‘It’s weird, like – I’m tearing up for someone I didn’t even know…’
Kobe Bryant’s death on 26 January 2020 in a helicopter crash, alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others, was met with public displays of mourning in the hours, weeks and months that followed. One of the most beloved basketball stars from a league with a global fanbase, the tragedy prompted innumerable tributes to the NBA legend, scrawled everywhere from the sidewalks of Los Angeles to the Chinese social media platform Weibo – alongside plenty of discussions and think-pieces about his complicated legacy, on and off the court.
This short documentary from the US filmmaker Derek Knowles is constructed from phone conversations between Knowles, his brother Conor and the siblings’ parents in the wake of Bryant’s death. Conor, the family’s biggest Bryant fan, meets the news with a distinct combination of shock, sadness and confusion over how the death of someone he never truly knew could affect him so powerfully. The result is a poignant and intricate reflection on celebrity, mourning and death, crafted from just a few intimate words between family members.
Director: Derek Knowles
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History
In the face of denial, this film uncovers the hidden scars of Indonesia’s 1998 riots
21 minutes
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Love and friendship
What does it mean to say goodbye to a creature that doesn’t know you’re leaving?
13 minutes
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Life stages
Grief, healing and laughter coexist at a unique retreat for widows and widowers
15 minutes
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Consciousness and altered states
What do screens depicting serene natural scenes mean to those living in lock-up?
12 minutes
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Family life
A mother and child bond in an unusual prison visitation space in this poignant portrait
11 minutes
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Social psychology
What happened when a crypto scam swept over a sleepy town in the Caucasus
18 minutes
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Virtues and vices
Why Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith were divided on the virtues of vanity
5 minutes
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War and peace
A frontline soldier’s moving account of the fabled ‘Christmas truce’ of 1914
12 minutes
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Childhood and adolescence
The police camp where tween girls enter a sisterhood of law and order
28 minutes