities, on and off-screen, for those who may otherwise never get the chance.

It seems Channel 4 is in danger of losing its identity, damaging the culture it stands a part of. In the current social climate, where we at the bottom are already feeling neglected, it’s an insult to sell the TV channel we believe in, to the people that we don’t.

It’d be unfair to assume that every avenue will lead to disaster. There’s an opportunity here to invest in new, future-proof digital platforms, encouraging private owners with digital expertise, to apply their own product innovations to C4. C4 could offer more to Millennials and Centennials via second and third screens, subsidising its long-form broadcast content and All4 platform.

My main fear though, is that quality alternative programming will be neglected in favour of cutting costs, that private companies will have editorial judgement over content and the value of programmes and their unique standpoint, will be undermined. Substantial profits will vanish from production budgets into the bonus packets of private owners - it’s the banking crisis coming for culture. Despite small glimmers of hope, my view remains that the only real ‘public value’ that the Dept. of Business stands to gain, I fear, is a financial one.

Walking the Himalayas

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I'd been waiting for Lev Wood's second series, 'Walking the Himalayas' for some time, having followed the Twitter storm caused by his first series 'Walking the Nile'.

This one though, had a slightly different tone than the first, whether that was intentional or not, who knows. This one felt as though it was more about Lev and his challenge, rather than the places he travelled through, and the people he met along the way. These encounters seemed all too brief and I wanted to know more about life throughout the mountain range , more about the history, (and less about the fuel crisis).

That's not to say the series wasn't good, it was, but the bar was set very high with 'Walking the Nile'.

In Ep 1, Lev began his journey with Milang, by wading unnecessarily through a lake he could have walked around (like the crew did) - but then, why not, I guess. He travelled high into the mountains where the air thinned, where tribes are scarcely populated and settlements far and few between. We meet a mountain tribe,and are told how short the life expectancy is up here, particularly for women. It made me wonder, when you visit remote tribes like this, surely there's a risk that you may carry illnesses that they are not immune to? If so, is there something you can do to prevent it? I'd never really thought about it before and wondered whether the production team had either. (I also wanted to know, when Lev and Milang are both on camera at the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan at the snow top, who is the third person holding the camera?!!).

In my opinion Lev lost a few adventurer points in this episode, when he hit the rope-bridge and succumbed to a feeling of what looked like genuine terror. The wooden planks were precarious but as an ex-squaddie I did think - come on, step on the wire and man up!

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In Ep 2 Lev's terror increased, when his tent was invaded by a large spider. Though this time, it was nice to know that even someone like Lev is scared of spiders - maybe I'll camp in the jungle yet!

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Throughout his journey through Northern Pakistan, it still amazes me that everything, everywhere, is written in English - 'Look to your Left Nanga Parbat' - you don't quite realise the extent of British imperialism until you see things like this - everywhere. It almost feels wrong to see it in English.

Later Lev is faced with another questionable river crossing donning a home-made pulley system. Lev was reluctant to climb aboard but did so anyway, needing a helping hand to get back across to Milang - who sensibly turned down the offer to follow. I would've jumped at the chance to pull myself across, even if my arms were left aching for days - in fact I already have, in the pitch black in River Valley, New Zealand and I can back Lev up 100%, they're harder than they look!

We learnt a bit more about the people of the region here, and it was interesting that the community living by the line of control on the militarised border with India, are happy for their children to leave the nomadic life, even though it dates back to the 6th century. Tradition vs. opportunity; it's a tough one wherever you grow up I guess.

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In Ep 3, Lev reaches Nepal where we say goodbye to Milang and hello to his old friend Binod. The pair trek across the country coming close to crocodiles and fast-flowing rivers. 

After the tragic death of journalist Matthew Power during the last series, I can guess that no-one in the production office wanted to answer the phone to the shocking message that Lev, brother Peter and Binod were all in hospital. Having been moved on by communists in the village, the boys had decided to get a taxi elsewhere. The brakes had failed in the car they were travelling in and the car had plummeted and rolled off the side of a steep verge, leaving Lev's shoulder dislocated and Binod concussed. Of all the dangers that they face by walking on foot across the Himalayas, the most dangerous part of their journey was the 5 minutes that they spent in a car. Lev spent a week recuperating with minimal pain relief before flying back to the UK for further treatment.

The team were soon back on their feet though, his brother back on the camera as soon as they got to the hospital. 

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In Ep4, after 5 weeks away to recover, Lev returns for Binod, sharing an emotional reunion with his wife and children. Continuing the journey, the researchers did well to find a rather extreme form of collecting honey - hallucinogenic honey at that. Men flung themselves down the cliff towards angry bees, to gather a rather meagre amount of honey but allowed for some entertaining recollections from villagers of the properties of it. In this episode the team revisit the villagers who rescued them after the car accident to thank them. The entire village gathers around to greet them, showing just how friendly these remote villages often are to visitors. The pair continue their walk towards Everest towards royal festivals of Bhutan.

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In the final episode, Lev and Binod complete their trip in Bhutan - travelling via a village that expressed an obsession with artwork portraying the male sexual organ - which Lev of course found unusually uncomfortable. The pair equipped themselves with the national dress, to celebrate the former King of Bhutan's birthday, narrowly managing to catch a few comments from the locals about the society they live in - I would have liked more of that throughout the series. They then visited a local monastery in hope of seeking good luck for a safe passage. It seemed that luck was not on their side as they are warned not to progress on their journey. Of course, Lev isn't one to heed this kind of warning, he presses on nevertheless.

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The end was near, with a climb to a snowy peak in Bhutan, without Binod by his side. Binod has been suffering with bad feet from the hard roads and was unable to join him, which was clearly an emotional moment for them both. If only the government were more relaxed with timings, perhaps Lev could have waited until Binod was fit enough to join him. Perhaps this was what they had been warned of.

All in all, the production team did another grand job. The addition of Binod was a good chance to hear more of Lev's personality but didn't offer much more in terms of content.  In fact, it may even have discouraged Lev to find conversation elsewhere, which previously had been the way the audience found out about the regions he travelled through. It was less exhilarating than 'Walking The Nile', but equally as addictive.

PD Jamie Berry has another successful series under his belt, averaging about 2.2million views per episode. The stakes were relatively lower than series 1 but enjoyable nonetheless. I can't wait to hear what's next for the October Films team.