Documentary

Documentary filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker & Chris Hegedus. Their film, The War Room, is a behind the scenes look at the Clinton presidential campaign from the New Hampshire primary to the election. Pennebaker and Hegedus chronicled the campaign through the eyes of its two main strategists, James Carville and George Stephanopoulos.

One of Bosnia's leading film makers, and professor of film at the Academy of Film and Theatre in Sarajevo Ademir Kenovic. His newest film "SA-Life" (SA stands for Sarajevo) is compiled of scenes shot by himself, other film makers, and film students in and around Sarajevo that capture the horror of the war. Each day, Kenovic and his fellow film makers would meet in his basement studio to plan the day's shoot, going out with hand-held cameras. Kenovic has made three other films.

Documentary filmmaker Jim Chambers, who put together the new film "112th and Central: Through the Eyes of the Children", a documentary about the effects of the Los Angeles riots on the young people who lived through them. The film is put together from interviews of friends and family filmed by the children themselves, including 12 year old Cleophas Jackson whom Marty also interviews. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Chubby Checker got the credit for "The Twist," but the real credit goes to Hank Ballard who wrote the song and recorded it first (with the Midnighters') in 1958. Balalrd was a notorious figure in the early days of rhythm and blues. His song "Work with me Annie," was considered too lewd for many stations to play. Anyway, Ballard gets the credit for "The Twist," in a new documentary, "Twist" by film maker Ron Mann. Terry talks with both Hank Ballard and Ron Mann.

First-time film-maker Tiana (the Americanization of the name Thi Thanh Nga) has made a personal documentary tracing her 1988 journey back to Vietnam, where she was born: "From Hollywood to Hanoi." Her father was the head of press relations for the South Vietnamese government, and she enjoyed a privileged childhood. But her father moved the family to the United States just before the fall of Saigon. Tiana was raised in California from the age of three and became an actress in low-budget exploitation films.

The film "Silverlake Life: The View From Here" was started by filmmaker and film teacher Tom Joslin to chronicle his and his lover's battles with AIDS. Joslin asked his former student Peter Freidman to complete the film after Joslin's death. We'll talk with Friedman about working on "Silverlake Life," which opens the sixth season of PBS' P.O.V. series on Tuesday, June 15.

McElwee's new documentary is "Time Indefinite", an autobiographical film about his family. McElwee's earlier movie, "Sherman's March" started out as a documentary about Civil War General William Sherman's march to the sea and ended up a examination of personal identity and the mysteries of love.

The world of New York drag queens was captured on film long before "Paris Is Burning." In 1968, a movie called "The Queen" documented the Miss All-America Camp Beauty Pageant. The film was a sensation in New York City; it was even shown at the Cannes Film Festival. This month "The Queen" has been revived for a short run at New York's Film Forum. Terry talks with Jack Doroshow also known as Sabrina, the organizer and mistress of ceremonies of the 1968 Miss All-America Camp Beauty Pageant.

Anthropologist and documentary filmmaker David Feingold talks about the Peruvian Shining Path guerrillas, their connection to the drug trade, and their impact on the elections in Peru. His new film, "Washington/Peru: We Ain't Winning," is about U.S. efforts to stop the drug flow from Peru.

Film critic John Powers reviews "Bob Roberts," directed by and starring Tim Robbins. Powers says it takes courage to make a political movie today, but Robbins' effort lacks nuance.

Morris's films include, "The Thin Blue Line," a movie credited with helping to free an innocent man from death row, and "Gates of Heaven." His latest film is "A Brief History of Time," about the work and life of physicist Stephen Hawking. Hawking has ALS, a muscle-wasting disease, which has taken away much of his ability to move. But his billiant mind has been untouched by the disease. Hawking wrote a book about the birth and fate of the universe that was a bestseller, "A Brief History of Time."

Documentary filmmaker Marcel Ophuls. He is best known for his 1970 work "The Sorrow and the Pity," about the conduct of the French people during the Holocaust. He also made the film "Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie." His latest work is about life behind the iron curtain and the changes underway in Europe since the fall of the Berlin wall.

Documentary film maker Frederick Wiseman. Wiseman's made more than 20 documentaries, but his most famous is his first. It was a 1967 film called "Titicut Follies," about the conditions inside a Massachusetts hospital for the criminally insane. A state court banned the film, and it took 24 years for Wiseman to get the ban overturned. The film will be RE-premiered next week at New York's Film Forum. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane).

Eleanor Coppola filmed a documentary called "Hearts of Darkness." It's a behind-the-scenes view of the making of Apocalypse Now. Coppola is the wife of director Frances Ford Coppola.

Photographer Susan Meiselas (My-SELL-us). She went to Nicaragua in the late 70s to photograph the Sandinista Revolution. She returned to Nicaragua recently to talk to the people she photographed more than ten years ago. Only this time she made a film about it, "Pictures From a Revolution."

Film maker Marlon Riggs. His documentary about the lives of gay black men in America "Tongues Untied," airs next week on the public television series, "P.O.V." However, many PBS stations will not be showing the film, citing the films strong language and imagery. We'll also talk with three public broadcasting executives involved in the controversy:

Lewis has made two quirky, hilarious documentaries about the problems between humans and animals. His first movie, "Cane Toads: An Unnatural History," chronicles the havoc that ensued after a species of toad was introduced into Australia. His new movie is called "The Wonderful World of Dogs."

Documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee and editor Marilyn Levine. He made the film, "Sherman's March," in which he set out to trace William Tecumseh Sherman's march to the sea -- but it really traces his entanglements with Southern women along the way. During the editing of that film, he and Levine fell in love. McElwee's new film, "Something to Do With The Wall," began as a story about the eternal presence of the Berlin Wall, but ended up a story of the wall's breaking down.

The Polish documentarian chronicled the fall of Communism and rise of democracy in Poland, an activity that caused him repeated trouble with the Polish authorities.

Filmmaker Pierre Sauvage made the film "Weapons of the Spirit," about a small, farming village in France that sheltered 5,000 Jews during World War II. Sauvage's own family was among them.