FutuRéale Magazine

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is North America's largest documentary festival. Each year, the festival presents a selection of more than 100 cutting-edge documentaries from Canada and around the globe. Through its industry programmes, the Festival also provides a full range of professional development, market and networking opportunities for documentary professionals.

Wild Blue Yonder
Screening: Monday, April 21st 7:00pm @ Alliance Cumberland Cinemas and Wednesday, April 23rd 11:00am @ Isabel Bader Theatre
Reviewed By: Julia Pronin

The death of a parent is always a traumatizing experience for a child. As the child grows, more and more questions come to the surface. There may not always be a source of answers, however when the opportunity is there, there is no telling how far a child will go to find the true story of their life. In the documentary “Wild Blue Yonder”, David Maysles’ daughter, Celia Maysles lost her father at the age of seven, and twenty years later, seeks to find answers for her questions about her father. The film documentary concentrates on David Maysles’ last work in progress, entitled “Blue Yonder”, which influenced the title of Celia’s film. “The Blue Yonder” was an autobiographical film, therefore it had the capacity to answer Celia’s questions in ways that family members would not be able to do. In this film however, Celia does take advantage of her father’s close connection with his brother, Albert Maysles.

This is an important documentary, as Celia’s father and Uncle, David and Albert Maysles, are known as the founders of Direct Cinema. Along with uncovering the truth behind a Direct Cinema legend, the film features many other important figures of the Documentary World, including interviews with D.A Pennebaker, Susan Froemke, Christo and Jean Claude, and so on. The documentary was spearheaded by Celia Maysles, alongside Charlotte Zwerin’s, Joe Berlunger’s, and Bruce Sinofsky’s help.