50 | SEPTEMBER 15 • 2022 

TWO VERY DIFFERENT, 
BUT IMPORTANT 
DOCUMENTARIES
The “big Jewish TV event” 
of this month is U.S. and 
the Holocaust (see page 
43), a three-episode PBS 
documentary that will air 
over three nights (Sept. 
18-20, 8-10 p.m.). Here is the 
PBS description: “Inspired 
in part by the United 
States Holocaust Memorial 
Museum’s ‘Americans and 
the Holocaust’ exhibition and 
supported by its historical 
resources, the film examines 
the rise of Hitler and Nazism 
in Germany in the context of 
global antisemitism and rac-
ism, the eugenics movement 
in the United States and 
race laws in the American 
South. The series, written by 
Geoffrey Ward, sheds light 
on what the U.S. government 
and American people knew 
and did as the catastrophe 
unfolded in Europe.”
The documentary was 
co-directed by Ken Burns, 
Lynn Novick, 60, and Sarah 
Botstein, 46. The latter 
two have long collaborated 
with Burns, who is the most 
famous American documen-
tary maker. The Holocaust 
was more than “just men-
tioned” in previous Burns 
films about WWII. He also 
made Defying the Nazis: The 
Sharps’ War (2016) about 

an American Unitarian min-
ister who rescued, with his 
wife, hundreds of European 
Jewish refugees. Footnotes: 
Burns’ wife is Jewish, and 
Sarah Botstein is the daugh-
ter of Leon Botstein, 76, a 
famous, still active music 
conductor who has been the 
president of Bard College 
since 1975.
Brett Morgen, 53, isn’t a 
household name, but, since 
1996, he has directed or 
co-directed a number of very 
good documentaries and 
his newest work, Moonage 
Daydream, may attract the 
biggest audiences of his 
career. The film, a “sort of” 
biography of David Bowie 
(1947-2016), opens in the-
aters on Sept. 16.
I recently saw a film at a 
big AMC theater with many 
screening rooms. In the hall-
way, there was a giant poster 
advertising Moonage and 
proclaiming that it would be 
shown on the theater’s IMAX 
screen. I thought, then this 
will be a “biggie.”
The “official” description 
does a pretty good job in 
describing the film. Here it 
is: “Moonage Daydream illu-
minates the life and genius 
of David Bowie, one of the 
most prolific and influen-
tial artists of our time. Told 
through sublime, kaleido-

scopic, never-before-seen 
footage, performances and 
music, Brett Morgen’s (The 
Kid Stays in the Picture, 
Cobain: Montage of Heck, 
Jane) feature-length expe-
riential cinematic odyssey 
explores David Bowie’s cre-
ative, musical and spiritual 
journey. The film is guided 
by David Bowie’s own narra-
tion and is the first officially 
sanctioned film on the artist.”
Not noted in this descrip-
tion, but important: Morgen 
first met Bowie in 2007 and 
became close to him and 
close to many persons who 
worked with Bowie. This 
explains how he gained 
such incredible access to the 
material Bowie saved — and 
Bowie, Morgen says, saved 
everything.
Morgen has helmed docu-
mentaries in widely differing 
categories. The Kid in the 
Picture was about the late 
Robert Evans, the head 
of Paramount when The 
Godfather and many other 
great Paramount films were 
made. Kid was co-directed 
by Morgen and Nanette 
Burstein, now 52, who also 
co-directed (with Morgen) On 
the Ropes (1999), an Oscar-
nominated film about boxing.
Jane, about the famous 
chimpanzee scientist Jane 
Goodall, was nominated for 

many Emmys. Morgen won 
the best director Emmy for 
Jane. Jane was produced 
by Deborah Eisenstadt, 53, 
as was the Cobain film. A 
respected filmmaker in her 
own right, Eisenstadt and 
Morgen are a long-married 
couple who are the parents 
of three children.
Moonage got great 
reviews following its opening 
at the most recent Cannes 
festival. It has a 93% Rotten 
Tomatoes rating and the list 
of top critics who praised 
the film almost “to the sky” is 
astonishing.
There’s even a dramatic 
back-story to this film. Six 
years ago, while working on 
the Bowie film, Morgen had 
a massive heart attack. He 
flatlined for two minutes and 
was in a coma for a week. 
He says that just before his 
heart attack, “My life was out 
of balance.”
Morgen seems to have 
gotten that balance now. He 
says that Bowie’s “philoso-
phies” talked to him — espe-
cially Bowie’s advice on how 
to be grounded. Bowie, he 
remarks, got wiser and wiser 
as he aged.
I long thought Morgen was 
Jewish, and he confirmed 
it in a May interview with 
screendaily.com. What he 
said isn’t exactly flattering 
to Judaism, but its Morgen’s 
honest position. He said, “I 
wasn’t raised in a religious 
house, but I try to instill a 
sense of tradition and reli-
gion with my children. Bowie 
spoke to me in a way that 
Judaism never had … Bowie 
is a guide for better living. 
He’s telling us how to do it.”
By the way, the “unoffi-
cial” news is that the film will 
stream on HBO next spring. 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

WIKIPEDIA

Lynn Novick

IMDB

Sarah Botstein

YANRB

Brett Morgen

