Although not everyone has a résumé that runs the gamut from bodybuilder to governor with a successful movie career in between, there are still plenty of people who stand apart from the crowd in life, whether by choice or by accident. Over the years, Cinequest has turned a spotlight on many such mavericks with a diverse selection of documentaries.

Perhaps one of the most extraordinary subjects of a documentary is the person behind the title of The Conscientious Objector. Desmond T. Doss' devout religious beliefs forbade violence, yet he served in World War II as a medic, often on the frontlines, and without ever carrying a weapon. His strict adherence to his religion was often met with hostility on the battlefield, but Doss displayed such bravery in his efforts to save the lives of his wounded comrades, he eventually received the Medal of Honor.

Final night

The Conscientious Objector will be shown the closing night of Cinequest, on March 14, and Doss will be present at the screening, along with filmmaker Terry L. Benedict.

The number of Cinequest documentaries that feature people with such unusual life stories is partly intentional programming and partly inherent in the documentary genre. "This is something that evolves as time goes on, but typically we look for documentaries that are more personal, that have personal stories, personal journeys, for either the filmmakers or the subjects of the film, and also stylistically that are not your typical documentary," says Mike Rabehl, director of programming for Cinequest. "We try to show something that is more fluid, like an actual story. Sometimes, you can even compare them to a lot of the narrative films. Even though they're about real subjects and real people, they have a narrative structure to them, something you don't get to see very often in documentaries."

One such personal story that unfolds very much like a narrative film is The Loss of Nameless Things, by Palo Alto filmmaker Bill Rose. The film focuses on the life of Oakley Hall III, who was an incredibly charismatic young playwright and director during the late '70s who had the promise to become a real force in American theater. But at the height of his promise, Hall fell from a bridge and suffered a severe head injury that ended his theater career.

A film that became as much of a personal journey for the filmmaker as for the subject was One Man Show, a documentary in which filmmaker Ira Rosensweig follows the life of newly minted millionaire John Falcon, who was a unique, colorful person well before acquiring his riches. A struggling performance artist, Falcon won $45 million in the New York state lottery and suddenly found himself facing the myriad possibilities and pitfalls that such a windfall can bring.

Lucky break

Rosensweig more or less stumbled across Falcon's story when he was seeking funding for a feature film he was hoping to make. Often the way in which the lives of such unusual people make it to film can be a combination of happy accident and industry survival. "I think in a lot of ways, the nature of documentaries filmmaking is that the filmmakers out there are making films about whatever stuff they come across," says Rabehl, "but they also are looking for something that is different than all the other documentaries that are out there, too."

San Francisco filmmaker Amanda Micheli has tapped something of a new genre with two films that explore women pursuing some nontraditional careers. A few years ago, she made the film Just for the Ride, about cowgirls on the pro women's rodeo circuit. Micheli's film Double Dare is featured at Cinequest this year. The film follows the lives of two stuntwomen who are both at crossroads in their careers. Jeannie Epper is a legendary Hollywood stuntwoman and the matriarch of a family of stunt actors, but now in her 60s, her career has been hit especially hard by Tinseltown's notorious dearth of roles for older women. Zoe Bell, a native New Zealander, was the stunt double for actress Lucy Lawless on the TV show Xena: Warrior Princess, which filmed in New Zealand. When the show ends, Bell has to consider a move to Los Angeles--and away from all her family and friends--to keep her career alive.

"This year, because we have more premiere documentaries than we've ever had, it's a chance for people to interact with the filmmakers, because they're going to be here," says Rabehl. "We hope people walk away with a good experience from that. Watching [a film] at home on TV or DVD or on PBS, you don't get to interact with any of it. You basically watch it and that's it. I think that's a huge part of the process for filmmakers; they get to see how a film relates to an audience and how an audience relates to their film. I think that that's very important for filmmakers and audiences to be able to find some way to communicate and interact with each other."