Factual America

John McEnroe’s volcanic temper on the tennis court is legendary. But there was always more to him than just the explosive outbursts.

In McEnroe, a documentary now available to watch on Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW, John McEnroe takes a night time journey through his home town of New York, reflecting on, discussing, and interrogating his life on and off the court.

Joining Matthew Sherwood is the film’s director Barney Douglas. He shares how McEnroe has changed from his wilder, younger self, the triggers that still make him a challenging person to be with, and how McEnroe sees himself in relation to today’s tennis super stars.

Barney also discusses McEnroe’s ‘New Yorker perspective’ as a tennis player, his relationship with his father, and how it influences his relationship with his children.

The picture that Barney builds of John McEnroe is of a complex individual, one for whom connection and communication is important, who was an entertainer as well as a highly strung sportsman, and who is a thinker, not just a slave to his emotions.

In addition to discussing John McEnroe, Barney pulls back the veil on how he made his film: inevitably, Covid looms large, but so do exorbitant fees for archive footage; he had to make sure he asked McEnroe the right questions, and then, there is the use of animations inspired by Tron of all films.

McEnroe is a film that is built different, just like its star. In his short career, Barney Douglas has already made two other accomplished sporting documentaries – Warriors and The Edge – thus showing himself to be the right man to help John McEnroe tell his story.

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“[He is] very authentic... there’s nothing Machiavellian about McEnroe. For good or bad, you know he will be very true to how he feels, and that's actually... a very endearing quality.” – Barney Douglas

In 2018, the Californian town of Paradise was destroyed by a wildfire. How did it happen? Could anything have been done to limit or even stop the inferno?

Global warming has made the risk of wildfires greater than ever before, and there are people who believe that we are doing all that we can to stop them. As Trip Jennings tells Matthew Sherwood, however, he was tired of hearing this message. And so, he spent five years researching wildfires. The result is Elemental, a documentary that reveals there is more that we can do, and in some cases, easily, as well. Paradise could have been saved.

Trip’s research has taken him from a flight over a wildfire to special hangers where scientists burn replicas of homes in order to observe the fire’s behaviour. He has explored how America’s indigenous people have responded to fires, and met fire survivors, as well as many experts who share their knowledge in the film.

It would be easy for Elemental to be a pessimistic film, full of anger about what has happened and is happening, but that is not Trip’s way. He tells Matthew that we need to forgive ourselves and evolve our way of thinking. As part of that, he outlines specific ways in which we can make our homes, and our lives, safer. He also stands up for forests. They may be lethal when set alight, but they also have a critical role to play in the life of planet earth and Mankind.

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“... it's things like boring, non-sexy details that we should think of as doing important climate adaptation work... we shouldn't be thinking about, oh it's just drudgery... we should be thinking about these things as how we adapt as a society to climate change, which is the challenge of all of the generations that are present right now on Earth” – Trip Jennings

Phil Spector was a musical genius. His brilliance as a producer made him a legend. On February 3rd 2003 he shot Lana Clarkson dead. In 2009, he was convicted of murder, and died in prison on January 16th 2021.

Spector is a four-part Showtime docu-series (available to watch on Sky Documentaries in the U.K.). In it, series co-directors Sheena M. Joyce and Don Argott examine not only Spector’s ‘life and legacy’ but also the person of Lana Clarkson.

As they tell host, Matthew Sherwood, they want to make Lana ‘more than just a footnote in the Phil Spector story’ by bringing ‘her out as a fully fleshed out human being.’

In doing so, they take the viewer on a more challenging but ultimately more rewarding journey. The Phil Spector that they present is no monster. Rather, he is a deeply damaged human being; one whose flaws led ultimately to his downfall.

In this episode of Factual America we learn that in order to present as full a picture of Spector as possible, Sheena and Don spoke to a wide variety of people. Among them, the lead detectives in the Lana Clarkson murder case, as well as others with first-hand knowledge of some of the incredible stories told about Spector during his career. The docu-series even has recordings of Phil Spector speaking on the night of the murder.

