The Documentary Life8 Des 2017

The Imposter Syndrome + Conversation with Doc Filmmaker, Lourdes Portillo

Do you consider yourself a documentary filmmaker or is that a term that you are hesitant to give yourself?

Is there something that is holding you back from your first documentary film?

Perhaps what’s keeping you from being a doc filmmaker, or making your doc film, or living your doc life, is something called imposter syndrome.

Imposter syndrome is a concept that basically describes the inability of an individual to internalize one’s accomplishments as well as having a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud. And I’m convinced that so many of us doc filmmakers experience this at some point in time in our own doc lives. Which is what we’ll take a look at in our opening segment of today’s podcast.

Topics Discussed

Definition of imposter syndrome and how it applies to us #doclifers
Why you are already a filmmaker qualified to make a documentary
How you can overcome the fear that you are under-qualified to make your doc film

Podcast Conversation

In our shared conversation, I sat down with Academy Award and Emmy Award-nominated doc filmmaker, Lourdes Portillo. On the eve of her being awarded the prestigious International Documentary Association (IDA)’s Career Achievement Award, we have a frank and open conversation about the state of documentary: what it has meant for her in her life as well as what it might mean for future doc filmmakers and..

how she became an Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker with her first film without ever having any prior filmmaking experience
how aspiring filmmakers today make the mistake of concentrating on all of the shiny and latest camera gear and forget the most important element to a documentary: story
advice for writing your first grants for your first projects
what it means to be awarded an IDA Career Achievement Award

Film Trailer

Trailer for Lourdes Portillo’s brilliant personal documentary The Devil Never Sleeps (as discussed in the episode)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA_jAVoY2qY

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Episoder(147)

Episode 146 | Wearing Every Hat: Surviving as a One-Person Crew | With Dandan Liu

Episode SummaryWhat does it really take to make a documentary when you’re the entire crew?Working as a one-person crew can offer documentary filmmakers an extraordinary kind of freedom. With less equi...

16 Sep 47min

Episode 145 | AI and the Documentary Filmmaker | With Philip Shane

Episode SummaryHow can documentary filmmakers actually use AI—and where does it belong in the creative process?Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of the filmmaking toolkit, but beneath t...

2 Sep 48min

Episode 144 | The Ethics Lab: Access, Consent & Trust | With Alan Berry & Mark Enochs

Episode SummaryWhat does it mean when someone trusts you with their story?Access may get a documentary filmmaker through the door, but it is only the beginning. The deeper responsibility lies in earni...

19 Aug 46min

Episode 143 | How Do I Sustain My Documentary? | With Jilann Spitzmiller

Episode SummaryWhat happens when the money runs out—but the film isn't finished?For many documentary filmmakers, securing initial funding feels like the biggest hurdle. But as the months stretch into ...

5 Aug 37min

Episode 142 | How Do I Fund My Film? | With Liz Nord

Episode SummaryHow do documentary films actually get funded? It's one of the most common questions filmmakers ask—and one of the least honestly answered. While conversations often focus on grants, pit...

22 Jul 40min

Episode 141 | Building a Sustainable Documentary Life | With Ondi Timoner

Episode SummaryEpisode 141 marks the beginning of a new chapter for The Documentary Life — not as a relaunch or reboot, but as a recommitment to the questions that matter most. After a five-year hiatu...

8 Jul 53min

All Good Things Must Come to An End

Can you believe that it was over four years ago that we first began producing episodes of The Documentary Life?? Well, neither can we. But as they say, all good things must come to an end!It has been ...

2 Okt 202030min

Winning an Oscar for Your Documentary Film

Imagine stepping up to the podium to accept your award for Best Documentary Feature for the film that you have put your heart, soul, blood sweat tears into. What would you say? Who would thank? Where ...

18 Sep 202051min