Tag: Documentary

Each installment of chefATL explores the diversity of Atlanta through the lens of its dynamic culinary culture. A recent episode paired host Bilal Sarwari, interim executive director of Slow Food USA, with the Deer and the Dove chef Terry Koval for an insightful discussion.

Food writer and Atlanta native Stephen Satterfield takes viewers on a wide-ranging journey in the critically-acclaimed Netflix series, High on the Hog. The series, an adaptation of the book written by food historian Dr. Jessica B. Harris, digs deep into the rich history of Black American food. Whereas the show's first season explored the history of Black American food in relation to its West African roots and the impacts of slavery, season two uncovers the role that Black American cuisine has played in fueling social justice movements, transforming communities, and awakening cultural creativity.

Us Kids, directed by Kim A. Snyder, makes a stop on its nine-city tour at the Plaza Theatre Drive-In at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, August 27. Samantha Fuentes and Alex Dworet, who both survived the Parkland, Florida, shooting, will be at the Plaza for a Q&A, along with a virtual appearance from Snyder.

East Lake Meadows: A Public Housing Story airs at 8 p.m. March 24 on PBS

On a summer morning in 1967, Lorenzo “Lo” Jelks walked into the WSB-TV studios for his first day of work. That wouldn’t have been noteworthy, except that Jelks, an American descendant of enslaved Africans, would be the first black on-air reporter at what was then (and now) one of the largest television stations in the Southeast.

In their documentary, Atlanta filmmakers Shonda Harper and Alahna Lark trace the history of Auburn Avenue as a nexus of black culture and commerce, a springboard of the civil rights movement, and a community irreparably cleaved in two by the construction of the Downtown Connector.

Any Atlanta garden enthusiast worth their weight in soil knows about Ryan Gainey. Gainey died in a house fire on his farm in Lexington in 2016, not long after filmmakers Steve Bransford and Cooper Sanchez completed shooting a documentary about his life. The film, The Well-Placed Weed: The Bountiful Life of Ryan Gainey, premieres May 17 at the Plaza Theatre.

When writer T Cooper moved to Atlanta in 2014, he was surprised to learn about TransFitCon. "Wait, the only transgender bodybuilding competition in the world takes place in Atlanta?" he laughs. "It was just so random." He spent the next three years crafting the feature-length documentary, Man Made, which closes out the Atlanta Film Festival this Sunday.

We chatted with Kathleen Dowdey, the director of the project, which airs Friday, February 10.

Robert Shaw: Man of Many Voices premieres at ASO on April 24. Producer Kiki Wilson discusses Shaw's legacy and the making of the documentary.