AllMovie

Ross McElwee made the much-acclaimed autobiographical documentary Sherman's March. While watching television news reports of a hurricane's progress in South Carolina, he began to wonder how things were going for a friend of his, who lived in the path of the storm. His investigations led to the production of Six O'Clock News, in which he interrogates victims of natural disasters who have been made briefly famous by television news reports. Originally aired on PBS' "Frontline," in the documentary he interviews his South Carolina friend, who was recovering nicely, a couple whose trailer home was destroyed by a tornado, and an immigrant worker whose rescue after an L.A. earthquake was widely aired. In addition, he learns how to remove spoiled food from refrigerators that have been out of power for many days as a result of natural disasters.