The storyteller

interview

Jemima Khan sheds light on the experience of making documentaries and how it compares to working on scripted projects.

Jemima Khan has been in the public eye for much of her adult life, garnering (often unsolicited) attention for everything from her personal exploits to her philanthropic efforts. But what you may not realize about her is that she has also established an impressive career as a documentary producer. Through Instinct Productions – a content company she founded almost a decade ago – Jemima has helped shine a light on interesting real-life stories and fascinating individuals, with her work earning praise along the way.

“I really like producing documentaries,” Jemima tells Instep, “and I normally have a really personal reason for making the stories that I then devote myself to.”

The projects she has backed include the Emmy-nominated docuseries The Clinton Affair, which explored the Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinsky scandal – a subject she revisited in the Golden Globe- and Emmy-nominated Impeachment, the third season of the scripted American Crime Story anthology series, for which she, again, served as a producer – and another Emmy-nominated documentary, The Case Against Adnan Syed, the story of a young man wrongfully convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend.

Comparing the experience of producing documentaries to that of working on a scripted project – like her new film What’s Love Got to Do with It?, her foray into screenwriting – the Brit highlights the difference in control over the projects and how long it takes to complete them. “Producing normally takes a couple of years, and you see it through to the end and you are intricately involved, but it's not the same thing as writing,” she says. “Writing was a completely different experience.”

She also feels there are things you can achieve with a scripted project that you perhaps can't do with a documentary. “I have one project where I did both the documentary version and the scripted drama version. That was the Monica Lewinsky impeachment story,” she elaborates. “I think we could possibly do more to show the turmoil and pain of the central character of Monica Lewinsky with a scripted drama, because you could go behind the scenes, and you could see stuff that isn't on camera; you have to make that stuff up but I think there's a level of emotional engagement that you can get sometimes with scripted that you might not be able to get if the archive is lacking with a documentary.”

It was perhaps this flexibility that inspired her to go the scripted route with What’s Love, a film with which she aimed to present Pakistani in a positive light. “I wanted it to be a very celebratory film about Pakistan. I wanted it to be about colour and music and architecture and the food and really to get a very visceral sense of the country. I felt that a cinematic experience on the big screen would do that more effectively.”

She remains passionate about her documentary work though, and you can see why, given the impact some of her projects appear to have had. 

Coming out this year is the final episode of the docuseries she made about the case of Adnan Syed, the American Muslim who was put away for life when he was 17 for a crime that he did not commit. “We made a documentary about that for American and British TV called The Case Against Adnan Syed. Basically that boy was incarcerated because of Islamophobia straight up because they had a so-called cultural consultant – a white American consultant – who went into the court and said these people do honour killings; basically on that basis, without any DNA evidence, without any motive, he was put away for life. So he's been in jail for the whole of his life.”

Adnan, now in his mid-40s, has just been exonerated, thanks in part to the work by Jemima and her team. The upcoming episode sees Adnan walking free and moved the producer to tears. “I watched the cut last night and it made me sob, because his family really remind me of Imran's family, my ex-husband's family,” she says. “They're a Pathan family and I think his ancestors are from Lahore, and it's so moving, because this family has been destroyed by what happened to them. The father hasn't left his bedroom and became agoraphobic because of the shame and because of the grief of what happened. This A grade student who was wrongly convicted, and you see the moment where he walks in and he hugs his father after 20 plus years and it's very moving, so I’m very privileged to have been part of that [project] because some of the evidence that we collected over the making of the documentary is what got him freed in the final episode.” And that, she explains, is why she remains passionate about exploring real-life stories and documenting reality.

- By Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 26th March, 2023 *

Our Planet - dazzling, mesmerizing ... traumatizing

documentary series review

Our Planet

Directed by: Alastair Fothergill

Narrated by: David Attenborough

Majestic views, dazzling imagery, mesmerizing natural spectacles … Our Planet is absolutely gorgeous.

It is also very traumatizing.

The nature documentary that arrived on Netflix earlier this month aims to take a look at the impact of the changing world on various life forms, but along the way it takes a few questionable turns.

Clearly years of work have gone into the creation of this visual masterpiece. Over the course of 8 episodes, the series takes you from frozen worlds to lush jungles to stunning waters, showing how animals live in these diverse habitats and revealing the effect that climate change is having on their lives. And it’s a rewarding journey well worth taking.

