‘Ren Faire’ Director Lance Oppenheim Honors Doc Star King George: ‘I’ll Forever Remember Him’

Documentarian Lance Oppenheim was recognized by IndieWire Honors connected June 5 pinch nan Magnify Award. Oppenheim’s activity successful “Ren Faire” surely held a magnifying solid up to nan Texas Renaissance Fair, yet documenting a communicative that played for illustration a real-life “Succession,” captivating HBO viewers erstwhile it aired successful 2024. It besides created a people fable of its late prima George C. Coulam, aliases “King George” — who was truthful moved by nan docuseries he reinstated an worker he was shown to person mistreated.

“We mislaid King George astir 2 weeks agone … and I’ll everlastingly retrieve him,” Oppenheim said. “And I dream that this documentary serves arsenic a testament to nan personification he was … warts and all, [and] really conscionable to seizure really astonishing and iconoclastic nan feline was. He said 1 thing: ‘The highest glory is being successful love,’ and I very overmuch judge that, and I dedicate this [honor] to him.”

When accepting his award, Oppenheim gave in installments to IndieWire for inspiring his passions.

“I was reference IndieWire each nan time. I developed for illustration an IndieWire compulsion, and I would publication it obsessively. And truthful nan truth that we’re present correct now, my squad and I, to judge this grant from them is very saccharine — pinch each these astonishing people,” he said.

Oppenheim said that documentaries person taken connected a typical value successful 2025.

“Documentaries are a very typical and unsocial thing. I consciousness for illustration arsenic nan world keeps moving successful a guidance wherever things support getting much and much algorithmically generated. When you spot thing typical and conscionable wholly earthy and wholly unsocial and wholly real, you person to conscionable pinch yourself,” he said.

Last twelvemonth successful an question and reply pinch IndieWire, erstwhile discussing his accuracy arsenic a storyteller, Oppenheim paraphrased legendary nonfiction filmmaker Frederick Wiseman.

“The easiest point you tin do arsenic a documentarian is make personification look foolish,” he said. “Wiseman says don’t do that, make group look noble and/or complicated, show them for who they are, and I dream I did that.

At only 29 years old, Oppenheim, who besides has nan acclaimed documentaries “Some Kind of Heaven” and “Spermworld” to his credit, is presently successful accumulation connected A24’s “Primetime.” While not a documentary, Oppenheim’s communicative characteristic directorial debut is said to person been inspired by nan 2000s bid “To Catch a Predator,” a hidden-camera bid that has echoes of nan filmmaker’s documentary roots.