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Content

Social Justice

Social Justice


EXIT: LEAVING EXTREMISM BEHIND

By Karen Winther

EXIT is a personal and urgent look at the ways people legitimize hatred and the threats they face when they attempt to leave their radicalized worlds behind. Paralleling her own past as part of a violent right-wing organization with the experiences of other former extremists, filmmaker Karen Winther explores what makes someone join neo-Nazis, Jihadists or other hate groups, and what makes them decide to leave.

Winther introduces us to Angela from the US and Ingo and Manuel from Germany, all ex-right-wing extremists who made the leap to abandon their movement and now must live isolated lives in hiding. In Denmark, we witness the other side of the spectrum when former violent left-wing extremist Soren shares the story of his life. Winther also travels to France to meet a French former jihadist. Through these intimate conversations, Winther examines how and why some radicalized people, when confronted with the realisation that everything they once firmly believed is wrong, gather the courage to embark on extraordinary journeys to turn their lives around.

DVD (Color, English, Norwegian, French, German, Danish) / 2018 / 85 minutes

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FEELING OF BEING WATCHED, THE

By Assia Boundaoui

In the Arab-American neighborhood outside of Chicago where journalist and filmmaker Assia Boundaoui grew up, most of her neighbors think they have been under surveillance for over a decade. While investigating their experiences, Assia uncovers tens of thousands of pages of FBI documents that prove her hometown was the subject of one of the largest counter terrorism investigations ever conducted in the U.S. before 9/11, code-named "Operation Vulgar Betrayal."

With unprecedented access, THE FEELING OF BEING WATCHED weaves the personal and the political as it follows the filmmaker's examination of why her community-including her own family-fell under blanket government surveillance. Assia struggles to disrupt the government secrecy shrouding what happened and takes the FBI to federal court to compel them to make the records they collected about her community public. In the process, she confronts long-hidden truths about the FBI's relationship to her community.

THE FEELING OF BEING WATCHED follows Assia as she pieces together this secret FBI operation, while grappling with the effects of a lifetime of surveillance on herself and her family.

DVD (Color) / 2018 / 87 minutes

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GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY

Director: Harry Moses

Guilty Until Proven Guilty explores Louisiana's criminal justice system through the story of Tim Conerly, a young African-American man who was arrested in the wake of an armed robbery in New Orleans and waited 28 months for a trial for a crime he says he did not commit. After more than two years in the Orleans Parish Jail, Conerly must choose between accepting a plea bargain of seven years or risking a sentence of 49 1/2 to 198 years if he is convicted at trial. It's a choice that no human being should have to make...and one that someone with more resources could almost certainly avoid having to make.

DVD / 2018 / 53 minutes

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HOME TRUTH

By April Hayes and Katia Maguire

Filmed over the course of nine years, HOME TRUTH chronicles one family's pursuit of justice, shedding light on how our society responds to domestic violence and how the trauma from domestic violence tragedies can linger throughout generations.

In 1999, Colorado mother Jessica Gonzales experienced every parent's worst nightmare when her three young daughters were killed after being abducted by their father in violation of a domestic violence restraining order. Devastated, Jessica sued her local police department for failing to adequately enforce her restraining order despite her repeated calls for help that night. Determined to make sure her daughters did not die in vain, Jessica pursued her case to the US Supreme Court and an international human rights tribunal, seeking to strengthen legal rights for domestic violence victims. When her legal journey finally achieved widespread national change and she became an acclaimed activist, Jessica struggled to put her life and relationships back together.

DVD (Color) / 2018 / 72 minutes

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POWER TO HEAL: MEDICARE AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS REVOLUTION

Directed by Charles Burnett & Daniel Loewenthal

The untold story of how the twin struggles for racial justice and healthcare intersected: creating Medicare and desegregating thousands of hospitals at the same time.

POWER TO HEAL tells a poignant chapter in the historic struggle to secure equal and adequate access to healthcare for all Americans. Central to the story is the tale of how a new national program, Medicare, was used to mount a dramatic, coordinated effort that desegregated thousands of hospitals across the country in a matter of months.

Before Medicare, disparities in access to hospital care were dramatic. Less than half the nation's hospitals served black and white patients equally, and in the South, 1/3 of hospitals would not admit African-Americans even for emergencies.

Using the carrot of Medicare dollars, the federal government virtually ended the practice of racially segregating patients, doctors, medical staffs, blood supplies and linens. POWER TO HEAL illustrates how Movement leaders and grass-roots volunteers pressed and worked with the federal government to achieve justice and fairness for African-Americans.

