LeVar Burton to direct upcoming docuseries Two-Front War, about Black soldiers in Vietnam

"LeVar Burton" by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Actor LeVar Burton, known for his work as Geordi LaForge in Star Trek: The Next Generation and long-time host of the PBS series Reading Rainbow, is making the jump to documentary filmmaking. According to a piece from Deadline, Burton will be directing the multi-perspective documentary series Two-Front War, from Lou Reda Productions. The series will dive deep into the civil rights movement in America as well as challenges faced by Black soldiers in Vietnam who struggled for equality.

According to Deadline, “[Two-Front War] will feature interviews with Black veterans, activists, journalists, students and civilians at the forefront of a two-pronged war for freedom abroad and at home.” For Burton, he has a personal stake in the project, saying, “I have looked long and hard to find a subject that inspires me to want to bring my voice to the field of documentary filmmaking. Both the Vietnam War and the movement for civil rights in America, are events that not only dominated my childhood and adolescence, they have gone a long way towards shaping the man and the storyteller I am today.”

The concept dovetails nicely with Burton’s recent work on the video series This is My Story, which is available to watch on YouTube. In each video there, Burton shares real stories, submitted by viewers, about encountering racism. The first video in the series is about Burton’s own experiences at the University of Southern California.

Lou Reda Productions has been working on Two-Front War for nearly a decade and is excited to have Burton join them. “With LeVar,” said Marc L. Reda of the company, “we are confident we will find the perfect home for this limited series.”

While they haven’t specified any plans for a release, Deadline says they’re currently considering various streaming services.