#WhileBlack @Hot Docs 2026

We are seeing the power of our phones and the social media apps that are running our planet. The documentary #WhileBlack from director Sidney Fussell and Jennifer Holness focuses on capturing video of police brutality against Black people that goes viral globally. Primarily, the documentary breaks it down to two women who became citizen journalists when they recorded police brutality with their phones. Darnella Frazer happened to record the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minnesota police. Diamond Reynolds went on Facebook Live to show the world how police shot her boyfriend, Philando Castile, back in 2016. Castile was shot dead after being pulled over for no apparent reason other than a damaged taillight.

Two separate incidents, both with the same result, as the victims of these two women recorded were murdered by the police. Darnella Frazer had an up close and personal shot of police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of George Floyd. He was handcuffed on the ground for about 9 minutes before he could not breathe anymore and died. It took Frazer a couple of days of thought before she shared this video on her social media in which it went viral almost instantly. Being touted as one of the highest viewed viral videos of all time, it sparked a global movement never been seen before. But as director Jennifer Holness told us on FERNTV, the stories of Darnella Frazer and Diamond Reynolds and the impact it has on their direct communities is of importance.

Despite being still fresh in the mind of Reynolds and Frazer, both directors Jennifer Holness and Sydney Fussell managed to get them to trust them to document their stories. Going into some of those pockets of Minnesota after riots, protests and demonstrations was necessary to document for Holness and Fussell. These are the people who will be responsible for changes and to keep on that everyday struggle of doing what is right for the people. Now with ICE prominent in the city of Minnesota, we can see that things seem to remain the same but told in a different context.

Nevertheless, there is an even bigger problem that this film scratched the surface on. That being said, corporations like Meta tend to profit on negativity, especially when it comes to police brutality against Black people. Despite these incidents shedding light on subject matters such as racism, violence and the defunding of police, there is one major drawback. It makes money for corporations online. The algorithm influences your feed to watch this type of negativity, while at the same time, you buy from corporations. Talk about emotional purchases, and this is what they basically are. And these corporations know that you are going to buy.

Despite being considered to be scattered by other media outlets and having no real message to relay, FERNTV found this film to be informative. #WhileBlack was not a regurgitation of what happened to George Floyd or Philando Castile. #WhileBlack is a perspective of those who witness such police brutality on black people and how doing the right thing has it drawbacks at times.

For someone like Darnella Frazer, it can be overwhelming when your video has gone extremely viral (1.4 billion times in 12 days) and sparked movement across the globe. This is becoming famous instantly, but for the wrong reason, which can cause much anxiety. Whereas for Diamond Reynolds, how can you not be triggered by any sight of the police who know of your doings. Nevertheless, not only do these videos try to stop the violence, but it seems to continue it.

#WhileBlack is a film that everyone should take a look at because it shows how vulnerable a time we lived through. Are things better? Maybe not but we all need to do better and stronger and there is no doubt about that. It’s important to stay in our lane by all means necessary. But sometimes you need to fight for direction.

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