Alex Gibney: ‘My films are meant to be agent provocateurs’

Named one of the world's most important documentary filmmakers, Gibney spoke at AIDC this week and shared the techniques and ethics behind his factual storytelling.

Alex Gibney is the kind of filmmaker who rushes to finish a film in time to influence the US election.

That’s what happened with Totally Under Control, made in about five months and fast-tracked to release online in October last year. The film was a startling revelation of ineptitude and corruption in Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Even if Gibney was mostly preaching to the choir (and choirs do need good preaching), the film stunned viewers with its clear timelines, insider access and sincerely heartbreaking whistleblower accounts.

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Rochelle Siemienowicz is Screen Content Lead at Screenhub. She is a writer, film critic and cultural commentator with a PhD in Australian cinema and was the co-host of Australia's longest-running film podcast 'Hell is for Hyphenates'. Rochelle has written a memoir, Fallen, published by Affirm Press. Her second book, Double Happiness, a novel, is out with Midnight Sun on October 1, 2024. Instagram: @Rochelle_Rochelle Twitter: @Milan2Pinsk