Looking for an antidote to the attention economy? Stop scrolling and try this

July 16, 2026 — 10:00am

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In an age of restless scrolling, of recommendations based on mysterious algorithms, pop-ups urging us to watch the Next Hit Show before the end credits have even started to roll, and addictive 30-second reels that are like sugar hits to the brain, a three-hour documentary on an art gallery or a road film about a whiny filmmaker might be just what’s needed to restore your faith in film and TV.

These thoughts come to mind with two recent if disparate events. The first was the death of the great American filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, who died earlier this year at the age of 96. The other is the arrival of a restored 4K version of Ross McElwee’s 1986 road film-cum-documentary Sherman’s March.

McElwee and Wiseman seem like outliers today, having made films with a singular focus on topics where, on the face of it, nothing much happens. The viewer is asked to surrender to an unhurried pace and an epic run-time. These are works that offer reflection, demand viewers’ attention and reward endurance.

In Sherman’s March – “a meditation on the possibility of romantic love in the South during an era of nuclear weapons proliferation”, or so promises the on-screen credits –........

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