Dinner with a a two-time Academy Award-nominated American documentary director, producer, cinematographer and editor? Why not.

I honestly can say, besides editing and making silly middle school videos on iMovie, film is not something I am very familiar with. However, I am a lover of all documentaries and whenever I need a break from some intense Organic Chemistry, I turn to Netflix and find an interesting documentary. That is why when I found out Marshall Curry was coming for dinner, I decided to get an inside look into the documentary-making process.

Curry said something that I greatly identified with, “I thought that documentaries were something that other people made. Something that I would never be able to experience”. He explained with how he started filming If a Tree Falls, a co-worker of his wife was arrested for terrorism and he thought it would be something interesting to film. Just like that, he become that “person who made documentaries” that seemed so distant and unrealistic.

What makes documentaries so interesting to me, is that it highlights realistic scenarios in life. Movies often glamorize and exaggerate life scenarios and spin them the way they would like (If you watch Narcos on Netflix your frustrations could align with mine). However, documentaries are raw footage that highlight interesting people in the world we live in.

Curry has a wide range of documentary topics, from following a politician’s road to becoming mayor to following (one of my favorite bands) The National around. I never thought about how much work goes into editing and making a documentary, and sitting down with one of the top directors in the game was definitely an experience I won’t forget.

Daniella