Craig Mathieson's best docs of 2011

Autoluminescent: Rowland S. Howard, Richard Lowenstein & Lynn-Maree Milburn
From the fictional feature Dogs in Space to the 2009 documentary We’re Livin’ on Dog Food, Melbourne’s post-punk scene – a hotbed of creativity, ego and excess – has been a boon to fellow traveler Richard Lowenstein. With long-time collaborator Lynn-Maree Milburn, he found the definitive subject in guitarist and songwriter Rowland S. Howard, the former comrade to Nick Cave who became both an inspiration and apparition within the rock & roll’s international underground.



Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Werner Herzog
Documentaries made fine use of 3D technology this year, particularly from directors who purposed the technology to their own expressive ends. The mercurial Werner Herzog, the most recognisable narrator’s voice the cinema has, ventured underground, exploring the French cave system whose 30,000-year-old rock paintings are mankind’s oldest known pictorial creations. Naturally, he found eccentrics and the unexpected along the way, but Herzog was rarely distracted. In the face of wonder he was disciplined.



George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Martin Scorsese
While it didn’t have quite the immersive electricity of his take on Bob Dylan, Martin Scorsese’s distillation of the life and work of the supposedly quiet Beatle revealed an opinionated, determined artist who believed in spiritual salvation. One remarkable early edit, from The Beatles inspiring teenage hysteria to a group of anxious millionaires signing their official dissolution, marks Scorsese’s insight into Harrison’s life, and it typified a film that was fascinating for fans and the merely interested alike.



Page One: Inside the New York Times,Andrew Rossi
Made in a year – 2010 – when it appeared that the publishing business in America was in mortal danger, Andrew Rossi’s journey through the quiet halls of the most revered newspaper in the world reveals how the fabric of an institution is made, and remade, by the diverse individuals quartered inside. Focusing on a media desk covering its employer’s travails, Rossi finds a unique guide in reporter David Carr, a combatively philosophical former drug addict who made boring media conferences into grand entertainment.



The Triangle Wars, Rosie Jones
A worthy thematic successor to an Australian classic, Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson’s 1996 documentary Rats in the Rank, The Triangle Wars confirms that if you want to understand the divergent needs running through Australia’s cities use council politics as your focus. A primer on how a protest movement can have a particularly Australian bent, the movie examined how a $400 million development in Melbourne’s bayside suburb of St Kilda upended expectations, using fantastic access to all sides to reveal a compelling three year story.



Honourable mentions:

The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye (Marie Losier), Detroit Wild City (Florent Tillon), Pina (Wim Wenders), TT3D: Closer to the Edge (Richard De Aragues), and When You’re Strange (Tom DiCillo)