Seabirds carpet-bombing the ocean; hundreds of flamingo chicks walking across a saltpan; parent penguins making their way back to feed their babies; narwhals trying to find a passage in the ice to swim through … there is no shortage of amazing footage of wildlife in its natural habitat.

But just as you are mesmerized by the fascinating natural imagery and the comfort of David Attenborough’s familiar voice, something absolutely heart-wrenching invariably happens.

It’s brutal. It’s uncomfortable. It’s also unnecessary.

The fact that nature is cruel isn’t a revelation; we don't need to see a documentary to learn that.

And the fact that we have caused so much damage to this planet which is in turn causing harm to animals is an important but familiar message. 

The documentary is most likely to be watched by nature lovers, who already know how tough things are for animals and who are already trying to make a difference. So many of us have seen more than enough of harrowing footage. Those who are empathetic enough to care and find such images distressing don’t need to be traumatized further.

People who couldn’t care less about nature, on the other hand, won’t be interested in this documentary anyway. And it’s not like watching or experiencing animal pain and brutality has an impact on people anyway. Watching animals being slaughtered hasn’t turned us into a planet of vegetarians. Watching stray dogs being shot in our neighbourhoods hasn’t caused any outrage.

Plus, it doesn’t help that some of the claims the documentary makes are being scientifically disputed. The by-now-infamous walrus scene, attributed to climate change in the documentary, is instead being linked to polar bears by zoologists.

Whether the filmmakers were misguiding us intentionally or not, they were clearly trying to emotionally manipulate us, which is a tactic that upsets the softhearted and simply doesn’t work on the hardhearted.

Following the uproar about the inclusion of some of the upsetting scenes in Our Planet, Netflix has issued a content advisory so that viewers aren’t blindsided, which is a move in the right direction. If you do think you gain something by watching nature at its harshest, then you can watch Our Planet in its entirety. If you don’t think you have to see this suffering to know or care about it, then you might want to skip those parts. This should ultimately be the viewer’s choice.

As you make your way through @OurPlanet, here are some moments animal lovers may want to skip:

One Planet: 16:04 - 16:43
Frozen World: 16:29 - 17:47, 32:50 - 33:45, 48:45 - 51:00
Fresh Water: 26:10 - 27:09
Deserts and Grasslands: 28:45-29:10
High Seas: 37:42-37:52

— Netflix US (@netflix) April 10, 2019

Our Planet does get the point across regarding climate change and the human impact on nature, but it’s a point that most of us already know and the rest of us will still not care about it no matter how many walruses plummet to their deaths on screen. Instead of going for shocking images of tragedy, the documentary could have made even more impact by tugging at our heartstrings with more tact.

- Sameen Amer

The Express Tribune Blog - 25th April, 2019 *

Homecoming will make you marvel at Beyonce’s talent and leave you exhausted by her resilience

concert film review

HΘMΣCΘMING: A Film by Beyoncé

Starring: Beyoncé, Destiny's Child, Jay-Z, Kelly Rowland, Les Twins, Michelle Williams, and Solange

Written and directed by: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, 

Beyoncé made Coachella history last year when she became the first female African American artist to headline the popular music festival. Now the singer has marked the anniversary of her performance by looking back at her triumphant show in Homecoming, a concert film that captures the spectacle onstage as well as sheds light on how it shaped up offstage.

Released on Netflix last week – right when Coachella was rolling in for its annual visit – the film basically shows just how Beyoncé transformed Coachella into Beychella.

The piece features her nearly two hour long set, seamlessly splicing together her performances from the first and second weekends, each distinguished by the differing colour schemes of the costumes.

Homecoming showcases the splendour of what clearly isn’t a mere concert but a whole euphoric production. Accompanied by nearly 200 dancers, singers, and performers, Beyoncé sings and dances her way through some of her biggest hits while celebrating her rich heritage. Deemed her homecoming performance, the show also pays homage to historically black colleges and universities and brings the ethos of her culture to the world stage. She is joined, on occasion, by some of the people closest to her, including her husband Jay-Z who lends his vocals to ‘Déjà Vu’; sister Solange who teams up with Queen Bey for a joyous dance segment; and her best friends Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams who stop by for a three-song Destiny’s Child reunion.

The musical festivities are paused a few times to reveal all the hard work that went into the preparations for the event. Through behind the scenes footage and accompanying voice overs, viewers get a glimpse at the months of dance, band, and vocal rehearsals that led to the immaculate production. We see that Beyoncé was in charge of all the various aspects and elements of her set, and was very particular about her vision for the performance.

