“Abacus: Small Enough to Jail”: A Minority Bank, Racial Bias, and the Democratization of Credit 

February 26, 2017

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.

Affinity Groups, Business, Criminal Cases, Criminal Justice, Documentaries blog, Documentaries, entrepreneurship, featured docs, Law-Genre Docs, Quattrone, Social Justice 

“The Return”: Resentencing, Reentry Support, and a Criminal Defense Lawyer’s Evolving Roles 

June 21, 2016

“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.

Criminal Justice, Criminal Law, Documentaries blog, Documentaries, Law-Genre Docs, Social Justice Visual Advocacy, Visual Advocacy 

Visual Advocacy for Advocates: How Philadelphia’s Defender Association Used Social Media to Increase Funding for Its Workers 

July 27, 2022

The staff members of the Defender Association at every level are essential to the fair and efficient operation of Philadelphia’s criminal justice system and deserve pay parity with other City workers. But how do they show that?

Criminal Justice, Documentaries blog 

A Confederate Flag in the Jury Room Leads to a New Trial: “Talking Images” and the Visual Turn in Law 

January 21, 2022

Does the image of a Confederate flag framed and hung on the wall of a jury room provide “extraneous prejudicial information” on which to set aside a verdict? Yes!

Documentaries blog 

“WITNESSES NEEDED” 

January 25, 2019

A visual call to justice on a lamp post in West Philadelphia??

Documentaries blog, Documentaries, Litigation-Related Visual Advocacy, Social Justice Visual Advocacy, Visual Advocacy 

Only “Good Victims” Need Apply: “Tales of the Grim Sleeper” and Poor Black Women in Crack Culture 

May 27, 2016

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.”

Criminal Cases, Criminal Justice, Documentaries blog, Documentaries, Law-Genre Docs 

Occupy Wall Street Filmmaker Wins First Round in Lawsuit Against Police, NYC 

March 28, 2016

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.

Civil Rights, Conlaw, Criminal Justice, Documentaries blog, Documentaries, First Amendment 

Defendant uses ‘Cops’ video footage to suppress handgun evidence 

February 23, 2016

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.

Cops, Criminal Law, Documentaries blog, Documentaries, Media, stop-and-frisk, television 

“Last Day of Freedom”: Bill Babbitt’s Struggle with the Stigma of Being the Brother of a Murderer 

January 25, 2016

How does a brother cope with the shame, guilt, regret, and anger of being the relative of a mentally-ill ex-Marine who committed a murder, but should not have been executed for it?

Criminal Justice, death penalty, Documentaries blog, Law-Genre Docs, Social Justice Visual Advocacy 

The government’s harassing me because I’m a documentary filmmaker. Should I FOIA them? 

January 12, 2016

Weighing the pros and cons of filmmakers asking federal agencies for records about themselves, under the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act.

Documentaries blog, Documentaries, Documentary litigation, FOIA, Freedom of Information, Laura Poitras 

Prison Portraits: Photographic Self-Representation in an Image Desert 

December 7, 2015

As the Docs Program undertakes visual work on behalf of lifers incarcerated for decades because they are ineligible for parole, we confront a ban on photographing and filming in prisons.  Prison Portraits may be useful in providing not only a way to deal with the ban, but also an argument why it is wrong.

Civil Rights, Documentaries blog, Human Rights, production tips, Social Justice Visual Advocacy, Visual Advocacy, VLA Production 

Arranging a Doc Screening Leads to Inquiry of Federal Judge’s Impartiality 

December 4, 2015

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.

death penalty, Documentaries blog, Documentaries, ethics, recusal 

Not Girls in a Gang nor a Gang of Girls: A Law-Focused Review of “Out in the Night” 

August 11, 2015

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.

Black Feminism, Criminal Justice, Criminal Law, Documentaries blog, Documentaries, Law-Genre Docs, LGBTQ, Social Justice 

“A Civil Remedy” Backstory: How Law Professor Kate Nace Day Came to Make a Documentary Short about Domestic Sex Trafficking 

July 17, 2015

After analyzing numerous documentaries about sex trafficking, Law Professor Emerita Kate Nace Day decided to make one that focuses on a vision of civil justice for survivors.

