BBC Two Commissions Doc on Detroit Auto Industry

LONDON: BBC Two has commissioned Requiem for Detroit?, a documentary about the rise and fall of the city’s automotive industry, from Films of Record, a Ten Alps company.

The city of Detroit, Michigan, was once thriving with the business of the "Big Three" automotive companies: General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. In recent years, poverty, unemployment and hunger have reached critical proportions there, however, as the auto industry went under. Requiem for Detroit? will feature interviews with the people who are living amongst the deserted auto plants, closed schools and failing infrastructure, as well as those based in the suburbs.

Julien Temple, the film’s director, commented: “Detroit was the frontier city in the U.S., powering the American dream. What I find fascinating is the fact that it is still ahead of the game, becoming the first big U.S. city to virtually fall off the map.”

Roger Graef, the executive producer for Films of Record, said: “Detroit has effectively become a ghost town. Its police stations have been abandoned and the once thriving office blocks now sit empty, paperwork still left on desks. At rush hour the freeways are deserted.”

He added: “Many people have written it off completely, but those left within the city limits still have lives to live and strongly conflicting opinions about what lies ahead for the city. Seeking to raise questions rather than impose answers, Requiem for Detroit? will allow Detroiters themselves to examine their own visions of the future.”

The documentary’s producer, George Hencken, added: “Detroit was a city at the vanguard of the future, the crucible for the cars and music which symbolised the American Dream the world over, and its post urban post-industrial chaos serves as a warning to the rest of the world. But despite its ruined landscape there is still hope, as those living within the city’s limits continue to fight for its survival, creating their own solutions such as urban farming and a strong network of young activists.”

Cassian Harrison, the commissioning executive for the BBC, said: “The story of Detroit is an extraordinary tale of boom and bust at the heart of the American Dream, stretching over an entire century. To have Julien Temple bringing this great narrative alive for us is a great privilege.”