Factual America

Wayne Shorter has long been considered one of the greatest modern composers and musicians of American music. His career reads like a Who’s Who of the genre, starting with Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, then the Miles Davis Quintet, followed by solo fame and the founding of fusion super group Weather Report. His collaborations extend beyond jazz greats such as Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter to...

John McEnroe’s volcanic temper on the tennis court is legendary. But there was always more to him than just the explosive outbursts.  In McEnroe, a documentary now available to watch on Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW, John McEnroe takes a night time journey through his home town of New York, reflecting on, discussing, and interrogating his life on and off the court. Joining Matth...

For 200 years, the people of central Appalachia in the US have lived off the industry of coal. Now, though, times are changing, and the coal industry is dying. One day, it will become no more than a memory.  Director Elaine McMillion Sheldon describes King Coal as “part documentary, part fable”, and the film aims to not only tell the story of Appalachia and its coal, but also to preserve Appa...

Humanity is the master of the world. But how did we achieve this? And what do our actions say about us as a people? These are the questions at the heart of Human Footprint, a new PBS docu-series directed by Nate Dappen and Neil Losin. They join Matthew Sherwood to discuss the programme, which they describe as ‘a science show that explores human history and culture’.  Human Footprint starts wi...

Eli Timoner lived a life founded on love. As a result, long after an accidental stroke forced him into retirement, he was celebrated by his former workers. And when he died aged 92, on 3rd March 2021, he did so, surrounded by his family. Last Flight Home , a documentary by Eli’s daughter Ondi, tells the story of his last days. But more than that, it relates how Eli chose the date of his passing, s...

Once upon a time, to be the conductor of an orchestra was to be a man. No longer. Female conductors, however, are still very much a rarity. The Paris based La Maestra Competition aims to break down the barriers that women still face in becoming conductors by giving them a space to showcase their skills. In Maestra , Maggie Contreras follows five women as they prepare to take part in the 2022 La Ma...

Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most recognisable figures in the world today. His meteoric rise to fame began in the 1960s and 70s when he won the coveted Mr Olympia and Mr Universe bodybuilding titles multiple times. In the 80s and 90s, Schwarzenegger starred in some of the most successful action films ever to be made, including The Terminator , Terminator 2: Judgment Day , and Predator . And...

It’s the 1990s, and in New York, guitar music is at its nadir. But as the new millennium approaches, new bands rise out of the ashes of the past. The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, and LCD Soundsystem, are just a few of those bringing a new, powerful sound to the Big Apple. In the middle of this renewal, however, another, wholly discordant, sound rings out over New York: that of terror on 9/1...

Working: What We Do All Day is a docu-series that explores both what it means to work and the ways in which the meaning of work is changing.  Presented by former US President Barack Obama, the docu-series focuses on people working in three different industries: technology, hospitality, and home care. Through him, we hear of their dreams, and their reality; their hopes, and their fears. Joinin...

It’s March 2020 and the pandemic has just begun. All of a sudden, director Sam Green has a lot of time on his hands. He uses it to read a book, which mentions Annea Lockwood, a composer, who has spent fifty years recording the sound of rivers. Intrigued, he contacts her.  Their conversation leads Sam to contemplate sound. The result is 32 Sounds, a documentary that he describes as a ‘meditati...

In 2018, the Californian town of Paradise was destroyed by a wildfire. How did it happen? Could anything have been done to limit or even stop the inferno? Global warming has made the risk of wildfires greater than ever before, and there are people who believe that we are doing all that we can to stop them. As Trip Jennings tells Matthew Sherwood, however, he was tired of hearing this message. And...

In 2019, four-time Grammy award winner Jason Isbell recorded his album Reunions. As he did so, he discussed his life and work with director Sam Jones. The result is Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed, an unflinchingly honest account of a difficult childhood, Jason’s addiction to drink and drugs, the ups and downs of his marriage to fellow musician Amanda Shires, and how he has poured his l...

The Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF) was meant to help the Baltimore Police Department fight violent crime. Instead, its officers terrorised innocent civilians. In 2017, a criminal investigation resulted in the successful prosecution of the officers, and they were convicted of extortion, fraud, racketeering, and robbery. In I Got A Monster, director Kevin Abrams tells the story of what happened, and ho...

