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  "path": "/articles/an-excerpt-from-our-new-book-documentary-now",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-19T12:01:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.mcsweeneys.net",
  "tags": [
    "Documentary Now!",
    "out today"
  ],
  "textContent": "- - -\n\n_McSweeney’s and Broadway Video present the official over-six-hundred-page comprehensive companion book to IFC’s_ **Documentary Now!** , _made with the assistance of series directors Rhys Thomas and Alex Buono and including new writing by Seth Meyers, a foreword by Pulitzer Prize–finalist Matt Zoller Seitz, the complete sheet music for John Mulaney and Eli Bolin’s_ Co-op: The Musical,_and much more._\n\n_The book is out today, and to celebrate, we’re sharing an excerpt featuring the show’s very first host, the legendary Burt Lancaster._\n\n- - -\n\n_A fierce advocate for independent cinema and documentary, Burt Lancaster was the original host of_ Documentary Now!1, _serving in this capacity for over a decade. He began his career as an acrobat, and after serving in WWII, ascended to the heights of Hollywood stardom, appearing in such classics as_ From Here to Eternity, The Leopard, The Swimmer, _and many more. This introduction has been included in all editions of this book._\n\n- - -\n\n## The original 1975 introduction by\n_Documentary Now!_ ’s first host,\nBurt Lancaster\n\nThe first time I saw a film camera, it was in the hands of an amateur documentarian. He was a small man with piercing blue eyes who had come to record the circus where I was performing as part of the acrobatic team, Lang and Cravat. He owned a chain of picture houses outside Miami, and he wanted a one-reeler he could show before the main attractions. I can still recall the butterflies fluttering in my stomach that afternoon. Suddenly, the bars seemed slipperier. The crowd seemed louder. Performing our trapeze routine on film added a layer of permanence to the whole affair.\n\nI share all this to give you a sense of how momentous it is to have one’s life recorded. Documentary as a medium is one of our most powerful precisely because it can reach out into the real world and extract beauty and complexity from one’s actual life.\n\n\nA still from _Kunuk Uncovered_.\n\nIt’s always a lovely compliment when an actor’s performance is praised as honest, or when a Hollywood film is lauded by the press as “real.” But in the documentary, there’s no need for such puffery. This business of costumes, and casting, and producers calling with notes about the script, well, the documentary doesn’t have to contend with all that. The stories you see are the truth. The people you meet aren’t pretending. If film is the most democratic of modern forms, then documentary is its pinnacle.\n\n\nA still from _Globesman_.\n\nIn that regard, hosting _Documentary Now!_ has been one of the great honors of my career. This fine program consistently showcases bold, thoughtful, and revolutionary work. The films they’ve broadcast since their inception are unlike anything else in the entertainment landscape. And now, as we set down words and cement celluloid dreams onto the printed page, our humble aspiration is that we might capture a fraction of this essence.\n\n\n_Classic posters from two classic documentaries._\n\nAs for that first documentary, the one-reeler of my trapeze performance. Well, I never saw the final result. But I can still recall the incredible feeling of being filmed. It was the feeling that perhaps my story was worthy of telling. It was the feeling that, perhaps, they all are.\n\n- - -\n\n1 After his retirement, Lancaster was replaced by a rotating cast of hosts, including Gregory Peck, John Pierson, Mel Gibson, James Naughton, Richard Roeper, and Billy Bob Thornton, before Helen Mirren took on the mantle permanently in 2008.\n\n\n- - -\n\n_You can buy_ **Documentary Now!** _in our store._",
  "title": "McSweeney’s Books: An Excerpt from Our New Book, Documentary Now!"
}