DVD / 2018 / (Grades 9-12, College, Adults) / 56 minutes

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THOUSAND GIRLS LIKE ME, A

By Sahra Mani

A THOUSAND GIRLS LIKE ME is an awe-inspiring verite documentary that tells the story of a young Afghan woman's fight for justice after experiencing years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her father.

Khatera Golzad was brutally raped by her father for thirteen years, resulting in numerous pregnancies, most of which ended in forced abortions. But two reached full term. Despite her many attempts to file charges, neither the Afghan police nor the legal system helped her. In 2014, she appeared on national television to publicly accuse her father, finally succeeding in bringing her case to court despite threats from male relatives and judges who labelled her a liar.

A THOUSAND GIRLS LIKE ME sheds light on the broken Afghan judicial system and the women it seldom protects. In a country where the systematic abuse of girls is rarely discussed, Afghan filmmaker Sahra Mani presents a story of one woman's battle against cultural, familial, and legal pressures as she embarks on a mission to set a positive example for her daughter and other girls like her.

DVD (Color) / 2018 / 52 minutes

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TO A MORE PERFECT UNION: U.S. V. WINDSOR

Director: Donna Zaccaro

To A More Perfect Union: U.S. v. Windsor tells a story of love, marriage and a fight for equality. The film chronicles two unlikely heroes, octogenarian Edie Windsor and her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, on their quest for justice: Edie had been forced to pay a huge estate tax bill upon the death of her spouse because the federal government denied federal benefits to same-sex couples...and Edie's spouse was a woman.

Deeply offended by this lack of recognition of her 40+ year relationship with the love of her life, Edie decided to sue the United States government - and won. Beyond the story of this pivotal case in the marriage equality movement, the film also tells the story of our journey as a people, as a culture, and as citizens with equal rights.

Windsor and Kaplan's legal and personal journeys are told in their own words, and through interviews with others, including Lillian Faderman, a leading scholar on LGBTQ history, and Evan Wolfson, who first at Lambda Legal and later as founder of Freedom to Marry was the godfather of marriage equality in the US and now worldwide. Legal observers, including Jeffrey Toobin from CNN and Nina Totenberg of National Public Radio, also lend their insights.

DVD / 2018 / 63 minutes

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12 DAYS

By Raymond Depardon

Every year in France, 92,000 people are placed under psychiatric care without their consent. 12 DAYS focuses on those who have been involuntarily remanded to a mental hospital, and more specifically documents the hearings that, according to a 2013 law, are required to take place 12 days after each patient has been committed.

At these hearings, the patients are given an opportunity to argue for their freedom before a judge who ultimately decides whether they will go free or return for further treatment. Granted access to these hearings for the first time, celebrated filmmaker and photographer, Raymond Depardon, captures these extraordinary encounters between justice and psychiatry, giving a voice to those who have previously been voiceless.

Encompassing questions of mental health, power, class, agency, and the dynamics of societal institutions, 12 DAYS is consummately controlled yet suffused with empathy and compassion.

DVD (French With English Subtitles, Color) / 2017 / 87 minutes

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BIRTHRIGHT: A WAR STORY

By Civia Tamarkin

BIRTHRIGHT: A WAR STORY is the real-life version of "The Handmaid's Tale." In America today, a radical movement has tightened its grip on state power, seeking to control whether and how women bear children. In this crusade, pregnant women are subject to state control, surveillance, and punishment. Even women who don't want an abortion face shocking risks - like the pregnant woman in Alabama who faced criminal charges for taking half a Valium. Or like the grieving woman in Nebraska who, already devastated by a bleak diagnosis at 22 weeks, was forced to continue an unviable and dangerous pregnancy because of a new "fetal pain" law. BIRTHRIGHT: A WAR STORY tells these stories of women caught up in a frightening new legal system, which criminalizes and physically violates women, threatens our lives, and challenges our constitutional protections.

DVD (Color, Closed Captioned) / 2017 / 100 minutes

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COMPANY TOWN

Directors: Natalie Kottke-Masocco, Erica Sardarian

Crossett, Arkansas is home to about 5,500 people, one Georgia-Pacific paper and chemical plant owned by billionaire brothers Charles Koch and David Koch, and a startling rate of cancer and illness. This groundbreaking investigative documentary follows local pastor David Bouie as he fights to save his community. It offers a rare look inside a small town ruled by a single company, where the government's environmental protections have been subverted and ignored, leaving its citizens to take on entrenched powers in a fight for justice.

