Visit New York Daily News at Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Hamburg also hopes the episodes will help people in similar positions or who have simply lost a loved one to know that their “feelings are validated and that they’re not alone.” The series, which Hamburg views as “a story about identity and coming-of-age and growing into who I am,” also allowed for his family to talk openly about what happened and, in many ways, heal their bonds. “In obsessing over my mom’s life, I’ve sort of become a documentary filmmaker and become who I am,” explained Hamburg. That uncertainty, he explained, is “a common kind of antagonistic relationship” among family members of a murder victim whose case remains unsolved “because there’s this sort of blue wall of silence.” If a police officer’s going to interrogate me and ask targeted questions … I wanted my own recording for, you know, I didn’t really know what I was getting into with any of those meetings I had with them.” “But I think it’s my First Amendment right. “I was more scared that they would somehow, like, arrest me for doing that,” Hamburg admitted with a laugh. Hamburg took a similarly bold approach when communicating with Madison Police, who the family believes dropped the ball with the investigation into his mother’s death.īeginning with the first episode, Hamburg recorded his conversations and meetings with authorities, even when they appeared more like interrogations. So I’m willing to do whatever it takes, even if it, at the time, feels ethically ambiguous.” More than that though, Hamburg added, “I want to know what happened to my mom. “One of his biggest complaints about how the case was covered was that he was the only person of interest named and you know, his voice is absent from all of that.” “That one I debated for a really long time,” said Hamburg. As he investigates the parts of his family that have been kept in the shadows, Madison explores. Madison dives into his parents' divorce and the unsettling details of his mother's life. In the case of his estranged father, he covertly records their interactions. Following the unsolved murder of his mother Barbara, Madison Hamburg returns to his hometown of Madison, Connecticut to piece together her life story. Throughout the series, Hamburg brings those allegations right to the accused, asking them point-blank whether they had anything to do with his mother’s slaying. “I desperately wanted to get past and exonerate people and get past these allegations because like, I didn’t want that to be how this ended for the person casting the allegations and the person that the allegations were about.” The death fractured the family for years and left relatives pointing the finger at one another.
#MURDER ON MIDDLE BEACH TV#
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.Hamburg was only 18 when his younger sister Ali, then 16, and aunt Conway Beach found his mother’s dead body outside her Middle Beach Road West home in Madison, Connecticut - about 100 miles northeast of New York City. “Murder on Middle Beach” airs Sundays on HBO. I don’t know, maybe I get that from her.” Hamburg says in learning about his mother’s life, he came to see how much of an impact she’s had on his own personality: “I always thought my obsessiveness came from my loss and trying to deal with grief…but I learned my mom was going out of her way to do investigative steps. It is that reminder that makes “Murder on Middle Beach” not only effective, but relatable to families everywhere. “It’s for anyone who has a mom,” he said.
#MURDER ON MIDDLE BEACH SERIES#
1 Contents 1 Production 2 Episodes 3 Reception 4 References Production edit The documentary series began as a student film while Hamburg was in college. It premiered on November 15, 2020, on HBO. Being compared to the likes of “Dear Zachary,” a similar documentary aimed at family and love in the wake of a true crime event, is an honor for Hamburg and more in line with what he hopes people will get out of the series. Murder on Middle Beach is a four-part documentary by director Madison Hamburg about the unsolved 2010 murder of his mother Barbara Hamburg.
This isn’t a whodunit, this is a story about identity, and family, and grief,” Hamburg said. It’s a really hard thing to pitch to networks.
“There’s this theme of duality between the facades of American idealism and the sheltered upbringing I had,” he said.īecause “Murder on Middle Beach” is constructed with an emphasis on the familial dynamic within the Hamburg family, first-time director knew it would be a tough sell. That sense of public and private persona, Hamburg said, took on added significance while working on the project. Hamburg said he fought hard for the inclusion of public service announcements from the 1950s and 1960s to be included in the documentary to emphasize the duality women had to face in their lives.
0 kommentar(er)
