Interview: Dawn Porter Talks ‘John Lewis: Good Trouble’ and ‘The Way I See It’

There’s no other way to put it…Dawn Porter had a hell of a year. The documentary filmmaker saw in 2020 the release of not just John Lewis: Good Trouble, but also The Way I See It. The former obviously looked at the late, great, Congressman and Civil Rights activist John Lewis, while the latter focused on White House photographer Pete Souza. Both showcase the best in politics, as Lewis crusades for good, while Souza captures images of President Barack Obama. So, what brought Porter to this material? When given the opportunity to chat with her, I was more than a little bit curious. The following discussion gets into why Porter came to these documentary subjects, among many other topics.

Below you can hear my interview with Porter. Recorded last month, we talk politics, tiptoe around “you know who,” and of course, discuss her movies. Both John Lewis: Good Trouble and The Way I See It are among the cream of the 2020 documentary crop. So, not only are her films excellent, the conversation we ended up having was wonderful, as well. If you like character studies and/or politics, her docs are very much for you. As those movies compete for Oscar attention in Best Documentary Feature, give this interview a listen. You’ll almost certainly wind up with a newfound appreciate for the work.

Here now is my chat with Dawn Porter. Enjoy:

John Lewis: Good Trouble and The Way I See It are both available to watch now, so be sure to check them out!