Crossett's residents are up against one of the nation's largest industrial company: Koch Industries. Pastor Bouie worked at the Koch's Georgia-Pacific plant for ten years, and on the street where he lives, 11 out 15 households lost someone to cancer. He seeks answers and actions to help protect the lives of his neighbors, many of whom have worked their entire lives at the plant, making products like Angel Soft, Brawny Paper Towels, Quilted Northern and Dixie paper cups. He galvanizes the town, revealing untold stories of health and medical crises.

Crossett is just one of hundreds of towns across America polluted by big business and failed by local, state and federal environmental protections. Company Town ultimately asks, what do you do when the company you work for and live next to is making you sick? It is the story of a modern-day David vs. Goliath.

DVD / 2017 / 90 minutes

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DEFIANT LIVES

By Sarah Barton

DEFIANT LIVES is a triumphant film that traces the origins of the world-wide disability rights movement. It tells the stories of the individuals who bravely put their lives on the line to create a better world where everyone is valued and can participate. Featuring interviews and rarely seen archival footage, the film reveals how these activists fought to live outside of institutions, challenged the stigmas and negative image of disability portrayed by the media, demanded access to public transportation, and battled to reframe disability rights as a social responsibility relevant to us all. DEFIANT LIVES is an excellent tool to encourage discussions about diversity and disability for students, audiences and community groups.

DVD (Color) / 2017 / 85 minutes

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TRIBAL JUSTICE

Directed by Anne Makepeace

Documents an effective criminal justice reform movement in America: the efforts of tribal courts to return to traditional, community-healing concepts of justice.

TRIBAL JUSTICE is a feature documentary about a little known, underreported but effective criminal justice reform movement in America today: the efforts of tribal courts to create alternative justice systems based on their traditions. In California, the state with the largest number of Indian people and tribes, two formidable Native American women are among those leading the way. Abby Abinanti, Chief Judge of the Yurok Tribe on the northwest coast, and Claudette White, Chief Judge of the Quechan Tribe in the southeastern desert, are creating innovative systems that focus on restoring rather than punishing offenders in order to keep tribal members out of prison, prevent children from being taken from their communities, and stop the school-to-prison pipeline that plagues their young people.

Abby Abinanti is a fierce, lean, elder. Claudette White is younger, and her courtroom style is more conventional in form; but like Abby, her goal is to provide culturally relevant justice to the people who come before her. Observational footage of these judges' lives and work provides the backbone of the documentary, while the heart of the film follows offenders as their stories unfold over time, in and out of court. These other stories unfold over time, engaging viewers with the dedication of the judges, the humanity of the people who come before them, and a vision of justice that can actually work.

Through the film, audiences will gain a new understanding of tribal courts and their role in the survival of Indian people. The film will also inspire those working in the mainstream legal field to consider new ways of implementing problem-solving and restorative justice, lowering our staggering incarceration rates and enabling offenders to make reparations and rebuild their lives.

DVD / 2017 / (Grades 7-12, College, Adults) / 87 minutes

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WHAT DOESN'T KILL ME: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND THE BATTLE FOR CUSTODY

By Rachel Meyrick

Every day, 5 million children in the U.S. experience domestic violence, either as witnesses or victims. Due to a horrific system that favors abusive fathers, a shocking number of mothers who seek to protect their children (and themselves) end up losing them. Most Americans are unaware that an abusive father, who contests custody from a protective mother, will win 70 percent of the time. This bold and provocative film is a long overdue exploration into why the most powerful country in the world is not protecting its most vulnerable mothers and children and thus enabling generations of abusers to continue their abuse.

Along with intimate personal stories, family revelations with hard hitting facts and frank discussions on the child custody issue with feminists, lawyers, judges and domestic violence experts we follow the indomitable 86-year-old Charlotta Harrison, a survivors' advocate who herself survived a 60-year abusive marriage. She speaks hauntingly about the pressures and fears that make it so difficult for women in danger to leave. With Charlotta, we meet women and children who have been separated, silenced, and pushed to extreme methods of escape - and who are fighting back.

DVD (Color) / 2017 / 81 minutes

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WHEN THE SAINTS

By Dan Parris

When the Saints documents one young man's mission to end sexual exploitation in the African nation of Malawi (the small nation tucked between Zambia and Mozambique). It is a journey of discovery that begins in his own heart.