Civil Rights, consent, Documentaries blog, Human Rights, Law School, Social Justice Visual Advocacy, VLA Production 

Collective Trauma, Transitional Justice and Two Documentaries about Philadelphia’s Confrontation with MOVE 

July 3, 2015

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.

Civil Rights, Documentaries blog, Documentaries, Human Rights, Law-Genre Docs, Philadelphia, Social Justice 

Press freedom group expands access to free legal services for documentarians 

June 24, 2015

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is launching a new campaign to reach out to documentary filmmakers.

advocacy, Civil Rights, Conlaw, Documentaries blog, Documentaries, Documentary litigation, First Amendment, Open Gov, production, Video 

“The Look of Silence”: Vicarious Fear, Transitional Justice, and Documentary Practice 

June 8, 2015

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.

Documentaries blog, Documentaries, Human Rights, International, Law-Genre Docs, Social Justice 

Forget Flattery: The Attributes of a Good, Effective Sentencing Video 

May 29, 2015

A sentencing video should be more than a flattering portrait of a defendant; it should tell the story of what the defendant has done to deserve a lighter sentence and why he or she is unlikely to reoffend.

Criminal Justice, Criminal Law, Documentaries blog, Social Justice Visual Advocacy, Visual Advocacy, VLA Production 

A Feature-Length Black Feminist Autobiographical True-Crime Amateur Documentary: “Justice for Her” 

April 13, 2015

“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.”

Black Feminism, Criminal Cases, Criminal Justice, Documentaries blog, Documentaries, Popular Culture, Social Justice 

Portraying Young Black Men “with a Background”: An Authenticating Audience Reviews “Evolution of a Criminal” 

February 26, 2015

“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.

Criminal Justice, Documentaries blog, Documentaries, Law-Genre Docs, Social Justice 

“Sticker Shock” in the Academic Market: A Plea for More Creative Distribution and Pricing Options for Documentary Sales to Colleges and Universities 

January 27, 2015

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?

Copyright, Documentaries blog, Documentaries, Law and Technology, Law School, Library, Media, Video 

Blurring the Boundary Between the Doc World and the Law: A Conversation with Chico Colvard 

December 16, 2014

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.

Careers, Documentaries blog, Documentaries, Law-Genre Docs, Social Justice 

Confronting the Digital Reality: Producing Visual Advocacy and Scholarship (PVAS) in Law Schools 

December 5, 2014

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.

Documentaries blog, Documentaries, Faculty, production, Research, studentvideos, Video, Visual Advocacy, VLA Production 

The Lived Experience of an Oxymoron: Harry Reicher’s Visual Approach to Law & the Holocaust 

November 10, 2014

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.

Civil Rights, Documentaries blog, Documentaries, Faculty, Human Rights, International, Legal History, Media 

“Get Digi With It”: AUDIOVISUAL TECHNOLOGY’S CHALLENGE TO RESTRICTIONS ON RECORDING IN PENNSYLVANIA PRISONS 

October 21, 2014

The PA Department of Corrections’ nearly complete ban on recording in its facilities by lawyers and the media needs to be reexamined in light of advances in the use of digital audiovisual technology and visual legal advocacy.

Criminal Justice, Documentaries blog, Law and Technology, Law-Genre Docs, Media, production tips, Social Justice Visual Advocacy, Social Justice, Visual Advocacy 

When HBO or POV Comes Calling: Defense Counsel’s Role in an Observational Documentary of a Criminal Proceeding 

September 21, 2014

Supreme Court precedent required that a juvenile offender serving four consecutive terms of LWOP be resentenced.  Learn about the role his defense lawyers played in representing him as the subject of the observational documentary “15 to Life.”

consent, Criminal Cases, Documentaries blog, Law-Genre Docs, production tips, Visual Advocacy 

To Ask or Not to Ask? The Law, Ethics, & Etiquette of Capturing the Public for “DIY Stock” 

August 28, 2014

What guidance should law students be given about capturing candid images of the public, in public and without the subjects’ consent, for a “DIY Stock” gallery?

consent, Documentaries blog, production tips, Social Justice Visual Advocacy, studentvideos, Visual Advocacy, VLA Production 

Storytellers Needed! Collaborations and the Promise of i-Docs 

August 14, 2014

When social justice collaborations and storytellers are in short supply, visual legal advocates should pursue the promise of i-Docs (Interactive Documentaries) to encourage participation and activism for change.

