Criminal & Law

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.