Documentary Now! Season 4 (or Season 53) was announced in mid-July, and today IFC gave us a first peek at the new season, its premiere date, and what to anticipate from the new slate of satirical episodes. The preview, as always introduced by Helen Mirren (The Queen), features a few minutes of the film and makes the case that now, more than ever, the world needs Documentary Now! The anthology series comprises “very important” mockumentaries that simultaneously honour and lampoon well-known documentaries, with co-creators Bill Hader and Fred Armisen in the main roles. IFC has not only announced that the new season will premiere on October 19 but also provided details about the first three episodes. The premiere of Season 53 will be a two-parter titled “Soldier of Illusion,” which is based on the renowned documentary Burden of Dreams by German filmmaker Werner Herzog.
The episode, which was written by John Mulaney (Saturday Night Live), is set in the 1980s and follows a visionary filmmaker as he attempts to will his magnum opus into existence while working in the harsh circumstances of the Russian Ular mountains. Documentary Now! alum Deb Hiett returns as narrator, and guest stars include Alexander Skarsgrd, Nicholas Braun, Kevin Bishop, Gana Bayarsaikhan, Matthias Rimpler & Fred Armisen. The second episode, “Trouver Frisson,” is a tribute to the late, Academy Award-nominated director Agnès Varda (Faces, Places). Throughout this episode, Liliane Rovère plays the role of acclaimed French director Ida Leos, who is on the lookout for answers as to why she is no longer guided by “frisson” (the sensation of goosebumps).
This episode was influenced by two of Varda’s most well-known works: Gleaners and I And Beaches. Two new episodes of “Two Hairdressers in Bagglyport,” a parody of fashion documentaries like “3 Salons at the Seaside” & “The September Issue: The Making of the World’s Most Famous Fashion Magazine,” have been announced. Cate Blanchett (Thor: Ragnarok) and Harriet Walter (Succession) feature as stylists putting together the annual stylebook for a small town in this episode. In addition, “How They Threw Rocks” will be a ripoff of the 1996 Oscar-winning film When We Were Kings, which told the story of the heavyweight boxing championship between George Foreman and the underdog Muhammad Ali, and “My Monkey Grifter” will star Jamie Demetriou (Fleabag) as a filmmaker whose relationship with a monkey who may have ulterior motives becomes emotionally and financially taxing on both of them.
In this episode, the Oscar-winning film My Octopus Teacher is lampooned; it follows a guy as he builds an unexpectedly close relationship with an octopus. The Documentary Now! team consists of Armisen, Hader, Seth Meyers, and Rhys Thomas. It debuted in 2015 to widespread acclaim, and since then it has garnered a total of six Emmy Award nominations among other nominations for many other accolades. Cameron Crowe, Alana Haim, Owen Wilson, Michael Keaton, Michael C. Hall, Jack Black, and Anne Hathaway are just among the famous faces that appeared in the series as guests. On October 19, IFC will debut Season 4 of Documentary Now!