The Faraway, Nearby was one of the Official Selections from the Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation & Technology’s 2024 festival that accepted the Filmmaker Mixer Podcast offer to review their work. The Faraway, Nearby focuses on Joe Weber, the first scientist to explore the detection of gravitational waves. It follows his devotion to his studies, and the conflicts he faces along the way. His story was very interesting, and the documentary does a great job at presenting it. It was very easy to stay invested in it with how it was crafted. The music, video recreations of events, use of photographs and the various interviews all came together very nicely to create a very rich cinematic experience. My favorite parts of the film were probably the ones using actual photographs to tell the story. Those scenes were very effective at bringing Joe Weber’s story to life in my opinion.
There’s a lot of passion for all topics discussed in this documentary that can be seen very clearly throughout its lengthy run. With all that you learn during it, and all of the flashy imagery, this documentary feels like it goes by fast. What I enjoyed the most about it was definitely what it taught me about the nature of the scientific community. I never thought it could be so hectic for published scientists.
I would definitely recommend this fearture to anyone who just wants a solid documentary or is curious about its specific topic. I think that The Faraway, Nearby is a documentary just about anyone can enjoy. Some may even gain something from it. There’s an inspirational quality to how it presents Joe Weber’s story.
-Madelyn, Filmmaker Mixer Correspondent