The film calls upon all of us to care about justice for girls trafficked in rural Africa, and additionally examines the ways that lust, personal impurity, pornography, and distorted views about romantic relationships serve to feed the problem. At the same time it asks us to personally examine the ways we either dignify or exploit our brothers and sisters.

When the Saints is a thought-provoking and powerful tool to rally our awareness of this truly world-wide issue. Beautiful, honest, vulnerable, and wildly compelling, this story challenges us all to explore the unplumbed depths of our hearts

DVD (Color) / 2017 / 63 minutes

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WHITE RIGHT: MEETING THE ENEMY

By Deeyah Khan

In this BAFTA-nominated documentary, Emmy and Peabody Award-winning Muslim filmmaker Deeyah Khan meets U.S. neo-Nazis and white nationalists face to face and attends America's far right rally in Charlottesville. Khan, who has received death threats in the past after advocating for diversity and multiculturalism in an interview on the BBC, seeks to understand the personal and political reasons behind the violent ideology and apparent resurgence of far right extremism in the U.S.

Speaking with fascists, racists and proponents of alt-right ideologies Deeyah attempts to discover new possibilities for connection and solutions. As she tries to see beyond the headlines to the human beings, her own prejudices are challenged and her tolerance is tested. When she finds herself in the middle of a race riot at the now-infamous Unite the Right march, Deeyah's safety is jeopardized. Can she find it within herself to try and befriend the fascists she meets?

With a U.S. president propagating anti-Muslim propaganda, the far-right gaining ground in German elections, hate crime rising in the UK, and divisive populist rhetoric infecting political and public discourse across western democracies, Deeyah Khan's WHITE RIGHT: MEETING THE ENEMY asks why.

DVD (Color) / 2017 / 55 minutes

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INCARCERATING US

Directed by Regan Hines

Exposes America's prison problem and explores various criminal justice reforms.

Incarcerating US exposes America's prison problem and explores ways to unshackle the "land of the free" through vital criminal justice reforms. With 2.3 million people behind bars, the U.S. has the largest prison population in the history of the world.

Through dramatic first-hand accounts, expert testimony, and shocking statistics, Incarcerating US asks fundamental questions about the prison system in America: What is the purpose of prison? Why did our prison population explode in the 1970s? What can make our justice system more just?

The film begins with a brief overview of U.S. prisons and the flawed policies that fueled unprecedented overincarceration. In many cases, these laws exacerbate problems they were designed to solve. Through both empirical evidence and the eyes of those tragically affected by the system for committing minor crimes, we see the failures of two major initiatives: the War on Drugs and mandatory minimum sentences.

Incarcerating US tells the story of America's broken criminal justice system through the eyes of those who created it, those who have suffered through it, and those who are fighting to change it. After decades of failures, now is the time to unshackle the land of the free.

DVD / 2016 / (Grades 9-12, College, Adults) / 84 minutes

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BARRISTERS

The ground-breaking documentary series follows some of the UK's leading legal minds.

For the first time, filmmakers were granted access to the inner workings of the British courts. For over 15 months they had unprecedented access to the "barristers", their cases and the justice system itself. Cases profiled include custody battles, worker's compensation hearings, wrongful death investigations and major criminal cases.

Broken into five episodes, the extensive series presents cases that address childhood visitation, corporate compensation to 'wronged people", injury litigation, preparation for a criminal case, real-estate litigation, medical malpractice, religious discrimination and more.

Episode 1: A mother fights to sort out access to her children; there's a challenge to re-hiring former RUC officers and a test case is heading for court seeking compensation for people living under electricity pylons.

Episode 2: A business takes Derry City Council to court for an unpaid bill; a man injured at work is seeking damages and we witness how one top barrister prepares to fight a major criminal case.

Episode 3: A man claims compensation after being badly gored by a bull; a woman sues her international lawyer after a property deal goes wrong and a man hurt at work seeks damages for injuries and lost wages.

Episode 4: Families take part in a harrowing Public Inquiry to find out why their children died in hospital, a woman finally gets back some of the money she lost when a property investment went wrong and we follow a young barrister as he tries to build his practice.

Episode 5: A local barrister takes the Department of Justice to the Supreme Court in London, there's a court battle to save an historic Belfast building, a religious discrimination case heads to a tribunal and we meet the next generation of top barristers.

DVD / 2015 / 150 minutes

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IN HIS OWN HOME

Directed by Malini Johar Schueller

IN HIS OWN HOME is a new, critically acclaimed documentary about police racism and campus militarization.

