HBO is creating a documentary about the Black Lives Matter movement.
While the entire world is freaking out about the #OscarsSoWhite backlash, HBO is planning their next line-up of programming and one of their up coming productions may be as controversial as the Academy Awards.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, HBO’s president of documentary films, Sheila Nevins is currently developing a movie about the Black Lives Matter movement.
I realized that documentary filmmakers are not looking in their own backyard. And if they are, they’re not being recognized for it.”
Nevins explained that once she saw that none of the Oscar nominations for best documentary film highlighted the Black Lives Matter movement, she decided to do something about it. “The morning of the Oscar nominations. I noticed that all the [documentary] films that were up there, there was almost nothing about America, and my heart broke because I realized that documentary filmmakers are not looking in their own backyard. And if they are, they’re not being recognized for it.”
The fact that there was no documentary about Black Lives Matter at a time when this is such a critical American issue … was unbelievable.
Nevins argues that the Black Lives Matter movement is an extremely important movement currently moving through America’s highway called life. “The fact that there was no documentary about Black Lives Matter at a time when this is such a critical American issue … was unbelievable. I said to my colleague here, “Call [a director she declined to name in case a deal doesn’t transpire]. See how much it would cost to do a big documentary about what’s been happening in this country.” You have to do it.”
