How to Keep Your Subjects Safe: Nanette Burstein on Dangerous Documentary [PODCAST] | No Film School

Nanette Burstein is well known for films like On the Ropes, American Teen, and The Kid Stays in the Picture. Part of her success likely comes from her insatiable curiosity and persistence in getting to the bottom of a story. But these same qualities can put her own life—and the lives of her subjects—at risk. In fact, the premiere screening of her latest film, Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McAfee, required the presence of police and bodyguards at the theater because of threats against her by the film’s antagonist.

"When I got into this film, I didn't fully understand what I was getting into. Somewhere along the way I realized it and thought, "Oh my god, if I had had a crystal ball, I'd go back in time.' But you're already in it!"

The film is a thoroughly bizarre and heart-pounding true crime tale of John McAfee—yes the McAfee of McAfee anti-virus software, and Libertarian presidential hopeful. Originally believing that she was simply investigating an unsolved murder charge against McAfee from his time living in Belize, Burstein began to uncover a very dark tale that involved everything fromgang activity to sexual assault. Part of this discovery, of course, came from finding subjects brave enough to speak about their ordeals on camera.

The podcast above is from our interview in Toronto, the day after that tense premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. We discuss being responsible for your subjects' safety, how to approach the challenges that each new film presents, and sustaining your career with commercial directing.

Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McAfeepremiered on Showtime on September 25 and is now available on Showtime on Demand.

Please subscribe and rate us on iTunes, Soundcloud, or the podcasting app of your choice. You can play all of our No Film School interview episodes right here:

This episode was produced and edited by Jon Fusco.

podcast liz nord jon fusco emily buder interview tiff tiff 2016 nanette burstein

What's the Hype With 'Interstellar' Revisiting Cinemas After a Decade in 70mm IMAX?

Here's Why You Need to Revisit 'Interstellar' in 70mm IMAX

Celebrate the love and hope at the center of Nolan's space epic in the format it was meant to be seen.

If we know anything about Christopher Nolan, he likes to go big. Nolan started with smaller-scale stories (as many of us do) with early noir adjacent works like Following, Memento, and Insomnia, then started going and staying big with his illusionist drama The Prestige. Since then, the scale has been various degrees of massive, with the biggest scope in his time-and-space sprawling epic, Interstellar.

While Interstellarmight not be everyone's favorite Nolan outing, there's no denying it's an impressive feat of filmmaking and his most emotional—if watching Matthew McConaughey's Cooper desperately try to reach his family through quantum space-time doesn't make you cry at least a little bit, what's going on, dude?

With Interstellar'sIMAX release, it's a great time to shed some tears in a public setting in one of the most prestigious film formats around. As we mentioned in our film gauge piece, Nolan loves shooting on film and utilizes 65mm intentionally to provoke a tone of massive scale. In that regard, Interstellar was made for 70mm IMAX. That goes without saying, dawg. That being said, other factors make Interstellar a perfect movie to revisit in theaters while you can.

Let's break down the release further below.

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