Press
“The unreliable-narrator docu develops a new wrinkle or two with “Informant.”
Jamie Meltzer’s engrossing portrait lets Brandon Darby tell his own story —
of a self-proclaimed far-left, anti-government activist-turned-FBI snitch now
feted at Tea Party gatherings -while fellow travelers cast doubt on that testimony
every step of the way. It’s an absorbing puzzle with the potential to intrigue viewers
all along the political spectrum.”
- Dennis Harvey, Variety
Informant - Variety Review (PDF)
Variety Review (for Variety subscribers)
Minneapolis Public Radio interviews Director Jamie Meltzer.
“Activist groups of all stripes will want to see it, but the force of Darby’s personality —
a rich stew of righteousness, arrogance and self-delusion — gives the doc a psychological appeal
independent of politics. The Grand Jury Prize winner in DOC NYC’s Viewfinders competition,
it deserves a theatrical run.”
-John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter
Documentary.org includes INFORMANT in their round-up of the Palm Springs International Film Festival:
“Jamie Meltzer’s Informant tested audiences via a subject (Brandon Darby, a radical activist who became an
FBI informant) whose credibility and sincerity are called into question by a turn of events…
Meltzer’s intent was to encourage critical thinking and to force audiences to consider that
a documentary’s protagonist might be an unreliable narrator. In one re-enactment, Meltzer pauses
and rewinds the film as Darby re-creates a critical scene. “As audiences watch the film, I want them
to go through the same process as I did making the film, and be left with uncertainties,” he explains.
KALW Interview with Director Jamie Meltzer
Interview with Director Jamie Meltzer in SLACKERWOOD - Austin Films Society’s blog
Review of film on SLACKERWOOD:
“Informant, a thrilling documentary from Jamie Meltzer, tells the story of Austinite Brandon Darby,
the former anarchist who turned in Brad Crowder and David McKay during the RNC protests in 2008.
How did Darby morph from someone who “would’ve attacked the government for what it was doing to
people” in New Orleans during Katrina to someone who trusted governmental authority so much that
he would inform on a planned/possible attack? Meltzer’s film, through intimate interviews (almost
like on-camera confessions) with Darby and some of his former associates, attempts to explain.”
- Elizabeth Stoddard, SLACKERWOOD blog
Article on DocNYC screening of INFORMANT on Popmatters:
“Informant takes as its focus not the truth or even the pursuit of truth, but rather, its perpetual elusiveness.
Premiering at DOC NYC… Informant is… one of several [films] that ponder the limits and expand the
possibilities of what documentaries can do.”