Director Sharon Liese said it’s not uncommon to see national articles about attempts to silence the press or restrict free speech these days. But when such news happened in her backyard, the documentary filmmaker knew she had to pursue the story.
“SEIZED” is the culmination of Liese’s time in Marion County, Kansas, where she investigates the August 2023 police raid on the community’s newspaper, the Marion County Record. The feature-length documentary examines decades of tensions leading up to the raid and the subsequent events that thrust the small town into the national spotlight.
The documentary starts by providing background on the raid, which was led by the Marion Police Department on the Marion County Record and the home of its editor and publisher, Eric Meyer. Meyer’s 98-year-old mother was also at the residence when it was searched, and she died shortly after.
Viewers watch as the events unfold “in real time,” using body-cam and surveillance footage paired with interviews featuring a unique cast of characters who help bring humor and nuance to the documentary.
After all, Liese said “SEIZED” isn’t just about freedom of the press: It’s about humanity.
“I hope people have the same experience that I did when I kind of uncovered everything that was going on because, at first, it seemed like this egregious attack on the First Amendment and the Fourth Amendment and the Privacy Protection Act. And while it is that it is, still is, it’s more than that,” Liese explained. “It’s about small towns. It’s about tension between a community and its newspaper, and it’s also about tensions between people. … Everyone can relate to something like what people were feeling in this film, whether it’s alienation from other people, frustration at not being heard.”
Liese returned to the Sundance Film Festival with “SEIZED,” which premiered on Sunday, following the debut of her 2023 Sundance short documentary, “PARKER.”
“SEIZED” stands out among Liese’s other works because the story was already in the spotlight. Typically, she finds interesting people and centers a topic around them in an intimate setting — building the story from the inside out. For example, “PARKER” is about three generations of a Black Kansas City family choosing their own last name.
Still, Liese was curious about what was happening in Marion County — about a two-hour drive from her home in Overland Park, Kansas. So, she went.
Liese spent a long time in the community, working to build trust with its residents and draw out interesting, colorful characters.
“You have to earn people’s trust, and our big challenge was earning the trust of the people who did not like the newspaper,” she said. “Those people at first thought that we were hired by the Marion County Record to do this documentary. They didn’t want to talk to us, but they would always just throw in when we were filming on the street, ‘There’s another side to the story.’”
As a filmmaker, Liese said she thrives on curiosity. This led her to consider why some town residents were so upset at the local paper and what it was about this dynamic that led to the crossroads.
It took Liese about a year to earn a sit-down with the mayor, which was a pivotal moment for the filmmaking process. He saw that the documentarians were interested in hearing what he had to say and helped pave the way in reducing others’ skepticism.
“SEIZED” takes a people-first approach, creating an organic evolution in the film’s narrative and causing sympathies to shift “moment to moment.”
The documentary isn’t a history lesson on the raid or the ethics of journalism, but rather addresses universal human experiences and tension between the press, government and small-town residents. “SEIZED” explores the purpose of local news as well as broader questions about community and accountability.
Liese said everyone has blind spots, and the film is intended to make people think about their own. She thinks viewers will go into “SEIZED” expecting it to be one thing and leave realizing it’s something different.
“I think that the film, I hope, probably raises more questions than it answers,” Liese said. “But I do think it’s important to ask ourselves, ‘What is the purpose of a local newspaper?’ and ‘What kind of relationship should the newspaper have with its readers and its community?’ and ‘Is there a point where newspapers might go too far, or journalism may go too far?’”
‘SEIZED’ in-person screenings
- 9:30 p.m., Jan. 27, Broadway Center Cinemas, Salt Lake City
- 8:30 a.m., Jan. 29, Library Center Theatre
- 2:30 p.m., Jan. 31, Megaplex Redstone
Online
- 8 a.m., Jan. 29-11:55 p.m., Feb. 1