In his upcoming documentary “The Bridge,” director Eric Steel chronicled the two dozen people who jumped to their death from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge in 2004. The director filmed during daylight hours from several different camera locations on the San Francisco side of the bridge. To gain this access, Steel lied to the Golden Gate Bridge Committee, telling them he was documenting “the powerful, spectacular intersection of monument and nature” for the first part of a trilogy that would also include the St. Louis Arch and the Statue of Liberty.

The film got good reviews when it screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, but overall, reaction has been mixed. Protestors picketed the film when it screened in San Francisco. Steel says his film is not exploitative, however, but rather, aims to “save lives by raising awareness,” which the director and his camera operators say they did. “We were almost always the first people to call when someone was about to jump, or had jumped,” says Steel. And several jumps are depicted in the film, which mixes in interviews with family, friends and witnesses, as well as one jumper who was unsuccessful in their suicide bid. Where would one get the idea for such a bizarre film? An excellent 2003 New Yorker article by Tad Friend, which you can read here. Check out the trailer below:

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