The Dangerous Art of the Documentary

Maciek Hamela (In The Rearview)

The Dangerous Art of the Documentary

Show Notes

Maciek Hamela’s minimalist debut film, “In the Rearview” is an expansive road trip through the Russian invasion of Ukraine that drove more than 15 million refugees — more than one-third of Ukraine’s population — in out of their homes and country. In this film, Maciek drives a van of Ukrainian refugees as they encounter numerous military checkpoints while trying to make their way to Poland. Maciek shares with Tiller how and why he made this film (2:00), his thought process in framing the film as a “profound act of bearing witness” (22:00), the agonizing process of cutting down the film when everything felt important (32:00), and creating a ravishing score purely from the sounds of car in the film (41:30).

Produced by: Jacob Miller Executive Producer: Tiller Russell Music by: James Carroll, Graham Tracey & Zydepunk Distributed by: Jake Brennan & Brady Sadler, Double Elvis Productions

More from The Dangerous Art of the Documentary

Sep 30, 2026

Co-Directors Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine reach into the vault to reflect back on their film “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song”, a beautiful film that tracks how the song "Hallelujah" went from being rejected by Cohen's record label to becoming a beloved global anthem. Dan and Dayna discuss the challenges of constructing the biography of an artist’s soul (3:30), earning Leonard’s trust shortly before his death (14:30), why they insisted on making the film independently (25:00), their co-directing and collaboration method (34:30), and the importance of theatrical releases for documentaries (39:30).

Sep 11, 2026

Friend of the show and Oscar winning director Orlando von Einsiedel returns to the podcast to discuss his latest masterpiece, “Cycle of Love”, an inspiring, epic true-life adventure about self-belief, destiny, the courage to risk everything for love, and the power of human connection. In his conversation with Tiller, Orlando reflects on undertaking this massive story (4:00), filming around the world (11:00), the universality of love in storytelling (24:15), directing his characters’ “performances” (29:00), and purest definition of directing (34:00).

Aug 28, 2026

Director Maite Alberdi latest genre-bending film “A Child of My Own” blends narrative and nonfiction filmmaking to tell the wild true story of a woman who pretended to be pregnant and kidnapped a newborn baby from a hospital. Maite talks with Tiller about her creative inspirations (2:30), striking the complex tone of drama and outlandish humor (10:00), why she breaks the fourth wall in the film (17:30), her personal journey to empathize with the film’s main character (27:00), and the moment she knew she had to make this film (36:00).

Aug 12, 2026

Director Sara Dosa’s latest film “Time and Water” follows Icelandic writer and poet Andri Magnason as he reflects on melting glaciers and his family's history. It premiered at Sundance to critical acclaim. Sara and Andri join Tiller on the show to discuss when Andri first captured Sara’s imagination (5:30), how glaciers hold memories (11:30), the role of myth in the climate crisis (25:00), their collaborative writing process (33:00), and what frightened Andri most while making this film (40:00).

Jul 14, 2026

Director Joshua Seftel’s Oscar-winning short documentary “All The Empty Rooms” follows veteran CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they embark on a seven-year-long project to document the empty bedrooms of children killed in school shootings. Joshua shares with Tiller the origin of the film (2:00), respecting the spaces while still filming (14:00), how little objects express who we are (23:00), the process of removal (28:30), and the gratification of winning an Oscar (35:30).

See all episodes →