Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing

This 2006 documentary, co-directed by Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck, follows what happened to the Texan country group the Dixie Chicks because of a single sentence said onstage in London in 2003. Natalie Maines saying she was ashamed the President was from Texas led in America to radio boycotts, albums being destroyed, protests at concerts and death threats. The documentary tracks three years from inside: the collapse of a career and the band's choice not to back down. Kopple's method, carried over from her tradition of labour documentaries, works here too; the camera does not explain, it stands inside the event. What is most striking is that the reaction was cultural rather than political, touching the sense of identity of the country music audience. NBC and the CW refused to run advertisements for the film, which meant the subject of the documentary repeated itself in its own distribution. Who it's for: viewers interested in freedom of expression, popular music and the American culture wars. Who it's not for: anyone indifferent to country music and American domestic politics, or expecting a neutral frame from the documentary.