Before Michael Brown and Ferguson, Missouri, the headline-making killing of Trayvon Martin and the death of Eric Garner at the hands of New York City police officers, there was the shocking 2010 shooting of Kofi Adu Brempong, a disabled Ghanaian graduate student attacked by University of Florida campus police responding to a 911 call.

The powerful documentary, IN HIS OWN HOME, recounts the events of that fateful March day and their aftermath: we watch live video of the police attack on Kofi's apartment; we hear accounts of those who marveled at the number of snipers "ready to shoot at any time" as they surrounded the apartment of a lone student, as well as from fellow students who attest to Kofi's peaceful demeanor; and, we hear from police officers who explain how they felt threatened and had to shoot. And, in the aftermath, we bear witness to the administration's shortcomings and the students and community activists who demand justice.

Underlining an ongoing pattern of racism and police brutality, as well as the frightening "militarization" of campuses nationwide, IN HIS OWN HOME speaks to widespread and pervasive issues in our country that will, for the time being, remain among our most controversial and disconcerting.

DVD / 2015 / 31 minutes

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OUR MOCKINGBIRD

Directed by Sandy Jaffe

Harper Lee's novel, and the story of a remarkable high school production of the adapted play, are used as a lens to examine race, class, gender, and justice - then and now.

OUR MOCKINGBIRD is a documentary that uses Harper Lee's 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird as a lens to view race, class, gender and justice, then and now. Woven through the film is the story of two extraordinarily different high schools in Birmingham, Alabama - one black, one white - who collaborate on a remarkable production of the adapted play, To Kill a Mockingbird.

In addition to this unique collaboration, we hear the voices of political leaders (Congressman John Lewis, former Attorney General Eric Holder), journalists (Katie Couric, Rick Bragg), actors (Mary Badham "Scout", Phillip Alford "Jem" in the 1962 movie), writers (Diane McWhorter, Rick Bragg), scholars (Charles Ogletree, Wayne Flynt, Cynthia E. Jones, Marshall Ganz), lawyers (Doug Jones, Reginald Lindsay, Richard Jaffe) and activists (Bryan Stephenson, Rev. Joseph Lowery, Morris Dees) mingle with those of students and teachers. Together these diverse voices reveal that as a country we have made progress but are still struggling with the issues of race, class and justice addressed in the novel.

DVD / 2015 / (Grades 7-12, College, Adults) / 65 minutes

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WHAT OUR FATHERS DID: A NAZI LEGACY

Directed by David Evans

Two elderly men possess starkly contrasting attitudes towards their high-ranking Nazi fathers. A study of brutality, self-deception, guilt and the nature of justice.

A bracingly rigorous examination of inherited guilt and pain, WHAT OUR FATHERS DID explores the relationship between two men, each of whom are the children of very high-ranking Nazi officials but possess starkly contrasting attitudes toward their fathers.

The film was written and is hosted by eminent human rights lawyer Philippe Sands, who became fascinated by its central figures, Niklas Frank and Horst von Wachter, while researching the Nuremberg trials.

The film comes to a climax when they travel to Lviv in Ukraine, where it becomes clear that Frank and von Wachter's Nazi fathers were responsible for the annihilation of Sands' own Jewish grandfather's entire family. WHAT OUR FATHERS DID is a compelling examination of brutality, self-deception, guilt and the nature of justice.

"This is both an intensely personal story for me as well as one with contemporary and universal relevance as anti-Semitism spreads across Europe and the wounds created in Ukraine during WWII can still be felt today." - Philippe Sands

DVD / 2015 / (Grades 10-12, College, Adult) / 92 minutes

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WHEN JUSTICE ISN'T JUST

Director: David Massey

Directed by Oscar-nominated and NAACP Image Award winner David Massey, this dynamic documentary features legal experts, local activists, and law enforcement officers delving into ongoing charges of inequality, unfair practices, and politicized manipulations of America's judicial system. Additionally, the Black Lives Matter movement and citizens nationwide question the staggering number of police shootings of unarmed Black men and women.

DVD / 2015 / 40 minutes

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TRUTH HAS FALLEN

When the justice system fails the innocent.

"Truth Has Fallen" is a 60-minute documentary that examines the cases of three individuals who were wrongfully incarcerated for murder. The film sheds light on weaknesses in the US justice system that have existed and remain through today. With the help of James McCloskey and his organization, Centurion Ministries, these convictions were ultimately overturned.

