Welcome to The DocArena Podcast in association with Film Ireland. My name is Ross Whitaker and every fortnight, I want to dig deeply into the motivations of documentary filmmakers – how do they choose their subject material and what approaches and strategies do they employ to fund, craft and distribute their work…
In this episode of The DocArena Podcast, we are grateful to Dublin International Film Festival and Volta Pictures for sharing this masterclass with Oscar-winner Kevin Macdonald on directing in conversation with Ross Whitaker.
Listen now on SoundCloud, Apple, Spotify, Acast and Amazon, or subscribe to Film Ireland wherever you get your podcasts.
The DocArena Podcast S2 Ep04: This masterclass took place on 25th February 2024.
HIGH & LOW – JOHN GALLIANO is a gripping and thought-provoking documentary from Academy Award® winner Kevin Macdonald, charting the rise-and-fall story of fashion designer John Galliano. Galliano was widely recognized as one of the most successful names in 1990s and 2000s couture, until his career abruptly ended in 2011 when he was caught on camera hurling antisemitic and racist insults at bystanders in Paris. Macdonald’s documentary traces Galliano’s working and private life through the decades, candidly exploring his struggles with addiction and the immense pressure he faced within the fashion industry Featuring conversations with Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Penélope Cruz, Charlize Theron, Anna Wintour, Edward Enninful, and more.
The Oscar-winning director is known for his feature and documentary films, including One Day in September (1999), Touching the Void (2003), the drama The Last King of Scotland (2006), and the Whitney Houston documentary Whitney (2018). His most recent film, High & Low: John Galliano, featured in this year’s DIFF programme and is currently in cinemas following its general release on 8th March 2024.
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Podcast music composed by michaelflemingmusic.com
Ross Whitaker is a documentary filmmaker and is a former editor of Film Ireland Magazine and programmer of the IFI Dublin Documentary Film Festival @RossWhitakerTV
Ross is a producer and/or director of the feature documentaries Beat the Lotto (2025), Katie (2018), Between Land and Sea (2016), Unbreakable (2014) and Saviours (2007). His recent work includes the TV documentaries This Is Open Country (2025) for NBC/Sky, Birdsong (2024) for RTÉ (+ BBC, ARTE), Rachael Blackmore: A Grand Year (2021) for ITV/RTÉ, Barney Curley Beat the Bookies (2021) for BBC/RTÉ and The Boys in Green (2020) for RTÉ. His short documentaries include the award-winning Bye Bye Now (2009) and Home Turf (2011), as well as the documentary commercial Sleeping Flags (2019), which won prestigious D&AD and Cannes Lions Awards.
