News

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  Not Girls in a Gang nor a Gang of Girls: A Law-Focused Review of “Out in the Night”
  August 11
  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.
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  Collective Trauma, Transitional Justice and Two Documentaries about Philadelphia’s Confrontation with MOVE
  July 3
  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.
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  “The Look of Silence”: Vicarious Fear, Transitional Justice, and Documentary Practice
  June 8
  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.
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  A Feature-Length Black Feminist Autobiographical True-Crime Amateur Documentary: “Justice for Her”
  April 13
  “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.”
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  Portraying Young Black Men “with a Background”: An Authenticating Audience Reviews “Evolution of a Criminal”
  February 26
  “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.
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  Blurring the Boundary Between the Doc World and the Law: A Conversation with Chico Colvard
  December 16
  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.
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  “Get Digi With It”: AUDIOVISUAL TECHNOLOGY’S CHALLENGE TO RESTRICTIONS ON RECORDING IN PENNSYLVANIA PRISONS
  October 21
  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.
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  Documenting Social Justice Protests #3: The Supporting Roles of Three Different Kinds of Lawyers
  May 27
  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.
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  Documenting Social Justice Protests #2: “In Struggle” with Signs, Symbols, Spectacle, and Respect for Social Connections
  May 22
  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.
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  Due East: The Chinese Internet Audience
  May 20
  The Chinese audience for Internet video programming is much like that for television documentaries.  Few dreamers here.
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  Documenting the ‘Black Male Achievement Gap’ and Building a Campaign for Change
  March 8
  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.
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  Beyond the Box Office: Measuring the Impact of Documentary Films
  January 20
  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.
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  How to Gain the Trust of Your Documentary Subjects
  January 18
  Call Me Kuchu co-director Malika Zouhali-Worrall talks about gaining trust of documentary film subjects.