Employing innovative painted animation, "Truth Has Fallen" investigates why these three individuals were wrongfully convicted and suggests reforms to the United States justice system that could help to reduce the rate of wrongful convictions.

"Truth Has Fallen" asks how innocent people can be convicted of murder-what can be done to prevent such injustices in the future-and importantly what happens to these innocent people when they are released from prison after years of incarceration?

A battery of arguments by Vincent Bugliosi (prosecutor for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office), Barry Scheck (co-founder of the Innocence Project at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), and other experts make a case that individual psychology and inadequate systems of suspect identification is so widespread in US judiciary practices that miscarriage of justice has almost become common knowledge.

DVD / 2014 / 60 minutes

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WISCONSIN RISING

Wisconsin Rising documents the largest sustained workers' resistance movement in American history. Wisconsin was a testing ground for the nation in 2011 as big money attempted to undo basic workers' rights when newly-elected Republican Governor Scott Walker suddenly stripped collective bargaining power from the state's public employees. Wisconsin Rising catapults the viewer into the days, weeks, and months when Wisconsinites fought back against power, authority, and injustice. Happening months before the Occupy movement, Wisconsinites spontaneously occupied their state Capitol for weeks as never before seen in American History.

As the story unfolds, democracy itself is at stake. The government in Wisconsin looks like a circus, as Republicans invent new laws daily, restricting citizens'-and even elected officials'-access to the State House. The cameras were rolling on March 9th, 2011 when Republican Senators attempted to vote on the bill with no public notice as over 10,000 people pour into the Capitol; occupying its halls overnight. Dramatic footage shows Republican Senators fleeing the state capitol on a secret shuttle as thousands of Wisconsinites fill the State House and Capitol grounds in protest.

Collecting more than one million signatures, the people attempt to oust Scott Walker in a recall election. He is only the third governor in American history to face a recall election and is the first to survive.

What will the people of Wisconsin do in the face of these perceived injustices? How will the citizens rebuild and reorganize, and what can the rest of America learn from their actions?

DVD / 2014 / 60 minutes

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ANITA: SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER

Director: Freida Mock

An entire country watched transfixed as a poised, beautiful African-American woman in a blue dress sat before a Senate committee of 14 white men and with a clear, unwavering voice recounted the repeated acts of sexual harassment she had endured while working with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. That October day in 1991 Anita Hill, a bookish law professor from Oklahoma, was thrust onto the world stage and instantly became a celebrated, hated, venerated, and divisive figure. She has become an American icon, empowering millions of women and men around the world to stand up for equality and justice.

Against a backdrop of sex, politics, and race, ANITA reveals the intimate story of a woman who spoke truth to power. Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Freida Mock, the film is both a celebration of Anita Hill's legacy and a rare glimpse into her private life with friends and family, many of whom were by her side that fateful day 22 years ago. Anita Hill courageously speaks openly and intimately for the first time about her experiences that led her to testify before the Senate and the obstacles she faced in simply telling the truth. Anita Hill's graphic testimony was a turning point for gender equality in the U.S. and ignited a political firestorm about sexual misconduct and power in the workplace that resonates still today.

DVD / 2013 / 77 minutes

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UNREAL DREAM, AN

Director: Al Reinert

From Oscar-nominated director Al Reinert, An Unreal Dream is the terrifying true story of Michael Morton, who spent over two decades in Texas prisons for a crime he didn't commit.

In 1986, Christine Morton was brutally murdered in front of their only child. After Michael was accused and convicted his son Eric, only three at the time, was raised by family members and eventually cut off all contact with the father he believed had killed his mother.

The Innocence Project, in partnership with John Raley, a Texas attorney working on his first ever criminal case, spent years fighting for DNA testing and investigating possible prosecutorial misconduct in Michael's case. Twenty-five years after the murder, DNA analysis of a bloody blue bandana found near the crime scene not only cleared Michael, but yielded a hit on a known felon who has since been charged with the murder of Christine Morton, along with the murder of another young woman two years later.

Upon his release in late 2011, Michael riveted the outside world with his lack of bitterness or anger. Instead, he reached out to his estranged son, and focused his newfound freedom on the fight for reform. An Unreal Dream tells his story, and sheds needed light on America's flawed criminal justice system.

DVD / 2013 / 92 minutes

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GREY AREA, THE: FEMINISM BEHIND BARS

By Noga Ashkenazi

THE GREY AREA is an intimate look at women's issues in the criminal justice system and the unique experience of studying feminism behind bars.

