Criminal & Law


SANSON AND ME
SANSON AND ME

2023  Cinema Studies  Education  Family Relations  Immigration  Latino Studies  Sociology  Criminal & Law  Political Science 

A vibrant portrait of a friendship navigating immigration and the depths of the criminal justice system and pushing the boundaries of cinematic imagination to rescue a young migrant's story from oblivion.

LA MANPLESA: an uprising remembered
LA MANPLESA: an uprising remembered

2022  American Studies  American History  Criminal & Law  Cultural Studies  Directed by Women  Latin-American Studies  Sociology 

On May 5th, 1991, people took to the streets of Washington D.C.’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood to protest the police shooting of Daniel Gomez, a young man from El Salvador. Through testimony, song, poetry, and street theatre, La Manplesa weaves together the collective memory of one of D.C.’s first barrios and dives into the roots of the ‘91 rebellion.

ANY GIVEN DAY
ANY GIVEN DAY

2022  American Studies  Directed by Women  Family Relations  Health  Psychology & Psychiatry  Sociology  Criminal & Law 

A filmmaker with mental illness follows three defendants through a specialized mental health probation program. While sharing their rarely seen struggles, she faces her own challenges, making clear just how precarious the ties between people with mental illness, their families and society can be.  From Margaret Byrne, the director of Raising Bertie.



THE ACCUSED: Damned or Devoted
THE ACCUSED: Damned or Devoted

2021  Criminal & Law  Cultural Studies  Economics  Education  Islamic Studies  Middle Eastern Studies  Religion & Spirituality  World History  2022 

There is a divide in Pakistan over its blasphemy law, which if broken can lead to a death sentence for those accused. Cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, has one mission: to preserve Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and now he’s running for the highest office in the country.  Now everyone,  those that oppose him and even his followers,  are just pawns in his quest for absolute power.


SUNLESS SHADOWS
SUNLESS SHADOWS

2020  Criminal & Law  Cinema Studies  Middle Eastern Studies  Women's Studies  Children & Young Adult 

A picture of life in an Iranian juvenile detention center, where a group of adolescent girls serve their sentence for murdering a male member of their family. Alone with the camera, they reveal their thoughts, feelings and doubts. Mehrdad Oskouei's follow-up to Starless Dreams



THE WRONG LIGHT
THE WRONG LIGHT

2017  Asian Studies  Children & Young Adult  Criminal & Law  Family Relations  Southeast Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Directed by Women 

A charismatic activist leads a globally-regarded NGO that provides shelter and education for girls rescued from brothels in Northern Thailand. But as the filmmakers meet the girls and their families, discrepancies begin to emerge and the story they're telling takes an unexpected turn.

FIVE FINGER DISCOUNT: a crooked family history
FIVE FINGER DISCOUNT: a crooked family history

Pacific Street Films  Family Relations  American History  American Studies  Criminal & Law  2017  Literature 

Based Helene Stapinski’s best selling memoir “Five-Finger Discount: A Crooked Family History.” The book and the film tell the story of Helene’s childhood, of her growing up working-class in Jersey City, New Jersey – in a family nearly overrun with crooks, petty criminals, corrupt politicians, mobster wannabes and murderers – and how she became a journalist and a best-selling author.

ALMOST THERE
ALMOST THERE

Kartemquin Films  Art History  Aging / Gerontology  Psychology & Psychiatry  Disabilities  Cinema Studies  Media Studies  Family Relations  Criminal & Law  Health  American Studies  Photography  Human Sexuality  2017 

Humorous and candid, Kartemquin Films' documentary Almost There is a fascinating portrait of eccentric "outsider" artist Peter Anton. Living in a home that has been consumed by mold and filth, the octogenarian has produced a startling collection of unseen paintings, drawings, and notebooks. The film’s remarkable journey follows this witty and gifted artist through startling twists and turns.

RAISING BERTIE
RAISING BERTIE

2016  African-American Studies  American Studies  Sociology  Criminal & Law  Education  Family Relations  Alcohol & Drug Abuse  Directed by Women  Kartemquin Films 

Recorded over six years, Raising Bertie delivers an authentic and tender portrait of the lives of three young boys as they face a precarious coming of age within Bertie County, a rural African-American community in North Carolina. Another harrowing work from the acclaimed documentary powerhouse Kartemquin Films, the film shows the process of growing up in a place afflicted by generations of economic and educational segregation.

THE ABORTION HOTLINE
THE ABORTION HOTLINE

2016  Women's Studies  Latin-American Studies  Health  Human Sexuality  Medicine  LGBTQ  Criminal & Law  Spanish Language 

The Abortion Hotline allows viewers inside the lives and tireless grassroots efforts of a group of young lesbian and feminist activists who put their lives at risk to run an underground abortion hotline in Chile, one of six countries in the world where abortion is prohibited under any circumstance, even in cases of rape or risk to the life of the mother.

YOUTH BEHIND BARS: The Iran Trilogy
YOUTH BEHIND BARS: The Iran Trilogy

Middle Eastern Studies  Criminal & Law  Cinema Studies  Sociology  Cultural Studies  Family Relations  Children & Young Adult  Peace & Conflict  2017 

A groundbreaking documentary trilogy directed by Iran's most prominent documentary filmmaker Mehrdad Oskouei, Youth Behind Bars: The Iran Trilogy, with incredible humanity, captures the lives, dreams and hopes of Iran's imprisoned youth.

