The Big Picture · Interview · Discussion
The Art of True Crime Documentary with Erin Lee Carr | The Big Picture (Ep. 46)
February 2, 2018/ 29 min/ Sean Fennessey
Documentarian Erin Lee Carr on chasing morally ambiguous true-crime stories, from the Cannibal Cop to Valeant, and what she learned from her father David Carr.
8 films across 2 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
In conversation
Erin Lee Carr on
Capturing the Friedmans 2003
The Andrew Jarecki film she cites as an early influence.
Erin Lee Carr on
Page One: Inside the New York Times 2011
Andrew Rossi's documentary; Rossi later told her to go make her own films.
Erin Lee Carr on
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room 2005
The Alex Gibney film she says she rewatched a dozen-plus times before joining his Dirty Money anthology.
The last great thing she's seen
Icarus 2017
One of the Oscar-nominated docs she name-checks.
Strong Island 2017
The other.
Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold 2017
Directed by Didion's nephew Griffin Dunne; Carr calls it intimate, like listening in on a conversation.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Coming up on the show Annihilation
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Dirty MoneyThe KeepersMaking a Murderer
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