I'd suggest the most interesting trend in the last decade is that documentaries by people who are NOT well-established have received theatrical distribution, critical notice, and perhaps even some measure of financial success. I'd have to say that Moore set the table for all of this starting with Roger and Me, and there's kind of a muck-raking connection between Moore and Super-Size Me, which is one of the more notable examples (in 'success' terms, I'm not sure it's that great a film). But then there are more apolitical real-life dramas like Murderball, and even personal films like Tarnation. I'm not trying to suggest that the commercial marketplace and mainstream distribution machinery has suddenly opened it's arms wide to the broad spectrum of documentary, but certainly many sorts of films and filmmakers that would not have found their ways into theaters 25 years ago are now showing up on the big screen (or maybe, since these things often play in the smallest house in the multiplex, we should say 'kinds-big-screen'). I don't have any explanation for this phenomenon, either in terms of audience tastes or the political economy of the biz... I would guess the corporatization of 'art house' films and also the rise of reality TV have something to do with it, but that's just speculation. I also have a question: what standards get applied at the gate? Why do some indie docs get picked up for presentation to a wider audience while others (perhaps equally as worthy in aesthetic or social worth) get left behind? Whatever the answer, I think it goes beyond the reputations of the Herzogs, Morrises, Moores etc. There are too many new faces (even if they are Morgan Spurlock) showing up... > Among the artists I've seen as > exemplifying the range of expression are Herzog, Morris, Kopple, > Guzman, > and of course Moore. (I think the fact that these are all well- > established > has a lot to do with why they were so well-positioned in the > theatrical > market in the last decade.) ---- Learn to speak like a film/TV professor! Listen to the ScreenLex podcast: http://www.screenlex.org