Top of the Docs – Flip Screen

Image is from the documentary 'Los Angeles Plays Itself' (2003) Image shows the lit up strips of Los Angeles by night, with the city's name overlaid in block text.

Top of the Docs #45 – Los Angeles Plays Itself

By: Joel Whitaker 8th Apr 20218th Apr 2021

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From stairwells to suburbs and beyond, Los Angeles quite literally is cinema, and Thom Andersen’s Los Angeles Plays Itself sets out to prove it.

Image shows a red wall with hole in it, which a child stares through. Over the wall are the words Can't Get You Out of My Head.

Top of the Docs #42 – Can’t Get You Out of My Head (2021)

By: Joel Whitaker 4th Mar 2021

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Renowned for his breadth of research and incisive analysis, Curtis’ documentaries usually focus on an aspect of history, exploring its cultural, social and political impacts.

Image from the documentary Time (2020). It is a black and white image of a couple kissing in a car.

Top of the Docs #36 – LFF Special: ‘Time’ (2020)

By: Joel Whitaker 29th Oct 202028th Oct 2020

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Garrett Bradley, a first-time filmmaker, brings us perhaps the most damning indictment of the system yet, with her film Time.

Image shows a woman working in a garment factory live-streaming her work.

Top of the Docs #30 – ‘Present.Perfect.’ (2019)

By: Joel Whitaker 20th Aug 202021st Aug 2020

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The popularity of live streaming in China, something which Present.Perfect. explores to fascinating effect.

Image shows DJ Spooky performing in front of three large screens.

Top of the Docs #29 – ‘Rebirth of a Nation’ (2004)

By: Joel Whitaker 13th Aug 2020

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Perhaps the most innovative exploration of the film has been DJ Spooky’s live performance remix of the film, Rebirth of a Nation.

Image shows block photographs of fans and performers at All Tomorrow's Parties.

Top of the Docs #27 – All Tomorrow’s Parties (2009)

By: Joel Whitaker 30th Jul 2020

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The festival prided itself on being non-corporate, fan-friendly, and intimate, lowering the barriers between music and music lovers.

An arcade style character walks down a bright hall. Image courtesy of Sierra Entertainment.

Top of the Docs #25 – Counter-Charge

By: Joel Whitaker 16th Jul 202017th Jul 2020

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Welcome to Top of the Docs, Flip Screen’s hub for all things documentary. This weekly column takes a look at the crème de la crème of non-fiction media, with each month tending to focus on a particular theme. The theme for this month is video games! Gender roles within video games are a tricky thing.…

Image shows Lara Croft from the game Tomb Raider submerged in water.

Top of the Docs #24 – She Puppet

By: Joel Whitaker 9th Jul 2020

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Of all the video game characters produced throughout the past forty or so years, Lara Croft is undoubtedly the one that has made the biggest impact in terms of critical theory and cultural debate.

Image is a poster that features a picture of whistleblower Edward Snowden looking down. The image has a blue tinge, and the title of the film "Citizenfour" is in large writing to the left of the image.

Top of the Docs #21 – Citizenfour (2014)

By: Joel Whitaker 18th Jun 202017th Jun 2020

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Since the Cold War and maybe even before, we have all been jokingly aware of the fact that our respective governments are, to some extent, watching us.

Top of the Docs #12 – Yung Lean Please Be My Yung Love

By: Joel Whitaker 9th Apr 20208th Apr 2020

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Yung Lean is many things. Rapper, songwriter, producer, he’s a man of many talents. However, in Julia Mellen’s Yung Lean Please Be My Yung Love, he is elevated above all of that. He becomes simply a symbol, an outlet for emotion.