HBO's 'Say Her Name' explores Sandra Bland's mysterious jailhouse death

On July 10, 2015, Sandra Bland, 28, was on her way to buy groceries in Hempstead, Texas — a town just to the west of Houston — when she was pulled over for failing to signal a lane change. Three days later she was found dead in her Waller County jail cell. Her death was ruled a suicide. HBO's "Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland" (premieres Monday at 10 p.m.)  explores what happened over those three days, then the following weeks and months, when Bland's family pursued an independent autopsy after suspecting homicide. Bland's death was a flashpoint in the Black Lives Matter movement, eventually a rallying cry. ("Say her name" was both hashtag and call to arms at various protests.)

 For the film, Kate Davis and David Heilbroner — a husband-wife team who earned an Oscar nod for 2017's "Traffic Stop," about the violent arrest of a Breaion King, a 26-year-old grade school teacher in Texas — got access to both Bland's family and legal team. As such, "Say Her Name" is exhaustive but also balanced and ultimately inconclusive. Family and law enforcement have moved on (the arresting cop was fired; the family got a $1.9 million wrongful-death settlement).

 All that's left are the doubts. It's a searing, bereft portrait of a tragedy, but the surprise is that it's an unexpectedly sanguine one, too. That's due to Bland herself, who left a passionate series of vlogs called "Sandy Speaks": "Good morning, my beautiful kings and queens," she says in one. "Racism is still only alive because people keep perpetuating it, white and black. . . . For those who don't agree with the things I'm saying, I apologize, but I'm not gonna stop. This is about educating you."

 I spoke recently with Davis and Heilbroner, a former assistant district attorney with the Manhattan D.A. from 1985 to '88: 

What led you both to Sandy Bland? There are inescapable similarities with the Breaion King arrest and film, too, no?  

Davis: Sheila [Nevins, HBO's legendary — now former — chief of documentaries] was behind both stories. But we have become so intimately involved with many of the same issues involving police brutality and how they play out in law enforcement that I think to HBO it was a natural fit.

Heilbroner: The difference is that Sandra herself is a central character, and not just a name or reminiscence. She left an incredible legacy of video logs that spoke directly to the issues that brought her down. As filmmakers that was an opportunity to humanize a name that would otherwise be one more tragic name in a police file.

In that extraordinary scene with the family, Dr. Joyce Carter, who performed the independent autopsy, seems to rule out homicide. But are there remaining questions?

Heilbroner: Nothing is conclusive about this case for the simple reason that there was no camera in her cell and the camera you observe in the hallway is triggered by motion sensor, so there were any number of opportunities to circumvent the cameras. Second, authorities admitted to falsifying jail logs. Third, no core body temperature was taken, so time of death is speculation.

The film concludes with a remarkable series of mea culpas from the county sheriff and district attorney. Did you believe their contrition?

Heilbroner: I've worked with cops and have a sense of how they can be maligned and misunderstood. They're willing to talk to me in ways you don't hear law enforcement speak in public. I think [the mea culpas] are very much who they are. That's what they believe. The film does try to have that kind of balance because there already is too much polarization, in politics, in the country and in a lot of documentaries.

You both bring Sandy to life in this film — a remarkable feat, and ultimately a heartbreaking one. What was she like as a person?
Davis: She's funny. She's just funny. She had a great sense of humor, and she was also courageous and so galvanizing. She really wanted people to talk, to cross boundaries.
Heilbroner: She wanted people to learn and she wanted to raise their consciousness. The tragedy is that the only reason we're talking about her is because she was brought down by law enforcement. Had she not died, she might be serving time, It's chilling. There are other wonderful people who have simply disappeared, and have been sucked into the maw.
 

By Verne J Gay

Verne.Gay@newsday.com@vernejgay

Verne J Gay is the television critic