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Posted Documentaries

Double Exposure: The Family Statement

Directed by Grace Harper and Kate Stonehill, The Family Statement is a 15 minute compilation of WhatsApp messages exchanged by the Sackler family during the time of their lawsuit. The Sackler family is particularly notorious for their company Purdue Pharma, which marketed and distributed OxyContin and is considered the root cause for the deadly opioid epidemic. Its alleged that the Sacklers filed for bankruptcy during the lawsuit as a means to shield themselves from financial loss.

The WhatsApp message, released in December 2020, are shown against images of your typical American suburban landscapes. The messages appear in small white text making it difficult for the viewer to read. This, and the fact that the messages aren’t that revelatory, strips the film of any real shock value. Throughout the film there are also snippets of pre-court interviews with the Sacklers. Will appeal to anyone interested in getting more insight into the opioid epidemic.

The Family Statement was part of the 2022 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival.

Posted Documentaries

Double Exposure: Into the Weeds

Chances are you’ve heard of the recent class action lawsuit against RoundUp, the brand of weed killer that contains glyphosate that is an alleged carcinogen. It’s one of the most widely-used weed killers on the market and it is alleged to cause non-Hodgkins Lymphoma among other health issues. Monsanto, the company that produces RoundUp, has long been vilified for its unethical business practices. In the past several years they have been highly scrutinized for how they’ve dealt with Roundup and the media attention around it.

Director Jennifer Baichwal’s documentary Into the Weeds delves into one lawsuit: Dwayne “Lee” Johnson vs.  Monsanto Company. Johnson used the weedkiller for his work and after one incident when a large amount got on him he developed mysterious lesions. It developed into terminal non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Putting a face to this problem really drives home what is at stake when these companies are allowed to contaminate us with toxic chemicals.

Into the Weeds effectively drives home the message that corporate greed and the lack of regulation makes victims of everyday people.

Into the Weeds was part of the 2022 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival.

Posted Short Films

Double Exposure: 8 Days at Ware

Directed by Meg Shutzer and Rachel Lauren Mueller, 8 Days at Ware is a sobering exposé of the inhumane treatment of minors at the Ware Youth Center in Louisiana. This 27 minute documentary tells the story of two troubled youths and the juvenile detention system that failed them. In one case, a 13 year old is put in isolation and commits suicide after just 8 days at the facility. Another case follows an investigation into officer abuse when a youth suffers a head injury after an altercation. 

8 Days at Ware offers viewers insight into a damaged system that ultimately creates a vicious cycle of abuse for anyone who gets trapped in it.

8 Days at Ware was part of the 2022 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival.

Posted BIPOC

Mill Valley Film Festival: Town Destroyer

Directed by Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman, Town Destroyer examines the contentious debate around Victor Arnautoff’s The Life of Washington. This 13 panel mural decorates the walls of George Washington High School in San Francisco, California. Installed in 1936, the murals tell the story of George Washington and includes images of violence against Native Americans and African Americans. Some see the art as subversive. By painting the scenes, Arnautoff seems to be both telling history and criticizing it. Others find the murals incredibly offensive and believe the art is perpetrating harmful stereotypes and further traumatizing minorities.

This film follows the recent battle among those who believe the mural should remain and others who believe it should be painted over. Many arguments are made and the documentary does an excellent job not taking sides. It’s up for the viewer to draw their own conclusion.

Town Destroyer is a fascinating documentary about the debate between free speech and social justice told through the lens of one controversial piece of art.

This documentary was screened at the 2022 Mill Valley Film Festival.

Posted BIPOC

Nashville Film Festival: Butterfly in the Sky

If you were a child of the ’80s and ’90s, chances are you watched the children’s television program Reading Rainbow and it had a profound effect on you. I was a PBS kid who really took to LeVar Burton’s gentle and inviting demeanor and seeing real kids like myself get excited about books. This influence and my natural curiosity sent me a lifelong journey of reading and loving books. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Just ask any Reading Rainbow kid and they’ll tell you the same: LeVar Burton made books cool and interesting.

“Anybody who worked with us and said oh, it’s just a kids show, never worked with us again.”

Directed by Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb and produced by Bryan Storkel, Butterfly in the Sky chronicles the extraordinary story behind Reading Rainbow, the figures who made it happen and its profound effect on the children who watched the show. The documentary also serves as a celebration for all the incredible work Burton and the production team, who were all interviewed for the film, put into Reading Rainbow.

The show premiered July 11, 1983 but production began as early as 1981. It was a hard sell to get a show about reading on the air and to convince book publishers that they should want their books on the program. While it took a couple of years for the show off the ground, once it did it really started having a profound effect. The show had a solid concept and structure that just made it work: a friendly host, an earworm of a theme song, a memorable catchphrase, book reviews by real kids, readings by celebrity guests, songs and documentary style segments that put the featured book into context. LeVar Burton turned out to be the perfect host. Kids watching felt like he was speaking directly to them. Burton insisted on authenticity, always preferring to be true to himself even when the producers didn’t agree with what he was doing, and this really made the show work. 

Butterfly in the Sky is in the same vein as recent documentaries on PBS kids shows including Won’t You Be My Neighbor (2018) and Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street (2021), both of which are excellent in their own right. Butterfly in the Sky is relentlessly positive, even when the show’s many adversities are discussed (it also completely skips the tumultuous life of the brand after it went off the air in 2006). This film serves up a heaping dose of nostalgia while also enlightening viewers on the history and importance of this landmark television program.

Butterfly in the Sky was part of the 2022 Nashville Film Festival.