Witness

Witness is a six-part Canadian documentary series that premiered on CBC Gem in March 2023, with its final episode debuting at Hot Docs later that spring.

A CBC Gem documentary series exploring viral videos through the eyes of the people who filmed them.

The show takes a genuinely fresh angle on the viral video phenomenon — rather than simply replaying the clips, each episode tells the story from the perspective of the person who captured the footage. The series covers a broad and thoughtful range of subjects. The opening episode unpacks the story of a Toronto architect who filmed the police shooting of 19-year-old Sammy Yatim, a case that became a touchstone in conversations about police brutality in Canada.

Another episode follows an activist whose footage of a flooded New York subway caught the attention of figures including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But it's not all heavy material. Other episodes explore joyful, life-affirming moments — a midwife celebrating motherhood, three friends from Mississauga who found overnight fame, and a "leap of faith" that captured the internet's imagination for very different reasons.

What holds the series together is the question it keeps returning to: what does it actually mean to be the person holding the camera? Each subject grapples with the weight of having documented something significant, and Witness gives them the space to reflect on how that moment changed them.

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