Shoot The People: a review of Misan Harriman’s film about bearing witness

Shoot The People is one of those documentaries that stays with you long after it ends.

I attended the premiere at Soho Screening Rooms in May. The film is emotional from the beginning. For me, it was mostly anger. The same kind many people felt when they first saw the video of George Floyd’s murder.

It’s not only the shock of what you’re seeing. It’s the awareness of how much time has passed and how little progress there’s been.

The documentary follows photographer and activist Misan Harriman and the role his work plays in documenting protest movements around the world.

His photographs have captured some historic moments, though the focus here is on what happened when they went viral.

Credit Watermelon Pictures

There’s a huge amount covered in the film, including the murder of George Floyd and the protests that followed in 2020, as well as the war in Gaza and the Free Palestine movement. 

These are enormous and painful subjects, and the film does not pretend there are easy answers. It’s difficult at times because so much of what it shows is familiar. 

We are constantly bombarded with footage, photographs and headlines. We’ve watched arguments play out online and seen people become numb to even the most harrowing images of violence because there are simply so many of them.

However, the presentation of the film hits differently than what you may see in mainstream media. It shows how many people can switch off after viewing a tragic video or reading a news story, while the people actually affected do not have this luxury.

Credit Watermelon Pictures

The documentary shows an interesting side of social media. I’ve unfollowed so many news outlets because of the way they post images and stories that feel designed to stir up racist comments, especially around immigration. 

It’s often dressed up as concern for “our own citizens”, but the comment sections quickly fill with cruelty, misinformation and hostility. After a while, it can make social media feel like a place where people are encouraged to react rather than think.

Harriman’s photographs show how emotional posts can still do something meaningful. 

His images reached people who might never have seen those protests or those moments otherwise. They gave people a way into what was happening and made it harder to ignore the people at the centre of it.

Credit Watermelon Pictures

The documentary does not suggest that a photograph can fix injustice, and it does not act as though going viral is the same thing as change. That is what makes it feel more honest. 

The images matter because they make people stop. They put faces, grief and fear right in front of you, alongside people standing together. 

At its heart, Shoot The People is about who gets seen and who gets remembered. It’s about photography as a record, but also as something much more immediate. 

These images are not just there to tell us that something happened. They ask us to pay attention to the people living through it.

It’s not always an easy film to sit with, but it is a powerful one. It leaves you angry, sad and overwhelmed at times, but also reminded that images can still cut through the noise when they are made with care and when they keep people, rather than spectacle, at the centre.

The film will be available in cinemas across the UK and Ireland from July 6th. For more information on Shoot The People, visit their website. 

Credit Watermelon Pictures