Sky acquires HBO Yusuf Hawkins doc

MIPCOM: European satcaster Sky has acquired feature doc Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn from UK prodco Lightbox for its Sky Documentaries channel and streaming service Now TV.

Simon Chinn

Directed by Muta’Ali Muhammad and first broadcast on HBO in the US, Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn tells the story of a black teenager who was murdered in 1989 by a group of young white men in the New York suburb of Brooklyn.

Over 30 years later, New Yorkers, including Hawkins’ family and friends, reflect on the tragedy and subsequent fight for justice that inspired and divided New York City.

The doc, selected from more than 300 submissions, is the winning project of the inaugural Feature Documentary Initiative created by Lightbox and the American Black Film Festival as part of their partnership to foster diversity in the feature doc arena.

Simon Chinn and Jonathan Chinn, co-founders of Lightbox and executive producers, said: “Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn is a powerful, timely film which feels so relevant to today’s audience even though the events it depicts took place 30 years ago.”

The deal was announced on the first day of digital-only Mipcom Online+.