A24’s Doc ‘The Sixth,’ About the Terror of Jan. 6, Is Essential Viewing. So Why Are the Directors Struggling to Get It Seen?
Donald Trump recently announced that he will hold an “awards gala” celebrating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol — just the latest example of the ongoing revisionist history and whitewashing of the extreme violence that took place that day. The A24 film “The Sixth,” however, documents via horrific footage what actually happened, and how it was ultimately Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department that saved the government from being toppled by a massive, deadly mob when the National Guard, stationed just miles away, didn’t show up.
Filmmakers Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine had a camera crew at Trump’s D.C. rally on Jan. 6 (which was timed to the certification by Congress of Joe Biden as president), and some of what they captured appears in “The Sixth.” But much of the doc was stitched together from cameras and other videographers who were in and around the Capitol. (The duo says they didn’t pay for any footage from actual insurrectionists, however).
Perhaps the most shocking images take place in an entrance tunnel to the Capitol, where just a handful of MPD officers are seen being bloodied and beaten for several hours as they stand as the last line of defense. As the film drives home, a bloody coup was much more of a real possibility that day than most people realize.
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“This city is my home. My home was invaded. And the policemen and policewomen that protect our home were brutalized for hours on end,” Fine says. “I can tell you, from watching that footage at that tunnel where all that violence comes down: Had those people gotten in, I think we’d would have been reading very different headlines. Some very violent people were saying, ‘You’re gonna die tonight.’ It’s a mob, it’s a riot, I think people lost their minds. If those people got in, we wouldn’t be seeing the dude with the horns and that shaman stuff. We’d be seeing really bad scenes of people brutalizing others. The D.C. police stopped that from happening. And that was very important for us to tell.”
“The Sixth” doesn’t harbor a partisan point of view; rather, it’s mostly through the lens of six people who were there that day: a surprisingly candid MPD chief Robert J. Contee III; Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.); MPD officers Christina Laury and Daniel Hodges; Erica Loewe, deputy comms director for then-Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.); and photographer Mel D. Cole (picture below), who wound up embedded inside the mob and perhaps has the most terrifying eyewitness view of anyone.
All six remain shaken by what they saw and experienced, and all say that it’s critical to the preservation of democracy in the United States that the true story of January 6 is known by as many people as possible — and not just the same images that have been seen on the news, which only capture a fraction of the brutality.
That’s why Nix Fine and Fine are frustrated with the distribution of “The Sixth,” which was released on demand in May. The filmmakers say they had initially been told by A24 that “The Sixth” would be available to stream on Prime Video, opening the door to a much wider audience. That so far hasn’t come to fruition, although insiders say such a plan is still in the works and that it’s up to Prime Video to make that decision. The doc is on sale to rent or purchase, but that narrows the potential audience vs. having it available to stream by all Prime subscribers.
“We have a bunch of questions, and we don’t have answers,” Fine says. “You can only speculate. I keep hearing that no one wants to do anything political. We know how films work and get rolled out. And on this one, it’s telling that we’ve done everything, including our own press. Everything has been grassroots. For a big budget documentary like this, it’s a little odd. But I don’t want to constantly ask those questions and be mad, I want to channel it and do something. The election is happening soon. And this is important.”
(It’s probably worth noting here that despite some speculation, insiders say the timing of A24 securing a new round of funding led by Josh Kushner’s investment firm Thrive Capital is coincidental. Kushner has joined the board of directors, but insiders say distribution decisions were made before that news. What’s driving that conjecture: Josh is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law and former senior advisor to Trump.)
A24 and Prime Video declined to comment on the fate of “The Sixth” on streaming. In the meantime, Nix Fine and Fine, via their Change Content banner, have started a “Screen It Forward” campaign to offer screenings of the doc in theaters, college campuses and other locations in battleground states through the election. Among Change Content’s partners: Indivisible, which is passing out toolkits and media guides, and Gathr, which finds venues to screen “The Sixth.”
As part of “Screen It Forward,” organizations and individuals can contribute tax-deductible donations to cover the cost of individual tickets, sponsor seating for an entire theater or donate screenings for an entire voting district. Indivisible will kick off its impact campaign on September 23 with screenings in locations including Bensalem, Pa.; Camp Hill, Pa.; Elizabeth, N.J.; Kingston, N.Y.; Lancaster, Calif.; Las Cruces, N.M.; Missoula, Mont.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Vancouver, Wash.; Vestal, N.Y.; and West Homestead, Pa., with more locations still to come.
“It’s natural for us to want to compartmentalize and bury those horrific events of January 6, 2021, deep in our memories – but we cannot forget,” says Indivisible co-founder and co-exec director Leah Greenberg. “‘The Sixth’ is a powerful film that reminds us of what’s at stake in this election. Indivisible is proud to partner with Change Content and A24 to make sure everyone knows what’s on the ballot this November, and never forgets that stain left on our democracy.”
Adds Gathr CEO Scott Glosserman: “‘The Sixth’ serves as an essential reflection on our democratic values, and through the ‘Screen It Forward’ initiative, we are committed to making this important narrative accessible to audiences across the nation.”
Nix Fine says the goal is to get at least 50,000 Americans to watch “The Sixth” before the election.
“We want to get this in front of people before they vote and make sure they’re informed before marking their ballot,” she says. “Democracy is very precious, and we all have a part to play in it.”
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