WASHINGTON — AFI Docs may be over, but the powerful docs keep on coming.
The true-crime doc “The Witness” hits D.C. on Friday at the Angelika Pop-Up in Union Market.
The title comes from the infamous Kitty Genovese controversy, whose name became synonymous with urban apathy after she was reportedly stabbed to death in Queens on March 13, 1964. The case sparked public outrage over reports that 38 witnesses did nothing to help the dying woman.
But is that what really happened?
Fifty years later, Genovese’s brother, Bill, sets out to discover the truth of that fateful night.
“There are multiple mysteries that Bill unravels,” film director James D. Solomon told WTOP. “Bill is profoundly and deeply affected by not just the loss of his sister, but by the account. … So over the course of 11 years, he tracks down the witnesses who were in the apartments.”
This journey reveals fascinating new details about the case.
“In fact, it has a hero after all,” Solomon said. “There weren’t 38 who did nothing over a half hour; in fact, Kitty died in the arms of a dear friend. That part of the story has always been left out, and Bill tracks down the woman in whose arms [Kitty] died. He also tracks down, over the course of his investigation, multiple other witnesses, several of who claim they actually called the police.”
The documentary also explores how the initial reports caught on in the media.
“Bill goes about finding out how that story came to be, that iconic story that was originally broken by The New York Times in March of 1964, and unravels how that story we all came to know, came to be,” Solomon said. “Journalists have this saying, ‘Some stories are too good to check.'”
Now, it’s getting its proper check — thanks to a determined brother and daring filmmaker.
“While it is a ‘Serial’-like investigation … it really is at his heart a love story about a brother reclaiming his sister’s life from her death,” Solomon said. “I think Bill got as much peace as you possibly can in that he has found all of the answers that you possibly can find. … Bill takes his journey about as far as you possibly can humanly take a journey to understand what actually happened that night.”
Listen to the full interview with director James Solomon below:
