The Best of Hot Docs returns to Vancouver this week with a sure-fire crowd-pleaser in the shape of Live From New York!  

With the show’s 40th anniversary blowout still fresh in our minds, the public appetite for inside intel on Saturday Night Live is as strong as it ever was, and filmmaker Bao Nguyen has assembled cast members new and old to reflect on themes that include the show’s attention (or otherwise) to race, gender, and the political landscape.

“Our film isn’t necessarily a straightforward look behind the scenes,” Nguyen told the Straight. “It was more looking at SNL as a reflection of what’s going on in America and the world at the time. We wanted to see it beyond being a sketch-comedy show and look at it on a more macro level.”

Nguyen added that putting SNL inside a theatre, at a time when most of us are catching it online, “brings it back to this larger-scale, communal experience.”

Viewers will naturally wonder about some of the omissions, such as Bill Murray, whose schedule conflicted with the production, and Eddie Murphy, who generally seems bent on being invisible.

“Even his appearance on the 40th was quite underwhelming for most SNL fans,” Nguyen remarked. Others might crave some of the show’s legendary backstabbing, which tends to boil down to the notoriety around Chevy Chase, who does show up. How was he?

“I don’t want to specifically point him out,” said Nguyen, laughing, “but you know… Sometimes a reputation is true, and people have their on and off days. That’s all I have to say about that, really.”

GS: Was the focus of the film determined by the interviews? 

BN: We knew what kind of film we were going to make and what our approach was going into the interviews. When we talked to all these different cast members, hosts and journalists, they found our interview questions to be quite refreshing. We got some insight from people like Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey and Chris Rock. They could really give us an insider perspective on topics that’d never talked about before, which was great.

Who was the toughest interview and why?

Finding people to talk to in the first place was difficult just because you have such a large pool of talent to go through. Talking to someone like Alec Baldwin, who had so many great stories to tell, and he’s such a sharp, clever guy—it was more difficult trying to figure out what we were going to use because he gave us so much good material. We had to really hone and narrow down what exactly he said that would push our thesis forward. There’s a lot of really funny, inside baseball kind of stuff that had to be left on the cutting room floor.

Cast members have always talked about Lorne Michaels with a mixture of respect and curiosity, as if they can’t quite get close enough to know him. What was your take?

He was very hands-off with our project, which I was very thankful for. That’s what I observed from his approach to the show, actually. He’s quite hands-off until dress rehearsal, when he’d pick and choose what he thought was working and what wasn’t. He really trusted his creative team for the most part throughout the week. That says a lot about why the show has lasted for so long. You have this father figure at the top, but he’s really putting a lot of trust in a foundation that can work without necessarily having his guidance all the time. But SNL couldn’t exist and wouldn’t be the same without Lorne Michaels, for sure.

Do you agree with Al Franken that Darrell Hammond might have cost Al Gore the 2000 U.S. election?

SNL is such a big cultural institution, it does help create this perception and image of politicians that can really solidify their reputation with the public, and especially with an undecided, young voter audience. I think it’s possible. I wouldn’t put it past the American electorate, I guess. It was only a few hundred votes. If it was a million, I think it’d be a fairly hyperbolic statement. But Al Franken, he knows about politics now. When I interviewed Al Gore, I was just picturing Darrell Hammond the whole time.

You spend some time on an incident involving current cast member Leslie Jones. She did a Weekend Update bit about sex and slavery that was enormously controversial inside the African American community. It happens to bring all of the film's themes into focus, while suggesting that SNL hasn't become entirely establishment. 

We lucked out. That’s the beauty of documentary sometimes, capturing that moment and not knowing how big it’s going to be afterwards. One of our producers had worked with Leslie before, it was her first season, and we thought we should pay close attention to her because we thought she was going to be a star. We had no idea that her joke was going to get such a backlash. It’s something she does a lot in her standup, but with the Internet, and the access to content, and with a sounding board for everything, people are a bit sensitive. I don’t fault them for that, but I think it’s easier for someone to say how offended they are by something than it was before, even during the '90s. We talked to Molly Shannon, and she said you’d have to read a review the next week to get a reaction. With social media you get that reaction right away. So we thought it wasn’t just a personal moment for Leslie, it was kind of a momentous moment in terms of how people react to SNL, and how the Internet kinda changed that.

Who was the best ever cast member?

You’re putting me on the spot. I mean, I love Will Ferrell. He can just light up a room, and we were really lucky when we interviewed him, too, because he’s so insightful and articulate. He wasn’t necessarily on like he is on a Late Show, or something like that, but he gave us really insightful answers. He was funny in his interview but it was kinda seeing a side of him we’d never had the chance to see before. But put his face in front of me and I’ll start laughing. 

The Best of Hot Docs runs June 12 to 16. Live From New York! screens on Friday (June 12) and Saturday (June 13). More info here.