The singer also reveals how hard she pushed her body to get ready for Coachella following a difficult pregnancy and the birth of her twins. Her candid discussions highlight the pressure that women face while managing multiple identities as they work to maintain their careers while raising families. Any mothers who have struggled with the expectation to lose weight after having children or have had to return to physically taxing jobs after giving birth will relate to Beyoncé’s situation and respect her strength and fortitude.

The focus, though, primarily remains on her stunning performance which is something that ardent fans will have already experienced – and re-experienced – over the last year. The backstage footage and commentary isn’t very in depth. As a documentary, this piece is quite measured. You might wish, at some points, that you could have learned more about the artist and how she created and moulded her show into perfection. But there is enough material here to both highlight the singer’s work ethic and keep the Beyhive happy.

The first of three projects that Beyoncé is planning to release with Netflix – part of a whopping $60 million deal, as per rumours – Homecoming gives us the chance to relive Beychella while impressing us with the singer’s hard work and charming us with candid footage of her family. The film will make you marvel at Beyoncé’s vocal skills and physical stamina – just watching her fierce performance will leave you exhausted while empowering you with inspiration to strive to achieve your dreams. Her plethora of fans will certainly cherish the experience.

- Sameen Amer

The Express Tribune Blogs - 23rd April, 2019 *

In the Picture - Won't You Be My Neighbor? and Three Identical Strangers

documentary reviews

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? takes a look at the life and legacy of Fred Rogers, the beloved American children’s television presenter; Three Identical Strangers does justice to its extraordinary real-life tale of three brothers

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Starring: Fred Rogers, François Clemmons, Yo-Yo Ma, Joe Negri, David Newell, Tom Junod, and Joanne Rogers

Directed by: Morgan Neville

Tagline: A little kindness makes a world of difference.

Morgan Neville takes us on a stroll down memory lane in Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, a look at the life, work, and legacy of Fred Rogers, the beloved American children’s television presenter who educated and entertained kids for decades.

As affable as the man himself, the documentary sheds light on the events and ideas that inspired the Presbyterian minister to pursue a career in broadcasting and how it led to the creation and development of the unconventional Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood which went on to become one of the most iconic kids’ shows of all time.

We find out why Rogers gravitated towards children’s television and the impact he had on his audience as well as the (ridiculous) criticism he received from his detractors.

The film weaves archive footage of the late presenter – including clips from his shows and snippets from conversations – with interviews of his family members, co-workers, and journalists while employing the occasional creative touch – like beautiful animated sequences – to relay the thoughts and philosophies of the remarkable man who gently taught kindness, love, compassion, patience, and self-acceptance to kids, and who did not shy away from having sincere, earnest discussions about difficult topics with his young viewers.

This isn’t exactly an all-encompassing look at his life. Those expecting a more personal slant – like thorough details about his family and upbringing, for instance – will not find what they are looking for here. The documentary touches upon Rogers’ background and life as it explores his television career, but the focus primarily remains on his work and ideas.

Those who grew up watching Neighborhood will bask in the warmth of the nostalgia this film invokes. But even those who weren’t lucky enough to experience Fred Rogers’s charm when they were children will still find the documentary engrossing simply because it’s hard not to find its one-of-a-kind, peculiar, wonderful subject interesting.

As far as documentaries go, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is fairly straightforward and doesn’t reveal any surprises. But there is no resisting the emotional response this film will draw from you. There are parts that will make you smile; there are parts that will make you tear up; and in the end you will be left with a reminder of the power of kindness and love, much needed in our divisive times. Ultimately, this revisit to the world of Fred Rogers will make your day special, because surely there was no person in the whole world quite like him.

Rating: 5 out of 5

*****

Three Identical Strangers

Starring: Edward Galland, David Kellman, and Robert Shafran

Directed by: Tim Wardle

Tagline: The most amazing, incredible, remarkable true story ever told.

Three Identical Strangers starts off with a series of remarkable coincidences.

On his first day of college, Bobby Shafran is bewildered by the overly warm welcome he is receiving from his fellow students. What’s bewildering him even more though is the fact that everyone keeps calling him “Eddy”. The realization that he has a doppelgänger leads to the reunion of the identical brothers, a story that generates considerable media interest. And then things get even more bizarre when David Kellman and his family and friends come across a newspaper article about Bobby and Eddy and are shocked by David’s undeniable resemblance to the recently united brothers.

