Question: What do domestic terrorism and selfie culture have in common?

Answer: Marshall Curry has made documentaries about them.

But my question was why? What about each of these things was so engrossing that a person could dedicate years of their life working to document it.

For Mr. Curry, it was all about curiosity and the unknown. He picked his subjects bases on what he didn’t understand. He wants to explore things in his work. Things that he might not have thought about before.

As a person, I think that is incredible. As a director, I think that that’s terrifying.

I have a little bit of experience with acting, writing, and directing. For me, directing is all about having an overarching vision and knowing where you want to end up. That is impossible in a documentary and it scares the life out of me.

After hearing from Mr. Curry, I tried to imagine for a moment what it would be like to direct a show with no script. No actors. No guaranteed action even. How would it work? How would I know what to watch? What is important and what is pointless?

I was quickly overwhelmed by this idea.

But then the panic passed. In its place was something else: Possibility. Suddenly everyone is an actor. Every plot matters. Every second is exciting and important. Making a documentary is like finding art in life. Sure, you need an artist to record it, but at its heart, its just people. Its the art in everyone’s story.

Regardless of this exciting revelation, I’ll probably never direct a documentary. But still, I appreciate the bravery and risk that goes into finding the art in everyone’s life. Marshall Curry’s discussion made documentaries real for me.