Joel DeMott, Director of Controversial Documentary ‘Seventeen,’ Passes Away at 78

Joel DeMott, alongside her creative partner Jeff Kreines, dedicated over two years to producing ‘Seventeen,’ a cinéma vérité documentary that intimately portrays the turbulent lives of working-class high school seniors in Muncie, Indiana.

The film candidly captures the 1980-81 school year at Southside High School, revealing students engaging in drinking, marijuana use, physical altercations, and defiance toward authority figures. A notably provocative moment features a cross burning on the lawn of Lynn Massie’s home — a bold white teenager dating a Black classmate who serves as the film’s central figure.

Originally intended as the concluding episode of ‘Middletown,’ a six-part PBS series exploring American life through the lens of Muncie, ‘Seventeen’ was ultimately deemed too provocative. After reviewing a brief preview, the series’ sponsor withdrew support for the episode, resulting in its removal from the broadcast lineup, even as it continued to back the other installments.