Rob Devor of Nonfiction Spots

The Human Condition

Documentary films have a way of making inroads into the human psyche.  Whether the topic at hand resonates personally, the films, if done well, have the ability to seep into surface and submerged thoughts, feelings, and emotions.  As the genre gathers more and more attention by the viewing public, so too is the interest of those behind the camera who possess the insight to pursue the varied topics.  One of the most revered commercial production company housing some of the brightest documentarians today - directors such as Barbara Kopple, Stacy Peralta, Jessica Yu, to name but a few, is the well-honored Nonfiction Spots.   As the documentary genre itself picks up notoriety, Nonfiction responds in kind and expands their roster of talent with not only the signing of Jessica Sanders and Peyton Wilson, but with the insightful Rob Devor as well.    

Although you may not readily recognize the name, Rob Devor’s ZOO was one of the most talked about and controversial films at both Sundance and Cannes 2007. The film, about a Seattle man whose secret sexual life led to his unexpected death, remains in the headlines as an unexpected work of brilliance. Premiering at Sundance in the documentary category, the film defied the genre.  Kenneth Turnan of the L.A Times called it "masterful rule-breaking non-fiction, a breathtakingly original work" while Scott Foundas at Variety noted: "The film's dramatic and impressionistic scenes create a fascinating blurring of the line between narrative and documentary storytelling, reminiscent of the work of Werner Herzog and Errol Morris - the most beautiful film of the year, let alone Sundance."
 
Though talked about as the 'Horse Sex Movie,' ZOO was/is anything but graphic, and is instead a strangely beautiful film that eschews classic documentary modes, combing audio interviews with stylistic imagery to evoke the Pacific Northwest setting of the "Enumclaw horse incident." The director himself perhaps puts it best: "I aestheticized the sleaze right out of it."
 
ZOO was Devor’s third Sundance film -- two years earlier he was at the festival with his dramatic feature entitled Police Beat, another beautifully visualized film whose main character Z, a Senegalese bicycle cop whose girlfriend is on a camping trip with another man, ponders the nature of love while policing a string of criminal situations from the mundane to the bizarre. "Uniquely ravishing and hypnotic," it catapulted Devor as one of the pre-immnent new filmmakers.  Prior to all this, Devor made his feature film directorial debut with The Woman Chaser. Premiering at The New York Film Festival and then at Sundance, the black and white film noir parody starred Patrick Warburton (David Puddy on Seinfeld) as a used car salesman by day and a guy who just-wants-to-direct by night; along the way, putting more than a few notches in his belt. And Devor’s earlier documentary short, the campy Angelyne, about the eponymous LA billboard queen known for driving around LA in her pink corvette, was nothing short of 'a knockout" as noted by the Village Voice.

From the taboo as sublime to the serious as droll humor, Devor is a gifted visual storyteller. The following Reel Moment offers up a glimpse into Devor's method and madness -- and his approach at capturing the very essence of his craft.

Reel Moments: Rob Devor:Nonfiction Spots