The filmmakers behind “The Sixth” didn’t set out to make such an unsettling documentary.
Oscar-winning documentarians Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine originally struck a deal with the film studio A24 to capture the peaceful transition of presidential power. The morning of Jan. 6, 2021, as members of Congress convened to certify the 2020 presidential election results, the Fines sent a camera crew down to the National Mall to shoot one of President Donald Trump’s final speeches in office. They expected “somewhat of a charged event,” Andrea says, but sat stunned in their D.C. office as they received reports of growing unrest from their videographer, who followed the angry crowd of roughly 10,000 toward the U.S. Capitol.