This article contains spoilers for Bad Vegan.
Despite usually wanting to present the objective truth, documentary filmmakers wield an enormous amount of power in shaping the perception of their chosen subjects. Documentarians are the arbiters of what footage does and does not make it into a documentary in the first place. Then, once that footage is incorporated, the filmmakers can always add subtle touches like music, subtitles, or further context to influence the audience in one way or another.
Still, even when documentarians have no preset agenda, sometimes audiences can interpret one bit of footage presented far differently than what the filmmakers intended. Such is the case with the latest buzzworthy Netflix docuseries Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. Directed by Christ Smith (who also directed Netflix’s Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened) and produced by Ryann Fraser (who also produced Netflix’s Tiger King), this four-episode story chronicles...
Despite usually wanting to present the objective truth, documentary filmmakers wield an enormous amount of power in shaping the perception of their chosen subjects. Documentarians are the arbiters of what footage does and does not make it into a documentary in the first place. Then, once that footage is incorporated, the filmmakers can always add subtle touches like music, subtitles, or further context to influence the audience in one way or another.
Still, even when documentarians have no preset agenda, sometimes audiences can interpret one bit of footage presented far differently than what the filmmakers intended. Such is the case with the latest buzzworthy Netflix docuseries Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. Directed by Christ Smith (who also directed Netflix’s Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened) and produced by Ryann Fraser (who also produced Netflix’s Tiger King), this four-episode story chronicles...
- 3/25/2022
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
[Editor’s Note: The following article contains spoilers for “Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.”]
If you’re unpacking the truth behind one of New York’s most confounding public sagas, sometimes it’s best to go straight to the source. To get a better idea about the truth behind the rise and unceremonious end of Manhattan raw food eatery Pure Food and Wine, “Bad Vegan” director Chris Smith spoke to former restaurant owner Sarma Melngailis.
“On this one, it was really sitting down with Sarma. We did an eight-hour interview, just to get a sense of what this was or what it could be,” Smith said. “At least speaking for myself, I went in with no preconceived notion. We had a vague understanding of what had happened. But to go forensically through the story, from her point of view, in as much detail as possible, it just opened it up in a way that made us look at the story slightly differently.”
If that...
If you’re unpacking the truth behind one of New York’s most confounding public sagas, sometimes it’s best to go straight to the source. To get a better idea about the truth behind the rise and unceremonious end of Manhattan raw food eatery Pure Food and Wine, “Bad Vegan” director Chris Smith spoke to former restaurant owner Sarma Melngailis.
“On this one, it was really sitting down with Sarma. We did an eight-hour interview, just to get a sense of what this was or what it could be,” Smith said. “At least speaking for myself, I went in with no preconceived notion. We had a vague understanding of what had happened. But to go forensically through the story, from her point of view, in as much detail as possible, it just opened it up in a way that made us look at the story slightly differently.”
If that...
- 3/16/2022
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
“Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives” is the latest documentary from Chris Smith, the director of “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” and “100 Foot Wave,” and an executive producer of “Tiger King.” The four-part Netflix docuseries, which Smith executive produced and directed, explores how New York City celebrity restaurateur Sarma Melngailis went from being the queen of vegan cuisine to fugitive on the run. In 2011, Melngailis – owner of Manhattan’s Pure Food and Wine – began draining the restaurant’s funds and funneling the money to Shane Fox, a con man. Fox convinced Melngalis that he could make her pet pitbull terrier immortal if she obeyed his every request without question. After stealing nearly $2 million from the restaurant and its staff, Melngalis and Fox were found holed up in a Tennessee motel by law enforcement. Their undoing? A charge made under Fox’s real name, Anthony Strangis, for a Domino’s pizza.
- 3/15/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
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