In July 2015, Black Lives Matter activist Sandra Bland was pulled over and arrested for failing to signal a lane change in Waller County, Texas. Three days later she was dead. Director Kate Davis & David Heilbroner’s documentary, Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland, attempts to decipher what really happened to Bland, who was found hanging in her jail cell. The death was deemed a suicide, but after dashcam footage revealing her violent arrest went viral, it sparked national protests.
Following the DGA Special Projects Documentary Series screening in Los Angeles on July 24, Davis and Heilbroner sat down with DGA Special Projects Committee member Ondi Timoner (Jungletown) to discuss the making of Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland.
In addition to Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland, Davis and Heilbroner’s other credits include the documentary features The Newburgh Sting, Stonewall Uprising, Waiting for Armageddon, Pucker Up; and the television documentaries The Cheshire Murders and Plastic Disasters.