That’s how Bobby, Eddy, and David – American triplets separated at birth – incredibly find their way back to each other at the age of 19.

But just when you think you’re about to get a feel-good tale, things take a disturbingly sinister turn.

Why were the boys separated as infants? Why were their adoptive parents not told about the split? How did they end up with families at three different economic levels? As the triplets and their adoptive parents try to unravel the mystery behind the brothers’ separation, they are shocked by what they uncover.

The film has to work around a couple of constraints but it does so quite well. And while it can’t answer all the questions that come up, that is simply because it does not have access to all the answers; but this never feels like a shortcoming and only helps to illustrate the frustration its subjects must feel.

There is joy and wit and anguish and utter devastation at the various stages of the documentary, all captured beautifully by Tim Wardle. The brothers recount their strange experience with the help of close friends and family members, and the presence of actual footage from their lives makes for a riveting viewing experience.

The less you know about the events behind the documentary, the more you’ll be intrigued by the proceedings as the pieces fall together. But the film even remains compelling on repeat viewing, and its heartbreak remains just as affecting.

Built around what is quite possibly the most surreal story you’ll ever hear, the very engaging and thought-provoking Three Identical Strangers does justice to its extraordinary real-life tale and effortlessly proves that reality sure can be stranger – and perhaps even more disturbing – than fiction.

Rating: 5 out of 5

- Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 20th January, 2018 *

Avicii: True Stories - remembering Avicii

documentary review

There are many people who crave fame, celebrities who strive to remain in the public eye and thrive in the spotlight. Tim Bergling clearly wasn’t one of them. A shy introvert from Stockholm, Sweden who became a reluctant global superstar thanks to his innate ability to create irresistible melodies and beats, the EDM trailblazer – known to his fans by his moniker Avicii – was never at ease in the limelight. His quick ascent to fame at a relatively young age thrust him into a lifestyle that did not suit his personality, and it took him a while to walk away from the stress-inducing elements of his career for the sake of his health and happiness.

His meteoric rise, subsequent fall, and eventual resurgence were all captured in the documentary Avicii: True Stories, a look at the Swedish musician’s short life that feels all the more poignant in light of his sudden, untimely death at the age of 28.

Released a few months before he passed away, the documentary chronicles the Swedish DJ and producer’s career, from his musical beginnings to his intention to release a third album, which never came to be. True Stories puts together behind-the-scenes footage that was recorded over the last few years and interviews with the musician himself as well as his cohorts, including his ambitious manager Arash Pournouri (who he leaves at the end of the documentary), and artists like David Guetta, Tiësto, Nile Rodgers, Wyclef Jean, and Chris Martin.

The film paints the picture of a young music enthusiast who found joy in creating songs but could not cope with the pressures of fame and the stress of an arduous touring schedule.

We see the early musical years of the artist, with a teenage Bergling making music in his room, experimenting with software, honing his skills, and posting on the forums on DJ Laidback Luke. He goes from remixing songs to making his own tunes, eventually getting some attention with ‘Seek Bromance’ in 2010 before gaining more widespread recognition with ‘Levels’ in 2011, the popularity of which made him one of the most visible names in the EDM circuit. International mainstream success soon followed, with Bergling releasing the biggest hit of his career, ‘Wake Me Up!’ in 2013, blending acoustic and electronic elements for the country folk dance track that topped the charts in several countries around the world.

While making music, Bergling also established himself as a sought after performer, starting with small shows, then headlining festivals, and ultimately becoming one of the world’s highest paid DJs. But heavy touring – a whopping 813 shows from 2008 to 2016 – proved to be too physically and mentally taxing for him. Struggling with acute pancreatitis caused by excessive alcohol use, Bergling suffered from severe abdominal pain, and even needed surgery for ruptured appendix and gall bladder in 2014. Seeing the musician in hospital gives viewers a glimpse at just how serious his issues were. A scene in which, a day after a hospital visit, a very sick (or possibly heavily medicated) Bergling is being asked about doing interviews and a show by his tour manager is downright disturbing.

Mental struggles and declining health ultimately prompted the Swede to give up what caused him immense stress: touring. We see him writing the letter about his retirement that he would post on his website and that would surprise everyone at the time, although based on what this documentary reveals, the decision hardly seems shocking.

