Archives used to be a place you visited. Now it is the water we swim in. Every documentary maker is also a media consumer, algorithmically served a version of history, culture, and current events that shapes what stories seem worth telling and how. Alongside the constant stream of new images and the rise of new academic, commercial, and amateur archives, the formal possibilities of working with existing or found material have exploded accordingly: all-archival films that reconstruct historical moments without a single new image; video essays that turn pop culture into critical argument; mixed-media work that layers found footage against new forms to produce meanings neither could generate alone. This conversation brings together filmmakers and media makers working across the full range of these approaches, from immersive archival assemblage to YouTube explainers, to probe what documentarians should know about one of our most foundational techniques and material sources today.
Moderator: Miriam Bale
Panelists: Marley McDonald (Time Bomb Y2K), Kevan MacKay (BobbyBroccoli), and Miguel Coyula (Chronicles of the Absurd)
Biographies (submitted by the speakers):
Marley McDonald is a filmmaker and painter living in Ridgewood, New York. She directed and edited her debut feature-length documentary, Time Bomb Y2K (co-directed with Brian Becker), which premiered on HBO in December 2023. Her recent editing work includes the generative documentary Eno (Sundance 2024) and Earth to Michael (Telluride 2025). Her associate editor credits include Spaceship Earth (Sundance 2020) and the Golden Lion–winning, Oscar-nominated documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed. She is currently directing and editing a film based on the archives of the American Museum of Natural History.
Kevan MacKay is the creator of BobbyBroccoli, the Youtube channel where he releases in-depth films that tackle the intersection of science, technology and politics. His documentaries are often multi-part series that dive into academic scandals and mega project failures. He animates many of his films in Blender, a 3D animation software. He has a background in physics and electrical engineering and is based out of Ottawa, Canada.
Miguel Coyula: Cuban filmmaker known for his experimental and formally innovative approach to cinema. Working largely outside traditional production systems, he combines narrative fiction, documentary elements, and digital collage techniques to explore memory, identity, and political history. His films often challenge conventional storytelling through fragmented structures, layered imagery, and a strong emphasis on visual and sonic experimentation. Coyula gained international attention with Red Cockroaches (2003), an independently produced science fiction feature. He later directed Memorias del desarrollo (2010), based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Edmundo Desnoes, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival and received critical attention for its reinterpretation of Cuban identity and exile. Nadie (2017), a documentary about poet Rafael Alcides, has been noted in discussions on censorship and independent cinema in Cuba. Corazón azul (2021) continued his exploration of dystopian narratives and media manipulation. In 2024, Chronicles of the Absurd received the IDFA Award for Best Film in the Envision Competition. Coyula’s work is associated with contemporary avant-garde and digital experimental practices in Latin American cinema. His films and documentaries have screened at major international festivals and institutions, including Sundance, Moscow International Film Festival, IDFA, and MoMA.
Archives used to be a place you visited. Now it is the water we swim in. Every documentary maker is also a media consumer, algorithmically served a version of history, culture, and current events that shapes what stories seem worth telling and how. Alongside the constant stream of new images and the rise of new academic, commercial, and amateur archives, the formal possibilities of working with existing or found material have exploded accordingly: all-archival films that reconstruct historical moments without a single new image; video essays that turn pop culture into critical argument; mixed-media work that layers found footage against new forms to produce meanings neither could generate alone. This conversation brings together filmmakers and media makers working across the full range of these approaches, from immersive archival assemblage to YouTube explainers, to probe what documentarians should know about one of our most foundational techniques and material sources today.
Moderator: Miriam Bale
Panelists: Marley McDonald (Time Bomb Y2K), Kevan MacKay (BobbyBroccoli), and Miguel Coyula (Chronicles of the Absurd)
Biographies (submitted by the speakers):
Marley McDonald is a filmmaker and painter living in Ridgewood, New York. She directed and edited her debut feature-length documentary, Time Bomb Y2K (co-directed with Brian Becker), which premiered on HBO in December 2023. Her recent editing work includes the generative documentary Eno (Sundance 2024) and Earth to Michael (Telluride 2025). Her associate editor credits include Spaceship Earth (Sundance 2020) and the Golden Lion–winning, Oscar-nominated documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed. She is currently directing and editing a film based on the archives of the American Museum of Natural History.
Kevan MacKay is the creator of BobbyBroccoli, the Youtube channel where he releases in-depth films that tackle the intersection of science, technology and politics. His documentaries are often multi-part series that dive into academic scandals and mega project failures. He animates many of his films in Blender, a 3D animation software. He has a background in physics and electrical engineering and is based out of Ottawa, Canada.
Miguel Coyula: Cuban filmmaker known for his experimental and formally innovative approach to cinema. Working largely outside traditional production systems, he combines narrative fiction, documentary elements, and digital collage techniques to explore memory, identity, and political history. His films often challenge conventional storytelling through fragmented structures, layered imagery, and a strong emphasis on visual and sonic experimentation. Coyula gained international attention with Red Cockroaches (2003), an independently produced science fiction feature. He later directed Memorias del desarrollo (2010), based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Edmundo Desnoes, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival and received critical attention for its reinterpretation of Cuban identity and exile. Nadie (2017), a documentary about poet Rafael Alcides, has been noted in discussions on censorship and independent cinema in Cuba. Corazón azul (2021) continued his exploration of dystopian narratives and media manipulation. In 2024, Chronicles of the Absurd received the IDFA Award for Best Film in the Envision Competition. Coyula’s work is associated with contemporary avant-garde and digital experimental practices in Latin American cinema. His films and documentaries have screened at major international festivals and institutions, including Sundance, Moscow International Film Festival, IDFA, and MoMA.
