Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?

Nov 10 2017 N/A 1h 30m
Documentary

“In 1946, my great-grandfather murdered a black man named Bill Spann and got away with it.” So begins Travis Wilkerson’s critically acclaimed documentary, DID YOU WONDER WHO FIRED THE GUN?, which takes us on a journey through the American South to uncover the truth behind a horrific incident and the societal mores that allowed it to happen. Acting as narrator and guide, Wilkerson spins a strange, frightening tale, incorporating scenes from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, the music of Janelle Monáe and Phil Ochs, and the story of Rosa Parks’ investigation into the Recy Taylor case, as well as his own family history, for a gripping investigation into our collective past and its echoes into the present day.

Plot

A documentary murder mystery about the filmmaker's family, set in lower Alabama, 18 miles north of the Florida state line. On an October night in 1946, S.E. Branch twice shot a man named Bill Spann in the small neighborhood market that Branch owned. Two days later, Spann died in a segregated black hospital. Branch was white-a Klansman-and Spann was black. Branch claimed self-defense, but despite that claim and the political climate in Dothan, Alabama in 1946, Branch was charged with first-degree murder. S.E. Branch was the artist's great granddaddy, on his mother's side. Everyone says they looked alike. That this story echoes across decades and generations says much about the distance travelled by U.S. society since 1946.

Written by

Travis Wilkerson

Directed by

Travis Wilkerson

Cast

Travis Wilkerson, Ed Vaughn, Ed Vaughn

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

Canada, United States of America

Production Companies

Canada Council for the Arts, Creative Capital

Languages

English

Awards

1 win & 6 nominations

Trailers
Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun? Trailer #1 (2018) | Movieclips Indie
Scores
# of Votes
526
Average Rating
6.7 out of 10
Metascore
78
Popularity
NA