| Director: | Raoul Peck |
| Country: | United States |
| Num Episodes: | 4 |
| Music: | Alexei Aigui |
| Cinematography: | Stéphane Fontaine |
| Editor: | Alexandra Strauss |
| Language: | English |
| Runtime: | 59-60 minutes |
| Network: | HBO |
Exterminate All the Brutes is an internationally co-produced documentary television miniseries revolving around colonization and genocide, directed and narrated by Raoul Peck. The series consists of four episodes and premiered in the United States on April 7, 2021, on HBO.[1] It premiered in the United Kingdom on May 1, 2021, on Sky Documentaries.[2] The series takes its name from Sven Lindqvist's book with the same name, on which it is partially based,[3] [4] a phrase which Lindqvist in turn borrowed from Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness, in which the quote "Exterminate all the brutes" appears.
The series follows colonization and multiple genocides, and the effect of both, alongside imperialism and white supremacy.[5]
Raoul Peck began working on the project after an executive at HBO agreed to produce a documentary of his on any topic.[6] The series is based on the books Exterminate All the Brutes by Sven Lindqvist, An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, and Silencing the Past by Michel-Rolph Trouillot.[7]
In February 2020, it was announced Raoul Peck would direct a 4-episode documentary series revolving around colonization and genocide for HBO, with HBO Documentary Films set to produce, with Josh Hartnett set to star as the lead in scripted scenes.[8]
On July 30, 2020, Hartnett revealed that his segments were filmed in Paris, France before the COVID-19 lockdown.[9]
Exterminate All the Brutes received positive reviews from the critics. It holds a 84% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 25 reviews, with a weighted average of 8.25/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "While Exterminate All the Brutes perhaps packs a little too much into its limited runtime, it remains a powerful, necessary examination of the horrors of historical colonialism and its lingering impact on the world today."[10] On Metacritic, the series holds a rating of 83 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[11]
| Award | Date | Category | Recipient | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gotham Awards | November 29, 2021 | Breakthrough Nonfiction Series | Exterminate All the Brutes | [12] | ||
| Cinema Eye Honors | March 1, 2022 | Outstanding Nonfiction Series | Raoul Peck | [13] | ||
| Outstanding Broadcast Editing | Alexandra Strauss | |||||
| IDA Documentary Awards | March 4, 2022 | Best Multi-Part Documentary | Raoul Peck, Daniel Delume, Rémi Grellety, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Jamie Morris, Jack Oliver, and Poppy Dixon | [14] [15] | ||
| Directors Guild of America Awards | March 12, 2022 | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentaries | Raoul Peck | [16] | ||
| Golden Reel Awards | March 13, 2022 | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Non-Theatrical Documentary | Séverin Favriau, Emeline Aldeguer, Daniel Irribaren, and Vincent Maloumian | [17] | ||
| Peabody Awards | June 6–9, 2022 | Documentary | Exterminate All the Brutes | [18] |