In 2015, a fire at Bucharest’s Colectiv club leaves 27 dead and 180 injured. Soon, more burn victims begin dying in hospitals from wounds that were not life-threatening. One revelation leads to another as the journalists start to uncover vast health care fraud. When a new health minister is appointed, he offers unprecedented access to his efforts to reform the corrupt system but also to the obstacles he faces. Following journalists, whistle-blowers, burn victims, and government officials, "Collective" is an uncompromising look at the impact of investigative journalism at its best.

Midwest-born and raised, David is a first-generation Cambodian-Mexican-American filmmaker. His SXSW award-winning feature debut BAD AXE captures his closely-knit Asian American family living in rural Michigan during the pandemic as they fight to keep their local restaurant and American dream alive. With rising racial tensions, the family uses their voice and must unite as they reckon with backlash from a divided community, white supremacists, and intergenerational trauma from Cambodia's "killing fields."

Narrative director Ramin Bahrani – best known for The White Tiger, Fahrenheit 451, and 99 Homes – speaks to Tiller today about his debut documentary feature entitled “2nd Chance”, a brilliantly inquisitive film about the inventor of the bullet proof vest, who shot himself in the chest 196 times . A self-made mythical figure with an allergy to accountability, Richard Davis’s hilarious yet heartbreaking story is a particularly American one, as Bahrani puts it.

In his Academy Award nominated debut feature, filmmaker Bing Liu searches for correlations between his skateboarder friends' turbulent upbringings and the complexities of modern masculinity, while they all work to escape volatile families in their Rust Belt hometown. As they face adult responsibilities, unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship.

Academy Award nominated filmmaker Amy Berg has built a prolific career elevating the voice of the underdog, investigating systemic abuse, and shining a light in dark places.

“Popcorn Doc” auteur and king of Miami Billy Corben, best known for his mainstream hit Cocaine Cowboys, joins Tiller to chat about his latest explosive film God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty, which profiles former pool attendant Giancarlo Granada’s 7-year relationship with charming older woman, Becki Falwell, and her husband, the Evangelical Trump stalwart Jerry Falwell Jr., as well as the overarching influence this affair had on a presidential election.

Described by the Sundance Film Festival as "one of the most talented and exciting documentary filmmakers working today", auteur Oscar-nominated filmmaker Matthew Heineman - best known for his film "Cartel Land" - discusses his new film "Retrograde", in which he embeds with the American Green Berets and an Afghan General during the last months of the war in Afghanistan.

Director James Marsh (The Theory of Everything) joins Tiller to revisit his Academy-Award winning film “Man on Wire”, a joyous and masterful documentary about high-wire daredevil Philippe Petit’s 1974 stunt: performing acrobatics on a thin wire strung between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

Director and Conversation Journalist Pippa Ehrlich joins Tiller to discuss her first – and Oscar winning – film “My Octopus Teacher”, which documents a year spent by filmmaker Craig Foster forging a relationship with a wild octopus in the South African kelp forest.

Disclaimer: This episode is not about a documentary. But when an idol comes calling, you answer. Legendary Hollywood film director William Friedkin sits down with Tiller for a rare interview to share stories about his Oscar-winning film “The French Connection”, including developing the script (2:30), directing Gene Hackman (16:30), never rehearsing (20:06), filming all over New York (22:45), hiring Fidel Castro’s cameraman (30:00), how it compares to “the perfect movie” (41:38), outwitting studio executives (48:50), and why winning the Academy Award was, as William put it, “the saddest day of my life” (59:02).

Iconic music documentary director Emmett Malloy joins Tiller to share stories and secrets from the making of his latest film “Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell” about the rapper Notorious B.I.G., including how he initially got the job (3:00), earning the trust of Ms. Wallace, Biggie's Mom (15:20), connecting with Biggie's best friend D. Roc (27:45), working with over 100 hours of rare footage (34:10), interviewing P. Diddy (45:00), and the honor of adding to Biggie's legacy (52:15).

Tiller chats with director Mark Lewis about his hit Netflix documentary "Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer", the hilarious yet harrowing tale of a widespread Internet group of animal lovers who came together to capture a murderer. Their conversation touches on Mark's fascination with true crime and the power of Internet sleuths (3:30), then goes deeper into how Mark and Tiller earn the trust of their interview subjects (17:00), until finally revealing how much films change in post (32:00) and what they believe is the true essence of documentary filmmaking (57:40).

Tiller sits with Oscar nominated and Emmy winning filmmaker Joe Berlinger, whose iconic career includes landmark films such as the "Paradise Lost" series, "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster", "Crime Scene", and "Conversations With a Killer." In this conversation, Berlinger describes his unconventional journey to filmmaking (4:00), then discusses the making of his 1992 masterpiece "Brother's Keeper" and why crime is such a perfect genre for documentary filmmakers (28:48), before finally breaking down how the medium of documentaries has evolved since the late 1980s (47:40). ---------------- Films discussed in this episode: Endless Summer (1966) dir. Bruce Brown. Stranger Than Paradise (1984) dir. Jim Jarmusch. The Thin Blue Line (1988) dir. Errol Morris. Brother’s Keeper (1992) dir. Joe Berlinger. Hoop Dreams (1994) dir. Steve James. Paradise Lost (1996 - 2011) dir. Joe Berlinger. Collective (2019) dir. Alexander Nanau. Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes (2019) dir. Joe Berlinger. Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel (2021) dir. Joe Berlinger.

Tiller talks to the multi-talented producer/director Jaimie D’Cruz about his journey from founding a hip-hop magazine to being nominated for an Oscar for the documentary “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” a brilliant collaboration with the legendary and elusive street artist Banksy.

Fresh off their popular sports anthology series "Untold", Emmy-winning filmmakers Maclain and Chapman Way sit with Tiller to revisit their their groundbreaking series, "Wild Wild Country", where they discuss everything from humanizing cult figures and breaking out in stress hives while editing, to the bright future of documentaries.

Oscar-winning producer James Gay-Rees shares the monumental challenges he faced while crafting the archival-only masterpieces "Amy" (on the life and tragic death of Amy Winehouse) and "Senna” (about the Brazilian racing champion Ayrton Senna), as well as what it really means to be a producer.

Grammy-winning filmmaker Allen Hughes rose to fame as the co-director—with his twin brother Albert—of Menace II Society and Dead Presidents, before moving on to direct blockbuster hit The Book of Eli. His latest is The Defiant Ones, a documentary series on the relationship between two very different hip-hop heavyweights. Tiller sits down with Allen to talk about the voodoo art of documentary filmmaking versus scripted movies, pushing past the naysayers, and how to successfully hide from Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine.

Hosted by acclaimed filmmaker Tiller Russell (Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer, Operation Odessa, The Last Narc, The Seven-Five), THE DANGEROUS ART OF THE DOCUMENTARY is a new series that reveals the wild stories behind some of the world’s most successful and iconic documentaries. Exchanging his camera for a microphone, Russell sits down with a who's-who of documentary filmmakers for riveting, in-depth conversations surrounding the intricate process of producing an engrossing documentary. In season one—debuting August 11, 2022—listeners can hear from documentarians including Allen Hughes (The Defiant Ones), James Gay-Rees (Amy, Senna), Maclain and Chapman Way (Wild Wild Country, Untold), Jaimie D’Cruz (Exit Through the Gift Shop), Joe Berlinger (Conversations with a Serial Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes), Mark Lewis (Don’t F**k With Cats) and Emmett Malloy (Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell). New episodes appear Thursdays, wherever you get your podcasts.