more about documentaries

Documentaries are definitely being used as a political weapon (I’ve talked about this phenomenon here and here). From today’s New York Times:

At first glance, it would be hard to imagine a movie more immediately topical than “The Caiman,” Nanni Moretti’s new film about Silvio Berlusconi, the media tycoon turned politician who has dominated Italian public life for at least a decade. Indeed, “The Caiman,” which was released in Italy a few weeks before the recent Italian elections and which screened for the press here Monday morning, may risk pushing timeliness to the point of obsolescence, given Mr. Berlusconi’s narrowly achieved and grudgingly conceded defeat last month by a center-left coalition led by Romano Prodi.

It was therefore perhaps inevitable that the first question asked of Mr. Moretti at the post-screening news conference was whether the election had changed his perception of the movie—which some in Italy believe may have influenced the outcome—and its political message.

“On the contrary,” he replied. “Nothing has changed over the past few weeks in Italy.” Mr. Moretti observed that Mr. Berlusconi did not go quietly, and that he retains control over several newspapers and television channels.

Nothing modest about the filmmaker’s ambitions. He seems disappointed that Berlusconi is still breathing.