Interview: Ross McElwee On the Next Generation Of First-Person Filmmakers, And Documenting The 'Sherman’s March' Remake

The second part of our 2012 interview with the legendary first-person filmmaker.

This interview was originally published on the Documentary Channel Blog in 2012.

In the first part of my recent interview with Ross McElwee, we discussed his new film, Photographic Memory, and how it fits into his career, both as an autobiographical documentarian and as someone with an oeuvre of work that stands on its own outside of its personal relevance. You can read about that and more here.

In the second half of our conversation, we talked about those he’s taught and influenced (including Nina Davenport, Mark Meatto and Michael Moore), as well as his collaborators on this new film. And I asked about what we can look forward to next, either something currently in the works or a past film still unreleased (his previous documentary, In Paraguay, has been held from distribution for personal reasons). And I was reminded that, as strange an idea as it is, Sherman’s March is being remade by Hollywood. So, he provides a teeny update on that.