Through a series of captivating class discussions, headed by students from Grinnell College, a small group of female inmates at a maximum women's security prison in Mitchellville, Iowa, share their diverse experiences with motherhood, drug addiction, sexual abuse, murder, and life in prison. The women, along with their teachers, explore the "grey area" that is often invisible within the prison walls and delve into issues of race, class, sexuality and gender.

DVD (Color) / 2012 / 65 minutes

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KHMER ROUGE, A SIMPLE MATTER OF JUSTICE

By Remi Laine and Jean Reynaud

An unusual hybrid court established by the United Nations and the government of Cambodia, the ECCC is tasked with investigating and bringing to trial surviving Khmer Rouge officials charged with human rights abuses.

Working within the framework of international human rights law, but against the backdrop of a complex political arrangement with the government of Cambodia, the prosecution not only must prove the guilt of former high-ranking officials, but show that their crimes meet the judicial standards for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and even genocide.

The film follows Co-Investigating Judges Marcel Lemonde, from France, and You Bunleng, from Cambodia, as they investigate the first case, that of "Comrade Duch" (Kang Kek Iew), who oversaw the notorious Tuol Sleng (S-21) prison, where thousands of Cambodians were tortured and killed.

Working partly from information provided by Duch, the judges move to indict the four less cooperative, higher-ranking officials tried by the ECCC: Nuon Chea, "Brother Number Two" to Pol Pot; Khieu Samphan, President of the State Presidium; Ieng Sary, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister; and Ieng Thirith, Minister of Social Affairs.

We see the court's dogged efforts to prove these former officials' culpability in the brutality that characterized the regime. The filmmakers also show us the sometimes tense dynamic between the Cambodian and European judges as they discuss the question of bringing charges for genocide: You expresses the Cambodian people's desire for the officials to be charged with that crime in particular, and Lemonde suggests that their actions may not meet the judicial standards for doing so.

In showing the work of the ECCC, KHMER ROUGE: A SIMPLE MATTER OF JUSTICE sheds light on the still shadowy inner workings of the Khmer Rouge while illustrating the complex process of international human rights law.

DVD (Color) / 2012 / 79 minutes

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VISIONS OF ABOLITION: FROM CRITICAL RESISTANCE TO A NEW WAY OF LIFE

Director: Setsu Shigematsu

Visions of Abolition is a feature length documentary about the prison industrial complex and the prison abolition movement. It is broken into two distinct parts permitting focused use for studies.

Part I, "Breaking down the Prison Industrial Complex" weaves together the voices of women caught in the criminal justice system and leading scholars of prison abolition, examining the racial and gendered violence of the prison system. Our film features the work of Susan Burton, a formerly incarcerated mother who established A New Way of Life, a group of transition homes for women coming home from prison in South Los Angeles (39 mins).

Part II, "Abolition: Past, Present, and Future" documents the recent history of the prison abolition movement through the organizing efforts of Critical Resistance and explores the meaning of abolitionist politics. By focusing on the collaboration between Critical Resistance and A New Way of Life, (known as the L.E.A.D. Project) the second half of the film unfolds a vision of abolition in practice (48 mins).

Interviews in the video include: Melissa Burch, Susan Burton, Angela Davis, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Dylan Rodriguez, and Andrea Smith.

DVD / 2012 / 92 minutes

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COINTELPRO 101

COINTELPRO 101 exposes illegal surveillance, disruption, and outright murder committed by the U.S. government in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. "COINTELPRO" refers to the official FBI COunter INTELligence PROgram carried out to surveil, imprison, and eliminate leaders of social justice movements and to disrupt, divide, and destroy the movements as well. Many of the government's crimes are still unknown.

Through interviews with activists who experienced these abuses first-hand and with rare historical footage, the film provides an educational introduction to a period of intense repression and draws relevant lessons for present and future movements.

DVD (With Spanish Subtitles) / 2011 / 60 minutes

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HOT COFFEE: IS JUSTICE BEING SERVED?

Directed by Susan Saladoff

Tells the truth about the McDonald's hot coffee case and exposes the influence of corporate America on our civil justice system.

Seinfeld mocked it. Letterman put it on one of his Top Ten lists. More than 15 years later, the McDonald's coffee case continues to be cited as a prime example of how citizens use "frivolous" lawsuits to take unfair advantage of America's legal system.