STARLESS DREAMS
STARLESS DREAMS

Middle Eastern Studies  Women's Studies  Criminal & Law  Cinema Studies  Children & Young Adult  Alcohol & Drug Abuse  Family Relations  Psychology & Psychiatry  Sociology  2017 

A stark testimonial of the previously unseen and unheard, award-winning Starless Dreams plunges us into the lives of young teenage girls sharing temporary quarters at a rehabilitation and correction center on the outskirts of Tehran. An unforgettable cinematic portrayal of restored innocence and humanity Starless Dreams is the last installment of the groundbreaking documentary trilogy Youth Behind Bars: The Iran Trilogy.

THE LAST DAYS OF WINTER
THE LAST DAYS OF WINTER

2016  Criminal & Law  Middle Eastern Studies  Cinema Studies  Psychology & Psychiatry  Family Relations  Anthropology  Children & Young Adult  Alcohol & Drug Abuse  Islamic Studies 

Following his harrowing documentary, It's Always Late for Freedom, director Mehrdad Oskouei continues his exploration of a male juvenile detention facility near Tehran. Last Days of Winter follows these young men in the days leading up to the Iranian New Year, as they take stock of their lives.

IT’S ALWAYS LATE FOR FREEDOM
IT’S ALWAYS LATE FOR FREEDOM

2016  Middle Eastern Studies  Criminal & Law  Children & Young Adult  Alcohol & Drug Abuse  Psychology & Psychiatry  Family Relations  Anthropology 

Acclaimed filmmaker Mehrdad Oskouei provides a rare glimpse into an all-male juvenile detention facility in Iran. It's Always Late for Freedom is the first film of Oskouei's trilogy documenting troubled youth in Iran, preceding The Last Days of Winter (2011) and Starless Dreams (2016).

CITY OF TREES
CITY OF TREES

2016  Kartemquin Films  Environmental Studies  American Studies  Labor Studies  Criminal & Law  African-American Studies  Urban Studies  Political Science  Sociology  Health  Business 

A complex tale of social justice, urban forestry and community politics, City of Trees portrays the struggles of a DC non-profit to challenge the cycle of poverty and violence in blighted urban areas by implementing an ambitious "green jobs" program that hires 150 unemployed residents to plant trees in underserved parks.

THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF DORIS PAYNE
THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF DORIS PAYNE

Psychology & Psychiatry  American Studies  African-American Studies  Women's Studies  Criminal & Law  2015 

A sensational portrait of a rebel who defied society’s prejudices and pinched her own version of the American Dream, The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne relates the fascinating story of how a poor, single, African-American mother from segregated West Virginia became the world’s most notorious jewel thief.

THE ANABASIS OF MAY AND FUSAKO SHIGENOBU, MASAO ADACHI AND 27 YEARS WITHOUT IMAGES
THE ANABASIS OF MAY AND FUSAKO SHIGENOBU, MASAO ADACHI AND 27 YEARS WITHOUT IMAGES

2014  Terrorism Studies  Middle Eastern Studies  Media Studies  Criminal & Law  Cinema Studies  Asian Studies  Flaherty Collection 

Mixing personal stories, political history, revolutionary propaganda and film theory, artist Eric Baudelaire illuminates the idealism and radicalism of left-wing extremist movements of the 1970s by interweaving the stories of two of its protagonists: May Shigenobu, daughter of the founder of the Japanese Red Army, and Masao Adachi, the revered Japanese director who gave up cinema to take up arms.

KILLING TIME
KILLING TIME

Criminal & Law  African-American Studies  Death & Dying  2014 

Neither advocating for the death penalty nor against it, Killing Time is a devastating investigation into the futility of taking a life - both a murder and a state sanctioned execution. It is an honest look at the private, logistical and business-as-usual aspects of capital punishment in today's America.

PRISON TERMINAL: the last days of private jack hall
PRISON TERMINAL: the last days of private jack hall

Short Films  2014  Academy Award Winners & Nominees  Psychology & Psychiatry  Health  Death & Dying  Criminal & Law  American Studies  Aging / Gerontology  African-American Studies 

2014 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Short Subject, Prison Terminal is an extraordinary chronicle of death and dignity behind bars, an incredibly moving story of a terminally ill prisoner's final days and the hospice volunteers (prisoners themselves) who care for him. Issues surrounding America's aging prison population and the profound impact hospice programs can have on the lives of the incarcerated are explored in this remarkable film.

THE LAW IN THESE PARTS
THE LAW IN THESE PARTS

Jewish Studies  Middle Eastern Studies  Criminal & Law  Political Science  Islamic Studies  Terrorism Studies  Peace & Conflict  2013 

What is legal and what is just? Through candid, first-ever, interviews with Israeli judges, prosecutors and legal advisors, The Law In These Parts - winner of the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival - is a gripping and revelatory investigation into the legal framework put in place by Israel in 1967 to govern the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Executive produced by renowned filmmaker and journalist Laura Poitras.

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