It appears that director Oliver Stone will be branching off into the world of documentary film making with a new 10-part series called Secret History of America, which will air on Showtime in a one-hour episodic format. The show’s content is all-but-guaranteed to stir up controversy and get people fumed and debating.
The series will be narrated by Stone, and will cover many different hugely-important and “under-reported” events in American history of the last 60 years, revealing many “newly discovered facts and accounts” that we never knew about before. Of the project, Stone stated that “through this epic 10-hour series, which I feel is the deepest contribution I could ever make in film to my children and the next generation, I can only hope a change in our thinking will result.”
Topics that will be covered range from the Cold War and the decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima, to the Vietnam war, the Kennedy administration, and America’s impact on the world since Communism fell.
One outstanding question in all of this, is to the factually accuracy of this new show. Will this be real-deal hard facts, or will the show be more along the lines of a Michael Moore documentary? This question will ultimately decide how many people actually want to watch or not.
Programming President for Showtime Robert Greenblatt had this to say about Secret History of America:
We are very happy that Oliver Stone has chosen Showtime as the home for his provocative series about key unknown moments of American history. Not only has his name become synonymous with visionary filmmaker, but Oliver is also a fascinating storyteller always striving to shed new light on the human experience. His continuing curiosity about real events of the 20th century has now led him to a documentary series unlike any other, which is why it’s perfect for our premium audience.
The series is expected to debut sometime in 2010.
[Source: THR]
“One outstanding question in all of this, is to the factually accuracy of this new show. Will this be real-deal hard facts, or will the show be more along the lines of a Michael Moore documentary?”
When we equate a Michael Moore “documentary” with the idea that it is constructed or fabrictaed, can we stop reffering to his films as “documentaries”?
Anyways…
The fact that there are doubts already regarding this Oliver Stone project I think answers the question. It’s not like Stone has a history here with, er, history. :^)
I will probably pass on this.