Documentaries blog, Law-Genre Docs, production tips, Social Justice Visual Advocacy, Visual Advocacy, VLA Production 

VLA Production Sine Qua Non: A DIY “Stock” Image Gallery with a “Street Vibe” 

August 3, 2014

Having a DIY gallery of stock images of your own making is a sine qua non to teaching and practicing visual legal advocacy.  Capturing stills and video footage with the characteristics of street photography in mind will really enrich the collection.

Copyright, Documentaries blog, Law-Genre Docs, Privacy, production tips, Social Justice Visual Advocacy, studentvideos, Visual Advocacy, VLA Production 

Teaching Advocacy Video Production in Law School: Getting by with a Lot of Help from My Collaborators 

July 26, 2014

This is the first in a series of “how-to” posts on structuring a course that involves law students, supported by a host of collaborators, in producing and directing short social justice advocacy documentaries.

Documentaries blog, Social Justice Visual Advocacy, studentvideos, Visual Advocacy, VLA Production 

The First-Graders Who Were “The Memphis 13”: A Different Visual Take on Brown v. Board 

June 23, 2014

“The Memphis 13” is not only a powerful and thought-provoking short documentary; it also illustrates the potential contributions of visual legal scholarship.   

Civil Rights, Documentaries blog, Documentaries, Social Justice Visual Advocacy, Visual Advocacy, VLA Production 

Showing Where We Come From – A Public Defender’s Use of Video in Pretrial Plea Negotiations 

June 16, 2014

In making the case for resources and training in visual legal advocacy, a public defender describes how a video she shot in a client’s home with his mother was effective in reducing his sentence.   

Archives, Criminal Justice, Documentaries blog, production tips, Visual Advocacy, VLA Production 

“Nowhere to Run”: A Student Video on the Impact of Recreational Disparities on City Kids 

June 6, 2014

Sometimes legal research generates a good topic for a student-made visual legal advocacy video.  It did in the case of “Nowhere to Run: Giving Philly’s Urban Youth a Place to Play.”

Archives, Civil Rights, Documentaries blog, production tips, Social Justice Visual Advocacy, studentvideos, Visual Advocacy, VLA Production 

Affirming Human Connections in Interviews 

May 31, 2014

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,

Documentaries blog, Documentaries, production tips, Social Justice Visual Advocacy, studentvideos, VLA Production 

Documenting Social Justice Protests #3: The Supporting Roles of Three Different Kinds of Lawyers 

May 27, 2014

Lawyers play a supporting role in protecting and assisting protesters who interact with digital visual technology. The lawyers may be practicing criminal law, civil liberties, or international human rights.

Civil Rights, Criminal Justice, Documentaries blog, First Amendment, Human Rights, Media, Social Justice, Video 

Documenting Social Justice Protests #2: “In Struggle” with Signs, Symbols, Spectacle, and Respect for Social Connections 

May 22, 2014

Not only should visual artist activists produce work that is authentic and creative, they should also pay due regard to the importance of social connections to movements for social change.

consent, Documentaries blog, Social Justice Visual Advocacy, Social Justice, VLA Production 

Due East: The Chinese Internet Audience 

May 20, 2014

The Chinese audience for Internet video programming is much like that for television documentaries.  Few dreamers here.

Documentaries blog, International, Social Justice, Video 

Filmmakers Discuss Challenges of Documenting Landmark Animal Rights Case 

May 12, 2014

Renowned documentary duo, Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker, discuss the challenges of and hopes for their latest documentary project, which follows a lawyer fighting for “personhood” rights for chimpanzees.

