By Julian
(L-R) Dahi and Kris Bowers in Anthem (Hulu/Onyx Collective)
Directed by: Peter Nicks
Starring: Kris Bowers, Dahi
Produced by: Proximity Media, This Machine, Peter Nicks and Ryan Coogler via Proximity Media, Kris Bowers, Sean Havey, Chris L. Jenkins
Synopsis (Hulu/Onyx Collective): Reflecting upon “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “Anthem” follows acclaimed composer Kris Bowers (“Bridgerton,” “When They See Us,” “King Richard”) and GRAMMY®-winning music producer Dahi (Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar, Drake) as they take a musical journey traveling across America to create a new sound, inspired by what our country’s national anthem might be if written in today’s time.
Julian’s review:
The 4th of July has come and gone. However, there’s a documentary film that I believe everyone, if they are up to watching it, will feel as enlightened and hopeful as I am after watching it. Anthem is an enlightening and hopeful documentary of America’s anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the history that affects all cultures. In looking back at America’s good times and the bad, a new anthem was made to be the voice of the current generation and the next, looking forward to a hopeful future.
Anthem follows film and television composer Kris Bowers and record producer Dahi on a trip to understand the history behind America’s national anthem. In turn, they are tasked with finding inspiration from diverse cultures across the country to create a new anthem that represents the progress, diversity, and hope of America for the next generation.
The documentary is very informative on many types of music that distinguish a culture. For instance, much of the music in America stemmed from enslaved Africans from the banjo to blues music in Mississippi. Other pieces of music were born from Native American rituals in Oklahoma to country music in Tennessee to Latin American music in San Francisco. All of these pieces of music helped Bowers and Dahi to make the new national anthem that may be used to replace the existing one, which was stolen from a British song called “To Anacreon in Heaven.”
Anthem is a documentary that will teach people of all ages not only the history of our national anthem, but the meaning and the uncomfortable history it carries behind it. It is also a documentary about learning from the past and present, to create a new anthem, one that inspires a sense of hope and future for the next generation of Americans.
