Byron Hurt

Byron Hurt wears a lot of hats: filmmaker, journalist, activist, mentor and more. He’s also brave, if his 2022 film Hazing is any indication. Hazing takes on the subculture of humiliation and often violence that people endure when they wish to join certain organizations, including college fraternities and sororities. It’s taboo to talk about hazing if you’ve taken part in it, but Byron, a fraternity member who’s seen it from both sides, does just that. We talk about the challenges he encountered in making Hazing, including something that could have scuttled the film’s release two days before it premiered on the PBS Independent Lens series. We also talk about Byron’s evolving philosophy as to how he treats the participants in his films, as well as his influences as inspirations in the documentary business. 

Byron’s other films include 2023’s Lee & Liza’s Family Tree, for the PBS NOVA series, as well as Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes and Soul Food Junkies. More about Byron here.

Films mentioned in this episode:

Hazing (2022), Dir. Byron Hurt

Soul Food Junkies (2012), Dir. Byron Hurt

Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes (2006), Dir. Byron Hurt

Tongues Untied (1989), Dir. Marlon Riggs

Black Is… Black Ain’t (1995), Dir. Marlon Riggs

Ethnic Notions (1987), Dir. Marlon Riggs

Color Adjustment (1992), Dir. Marlon Riggs

Other mentions:

Documentary Accountability Working Group

Marlon Riggs

Stanley Nelson

Andrew P. Jones

Orlando Bagwell

Michael Moore

Bill Moyers

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Special thanks for helping make this series happen: Sara Archambault, Florence Barrau-Adams, Jon Berman, Ben Cuomo (music), Jax Deluca, Pallavi Deshpande, Nancy Gibbs, Kathleen Hughes, Caroline Kracunas, Laura Manley, Alexis Pancrazi, Liz Schwartz, Jeff Seelbach, Lindsay Underwood (logo/graphics)

This episode was supported by a fellowship at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.