Documentaries blog, Law-Genre Docs 

Documenting Social Justice Protests #1: The Visual Impact of “Creative Cultural Resistance” 

May 10, 2014

Video of the 2014 VLA Roundtable “Preparing to Protest” shows how “creative cultural resistance” can increase the visual impact of direct action social justice protests.

Documentaries blog, Law and Technology, Social Justice Visual Advocacy, Visual Advocacy, VLA Production 

Sentencing Videos: Visual Legal Advocacy for Criminal Defendants 

April 25, 2014

Sentencing videos are short nonfiction advocacy pieces that can help criminal defendants obtain better sentences by illustrating with images, sound, and text their capacity as a human beings to suffer, err, grow and change.

Criminal Cases, Criminal Justice, Criminal Law, Documentaries blog, Litigation-Related Visual Advocacy, Social Justice Visual Advocacy, Visual Advocacy 

Eyes Still on the Prize: Stanley Nelson’s Authenticating Audience 

April 17, 2014

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? 

Civil Rights, Documentaries blog, Documentaries, Law-Genre Docs, Visual Advocacy 

The Art of the Movie-Title Steal 

April 16, 2014

Two new Hollywood films have the same titles as recent documentary films. How is that legal?

Documentaries blog, production 

What ‘Chevron Corp. v. Donziger’ Continues To Get Wrong about Documentary Filmmaking 

March 29, 2014

The latest opinion from the Southern District of New York betrays misapprehensions about documentary filmmaking, and, in the process, renders documentary outtakes more vulnerable to subpoena than they should be.

Documentaries blog, Documentary litigation, journalist privilege, production 

Documenting the ‘Black Male Achievement Gap’ and Building a Campaign for Change 

March 8, 2014

American Promise documents the education of two middle-class African-American boys in New York City from kindergarten through high school.  With the documentary as a springboard, the filmmakers are spearheading a larger social justice campaign to support better educational opportunities for African-American males.

Documentaries blog, Social Justice Visual Advocacy, Social Justice, Visual Advocacy 

Do Documentary Filmmakers Need a Legal Defense Fund? 

February 26, 2014

Documentary guru Thom Powers thinks that organizations that support doc filmmakers need to create a legal defense fund to help filmmakers pay legal bills.

Documentaries blog, Documentary litigation, production 

“Kids for Cash”: Aided and Abetted by “Zero Tolerance” and the “School-to-Prison Pipeline” 

February 20, 2014

The documentary “Kids for Cash” is as much about the limits of zero tolerance policies and the harms of the school-to-prison pipeline as it is about judicial greed and corruption.  Who knew?

Documentaries blog, Law-Genre Docs 

Getting Appearance Releases Signed: A Cautionary Tale 

January 20, 2014

A lawsuit reveals details about documentarian Errol Morris’s struggle to get consent forms signed by Joyce McKinney, the subject of the film Tabloid.

consents & contracts, Documentaries blog, Errol Morris, production 

Beyond the Box Office: Measuring the Impact of Documentary Films 

January 20, 2014

The PUMA Impact Awards have created an archive of case studies detailing how filmmakers and advocates use film and video to make a difference in the world.

advocacy, Documentaries blog, Social Justice, Visual Advocacy 

How to Gain the Trust of Your Documentary Subjects 

January 18, 2014

Call Me Kuchu co-director Malika Zouhali-Worrall talks about gaining trust of documentary film subjects.

advocacy, Call Me Kuchu, Documentaries blog, Malika Zouhali-Worrall, production, Social Justice, trust, Visual Advocacy, VLA Production 

Thoughts on “The Loving Story” 

November 16, 2013

A closer look reveals that there is more to “The Loving Story” than meets the eye.

Documentaries blog, Law-Genre Docs 

Class Warfare in Philadelphia 

July 17, 2013

This 8-episode series looks at economic inequality in Philadelphia and the political activism of engaged Philadelphians who are targeting the social and material disparities burdening the City’s poor and working people.

Documentaries blog, Social Justice Visual Advocacy