Capturing ‘American Voices’ in a Year of Turmoil

The FRONTLINE Dispatch

When the pandemic hit, Dr. Blair Woodbury picked up the phone. He called his old friend, filmmaker Mike Shum, and urged him to get out and start recording the first draft of history.

That's how the new FRONTLINE documentary "American Voices: A Nation in Turmoil" was born. Shum, Woodbury and a team of independent filmmakers across America have been documenting how people are living through this tumultuous year — from the pandemic, to the widespread protests over racial injustice, through the historically polarized presidential election.

Shum and Woodbury join this episode of The FRONTLINE Dispatch to discuss the ambitious project and how the story of 2020 continues to evolve.