I don''t watch documentaries very often. It''s not that I don''t like documentaries, but it''s about availability and publicity.
As with independent films, the ones that get watched are the ones that either get the backing of a slick marketing campaign, or rave reviews. These often go hand-in-hand. Furthermore, I don''t have the luxury of the professional critics who get free passes to just about every movie in a year. I don''t have the time or the money to go searching for the right film.
So, generally, my search is limited to about ten documentaries a year, and those documentaries are the unlikely few who actually had ad dollars behind them or were nominated for an Oscar. "My Architect: A Son''s Journey" was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary last year, so I figured I should check it out. While the premise didn''t sound too interesting, it after all was nominated for an Academy Award...
"My Architect" is about director Nathaniel Kahn''s journey to discover the truth about his father, respected architect Louis Kahn. Kahn was a brilliant man who created several buildings that are considered to be some of the finest of the time, but like many brilliant men also struggled with his home life. Nathaniel is his bastard son, born to a woman who was never Kahn''s wife, and the architect also had another child out of wedlock earlier on.