Steve James presents the story of the Sungs and their struggle to save their family-run Chinatown bank from a misguided prosecution based on cultural incompetence.
“The Return” reveals why a lawyer, deeply involved in the resentencing of Three Strikers as a way of reducing mass incarceration, placed reentry services near the top of his concerns.
The Penn Program on Documentaries and the Law, directed byLaw Professor Regina Austin, has produced a new documentary that exposes the discriminatory impact of a provision of the VCAP law that denies assistance to victims who contribute, or are suspected of contributing, to their own death or injury.
A visual call to justice on a lamp post in West Philadelphia??
The documentary was the result of a joint effort between the Penn Program on Documentaries and the Law (“Docs&theLaw”), of which Professor Austin is the director, Lifers, Inc. at Graterford State Correctional Institution, and the Pennsylvania Prison Society.
Join the Quattrone Center and the Penn Program on Documentaries and the Law on February 6 for a screening of the provocative documentary from acclaimed director Steve James.
In honor of Human Rights Day on December 10th, Hayley Winograd L’17, shares her reflections on her documentary A Dignified Death, which addresses issues of the treatment of prisoners and compassionate release from Pennsylvania state prisons. Introduction by Editor Patricia Stottlemyer, L’17.
The story of a serial killer who took advantage of crack culture to prey on black women can tell us much about what is wrong with the notion of “the good victim.”
A federal judge refused to dismiss the lawsuit by an activist who was arrested while filming protests in 2011. Now the filmmaker and her legal team will have a chance to investigate the city’s training policies regarding the First Amendment and handling the media.
Documentary television footage contradicts a police officer’s testimony about a stop-and-frisk, and leads a federal district court to find that the officer violated the defendant’s constitutional rights.
Weighing the pros and cons of filmmakers asking federal agencies for records about themselves, under the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act.
After federal judge Mark Wolf moderated a panel discussion about The Life and Mind of Mark DeFriest, he was investigated by the FBI, the IRS, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Massachusetts State Police to determine if he had compromised his ability to preside over a death penalty case.
The law uses the term “gang” too loosely. “Out in the Night” explores what happened when the term was applied to four young-adult black working-class lesbians from Newark.
As “Let the Fire Burn” (2013) and “The Bombing of Osage Avenue” (1987) show in very different ways, May 13, 1985 was a traumatic day in the history of police/citizen relations in Philadelphia. Its legacy is reflected in contemporary controversies over race relations in America.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is launching a new campaign to reach out to documentary filmmakers.
Like “The Act of Killing,” Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Look of Silence” examines the 1965 Indonesian genocide; this time the focus is Adi Rukun, the brother of a victim, who pursues his own mission of truth and reconciliation.
“Justice for Her” is a compelling, insightful documentary directed and produced by a black mother about her struggle to secure the acquittal of her daughter who was charged with capital murder during the “War on Drugs.”
“Evolution of a Criminal,” with its complex portrait of the filmmaker, offers an good starting point for an audience with lived experience to consider how the media should portray young black men with criminal records.
What can be done to increase college-level teachers’ and researchers’ access to documentaries in the non-theatrical, non-home video academic market while still supporting independent film production?
Chico Colvard–documentary filmmaker, film series curator, and lapsed lawyer–explains how he puts skills acquired during his legal training to work in the documentary world.
Visual legal advocacy and scholarship (PVAS) are being taught and produced in law schools around the country today and the PVAS Working Group intends to support their expansion.
The late Harry Reicher, Adjunct Professor at Penn Law, made extensive use of visual material in teaching Holocaust Studies in the Law. His talk at the Shoah Foundation explains how and why.
“The Memphis 13” is not only a powerful and thought-provoking short documentary; it also illustrates the potential contributions of visual legal scholarship.
Conducting interviews for social justice documentaries gives students the opportunity to understand the importance of affirming human connections as they learn how to use cameras, lights, and mikes,
How does a documentary filmmaker whose focus is the history of black people’s struggle for equality satisfy the conflicting demands of an audience that lived the history and an audience that needs to learn it?
Seeing as Penn Law has been nominated for a Webby, now is a good time to reflect and learn about the origin of the World Wide Web (and vote for us to win).
On December 2nd, Penn Law students and the public received a behind the scenes look at Philly’s restaurant industry. Instead of focusing on food, Lore & Larder, Profit & Pleasure: Changing Relationships in Philly’s Vibrant Restaurant Scene focused on restaurant employees. The event was co-sponsored by the Penn Program on Documentaries & the Law and the Drexel Center for Hospitality and Sport Management.
Whether the issue is the legality of drone strikes, impending Supreme Court decisions about affirmative action and same-sex marriage, the anniversary of the landmark decision in Gideon v. Wainright, the impact of documentary filmmaking on the pursuit of justice, or key regulatory decisions by administrative agencies, here developments to watch for in the year ahead.
Four films by Penn Law students premiered the evening of April 18 at the Law School’s Michael A. Fitts Auditorium, marking the third annual Rough Cut Film Festival.
The Video Festival will feature a series of short films produced by members of the Visual Legal Advocacy Seminar, taught by Professor Regina Austin L’73, the William A. Schnader Professor or Law and Director of the Penn Program of Documentaries and the Law.