The film captures how wilkerson grapples with this challenge and its implications. A decadesold murder investigation exposes the ugly truth. Jan 26, 2018 check out the new trailer for did you wonder who fired the gun. Travis wilkerson is an american independent film director, screenwriter, producer and. Film at lincoln center has been dedicated to supporting the art and elevating the craft of cinema and enriching film culture. Two days later, spann died in a segregated black hospital. In addition to being a desperatelyneeded interrogation of whiteness, did you wonder who fired the gun. Movies worth revisiting enduringly are, in my opinion, worth owning on physical media, and did you wonder who fired the gun. Branch wilkersons greatgrandfather killed bill spann in lower alabama. In the documentary did you wonder who fired the gun. Unearths a family history of racism and murder trust me when i tell you that this isnt another white savior story.
He doesnt have the footage to make did you wonder who fired the gun. Branch guns down black bill spann inside the market of the neighborhood in which they both lived. In 1946, my greatgrandfather murdered a black man named bill spann and got away with it. Mar 18, 2018 its hard to experience did you wonder who fired the gun. Did you wonder who fired the gun 2018 events department. Below, youll find a number of toptier streaming and cable services including rental, purchase, and subscription choices along with the availability of did you wonder who fired the gun. Official trailer for did you wonder who fired the gun. Travis wilkersons did you wonder who fired the gun. His movie is a detective story with important roles played by the filmmakers aunt a southern secessionist, by a 31yearold local activist named rosa parks, by the rap song hell you talmbout by janelle monae, and by the stillresonant words of a phil ochs song that memorializes white activist william moore. Travis wilkersons ruminative documentary brings home the filmmakers preoccupation with the confluence of individual and institutional violence in an exceptionally personal manner.
Apr 20, 2018 in the documentary did you wonder who fired the gun. It will be released in new york city on february 28th, 2018. On a night in october, white klansman and shopowner s. Richard brody writes about travis wilkersons documentary did you wonder who fired the gun. Apr 07, 2018 did you wonder who fired the gun 2018 director travis wilkerson not rated, 90 minutes, dcp. So begins travis wilkersons criticallyacclaimed, immensely powerful documentary, did you wonder who fired the gun. The ghosts are real in alabama, and the film establishes a parallel narrative line with robert mulligans classic to kill a mockingbird 1962. Its an odd title as who fired the gun that killed bill spann, a 46 year old african american man in dothan, alabama that night in 1946, is not in doubt. When director travis wilkerson tries to investigate the 1946 murder of an africanamerican man by his white supremacist grandfather, he meets great resistance, and people threaten to take his life.
Wilkerson, a radical political filmmaker and documentarian, delves into his familys dark past in his new film, did you wonder who fired the gun. Financial analysis of did you wonder who fired the gun. Poised between experiment and agitprop, the documentaries of travis wilkerson an injury to one channel the grand tradition of american radicalism. Check out the new trailer for did you wonder who fired the gun. Did you wonder who fired the gun directed by travis. Wilkerson tells a frightening and troubling story, incorporating scenes from to kill a mockingbird, the music of. Travis wilkerson is an american independent film director, screenwriter, producer and performance artist. And indeed, the sensation of watching wilkersons film is not unlike experiencing.
In fact, it premiered as an even lesstraditional film experience, playing at sundance and other festivals as a live event, during which the filmmakernarrator spoke in person and exalted the audience to even participate in the unearthing of racial demons. A sensation at the 2017 sundance film festival, did you wonder who fired the gun. Wilkerson tries by offering us an essay film in the name of did you wonder who fired the gun. Synopsis in 1946, my greatgrandfather murdered a black man named bill spann and got away with it. Vind trailers, beoordelingen en alle informatie voor did you wonder who fired the gun. An anguished expression of white guilt in the guise of a familyshame detective story, travis wilkersons did you wonder who fired the gun. Travis wilkersons film theater hybrid did you wonder who fired the gun.
World premiere, 70th locarno festival, concorso internazionale. So begins travis wilkersons critically a cclaimed documentary, did you wonder who fired the gun. The film trains its gaze upon a largely forgotten incident. The names are those of the black victims of unpunished murders in the states, amongst which the central one for this film is the name bill spann, a black man who was murdered in 1946 by the greatgrandfather of the filmmaker. Upon first glance, the title of travis wilkersons did you wonder who fired the gun. The photography is primarily blackandwhite, with split screens, montages and jump cuts throughout. Mar 01, 2018 upon first glance, the title of travis wilkersons did you wonder who fired the gun. The shooting referred to in the title occurred in 1946 when s.
Did you wonder who fired the gun dvd, 2018 for sale. Though his confrontational narration is central to did you wonder who fired the gun. Wilkerson returns to alabama and tries to discover both how bill. This is a white nightmare story, announces the filmmaker in the beginning of the film and he will make us. The filmmaker travels to alabama to investigate the story that his racist greatgrandfather killed a black man in this agitprop. A documentary filmmakers investigation of racist violence in. So begins travis wilkersons critically acclaimed documentary, did you wonder who fired the gun. Richard brody recommends travis wilkersons 2017 documentary did you wonder who fired the gun. Wilkerson returns to alabama and tries to discover both how bill spann died and how he was forgotten. In lowerys hermetically sealed altfable, a delusional ghost waits for a loved one, almost like. Seventy years later in alabama, when he asks for more. The movie did you wonder who fired the gun is a documentary murder mystery about the filmmakers family, set in lower alabama, 18 miles north of the florida state line on an october night in 1946, s.
Grasshopper film formally audacious and emotionally powerful. It is a relatively sparse affair, which is suitable considering how sparse the facts are that he unearths. First teaser from did you wonder who fired the gun. This is a white nightmare story, announces the filmmaker in the beginning of the film and he will make us not forget it. Branch twice shot a man named bill spann in the small neighborhood market that branch owned. So begins travis wilkersons criticallyacclaimed documentary, did you wonder who fired the gun. So begins travis wilkerson s critically acclaimed documentary, did you wonder who fired the gun. Wilkerson presented the world premiere of a new live documentary in the new frontier section of the sundance film festival, did you wonder who fired the gun. Charges were later dropped and branch was never punished. In 1946, filmmaker wilkersons greatgrandfather shot a black man dead and no one batted an eyelid.
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