At one point, the musician explains how he took some time off to focus on his health, but when he returned to the stage, he still got stressed and couldn’t see a way to continue performing and be happy. Stepping away from the onstage adulation of countless fans as well as millions in revenue may not have been fully supporting by some but was in his best interest, and in making this choice, Bergling becomes an odd source of inspiration. Sure, this is a cautionary tale for artists, but you don’t have to be a multimillionaire EDM star to relate to the issues at the heart of this piece. If you’ve ever left a high paying position or a toxic relationship for your wellbeing despite what people around you thought about your decision, then you’ll instantly connect with the subject. And if you’ve been baffled by someone else’s decision to give up something that might have seemed amazing to you, you might get it now.

Directed by Levan Tsikurishvili, True Stories is a touching, affecting documentary that makes an even harder impact with the benefit of hindsight in light of last week’s events. While this isn’t an all-encompassing examination of Bergling’s life – his family, for instance, is conspicuously absent in much of the film – the documentary provides a raw look at the life of a troubled artist. It highlights the struggles of a young man who simply wasn’t fit for the celebrity lifestyle and, from the looks of it, wasn’t surrounded by people who truly cared about his wellbeing. Plus it is a resounding testament to Bergling’s immense talent – Jean likens him to Bach and a visibly impressed Martin suddenly gushes “you’re so talented, man!” while making ‘A Sky Full of Stars’, and as a viewer you can’t help but agree. And while it ends on an optimistic note, Avicii: True Stories will ultimately leave you wishing its subject’s life hadn’t been cut short by such a tragic, untimely end.

- Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 6th May, 2018 *

Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck - memoria

documentary review

Though not particularly revelatory, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck is still an intimate and captivating portrait of a complex individual 

Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck

Even though it has been over 20 years since his untimely death, Kurt Cobain still remains one of the most popular and fascinating musicians of his (or any) generation. His life and death have both been the subject of several books and have also inspired a number of films, including the recent biographical documentary Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck.

Helmed by director Brett Morgen, the project serves as the first documentary about the singer made with the cooperation of his family. The film-makers were given access to the entirety of the Nirvana frontman’s personal archives which form the basis of the film. Footage from home movies, clips from live performances, audio snippets from Cobain’s recordings, and excerpts from his journals are meshed with recollections from his close friends and family members, including Cobain’s mother Wendy, sister Kim, father Don, stepmother Jenny, band mate Krist Novoselic, ex-girlfriend Tracy Marander, and wife Courtney Love.

The documentary offers a glimpse into the tragically short life of the rock legend, chronicling events from his childhood till his suicide in 1994 at the age of 27. Montage of Heck paints a grim picture of a troubled young man, who was scarred as a child by his parents’ divorce, and then left struggling with feelings of rejection and abandonment after being shuffled back and forth between relatives in his adolescence. The film goes on to explore the effect of Nirvana’s sudden rise to fame on Cobain, as well as his drug abuse, marriage to Courtney Love, birth of their daughter Frances Bean Cobain (who was a co-executive producer on this film), and the infamous overdose in Rome a month prior to his death.

The result is an intimate portrait of a complex individual, delivered in a captivating, albeit uneven, biography. Cobain, once again, proves to be a riveting subject, explaining why interest in the singer has not waned in the last two decades. The highlight of the movie is the terrific archival material, especially the footage of the singer as a child which is in itself reason enough to watch the film. In its second half, though, the home recordings start feeling uncomfortably voyeuristic, and might leave you wondering whether it was really necessary to share his private moments with the world and dredge up his past yet again.

It’s also a little disappointing that despite being invasive, the content is not particularly revelatory. There isn’t much Montage of Heck tells us that we didn’t already know. What the film says about Cobain will probably seem more remarkable to casual observers than fans, because if you’ve read the books and seen the films that preceded this, there isn’t anything in this documentary that will truly surprise you. You might also be left wondering how reliable some of the interviewees (Courtney Love in particular) are, and why the circumstances around Cobain’s death didn’t get a mention.

Still, the project on the whole is extremely compelling. The film is tonally and stylistically a triumph. It intriguingly sheds light on the many facets of Kurt Cobain’s life, and while its focus is a bit skewed and a little too selective, Montage of Heck does succeed in creating an interesting portrait of a talented but troubled individual whose music continues to resonate with listeners around the globe.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

- By Sameen Amer

Sunday Magazine, The Express Tribune - 18th October, 2015 *