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Unprecedented, a 2022 documentary by British filmmaker Alex Holder, promising never-before-seen footage of the January 6 insurrection, was bought by Discovery+, Deadline reports.
The footage was subpoenaed Tuesday, 21 June, by the January 6 committee select tasked with investigating former president Trump and his allies plot to hold on to power after their 2020 presidential loss.
Holder’s documentary was filmed on the Trump re-election campaign trail during the six weeks leading up to the Capitol attack, so the commission believes it may shed new light on what was going on inside the Trump White House at that time. The filmmaker released a statement on Tuesday announcing his cooperation with the investigation.
News of the never-before-seen footage came as a blow to Trump’s team during Tuesday’s hearing. One former Trump official messaged Rolling Stone after the news broke, asking “what the f– is this?”.
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How did Alex Holder get backstage access to the Trumps?
The British filmmaker was able to obtain unparalleled access to the inner workings of Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, and many people are wondering how. Apparently, even most members of Trump’s team at the time were unaware a documentary was being filmed around them, Rolling Stone reports.
A source familiar with the project told the publication that it was largely conceived with the input of the Trump family and senior campaign staff were not involved in the decision-making. Who would be interviewed or what topics would be discussed seemed to be entirely up to Holder, the Trumps and vice-president Mike Pence, along with, presumably, a small circle of advisors.
The New York Times reports that Holder got access to the Trumps through Jason Greenblatt. A former lawyer for the Trump Organisation and White House envoy to the Middle East, Greenblatt apparently connected Holder to Jared Kushner. From there, Holder was allowed to shadow and interview the family with the goal of creating a “legacy project” for Mr Trump, according to sources close to the project.
In his response to the committee select’s subpoena, Holder noted he “was not compensated in any way by the former president, his family, or staff” for the documentary.
“As a British filmmaker, I had no agenda coming into this,” Holder explained. “We simply wanted to better understand who the Trumps were and what motivated them to hold onto power so desperately.”
What to expect from the 2022 documentary
Holder and his team filmed during the last six weeks of Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, along with the results’ aftermath and the events of 6 January 2021. The hours of footage include backstage access to campaign events, as well as in-depth interviews with Trump, his daughter Ivanka, his sons Eric and Don Jr, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and ex-VP Mike Pence.
According to a New York Times source who saw part of the footage, it also contains a surprising interview with Ivanka Trump on her father’s efforts to challenge the election results.
Holder also says Unprecedented 2022 will contain an exclusive, never-before-seen video from the 6 January insurrection.
A Warner Bros. spokesperson confirmed: “Featuring never-before-seen footage of the Trump family on the campaign trail and their reactions to the outcome of the election, the docuseries will offer intimate and unprecedented interviews with Trump, his family and others who were in the White House.”
Unprecedented 2022: How to watch and where
Discovery+ confirmed they have bought the rights to the footage and are planning to release it as a three-part documentary titled Unprecedented.
If you’re wondering when you can watch it, we’re sorry to disappoint – there is no official release date yet, but Warner Bros. says it will be out this summer, 2022.
As for how to watch Unprecedented, that’s easy (as long as you live in America). If you don’t have it yet, you can get a subscription to Discovery+ for $6.99 a month, ad-free. Or, become friends with someone who’s willing to share theirs – summer is for making friends, after all!
If you’re based in Europe, it may be a bit trickier. Discovery+ is currently only available in Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland and Norway. So, if you live outside these countries, your best bet to watch the Unprecedented documentary in 2022 is to use a VPN.
Unprecedented Trailer out today
Shortly after announcing they’ve nabbed the rights to Alex Holder’s new documentary, Discovery+ released its first trailer, to give us a glimpse of what to expect.
“My father, he is very honest, and he is who he is”, Ivanka Trump can be heard saying over dramatic violins and footage of Trump rallies.
“I think I treat people well unless they don’t treat me well, in which case, you go to war,” Trump says, then the video cuts to footage of the 6 January Capitol attack.
The committee tasked with investigating the attack announced today they will be pausing their public hearings until sometime in July, in part due to new evidence. Chairman Bennie Thompson called the documentary’s footage “important”, but did not elaborate further, Politico reports.
