UVA Center for Politics’ ‘CHARLOTTESVILLE’ Documentary Earns Emmy

“CHARLOTTESVILLE,” a documentary on the violent “Unite the Right” demonstrations of Aug. 11-12, 2017, won an Emmy on Saturday for “Best Cultural/Topical Documentary” at the 61^st Capital Emmy Awards in Bethesda.

The documentary was produced by the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics and the Community Idea Stations, which have partnered on three other Emmy-winning documentaries.

This particular topic hit very close to home for Center for Politics Director Larry Sabato, who watched as white supremacist groups marched in Charlottesville and past his home on UVA’s Lawn nearly two years ago.

Like many, Sabato was left wondering how those two days of violence – which left three people dead and many more injured – had come about, what he could do about it and how he and his colleagues at the Center for Politics could facilitate public discussion around the historical forces, ideologies, racism and political extremism that fueled the fire. 

The “CHARLOTTESVILLE” documentary works to answer some of those questions.

“This isn’t just a film about a terrible event in one small college town,” Sabato said. “What happened in Charlottesville in August 2017 is a national disgrace and our hope in making this film is to help the nation confront a growing cancer on our republic. The film shows us what can happen anywhere in America if we don’t confront this era’s menacing malignancy of racial and religious hatred.”

This trailer contains footage from the demonstrations, some of which is graphic.

The documentary focuses largely on firsthand accounts from victims and witnesses, who offer a localized perspective on what became a national and international story.

“All of us working on it wanted to bring in the people who were directly involved,” Sabato said. “We do not need a narrator to tell the facts; it is important that the people who experienced this tell the facts – and they do.”

In some ways, Sabato sees the film as a challenge to viewers.

“The most important lesson is that this is a serious problem that cannot be easily dismissed,” he said. “I hope people will think about what they can do and what needs to be done. … I don’t want these events to just be tucked away in the back of our minds. It’s much more important than that.”

The film, which was produced by Sabato and Center for Politics Director of Programs Glenn Crossman and directed by Paul Tait Roberts, aired on PBS stations. It premiered locally at the 2018 Virginia Film Festival, followed by a speech from special guest Martin Luther King III and a discussion moderated by Sabato. (Check listings for additional air times.)

It is the latest of several Emmy-winning documentaries the Center for Politics has produced with Community Idea Stations. “Out of Order: Civility in Politics,” a documentary exploring partisan gridlock in Congress, won “Best Topical Documentary” in 2013. “The Kennedy Half Century” – along with Sabato’s open online course on the topic – won “Best Historical Documentary” and “Best Instructional Programming” in 2015; and “Feeling Good About America,” examining the 1976 elections featuring Ronald Regan, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, won “Best Historical Documentary” in 2017.