But is that an accurate portrayal of the facts? First-time filmmaker and former public interest lawyer Susan Saladoff uses the infamous legal battle that began with a spilled cup of coffee to investigate what's behind America's zeal for tort reform. By following four people whose lives were devastated by the attacks on our courts, this thought-provoking documentary challenges the assumptions Americans hold about "jackpot justice."

DVD / 2011 / (Grades 10-12, College, Adult) / 86 minutes

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JUSTICE FOR SALE

By Ilse van Velzen & Femke van Velzen

JUSTICE FOR SALE follows Claudine, a young and courageous human rights lawyer, in her struggle against injustice and widespread impunity in Congo.

She investigates the case of Masamba, a soldier who was convicted of rape, and discovers that his trial was corrupt and unfair. He was jailed without any concrete evidence. In Claudine's journey to obtain justice, she uncovers a system where the basic principles of law are virtually ignored.

Masamba's trial also raises questions about the financial support that the international community and NGOs offer to the Congolese judicial system. Is it creating a justice that's for sale? And if so, who pays the price?

JUSTICE FOR SALE is the third documentary in Ilse and Femke van Velzen's trilogy about the Congo, after making FIGHTING THE SILENCE and WEAPON OF WAR.

DVD (French, Swahili, Lingala, Color) / 2011 / 84 minutes

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MACHETE LANGUAGE (EL LENGUAJE DE LOS MACHETES)

A rebellious punk rock girl and a revolutionary activist man find themselves together in Kyzza Terrazas' directorial debut which premiered at the 68th Venice Film Festival.

Ray (Andres Almeida), a political activist, and Ramona (Jessy Bulbo), a punk singer, are furious about inequality and social injustice. Together they try to advocate for a better world. Pushed over the edge by the violent repression in Salvador Atenco, they feel increasingly drawn to commit a terrorist act in the name of their political beliefs and their love.

Stars Mexico Musician Jessy Bulbo (191,000 FB likes) and Andres Almeida from Y Tu Mama Tambien

DVD (Spanish with English Subtitles) / 2011 / 78 minutes

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SIEGE, THE: LA TOMA

Directed by Angus Gibson & Miguel Salazar

THE SIEGE follows the story of the day of the Siege of the Palace of Justice, and tracks the courtroom drama of Colonel Plazas Vega's trial 25 years later. In the course of the highly charged trial the lawyers, prosecutors, and the judge all wear bulletproof vests, and start traveling with armed guards, in fear for their lives. The case has captured the attention of the Colombian public, and both practically and symbolically it has become a touchstone for the integrity of justice in Colombia.

DVD (Color) / 2011

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NESHOBA: THE PRICE OF FREEDOM

Director: Micki Dickoff &Tony Pagano

Neshoba: The Price of Freedom tells the story of a Mississippi town still divided about the meaning of justice, 40 years after the murders of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, an event dramatized in the Oscar-winning film, Mississippi Burning. Although Klansmen bragged about what they did in 1964, no one was held accountable until 2005, when the State indicted preacher Edgar Ray Killen, an 80-year-old notorious racist and mastermind of the murders. Through exclusive interviews with Killen, intimate interviews with the victims' families, and candid interviews with black and white Neshoba County citizens still struggling with their town's violent past, the film explores whether the prosecution of one unrepentant Klansman constitutes justice and whether healing and reconciliation are possible without telling the unvarnished truth.

DVD / 2010 / 86 minutes

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TEA & JUSTICE: NYPD'S 1ST ASIAN WOMEN OFFICERS

By Ermena Vinluan

Tea & Justice chronicles the experiences of three women who joined the New York Police Department during the 1980s - the first Asian women to become members of a force that was largely white and predominantly male. In this award-winning documentary, Officer Trish Ormsby and Detectives Agnes Chan and Christine Leung share their fascinating stories about careers and personal lives, as well as satisfactions and risks on the job, the stereotypes they defied, and how they persevered.

Intrigued by the image of Asian women in a non-traditional profession, filmmaker Ermena Vinluan explores her own mixed feelings about cops while honoring the challenges Ormsby, Chan and Leung embraced, and the far-reaching changes they helped bring about. Interviews with ordinary New Yorkers, leading advocates of law enforcement reform, and anti-police abuse activists consider proposed changes in police culture and explain how women's preventive policing style, based on communication, contrasts with more reactive, physically forceful methods used by men. Humorous cartoons, lively graphics depicting cultural icons of strong Asian women, and original music enhance this nuanced study of race, gender, and power.

DVD (Color) / 2010 / 55 minutes

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