Discover Films

Films about criminal justice

Whose Streets?

Feature Film

PBS Premiere: July 30, 2018

An unflinching look at the Ferguson uprising, told by the activists leading the movement.

Lindy Lou, Juror Number Two

Feature Film

PBS Premiere: July 16, 2018

Lindy starts a journey looking for the 11 jurors with whom she sentenced a man to death.

Mother's Day

Short Film

PBS Premiere: Feb. 12, 2018

Once a year on Mother's Day, a charity buses children to prisons to visit their mothers.

Do Not Resist

Feature Film

PBS Premiere: Feb. 12, 2018

A vital and influential exploration of the rapid militarization of the police in the United States. Do Not Resist puts viewers in the center of the action — from inside a police training seminar that teaches the importance of "righteous violence" to the floor of a congressional hearing on the proliferation of military equipment in small-town police departments. Winner, Best Documentary Feature Award, 2016 Tribeca Film Festival.

A Conversation with My Black Son

Short Film

PBS Premiere: Feb. 12, 2018

Parents recount telling their black sons that they may be targets of racial profiling.

Two Towns of Jasper

Feature Film

Encore Broadcast: Jan. 1, 2018

In 1998 James Byrd, Jr., a black man, was chained to a truck and dragged to death by three white men. Two film crews, one black and one white, document the aftermath of the murder.

Tribal Justice

Feature Film

PBS Premiere: Aug. 21, 2017

In Tribal Justice, two Native American judges reach back to traditional concepts of justice in order to reduce incarceration rates, foster greater safety for their communities, and create a more positive future for their youth. A co-production of Vision Maker Media and American Documentary | POV.

Our Voices Are Rarely Heard

Short Film

Digital Premiere: July 17, 2017

With rare access inside Pelican Bay State Prison, we hear inmates' experiences of living in long term solitary confinement. This short documentary offers a visceral snapshot of the day-in-the-life inside one of the most notorious supermax prisons in the U.S.

Pervert Park

Feature Film

PBS Premiere: July 11, 2016

Florida Justice Transitions trailer park is home to 120 sex offenders, all battling their own demons as they work toward rejoining society. This film considers how the destructive cycle of sexual abuse — and the silence surrounding it — can be broken.

Out in the Night

Feature Film

Encore Broadcast: June 6, 2016

A moving account of four women sensationalized by the media as a "Gang of Killer Lesbians" reveals the role that race, gender identity and sexuality play in our criminal justice system. A co-production of ITVS. A co-presentation with the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC).

The Return

Feature Film

PBS Premiere: May 23, 2016

In 2012, California amended its "Three Strikes" law, shortening the sentences of thousands of "lifers." See this unprecedented reform through the eyes of those on the front lines — prisoners suddenly freed, families turned upside down and attorneys and judges wrestling with an untested law. A co-production of American Documentary | POV and ITVS. A co-presentation with the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC). Official Selection of the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival.

Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case

Feature Film

PBS Premiere: Oct. 2, 2015

How the government's attempts to silence Ai Weiwei have turned him into China's most powerful artist and an irrepressible voice for free speech and human rights around the globe. Official Selection of the 2013 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.