Across The Years - Review

Written, directed and produced by Smith Yewell, this documentary is an act of narrative courage before it is a historical work. 

Created to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary, it carefully dismantles the comforting version of American history taught in classrooms, replacing it with a richer, more unsettled, and more honest portrait. America, the film reminds us, did not begin with idealized Pilgrims, but with visionaries and exiles—men and women who crossed an ocean not in search of purity, but of possibility. Through the story of one founding family, private memory and national destiny become inseparably intertwined.

At its core, the film delivers a message that feels urgently contemporary: democracy is fragile, and liberty and tolerance are not inherited values, but obligations that must be defended and renewed by every generation. 

True freedom, the documentary suggests, is measured by the humility to extend it to others—regardless of race, religion, or origin. By looking unflinchingly at the past, the film challenges the viewer to confront the responsibilities of the present.

Equally striking is the film’s form. Shot entirely with an iPhone, a laptop, AI applications, and a drone, the project embodies the purest spirit of independent filmmaking, where innovation is born from necessity and passion. The original musical score, composed by the filmmaker himself, deepens the emotional and historical resonance of the story, guiding the audience through its quieter moments and its moral revelations. The result is a powerful, intimate, and necessary documentary—one that proves that bold ideas, not budgets, are what truly bring history to life.