Documentary

Blackwood was hired by a movie studio with no experience. That stroke of luck eventually led him to a career as a movie director. His newest documentary, inspired by his travels, is called Motel. Blackwood says his work is less concerned with narrative, and more on the emotions of the people he follows.

Filmmaker James Toback. His new film is called "The Big Bang."

Animator Paul Fierlinger (FEAR-ling-er). His animated documentary film, "And Then I'll Stop" won the best film award from the International Association of Animators. It's the first animated documentary to explore the issue of alcoholism. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore. In his first-ever film, "Roger & Me," Moore returns to his home town of Flint, Michigan to document what happened when General Motors laid of 35,000 workers there. And he begins a Quixote-like quest to meet with GM Chairman Roger Smith, following him to Detroit, and New York.

Film critic Stephen Schiff picks the best movies of 1989.

Critic Owen Gleiberman reviews a new home-video documentary on actor, writer, and director John Houston.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews "Straight, No Chaser", the new documentary on jazz pianist, Thelonious Monk.

Director, screenwriter, musician and actor Christopher Guest. Guest makes his feature directorial debut in the new film "The Big Picture." Guest co-wrote the rock parody "This Is Spinal Tap," and he was a writer and regular performer on Saturday Night Live.

Pennebaker, who died Aug. 1, pioneered a cinéma vérité style of filmmaking in documentaries like Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back and The War Room. Originally broadcast in 1989.

Filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker. One of America's foremost documentary producers, Pennebaker has brought his cinéma verité approach to subjects ranging from Castro's Cuba, to Jimmy Carter's energy policy, to Bob Dylan's first tour of Britain. Music has been the source of much of Pennebaker's work. His films have featured the likes of Pablo Cassals, Van Cliburn, jazz singer Dave Lambert, rocker David Bowie, John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

Buba is conflicted about the movies he makes about his hometown -- he garners acclaim while Braddock, Pennsylvania counties to decline. His new movie, Lightning over Braddock, is about a steel plant closing, a grifter named Sal, and Buba's own filmmaking.

Baker made a career as a trumpet player and jazz singer. Known for his struggles with his addition, Baker recently died after falling from his window; drug paraphernalia was found in his room. Bruce Weber's new documentary about the musician has just been released. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead has this review.

Critic Ken Tucker reviews the direct-to-video documentary Cover-Up, which alleges that a shadow government conspired to shape foreign policy throughout the 1980s, which led to the Iran-Contra affair. The film has been an unexpected commercial success. Other recent releases include 3 Men and a Baby and She's Having a Baby.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone reviews the documentary Hotel Terminus, about Nazi officer Klaus Barbie, who fled to South America after the end of World War II. Despite the dark subject material, Stone says the movie is a pleasure, and praises director Marcel Orphuls unblinking camerawork.

Ken Tucker reviews the home video of "Gates of Heaven," the documentary on pet cemeteries by Erroll Morris.

PBS will soon air the documentary Missile, about the fourteen-week training program for launch operators. TV critic David Bianculli says it gives real life context to the hit film Wargames. Director Frederick Wiseman's signature eschewing of interviews sometimes detracts from the narrative, but the movie is overall worth watching.

Errol Morris thinks of himself as much a detective as a documentary filmmaker. Known for his off-beat subjects, he's adopted a more serious tone with his new movie, The Thin Blue Line, about a murder investigation in Dallas. Errol believes the man sentenced to death for the crime, Randall Dale Adams, is innocent.

Part I of Terry Gross's interview with filmmaker Penelope Spheeris. Spheeris talks about her new movie, The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: the Metal Years, a documentary about the heavy metal scene. She thinks stereotypes of the inarticulate and unskilled metal musicians are unfair -- though it's often true that they embrace a drug-fueled, self-destructive lifestyle.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new documentary The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: the Metal Years. He says the compelling movie is a revealing look at how fans and musicians participate in the decadent culture of heavy metal music.

Robert Mugge makes documentary films about unique and vital American music. His subjects include Al Green, Sonny Rollins, and native Hawaiian musicians. PBS will broadcast six of his movies this summer.