DOC NYC: Films About the Law and Justice

This year, DOC NYC’s lineup includes a number of films investigating the issues surrounding the law and justice.

WEST OF MEMPHIS Oscar–nominated director Amy Berg (Deliver Us From Evil) offers an inside look at the “West Memphis 3,” exploring how Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. The film chronicles the movement to prove their innocence, which involved everyone from grassroots supporters to celebrities such as Peter Jackson, Eddie Vedder and Johnny Depp. Their determination is a case study in the power of hope. Courtesy of Sundance Selects. 

Expected to Attend: Amy Berg, Damien Echols, Lorri Davis, Henry Rollins

CODE OF THE WEST At a time when the world is rethinking its drug policies large and small, one state is attracting particular attention. Once a pioneer in legalizing medical marijuana, the state of Montana is poised to become the first to repeal its medical marijuana law. Set against the sweeping vistas of the Rockies, the steamy lamplights of marijuana grow houses, and the bustling halls of the State Capitol, Code of The West follows the political process of marijuana policy reform.

Expected to Attend: Rebecca Richman Cohen

LONG DISTANCE REVOLUTIONARY: A JOURNEY WITH MUMIA ABU-JAMAL Unlike any other film, book, or article produced about Mumia Abu-Jamal, Long Distance Revolutionary focuses on his career as a prolific author and broadcaster from Pennsylvania’s Death Row. This riveting film centers on the period after Mumia is convicted for the murder of Philadelphia patrolman Daniel Faulkner and exposes Mumia’s battles with the American court system to continue his work from prison—a battle he continues to wage to this very day.

Expected to Attend: Stephen Vittoria

FIGHT TO LIVE Two-time Oscar winner Barbara Kopple (Harlan County USA, American Dream) looks at terminally ill patients who are challenging the current Food & Drug Administration regulatory system for access to investigational therapies that they believe could be life saving. Woven together with the voices of patient advocates, doctors, researchers and the FDA, this film offers a unique perspective on the challenges facing medicinal innovation and the difficulties of drug approval and access.

Expected to Attend: Barbara Kopple

MELVIN & JEAN: AN AMERICAN STORY SNEAK PREVIEW When Melvin and Jean McNair hijacked a plane from Detroit to Algeria in 1972 with their two babies on board, they called it an act of political resistance. The hijacking was also an act of desperation committed by two people in their early twenties who saw no other way to escape what they felt was the constant state of racial oppression in America. Living in Paris forty years after the hijacking and unable to return to the U.S., Melvin and Jean are still coming to terms with their crime and its lifelong consequences.

Expected to Attend: Maia Wechsler, Susan Tipograph Melvin & Jean’s criminal attorney

THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE In 1989, five black and Latino teenagers were arrested and charged for brutally attacking and raping a white female jogger in Central Park. News media swarmed the case, calling it “the crime of the century.” But the truth about what really happened didn’t become clear until after the five had spent years in prison for a crime they didn’t commit. This story of injustice finally gets the telling it deserves. The film recently made headlines when lawyers for New York City attempted to subpoena its outtakes for an ongoing lawsuit. A story whose aftershocks continue to shape the city, this promises to be one of the most high-profile documentaries of the year.

Expected to Attend: Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David Mcmahon, and members of the Central Park Five

SHENANDOAH WORLD PREMIERE Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, is a coal mining town with a proud immigrant heritage, once pivotal in fueling America’s industrial revolution. Now the town is on the skids, struggling to retain its identity, soul, and values—all of which were dramatically challenged when four of the town’s white, high-school football stars were charged in the beating death of an undocumented Mexican immigrant named Luis Ramirez. Pulitzer Prize-winner David Turnley creates a deeply felt portrait of a working-class community on trial.

Expected to Attend: David Turnley