In a keynote conversation Tuesday at Copenhagen’s premier international documentary competition, CPH:DOX, Oscar-winning filmmaker and producer Alex Gibney (“Taxi to the Dark Facet,” “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” ) spoke honestly about the winding road of raising him in the world of documentary, the creative process and life teachings, partially realized by singer-songwriter Paul Simon.
The inspiring talk at the baroque Kunsthal Charlottenborg exhibition house, with moderator Thom Powers, programmer of the Toronto Movie Pageant, was a prelude to the screening of Gibney’s two-part documentary, “In Stressed Goals: The Music of Paul Simon,” which premiered on MGM+. March 17th.
“What I noticed from Paul was that when he wrote ‘The Sound of Silence,’ he sat alone and the words came to him; the creative juices started to flow, and similar to Bob Dylan with ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ (the song) came together abruptly and he felt like a conduit.”
Gibney said that letting free associations take control, having unguarded curiosity and generosity were some of the smart lessons that Simon, 83, imparted to him, even though he himself had long ago mastered the art of documentary, where the film emerges only in the cutting room, often straying from the original idea.
In the case of “In Reckless Goals,” Gibney said the final two-part doc was a far cry from the initial panoramic view of Simon’s career suggested by the iconic American singer/songwriter after watching Gibney’s 2015 miniseries “Sinatra.” or nothing.”
“Although I’m a big fan of Paul, as a filmmaker, making this kind of biopic wasn’t very exciting,” admitted Gibney. “It was only when I went to see him create his latest album, ‘Seven Psalms’, and discovered an interesting way to explore his creative process, that I saw the (last) film, about time and mortality. For me, understanding how to bring it all together stylistically was a breakthrough,” he acknowledged.
Simon’s complicated relationship with fellow musician Art Garfunkel – who declined to be interviewed for the documentary – and their breakup was another dramaturgical aspect that the doc’s author was eager to explore.
“They still talk about the breakup, which probably wasn’t resolved in the end. I found that very interesting,” said Gibney, for whom “it’s all about the relationship,” including with his mother and father. “I remember an idle comment from Paul’s mother who said: you may have a voice, but Arty has a quality voice! Then his father, who was a jazz musician, informed him that rock’n’roll was stupid. It caught him and motivated him.”
Getting the editorial management of “Stressed Goals” and understanding from the beginning the “dance” that often takes place between a protagonist and a documentary filmmaker was quintessential for Gibney, who recalled an unpleasant experience with the notorious North American bicycle owner Lance Armstrong in “The Armstrong Lie.” “He wasn’t always trustworthy with me and I was part of his story,” says the director, who felt cheated. “Ultimately, you want to please the viewers, not the character.”
Reflecting on his own career, Gibney said that success only came to him later in life, when he was in his early 50s. “After years in the documentary film wilderness, I wasn’t making a living at all, and I remember my wife saying to me, ‘You want a job, but please don’t say you’re excited about documentary filmmaking!’ ‘ Eventually I did ‘Enron, The Smartest Guys in the Room’ (2005) and started making money.”
However, bringing the politically charged “Taxi to the Dark Side” to the big screen a few years later was a challenge, even though the film ended up winning an Oscar in 2008. “The other day I was remembering how lucky I was. it used to be about winning an Oscar. But man, getting there was a long, hard road!” Gibney explained. “The film was rejected by Sundance, so we had problems with the MPA who didn’t accept the trailer and with the Discovery Channel who also had doubts about it. All the people said a movie about torture (by the US military) wouldn’t work.”
“However,” Gibney continues, “when Sundance rejected us, we came back and noticed a major structural flaw that we needed to fix. Each failure ultimately taught us something special.”
For the senior medical specialist, mistakes and adversities must be valued, at every step of the way, as challenges to a person’s mortality. This was true for Simon, who recently suffered near-total hearing loss in his left ear and was able to recover, according to Gibney.
“There’s a track on his album ‘Seven Psalms’ where Paulo talks about dying – I’m not ready. During filming, I sang to him saying, ‘I’m not ready.’ But it was impressive to see him replicate that and still be determined to move forward. It provided in adversity a kind of window into a different sound… You learn to lean on each other,” said Gibney, who produced “In Stressed Goals” through his team Jigsaw Productions, alongside Nearer Media and Nameless Content.
Asked to address the general state of documentary filmmaking and his own way of getting his projects off the ground, Gibney said: “There is no one size fits all. Usually you go to a streamer – Netflix liked ‘Drunk Money’ and gave money for two seasons – but for more difficult films, combining fairness with financing is usually a good way. And in Europe, state financing with pre-sales works. But for each film it’s like fighting a political battle where every vote counts. You need to think about who could help (the film) and why.
“Bringing photos to the public is yet another battle, one that requires innovation and new distribution models,” said Gibney, who believes in reinvigorating the connection between creator and viewer.
“A few years ago we talked about the golden age of documentaries and, as it turns out, that was true. There was a certain degree of creativity and innovation in the type of cinema, which continues today. But films have difficulty being seen today, for reasons linked to microeconomics or the industry itself, which unites art and commerce. It immediately feels like it’s about the channels rather than channeling the creativity.”
The director cites new distribution models, such as the North American platform Substack, which allows writers and creators to publish their work and raise money through subscriptions from passionate readers. “Independent films – fiction or non-fiction – are in trouble. As filmmakers, we need to explore new ways to interact with audiences,” said Gibney, who also mentioned in his talk that he is wrapping up a new film about “The Sopranos” creator David Chase.
Next is a portrait of Elon Musk, produced by Jigsaw Productions with Nearer Media and Nameless Content.
The second part of “In Stressed Goals: The Music of Paul Simon” will be available for streaming on MGM+ on March 24.
The document will be shown this week in the Sound & Vision section of CPH:DOX. The competition runs until March 24th.