The Big Game

WHEN DONALD TRUMP WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES in November 2016, many Americans felt trepidation about handing over the most powerful job in the world to a pugnacious, intellectually incurious, alarmingly partisan political neophyte. Some dissenters politicized; others descended into depression; still others focused on personal, perhaps more manageable matters; many cried. Almost immediately, questions arose within documentary circles about how best to respond to the changed situation, one in which reported facts had become relativized, all news was being read as sectarian spin, anything other than fighting for or protecting the vulnerable felt irresponsible, and sources of financing and logistical support seemed destined to either double down on or revert to a standard of advocacy and opposition.

Many nonfiction films have been developed, produced, and released since then, some explicitly addressing the current state of). Michael Moore? He’s taking Donald Trump, of course (). Werner Herzog? Bit of a wild card, as you might expect, so he’s taking Mikhail Gorbachev (). Hey, who’s got Putin? Let that be Vitaly Mansky—he’s been covering him since 2000 (here with ). Wait, what about Fred Wiseman? Oh, he’s playing a different game.