With Matthew, Sheena and Don discuss the link between musical genius and mental illness – why it seems to affect artists and not people in other industries; the role of money and power, and whether we can still engage with the work of artists who have done terrible things.

They also shed light on who Lana Clarkson was. As Sheena says, Lana ‘was more than Phil Spector’s victim. She was a successful working actress... a daughter and a sister and a friend who by all accounts brought light and joy into the lives of everyone she met.’

Spector is the story of a tragedy, of a legacy corrupted, and two lives wasted. It is a story that moves in the light, and dark. In Factual America #120, go behind the scenes with Matthew Sherwood, Sheena M. Joyce and Don Argott.

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“There have also been people that criticised us for contextualising Phil’s behaviour, as if that's somehow giving him a pass... it was important to us to present him as a multifaceted human being. He was a loving and devoted father to his daughter Nicole... It doesn't negate the fact that he murdered Lana Clarkson.” – Sheena M. Joyce

Nicolas Brown’s new documentary, The Letter, takes its name from Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ 2015 letter on the care for ‘our common home’ – the earth.

The film explores the journey of a group of people from different walks of life – some from the margins of society, others closer to the centre – as they make their way to the Vatican, for a meeting with the Pope.

In this special episode of Factual America, Nicolas and host Matthew Sherwood discuss The Letter’s twin themes: the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, as well as the scientific reaction to the making of the film, which was unexpectedly positive. They explore how the Pope became an environmentalist, and how St. Francis of Assisi inspired Arouna, Ridhima, and all those whose journey Nicolas followed.

Nicolas also shares some light-hearted moments from the making of The Letter – such as the day he had to work out whether Pope Francis would turn left or right when entering the room on the day of their meeting – as well as some deeply personal ones from his own career – for example, the day Sir David Attenborough spoke out for the first time to warn the world of the climate crisis.

The Letter is a film about a world in danger. But more than that, it is about people who are rising to meet the threat. Compelled by reality, they find in Laudato Si’ an ally in theology, and in Pope Francis, someone who is prepared to speak at the top of his voice with them, and for them, for the environment, and future generations.

Made by the award-winning Off The Fence production company, The Letter can be watched for free on YouTube (here).

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“... what the film's really about is that the Pope has intuited this moment in time by which science and faith together can work out ... a solution to what arguably could be the biggest existential crisis facing humanity: climate change and biodiversity loss.” – Nicolas Brown

Welcome to the first episode of the fifth season of Factual America! Joining host Matthew Sherwood is Yon Motskin, the director of Encounters, a new Netflix docu-series about four UFO/alien encounters from around the world.

Encounters tells a story that is both epic and intimate in its range. It not only explores what occurred when a diverse range of witnesses – including school children, hoteliers, law enforcement officials, and rescue workers – came face-to-face with the seemingly impossible, but what happened afterwards to them, and those who investigated their stories. Some were able to move on; others, though, were bullied, faced ridicule, and professional ruin. All, though, have stuck to their stories.

Matthew and Yon discuss what happened to the witnesses, their credibility or otherwise, and the profound differences between the interpretation of UFO sightings in Japan versus the US. They look at the nature of belief, and how what we believe can define our understanding of what UFOs may be. Yon also shares his appreciation for the involvement of Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television in the making of the film.

For Yon, Encounters is fundamentally ‘a human story’ with themes such as ‘consciousness and communication’ at its core. Whether you are interested in UFOs, psychology, mysteries, or the workings of the human heart, this is an episode for you.

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“I believe that they believe. Now, if whatever they say happened or not, I wasn't there, so, I couldn't tell you, but it's hard to discount... it's not one person in their backyard seeing something. It's dozens, and in many cases, hundreds of people all seeing the same thing, at the same time.” – Yon Motskin