Mur13l Awards 2018: Best Documentary (preceded by a short intro)

Greetings, everyone! Welcome to 13th edition of the Muriel Awards, or as I’ve taken to calling them this year, the Mur13ls! Hope that doesn’t get old.

I won’t bore you with too much of an introduction this year. If you’ve followed us in the past, you know what you’re dealing with already. If you’re new to the gig, we hope you enjoy our fun, handcrafted, and slightly eccentric take on the movie poll thingamajig.

This year’s announcements will be pretty similar to last year’s, except that with all of the winners’ announcements, I will also be posting a list of “nominees” in most of the categories, consisting of the top 5 finishers. Of course, I’ll also be linking to the full results for those who want to take a deep dive into Muriel/Mur13l knowledge.

Anyway, winners will be announced over the next ten days, so watch this space. And now, let’s kick this year’s announcements off with one of our newest awards…

“Even if Bing Liu’s debut feature Minding the Gap had just been a lyrical, plotless film about skateboarding, it still would have been one of the standout documentaries of 2018. It started out that way, with Liu filming his friends (including close friends Zack Mulligan and Kiere Johnson) skating around their depressed home town of Rockford, Illinois, in long, languid shots that capture the camaraderie and physicality of skateboarding. The movie itself mirrors Liu’s journey from skate-video hobbyist to serious filmmaker, as he allows himself to delve more deeply into the issues that he, Zack and Kiere face in their troubled adolescence and early adulthood. It’s only because he builds up such trust, goodwill and understanding with his subjects first, though, that the movie has such an impact when it tackles the more serious material.

“Even as Liu confronts the abuse that all three subjects (himself included) suffered growing up, and the ways that that abuse has carried on into the next generation, he never loses sight of the excitement and beauty of skateboarding as an outlet for the three men (and others) to escape their problems and recapture some youthful innocence and enthusiasm. That through line, along with the genuine personal relationships among the three men, allows Liu to touch on issues of race, class and gender without ever coming across as heavy-handed or preachy. The movie is a detailed portrait of three specific people that confidently speaks to wider concerns without ever sidelining its subjects. By the end, the audience is as emotionally invested in the subjects as Liu is, tracking their heartbreak, joy and anger along with their graceful, elegantly shot skateboarding.” ~ Josh Bell

This year’s “nominees:”

Bisbee ‘17

Hale County This Morning, This Evening

Minding the Gap

Shirkers

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Click here for complete results.