“My Old School” provides an in-depth lesson in documentary structure, successful reveals, and air-tight organization.
In the last decade, memorable documentary films have creatively and intentionally redefined the nature of non-fiction creative pieces. With each innovation, audiences, reviewers, and potentially award-granting organizations find themselves with curious questions. Where does a scripted documentary land; is it fiction or nonfiction? Can we use AI to piece together a voice, posthumously? Can an entirely animated film be nominated outside of the animation category for best picture? With “My Old School,” there may be another curious inquiry: can an actor be nominated for a lip sync performance in a documentary?
There is little that can be shared about “My Old School” without spoiling part of the experience. And that viewing experience is, indeed, wild; fueled by reveals, personal connections, and best guesses. The less that viewers know, the more surprising that experience will be.
But what can be shared are the lessons that “My Old School” will teach viewers about how to organize a documentary; how to tightly wound and craft your piece to strategically call back elements, to tease out reveals, setting up interviews to have subjects talk both together, hiding details in plain sight (like the subject of this film, Brandon Lee) and to the camera, and to have characters unfurl details, live, on-camera. It’s an entire journalistic lesson in a compressed film package, and one that entertains a new way to share a story: a lip-synced performance, by legendary thespian Alan Cumming,
In a post-viewing panel, Cumming shared that his preparation included listening to audio clips and theorizing how someone “thinks and breathes and moves.” The process entailed embodying how “someone already breathed and existed.” Director Jono McLeod shared that Cumming’s performance was both “trippy” and had the feelings of an “athletic” pursuit.
“My Old School” proves there is not just room for change, but for your stories. Hold onto your stories. Always. You never know when they’ll come around and you’ll be able to tell them in a film that challenges memory and the idea of collective history. And it may be through new innovation that those tales, like Brandon Lee’s, become legendary.
Just, don’t go look up Brandon Lee before watching.
Photo: Alan Cumming appears in My Old School by Jono McLeod, an official selection of the Premieres section at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.
