Barbara Kopple: Acolyte to Leading Light

Barbara Kopple survived and thrived for five decades as a producer and director in the ever-insecure world of documentary filmmaking. This chapter explores how the arc of her career fits into a greater history of documentary production, and how her business and promotional methods became and continue to function as role models. The chapter considers Kopple’s career in relation to other female documentarians (e.g. Frances Flaherty, Esther Shub, Helen Van Dongen, and others), as well as considers the ‘family feeling’ organizational model used by Kopple and other American documentary filmmakers, particularly those based in New York. The chapter also examines Kopple’s legacy in terms of the many filmmakers who she has mentored, collaborated with, and inspired in their own documentary practices.