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For Reynolds School of Journalism professor and documentary filmmaker Drew Xanthopoulos, filmmaking is about more than capturing what happens in front of the camera. It’s about finding a way to recreate how an experience felt.

That philosophy has shaped his films "The Sensitives and Fathom" and continues to guide his latest project, "My Friend the Bear." The film recently received a 2026 Documentary Fund grant from the Sundance Institute and is now in the final stages of editing, with Xanthopoulos aiming for a 2027 premiere. Here, he discusses what draws him to a story, the trust required in documentary filmmaking and how filmmakers transform real-life experiences into something audiences can feel.

Could you tell me about your past films and your work in general?

The first feature film, "The Sensitives," was a total rite of passage for me because it was about some of the most vulnerable people, I think, on the planet. These are people who have very mysterious physical reactions to various aspects of the modern world, like pesticides, fragrances, Wi-Fi and things like that. Because of that, they are considering retreating to these far-off places in the American desert. But really, the film was about what happens to a family when this metaphoric bomb goes off and somebody who's very beloved starts trying to figure out how to feel better, which usually means leaving everything that makes you, you — your family, your friends, your dog, your home, everything. To me, it was a film about family wrapped into a story about this mysterious medical condition.

"The Sensitives" was really important to me because it was a rite of passage for me as a documentary filmmaker. What I mean by that is you have so much power at your fingertips, even inadvertently, you can make someone look foolish or strip them of some of their dignity. For my films, I don't ever want to do that. These people were so vulnerable, but they trusted me and I learned how to gain trust and, to me, that's just the foundation of how to be a documentary filmmaker. (That film) was an incredible experience for me.

My second film was called "Fathom" and it was my love poem to field science. That was my homage to what it is to be a field researcher, which I could relate to in a very deep way, because as a documentary filmmaker, I often leave home for long periods of time to pursue a story that is larger than my own life. And, I felt like these scientists were doing something similar, and in that experience, there can be a struggle to come back, especially after you experience something really profound. The film is about whales and whale scientists, but the truth is, it's very personal and that’s what gives it heart.

How do documentary filmmakers turn real life into a compelling story?

For all my films, I'm the only person in the field, meaning I do my own camera, my own sound, and I am the producer. It's a solo vérité production. When I look at the dailies, when I look at the raw footage, it always breaks my heart. No matter how perfectly I captured something aesthetically, no matter how closely it landed right where it needs to land, even if it's in perfect focus and the color’s great, it always kills me to look at raw footage. The reason is because it never feels the way it did when I was there in person — ever.

This is because we experience life not just as color and shape and perspective. We experience life emotionally. So, a moment in which a whale appears 10 feet from the boat you’re on and you feel its breath on your chest and that deep sound that comes out of it, seeing the tail coming out of the water and the immensity of it all, you get to that emotional place.

"We experience life not just as color and shape and perspective."

But then, you have to consider we've been out at sea for a long time. We'd seen a lot of whales. We were exhausted. We're also transfixed by the beauty around us. You can't just plop someone in a moment like that. You have to build the experience.

"That's what filmmaking is. Filmmaking is not trying to translate literal things that happen necessarily; it's trying to translate them in the context of the emotional experience that everyone who was there felt."

To me, that's what filmmaking is. Filmmaking is not trying to translate literal things that happen necessarily; it's trying to translate them in the context of the emotional experience that everyone who was there felt. That happens with editing, with music, with sound design. There is no microphone in the world that's going to capture how those sounds felt, right? Our ears hear everything.

But, in that moment, I wasn't listening to the water splashing against the hull of the boat when that whale blew. It just engorged my whole consciousness. So, when you're sound mixing, that's how you justify focusing on certain things or editing things out. It's not because you're trying to keep other things that happened secret but because you're trying to focus where your heart was in those moments. So, to me, that's the act of filmmaking. That's how you translate real life into a story.

What makes someone or something a compelling subject for a documentary?

My first film, "The Sensitives," follows three families. Two of the three families at this point when I was filming had so much change happening in their lives. They had these dynamic stories which allowed me to capture these (story) arcs through massive change. Except for Susie.

"He said you should follow your gut. If you're really drawn to somebody, if you really enjoy filming with them, just trust that."

For Susie, who's the eldest in the film, there didn't seem to be an obvious story trajectory. But, I loved filming with her and I loved spending time with her. I remember speaking to a mentor of mine at the time, and I asked his advice and whether should I stop filming with them. He said you should follow your gut. If you're really drawn to somebody, if you really enjoy filming with them, just trust that. You should be filming them. So, I continued filming and I did trust it. It ended up that there was this beautiful story that she had and a journey that she took.

It’s just about following people that you're really drawn to and can relate to. To me, that is a foundational requirement. If you can't relate to somebody, you probably shouldn't be telling their story in some way. 

When you begin a film, how much of the story do you already know and how much of it develops as you go on?

It depends on the film. The first two films I did are traditional verité films, meaning the story unfolded over the years that I filmed. With my current film, it's mostly archival, so the footage starts in 1993, so it's over 30 years old. For an archival film, in a way, you already know the story — you know what happens. So, the goal when crafting the story is trying to connect this vast archive to the present condition that we're all in.

There was an interview with Adam Curtis, he's a great documentary filmmaker, and he said artists fail when they try to tell us what to do. They really sing when their art shows us what we're doing, like it holds a mirror to us. That's the challenge of an archival film: determining, how is this holding a mirror to us? That’s the story you're chasing with archival versus the verité stuff. It is us in the present day, so it does it more naturally.

Has making documentaries changed the way that you observe people or the world in your regular life?

Yes. Each of my films has taken between three and five years to make. That's a lot of time. It's a lot of experiences. All the films are a document of very important personal experiences I've had also. What you're watching are experiences that I experienced through my own eyes and then filtered through my body through this camera that I'm holding with my hands.

It most certainly has affected the way I observe the world in a profound way. I wouldn't have made films if I didn't think they would be profound experiences. These films are a facsimile of really profound things that happened to me. 

What is the current film you're working on?  

My current film is called "My Friend the Bear," and it's about a severely dyslexic, very unorthodox bear researcher who has been trying to show a world of bears that only he has borne witness to. Thirty years ago, he saved an orphan bear, raised her and released her. And, for whatever reason, she allowed him to follow her into the woods and she became his sort of guide to the wild — the world of other wild bears. He videotaped everything and found the picture his footage paints is radically different from anything a textbook about bear behavior will say. The film is the story of both what he discovered and where it leads, but also the struggle and friction he's had for 30 years to have anybody believe what he's saying or consider it legitimate.  

Can you tell me a bit about the grant you received from Sundance and how it will support your current film?

Sundance has been incredibly supportive of this project. There is a monetary grant, which is really important, especially in this stage where you are paying an editor, an assistant editor, and other people focused on the film. But also having the support of the Sundance Institute is huge. They have tons of resources for grantees and having their support is also a huge signal to other funders of the project's legitimacy. I've known (the Sundance Institute) for my whole career at this point and it just means a lot to have people like in those positions and at an institution like the Sundance Institute to openly support your project. It goes a long way, even farther than the actual dollars do.