Stern & Wild filmmaker highlights a divided America in a powerful new documentary

Congratulations to Stern & Wild client Katharine English, a BAFTA and RTS award-winning filmmaker, whose brilliant documentary following the controversial trial of US teen shooter Kyle Rittenhouse is set to air on BBC Three at 9:00pm tonight.

In the summer of 2020, the US experienced months of nationwide protests in the wake of a number of high-profile killings of African-Americans by police officers. In August, peaceful protest gave way to chaos in Kenosha, Wisconsin after Jacob Blake, an African-American man was shot seven times by a local police officer and paralyzed from the waist down. At the Black Lives Matter protests that followed, demonstrators and armed militia faced off against each other, during which the then 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who was armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, shot three of the demonstrators, killing two. Rittenhouse was not a resident of Kenosha and claimed he had travelled to the city to help protect local businesses from looters and vandals and to offer first-aid.

Katharine’s film examines the lead-up to Rittenhouse’s fatal actions and his murder trial where every aspect of the case touched on one of the fault lines in contemporary US society: First and Second Amendment rights, racial justice, vigilantism, self-defence and perceptions of how police and the justice system treat people differently based on the colour of their skin.

Kyle: The Gunman Who Divided America is available to stream on iPlayer now and will also air on BBC Two at 9:00pm on 31 July.