Race and Law Enforcement
- Copwatch: An Organization Dedicated to Filming the Police
2017 | 99 min | Gunpowder & Sky
This acclaimed documentary follows "WeCopwatch", an organization dedicated to filming the police. Its members captured the original videos of the deaths of Eric Garner in Staten Island and Freddie Gray in Baltimore that ignited the entire nation. - America After Ferguson | PBS Town Hall
2014 | 57 min | PBS
Moderated by NEWSHOUR;s Gwen Ifill. Explores events following Michael Brown's death in Ferguson, Missouri. Recorded on the campus of UMSL. Includes national leaders & prominent thinkers in the areas of law enforcement, race & civil rights, as well as gov. officials, faith leaders and youth. - Stranger Fruit: An Investigation into the Death of Michael Brown
2018 | 108 min | Gravitas
What really happened on August 9, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri? That afternoon, Officer Darren Wilson killed 18-year-old Michael Brown. 'STRANGER FRUIT' is the unraveling of what took place, told through the eyes of Mike Brown's family.
Official Selection at the SXSW Film Festival. - Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland
2018 | 103 | HBO
This documentary examines the 2015 police custody death of Sandra Bland in depth, revealing previously unknown details. The film follows the Bland family and legal team from the first weeks after her death as they try to find out what really happened in that Texas jail cell. Embedded with the family and their lawyers, the filmmakers tracked the story for two years, drawing on key documents, jail footage and interviews with those closest to the events. - PBS Frontline: Policing the Police
2016 | 54 min | PBS This Frontline documentary is a provocative journey inside one police force that's been ordered to reform by the Department of Justice: the Newark Police Department in New Jersey. A nuanced glimpse into how topics in the national discussion about race and policing are playing out every day on the streets of Newark, in community members' homes, and in the city's police precincts. - When Justice Isn't Just: Unarmed Police Incidents
2015 | 43 min | First Run Features
This dynamic documentary explores why so many unarmed people of color have been shot and killed by police officers. Police officers, legal experts, local activists all weigh in in this timely documentary, delving into ongoing charges of inequality, unfair practices, and politicized manipulations of America's judicial system. An essential and balanced addition to the ongoing discussion about violence, reform and renewal. - Dispatches From Cleveland
2017 | 74 min | MVD Ent. Group
This documentary closely examines the rust-belt city of Cleveland, one of the most racially divided American cities in the wake of the police murder of Tamir Rice. Follows ordinary people - long shaken by police misconduct, social discrimination, and poverty - whose love for their home pushes them to work together to bring about real change. - Traffic Stop: The Unlawful Arrest of Breaion King
2018 | 31min | HBO Documentary Shorts
Focuses on the story of Breaion King, a 26-year-old African-American schoolteacher from Austin, Texas, who was stopped in 2015 for a routine traffic violation - an encounter that escalated into a dramatic and violent arrest. Footage from the disturbing incident is juxtaposed with scenes from Breaion's everyday life as a teacher and dancer, offering a fuller portrait of the woman who now struggles to make sense of her clash with law enforcement. - The Central Park Five
2012 | 119 min | PBS
This Peabody Award winning film chronicles the 1989 Central Park Jogger case, for the first time from the perspective of the five black and Latino teenagers whose lives were upended by this miscarriage of justice. dir: Ken Burns
