10 Must-See Fan Documentaries About The People Who Matter Most
10. The Dungeon Masters
The classic role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons has been around since the 1970s and is still going strong to this day, with an estimated 20 million people playing it over the years,and sales of over $1 billion in books, equipment and other merchandise. While perhaps not as popular with the younger demographics, it nevertheless maintains a hardcore following who gather to play adventures and campaigns, collect miniatures and attend D&D conventions. The Dungeon Masters was originally intended as an overview of the game, charting the history of Dungeons and Dragons up to the present day. But when director Kevin McAlester began filming the documentary he soon realised that focusing on a narrow selection of players would offer a more interesting insight into both the game and those who played it. What emerges is a far more touching, personal story of avid gamers using the game as an escapism from ever-encroaching real-world problems; an America seemingly crumbling under the weight of an economic recession and the hopes, dreams, failures and successes - however small - of the three gamesmasters McAlester focuses on. In a sense, the gaming world is as much about learning life lessons as it is about offering a distraction from life. McAlester may not be a Dungeons and Dragons player himself, but this lack of familiarity affords him the level of detachment required to document the lives of his subjects with a degree of objectivity, making the final product all the more revealing.
