Something better?

At the RealScreen Summit last month, New York filmmaker Albert Maysles gave the endnote address. It was worth hanging in for, chock full of anecdotes on the art of capturing real moments, gleaned from decades of experience in up-close and intimate filmmaking. Albert, who along with his late brother David founded direct cinema, had a few things to say about what's currently in vogue in factual - specifically on today's version of reality, the blinkered point-of-view doc, and the seemingly endless fascination with the dark side of humanity. He's not impressed. And judging by audience reaction, he struck a chord with the assembled non-fiction masses (or hit a nerve, depending on what you do).