CRITICS and PRESS
from reviews of 32 SOUNDS:
“Playful and profound... It’s the greatest documentary you’ve ever heard.” — David Fear, Rolling Stone
“A documentary that blurs the line between sense and perception, science and poetry.” — David Erlich, Indiewire
“It's the sort of movie that can change the way you live.” — Alissa Wilkinson, The New York Times
“Relentlessly curious... the effect is as though one has unscrewed the top of a traditional documentary to expose its busily whirring component parts.” — Lindsay Zoladz, The New York Times
“Full to bursting with humor, emotion and curiosity, “32 Sounds” is a uniquely mind-expanding plunge into a dimension of the human experience so many of us take for granted... A movie I hoped would never end.” — Peter Debruge, Variety
“Immersively designed... This philosophically minded trip... might just make our whole damn journey through time and space that much more meaningful.” — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
from reviews of CAMERAPERSON:
“A feature-length Eisensteinian montage... reinvents the language of narrative.” — Sam C. Mac, Slant Magazine
“A stunning achievement in documentary form.”
— Katie Walsh, Indiewire
“A reminder that a documentary is above all an act of communication, a story passed from one set of eyes to another.” — A.O. Scott, The New York Times
“A mesmerizing series of images, encounters and delicate juxtapositions.”
— Anne Hornaday, The Washington Post
“Cameraperson unfolds with beauty and purpose — mixing the fluidity of a dream with the acuity of an essay.”
— Bilge Ebiri, The Village Voice
“Beautifully curated.” — Jordan Hoffman, The Guardian
“Ingeniously assembled... an expert compilation movie.” — Nicolas Rapold, Brooklyn Magazine
“El cine en general depende del montaje... Cameraperson depend[e] absolutamente de la edición.” — Gonzalo Lira Galvan, Cinema Movil
“Cameraperson’s unique formal conception and restlessly interrogative assemblage forms a striking and original vision.” — Jordan Cronk, Sight & Sound
“This is what nonfiction cinema should be.” — Daniel Walber, Nonfics
from reviews of LET THE FIRE BURN:
“With masterful editing by Nels Bangerter... a captivating and taut documentary.” — Christine Ziemba, Paste Magazine
“Brilliantly edited... ingeniously interwoven.” — Ronnie Scheib, Variety
“Seamlessly fashioned.” — Nicolas Rapold, The New York Times
“Powerfully and masterfully structured.” — Zeba Blay, Indiewire
“Electrifying... a triumph of documentary form.” — David Edelstein, Vulture
“Brilliantly edited.” — Liam Lacey, The Globe and Mail
“Remarkable, gripping storytelling.” — Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times
“Masterfully crafted.” — Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post
“Expert work of collage... deft, multifaceted construction... A superior example of the found-footage documentary.” — Nicolas Rapold, Film Comment
from reviews of DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD:
“A quiet marvel of astute, intuitive editing...” — Tim Grierson, ScreenDaily
“Critics like to pigeonhole movies using familiar categories — fiction, nonfiction, happy, sad — but one of the charms of Dick Johnson Is Dead is how slippery it is.” — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
“For all its playfulness, it’s the real, stinging, joyful, inconvenient reality of life that Dick Johnson Is Dead gives us. It’s a committed act of preservation: a looping, reeling, repeatable act of love.” — K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone
“Brilliantly original in every way.” — Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter
“An incredible work of art... A powerhouse of a film.” — Karen Han, Polygon
“Dick Johnson Is Dead turns documentary (and dads) into a radical art form...” — Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly
“It all builds up to a remarkable coup de cinéma: a Buñuelian finale that is startling and moving.” — Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
from reviews of THE HOTTEST AUGUST:
“With the help of wizard editor Nels Bangerter... The Hottest August’s beautiful mosaic invites a personal, intimate interpretation” — Tim Grierson, Paste Magazine
“[A] brilliant puzzle-mosaic... so cleverly assembled that it obliges audiences to think about how we live in an entirely new way.” — Peter Debruge, Variety
“A cinematic gift both simple and multilayered, an intellectual challenge and an emotional adventure.” — Glenn Kenny, The New York Times
“A documentary about climate change like you've never seeen before.” — Alissa Wilkinson, Vox
“A polyvocal time capsule that allows us to make up our own minds.” — Erika Balsom, Artforum
and MORE:
“Over the past decade, Nels Bangerter has emerged as an exemplar of the craft.” [Featured as an “Influencer” on the craft of filmmaking] — Chris O'Falt and Eric Kohn, Indiewire
There was a very flattering discussion of Nels’s work as among the best of the 2010s in this “The Decade Project” podcast with Nicolas Rapold, Ashley Clark, and Eric Hynes for Film Comment.
Steven Hullfish talked with Nels about editing Dick Johnson is Dead on his podcast, The Art of the Cut: Episode 93 - Dick Johnson is Dead.
Nels was part of this insightful Indiewire/Adobe panel from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival: Shaping a Story: How Editors Contribute to the ‘Final Re-Write’ of a Movie.
You can find Nels on a couple of “extras” from The Criterion Collection – Editing Cameraperson and an audio commentary on Dick Johnson is Dead.
OTHER LINKS
Nels Bangerter on IMDb
Jack Bangerter — fine arts