The Kingmaker

If great nonfiction filmmaking involves proper preparation and then waiting for lightning to strike, director Lauren Greenfield found her thunderstorm. Greenfield, a prolific filmmaker and photographer, has spent her career documenting the upper reaches of the One Percent. She turns her camera on Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines, probable embezzler of billions of dollars, and possible architect of political assassinations. Photographed within her gilded surroundings, Marcos appears free of guilt, fashioning herself as a humanitarian savior who distributes money to the children who throng her as she moves regally through her domain. But the film patiently reveals the disturbing political machinations that swirl around her. This is journalism in perfect sync with artistic craft, with Greenfield as the ideal storyteller to chase the cyclone of the Marcos family. (Telluride Film Festival)