''Les Nouvelles Egotistes'' is a grouping of
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
makers who make films where they themselves are featured. This is against the grain of more traditional documentary film which is mainly
voyeuristic
Voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of watching other people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other actions of a private nature.
The term comes from the French ''voir'' which means "to see". A ...
observation.
Characteristics
Films in the style of ''Les Nouvelles Egotistes'' are reflexive, insofar as there are two subjects of the film - the filmmaker and the "reality" which he is filming.
Usually the filmmakers are "faux-naïf", pretending to be less knowing than they really are in order to "trap" the subject, however amongst the key names both
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism.
Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...
and
Nick Broomfield
Nicholas Broomfield (born 1948) is an English documentary film director. His self-reflective style has been regarded as influential to many later filmmakers. In the early 21st century, he began to use non-actors in scripted works, which he cal ...
can be very aggressive when necessary.
History
This style of filmmaking showed presence in 1986, with
Ross McElwee
Ross McElwee is an American documentary filmmaker known for his autobiographical films about his family and personal life, usually interwoven with an episodic journey that intersects with larger political or philosophical issues. His humorous an ...
's ''
Sherman's March: A Meditation on the Possibility of Romantic Love in the South during an Era of Nuclear Weapons Proliferation''. For much of this film, McElwee was talking to camera, giving accounts of how he thought the production was going.
It was in the same year that
Nick Broomfield
Nicholas Broomfield (born 1948) is an English documentary film director. His self-reflective style has been regarded as influential to many later filmmakers. In the early 21st century, he began to use non-actors in scripted works, which he cal ...
was making a film about
Lily Tomlin
Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the vari ...
and realised that all of the best bits - the dead ends, the arguments, the mistakes - were being left out. For his 1988 feature ''
Driving Me Crazy
"Driving Me Crazy" is a song by American rapper Sammy Adams, released on March 4, 2010 from his debut EP ''Boston's Boy'' as the second single. Produced by him and Matty Trump, it contains a sample of "Walking on Broken Glass" by Annie Lennox. Th ...
'' and subsequent features, then, Broomfield perfected this new style, "reinventing" documentary film.
Following this, more documentary makers followed Broomfield's example - key examples are
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism.
Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...
,
Jon Ronson
Jon Ronson (born 10 May 1967) is a British-American journalist, author, and filmmaker whose works include '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'' (2001), ''The Men Who Stare at Goats'' (2004), and ''The Psychopath Test'' (2011). He has been desc ...
(who was responsible for naming the movement in a 2002 issue of ''
Sight & Sound
''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...
''), and more recently
Louis Theroux
Louis Sebastian Theroux (; born 20 May 1970) is a British-American documentarian, journalist, broadcaster, and author. He has received two British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award.
After graduating fro ...
.
The movement was named relatively recently, and is an informal assertion by
Jon Ronson
Jon Ronson (born 10 May 1967) is a British-American journalist, author, and filmmaker whose works include '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'' (2001), ''The Men Who Stare at Goats'' (2004), and ''The Psychopath Test'' (2011). He has been desc ...
which happens to have been adopted by many film journalists.
The style has become increasingly popular over recent years, being adopted by many documentary filmmakers, such as
Reggie Yates
Reginald (Reggie) Yates (born 31 May 1983) is a British writer and director with a career spanning three decades on screen as an actor, television presenter and radio DJ. Yates played Leo Jones in ''Doctor Who'' and has worked at the BBC in ra ...
.
Key Films
* ''
Sherman's March (1986 film) '' by
Ross McElwee
Ross McElwee is an American documentary filmmaker known for his autobiographical films about his family and personal life, usually interwoven with an episodic journey that intersects with larger political or philosophical issues. His humorous an ...
, 1986
* ''
Driving Me Crazy
"Driving Me Crazy" is a song by American rapper Sammy Adams, released on March 4, 2010 from his debut EP ''Boston's Boy'' as the second single. Produced by him and Matty Trump, it contains a sample of "Walking on Broken Glass" by Annie Lennox. Th ...
'' by
Nick Broomfield
Nicholas Broomfield (born 1948) is an English documentary film director. His self-reflective style has been regarded as influential to many later filmmakers. In the early 21st century, he began to use non-actors in scripted works, which he cal ...
, 1988
* ''
The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife
''The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife'' is a 1991 British feature-length documentary film set during the final days of the apartheid in South Africa, particularly centring on Eugène Terre'Blanche, founder and leader of the far-right A ...
'' by
Nick Broomfield
Nicholas Broomfield (born 1948) is an English documentary film director. His self-reflective style has been regarded as influential to many later filmmakers. In the early 21st century, he began to use non-actors in scripted works, which he cal ...
, 1991
* ''
Kurt & Courtney
''Kurt & Courtney'' is a 1998 British documentary film by Nick Broomfield investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Kurt Cobain, and allegations of Courtney Love's involvement in it.
Synopsis
The documentary begins as an investi ...
'' by
Nick Broomfield
Nicholas Broomfield (born 1948) is an English documentary film director. His self-reflective style has been regarded as influential to many later filmmakers. In the early 21st century, he began to use non-actors in scripted works, which he cal ...
, 1998
* ''
Bowling for Columbine
''Bowling for Columbine'' is a 2002 documentary film written, produced, directed, and narrated by Michael Moore. The film explores what Moore suggests are the primary causes for the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 and other acts of gun ...
'' by
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism.
Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...
, 2002
* ''
Biggie and Tupac
''Biggie & Tupac'' is a 2002 feature-length documentary film about the murdered American rappers The Notorious B.I.G., Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace and Tupac Shakur by Nick Broomfield.
Broomfield suggests the two murders were planned by ...
'' by
Nick Broomfield
Nicholas Broomfield (born 1948) is an English documentary film director. His self-reflective style has been regarded as influential to many later filmmakers. In the early 21st century, he began to use non-actors in scripted works, which he cal ...
, 2002
* ''
Louis and the Nazis
''Louis and the Nazis'' is a British documentary that was televised on 21 December 2003. It was directed by Stuart Cabb and written by Louis Theroux. The documentary ran for 80 minutes.
Louis travels to California to meet the man dubbed "the m ...
'' by
Louis Theroux
Louis Sebastian Theroux (; born 20 May 1970) is a British-American documentarian, journalist, broadcaster, and author. He has received two British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award.
After graduating fro ...
, 2003
* ''
Fahrenheit 9/11
''Fahrenheit 9/11'' is a 2004 American documentary film directed, written by, and starring filmmaker, director, political commentator and activist Michael Moore. The film takes a liberal, critical look at the presidency of George W. Bush, the w ...
'' by
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism.
Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...
, 2004
* ''
My Scientology Movie
''My Scientology Movie'' is a 2015 British documentary film about Scientology directed by John Dower, and written by and starring Louis Theroux. The film takes an unconventional approach to the subject matter, featuring young actors "auditioning ...
'' by
Louis Theroux
Louis Sebastian Theroux (; born 20 May 1970) is a British-American documentarian, journalist, broadcaster, and author. He has received two British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award.
After graduating fro ...
, 2016
External links
Sigla Magazine - The Renaissance of the Documentary Film''Sight & Sound'' - The Egos Have Landed by Jon Ronson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nouvelles Egotistes, Les
English documentary filmmakers