Screening Reality

How Documentary Filmmakers Reimagined America

By: Jon Wilkman

Narrated by: Bob Souer

Amidst claims of a new "post-truth" era, documentary filmmaking has experienced a golden age. Today, more documentaries are made and widely viewed than ever before, illuminating our increasingly fraught relationship with what's true in politics and culture. For most of our history, Americans have depended on motion pictures to bring the realities of the world into view. And yet the richly complex, ever-evolving relationship between nonfiction movies and American history is virtually unexplored.

Screening Reality is a widescreen view of how American "truth" has been discovered, defined, projected, televised, and streamed during more than 100 years of dramatic change, through World Wars I and II, the dawn of mass media, the social and political turmoil of the 60s and 70s, and the communications revolution that led to a 21st century of empowered yet divided Americans.

In the telling, professional filmmaker Jon Wilkman draws on his own experience, as well as the stories of inventors, adventurers, journalists, entrepreneurs, artists, and activists who framed and filtered the world to inform, persuade, awe, and entertain. Screening Reality is an essential and fascinating book for anyone looking to better understand the American experience and today's truth-challenged times.

©2020 Jon Wilkman (P)2020 Tantor

A true love letter to documentaries.

In an era where documentaries matter more than ever to survive in an ever-changing world, Jon Wilkman covers the history of documentary filmmaking with incredible detail and stories of figures who laid the foundation for where we are now. Each chapter is hours long with a treasure trove of information and facts that act more like an inviting textbook. It's hard to put down when transitions are so well done and cliffhangers make you want more.

Bob Souer's narration can be somewhat dry, but he is clear and concise in spoken word. There's a lack of emotion in his voice, with only enough to enunciate important phrases or keywords. Still, a good job for such a comprehensive project.

Screening Reality is the benchmark for telling the true stories of documentaries, from the first films to virtual reality and everything in between. Any film history buff has to have read or heard this book.

A Great Book for Film Enthusiasts and History Buffs

I bought the printed copy of this book and, since it was also available on Audible, combined reading and listening. This is a comprehensive history of American documentary filmmaking, which makes it dense with references in some places. If I had to choose, I’d say that reading this would be more effective than listening to the audio. In some places the narrative flows in story mode making listening possible and even enjoyable.
This is a must for film students and enthusiasts, especially documentary filmmakers. It is also a great read/listen for history buffs, since it covers the important role documentary filmmakers had in shaping XX century U.S.