DocHouse Conversations #10: José Padilha

DocHouse Conversations

DocHouse Conversations are thrilled to come back for a second mini-series. Carol Nahra, our podcast host, talks to international filmmakers about what films inspired them and what films have changed their careers. For this episode Carol is in conversation with award-winning director José Padilha.

Jose is a critically-acclaimed filmmaker for both his nonfiction and fiction (Narcos, Elite Squad) work. His feature doc directing debut Bus 174 chronicles the hijacking of a public bus in Rio de Janeiro on 12th June 2000. With real-time media footage we follow the events of a young and armed man taking the eleven other passengers hostage. At the same time José explores the societal factors that contributed to the young man’s homelessness and alienation. José and Carol will discuss the impact that Bus 174 had on his career - and how filmmakers such as Albert Maysles and Jonathan Demme supported him along the way. You can watch this Peabody-winning doc on Kanopy.

They also discuss José’s choice for inspirational documentary: Leon Gast’s Academy Award- winning When We Were Kings. The film chronicles the famous 1974 heavyweight championship, baptised ‘The Rumble In The Jungle’, between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali. Watch When We Were Kings on BBC iPlayer.

Finally, Carol and José revisit the film through which they met: Secrets of the Tribe (2010), which Carol produced and José directed. The BBC Storyville film was eight years in the making, had its world premiere at Sundance, and was bought by HBO. Through the stories of Yanomami anthropologists Napoleon Chagnon and Jacques Lizot, the film casts doubt on the entire science of anthropology. Find out more and watch the film on YouTube, Kanopy or Amazon.