The Bridge (documentary film)

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The Bridge
Directed by	Eric Steel
Produced by	Eric Steel
Release date(s)	October 27, 2006
Running time	93 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Bridge is a 2006 documentary by Eric Steel that tells the stories of a handful of individuals who committed suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge in 2004. The film was inspired by an article entitled "Jumpers," which was written by Tad Friend and appeared in The New Yorker magazine in 2003.

The documentary caused significant controversy when Eric Steel revealed that he had tricked the Golden Gate Bridge committee into allowing him to film the bridge for months and had captured 23 of 24 known suicides.

In his permit application to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area Steel said he intended "to capture the powerful, spectacular intersection of monument and nature that takes place every day at the Golden Gate Bridge."

Steel now says he lied to protect people. For that same reason, he said he chose not to tell family and friends of victims he had footage of their loved ones' deaths.

The movie was shot with multiple cameras pointed at a notorious suicide locale during 2004. It captures 19 people as they took their final plunge and then offers heart-wrenching interviews with grieving families.

"To me, the worst-case scenario was if word got out that we were filming around the clock ... someone would get it into his or her head to go to the bridge and immortalize him or herself on film," Steel said. "That's why we didn't tell people."

There was a time when area newspapers routinely reported on the bridge suicides. When the number of deaths neared 500, and later 1,000, people often rushed to secure their own place in the historical record. Currently, a person jumps off the Golden Gate Bridge every 15 days.[1]