‘Do not uphold systemic racism’: Tiger Woods documentary faces backlash over lack of diversity

HBO’s new Tiger Woods documentary has been called out for lacking diversity due to both of its directors being white.

The channel recently announced that the golfing icon would be the subject of a two-part series, Tiger, which is being co-directed by Oscar-nominated City of Ghosts filmmaker Matthew Heineman and the Emmy-nominated Matthew Hamachek (Amanda Knox).

The pair previously collaborated on Cartel Land. Alex Gibney is executive producing the documentary.

After Heineman announced the project on his Facebook page, documentary filmmakers took to the comments section to debate about the lack of black talent involved in the project.

Geeta Gandbhir, the Emmy-winning filmmaker behind By the People: The Election of Barack Obama, wrote: “This is a great project. I said this to Matthew Hamachek as well, and feel compelled to ask you – in the spirit of being anti racist – why did you both, two white men opt to direct this film?”

She added: “I want to make you aware of the asks from the black and brown community – as you have a huge platform, and the whole community needs to grapple with the issue of systemic racism in our community. Why was there not a director reflective of the community on this project? If there were two of you, couldn’t ONE of you have been Black or Asian?"

Oscar-nominated director Smriti Mundhra (St Louis Superman) wrote: “I appreciate you speaking up on this Geeta Gandbhir and hope the filmmakers and other stakeholders come to the table to talk about this. An honest conversation would be so constructive and everybody wins when we listen to and learn from each other.”

Director Yoruba Richen (The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte hosts the Tonight Show) posted: “Yes what Geeta Gandbhir said. I’m curious why the creators didn’t think it was important to have a Black and or Asian director for one of the episodes.”

Emmy-winning director Daresha Kyi (Trans in America) added: “There’s little more I can add than to say please, respond! Please, think! Please, ‘dig deeper’ into how you do and do not uphold systemic racism through your actions.”

Heineman eventually posted a reply, writing: “I absolutely should have done more to diversify our Tiger crew. I wish I could go back in time and change things, and it’s my responsibility to course correct and do better.”

Later in the post, however, he added: “I can’t recall a similar discussion around ESPN’s Michael Jordan series The Last Dance, for example, which had a white director across all 10 episodes. But the BLM movement is changing the world and these questions are being asked with a renewed intensity.”

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