February, 1993. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) has received word that the Branch Davidians, a cult based near Waco, Texas, is stockpiling illegal weapons at their compound. The ATF attempts to storm the base but the cultists know they are coming and force them to retreat. A 51-day siege follows, and it only ends when the compound is consumed by fire. 82 are killed, including 28...

In the winter of 1957-58, 19 year old Charlie Starkweather went on a killing spree that would claim eleven victims before he and his accomplice, Caril Ann Fugate, were caught. At their trial, both were found guilty of murder. Charlie was executed while Caril was given a life sentence, later reduced. In The 12th Victim, Nicola Marsh explores what happened during the killing spree from Caril’s persp...

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 represents one of the greatest mysteries in modern aviation history.  On March 8th 2014 the plane left Kuala Lumpur on a scheduled flight to Beijing. Forty minutes later, the captain and Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control bade each other good night. That was the last communication between MH370 and the outside world. Less than two hours later,...

Right Here, Right Now represents a beginning and an end. As director Jak Hutchcraft tells Matthew Sherwood, the film is his directorial debut. A concert, like the one that forms the film’s subject, however, will likely never be repeated in the UK again. The year is 2002. Superstar DJ Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook) has decided to put on a free concert at Brighton beach. The authorities expected “around...

The Martha Mitchell Effect Martha Mitchell, wife of John Mitchell, Attorney General of the US under President Richard Nixon, was not afraid to speak ‘truth to power’. She was so influential that President Nixon would go on to say that without her, there would have been no Watergate scandal. Despite her important role, Mitchell has, in the years since Watergate, become a forgotten figure. Co-produc...

Whether or not you give a f*ck, this is the film for you.  If you don’t care about anyone or anything, The Subtle Art shows why you should. If you do care, The Subtle Art shows why you shouldn’t.  It may have something to say, but The Subtle Art says nothing new. As director Nathan Price tells Matthew Sherwood, it uses ‘very old knowledge... Buddhism... stoicism... wisdom that's existed...

David Bowie lived a life of extraordinary creativity and success. It was also a life of controversy, radical changes of direction, and an unceasing desire to push his art to the limits. He was a cultural icon and an artistic genius. How does someone make a film about such a figure? According to the director of Moonage Daydream, and this episode’s guest, Brett Morgen, you have to first know your li...

Gunther’s Millions is about a dog who is living anything but a dog’s life. Gunther is a German Shepherd. He lives a life of luxury thanks to a trust fund. But did a Countess really bequeath her money to him? And what can be his interest in the homes of celebrities, pop bands, and perhaps even a sex cult? The answer, of course, is that – being a dog – he has no interest in any of these things at al...

In the course of her 36 year – and counting – political career, Nancy Pelosi has redefined what American women may achieve in politics.  Two stints as House Speaker and twenty years as leader of the House Democrats have made her one of the most important female politicians of the early twenty-first century. With her every step of the way has been her daughter, Alexandra, whose new HBO/Sky doc...

Phil Spector was a musical genius. His brilliance as a producer made him a legend. On February 3rd 2003 he shot Lana Clarkson dead. In 2009, he was convicted of murder, and died in prison on January 16th 2021. Spector is a four-part Showtime docu-series (available to watch on Sky Documentaries in the U.K.). In it, series co-directors Sheena M. Joyce and Don Argott examine not only Spector’s ‘life...

No one knows when Bernie Madoff created the Ponzi scheme that would one day lose $64 billion and ruin many lives. Madoff said it started late on. In this episode of Factual America, Joe Berlinger, director and executive producer of Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street , tells host, Matthew Sherwood, that he thinks it was right at the start of Madoff’s career, after he lost $30,000 of investors’ mone...

Christy Wegener, director and producer of I Am Vanessa Guillen, joins Matthew Sherwood to tell the story of Private First Class Vanessa Guillen.  In 2020, after suffering from sexual harassment by a superior, Vanessa was murdered by a fellow soldier at Fort Hood army base outside Killeen, Texas. In the months that followed, her family refused to let either their grief or the weight of the mil...