Culture Representation: A documentary about the disastrous and tragic Altamont concert headlined by the Rolling Stones in 1969, “Days of Rage” focuses on the era’s youthful counterculture movement and the business of rock music, as represented by white men who are British and American.
Culture Clash: In addition to showing a history of the 1960s counterculture and Generation Gap, the movie also examines how violence affected the factions of pop culture that were involved in the Altamont concert.
Culture Audience: “Days of Rage” will appeal primarily to Rolling Stones fans and people interested in learning more about how the Altamont concert became a notorious example of the dark side of the 1960s counterculture movement.
Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger (pictured at far left) on stage at the 1969 Altamont concert, in a photo still from “Days: of Rage: The Rolling Stones’ Road to Altamont” (Photo courtesy of Vision Films)
The first thing you should know about the absorbing documentary “Days of Rage: The Rolling Stones’ Road to Altamont” is that the Rolling Stones are not interviewed for this film. The second thing you should know is that the movie is not a rehash of “Gimme Shelter,” the 1970 documentary from director brothers Albert and David Maysles that chronicled the Rolling Stones’ ill-fated free Altamont concert in the San Francisco area on December 6, 1969. Even without the Rolling Stones’ participation, “Days of Rage” is a riveting historical account that explores much more than the Rolling Stones’ performance at Altamont concert. The movie takes an overall look at the circumstances and culture that led up to this tragic and violent event, during which an African American man named Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death in the audience by Hell’s Angels gang members while the Rolling Stones were performing “Sympathy for the Devil.” (The band didn’t perform the song for years after the tragedy happened.)
People who are interested in this documentary, which clocks in at a little over 100 minutes, should also know that the descriptions of the Altamont concert don’t come until the last third of the movie. The first two-thirds of the movie are a deep dive into how rock music and youth culture influenced each other in the 1960s, and led to the rise of the era’s counterculture movement. The 1960s counterculture was defined by rebellion against traditional establishment customs, and it included Vietnam War protests, liberal/left-wing politics, sexual liberation and rampant drug use, with marijuana and LSD being popular drugs of choice. Even though Altamont and the Rolling Stones are used as a hook in the title to sell this documentary, the movie is really about issues much larger than a rock band and a concert. The background information on how the 1960s counterculture happened might not be very revealing to aficionados who already know about the counterculture movement, but the documentary is a compelling visual journey into this part of history, regardless of how much knowledge people have about it.
Fortunately, director Tom O’Dell, who also wrote and edited “Days of Rage,” has constructed the story in such a fascinating way that viewers shouldn’t mind how long it takes for the film to get to the details of Altamont, since the preceding content provides much-needed context to explain how the Rolling Stones ended up in the most tragic moment of the band’s history. Unlike many unauthorized films about famous entertainers that are released direct to video, this isn’t a shoddy, “fly by night” money grab that interviews people with questionable credibility who have no connection to the artist. Two of the key people who were in the Rolling Stones’ inner circle in 1969 and who were at Altamont are interviewed for “Days of Rage”: former Rolling Stones tour manager Sam Cutler and Ronnie Schneider, who was a producer of the Rolling Stones’ 1969 tour.
The quality of “Days of Rage” is on par with a news documentary on CNN or BBC. Much of the Rolling Stones archival video footage in the documentary is from ABKCO, the company that owns the rights to most of the band’s 1960s recordings and official video archives. There are also clips from Rolling Stones documentaries, such as “Gimme Shelter,” “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Stones in the Park.” Given that “Days of Rage” is a low-budget independent film, the filmmakers wouldn’t have been able to afford the rights to license original recordings of Rolling Stones songs for use in the documentary, so generic facsimile music is used as the soundtrack instead, except for one snippet of the original recording of the Rolling Stones’ “Street Fighting Man.”
The documentary also includes the expected representation of authors and journalists (a mix of Brits and Americans) who provide commentary. They include “The Rolling Stones Discover America” author Michael Lydon, who attended the Altamont concert as a journalist; Rolling Stone magazine contributor Anthony DeCurtis; journalist Nigel Williamson, who’s known for his work for Uncut and Billboard magazines; “Altamont” author Joel Selvin, who was the San Francisco Chronicle’s pop-music critic from 1972 to 2009; Grateful Dead historian Peter Richardson; “Rolling Stones: Off the Record” author Mark Paytress; photographer Gered Mankowitz, who took some of the most iconic photos of the Rolling Stones in the 1960s; “1968 in America” author Joel Kaiser; and Keith Altham, who was a writer/editor at NME from 1964 to 1967, and who later became an entertainment publicist whose clients included the Rolling Stones. All of these talking heads provide articulate and insightful viewpoints. The documentary also benefits from the appealing British narration of Thomas Arnold.
The first third of the movie delves into the 1960s British Invasion (rock/pop acts from Great Britain taking over the American charts), the influential London youth culture, the Generation Gap and the Rolling Stones’ image as the rebellious antithesis to the more family-friendly Beatles. It was an image that was carefully crafted by Andrew Loog Oldham, a former publicist who was the Rolling Stones’ manager/producer from 1964 to 1967, when he was ousted in favor of American manager Allen Klein, whose background was in accounting. It was Klein who was a key player in the Rolling Stones getting lucrative record deals and becoming a top touring act, but he is described in most historical accounts of the Stones as a greedy bully who was involved in legal battles with the Stones for years after they fired him in 1969. (Klein, who died in 2009, founded the aforementioned ABKCO.)
The second third of the movie covers the rise of the counterculture in the mid-to-late 1960s, particularly in San Francisco, the home base of the Grateful Dead, which used Hell’s Angels gang members as peaceful security employees during the band’s concerts. (The Hell’s Angels were far from peaceful at Altamont.) All of these changes in society took place during the rise of LSD gurus Ken Kesey and Timothy Leary; California’s influential 1967 mass gatherings the Human Be-In (in San Francisco) and the Monterey Pop Festival; increasingly violent political protests; and the 1968 assassinations of civil-rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy.
During this era, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones (who had almost parallel careers in the 1960s) were part of the soundtracks to millions of people’s lives. The documentary notes the contrast between the two bands in the pivotal year of 1967: While the Beatles triumphed with the universally praised, artful masterpiece album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and with anthems such as “All You Need Is Love,” the Rolling Stones stumbled with the critically panned album “Their Satanic Majesties Request” and the sardonic “We Love You” single, which failed to resonate with audiences on a wide level. The Rolling Stones were further sidelined in 1967 by legal problems for lead singer Mick Jagger, rhythm guitarist Keith Richards (the two chief songwriters of the Rolling Stones) and lead guitarist Brian Jones, who all got busted for drugs, resulting in jail time and scandalous trials.
But with civil unrest happening in many parts of the world, the Stones returned with a vengeance to the top of their game, marking the beginning of what many music historians and Stones fans consider to be the band’s best and most creative period in the late 1960s to early 1970s. The zenith of the Rolling Stones began in 1968 with the release of the single “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and the “Beggars Banquet” album, which included other Stones classics such as “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Street Fighting Man.” By 1969, the Stones were ready to tour again, this time with new guitarist Mick Taylor, the replacement for Rolling Stones co-founder Jones, who died by drowning on June 3, 1969, less than a month after he left the band. It was the first major lineup change to the Rolling Stones since the band began making records in 1963. The lineup was rounded out by drummer Charlie Watts and bass player Bill Wyman.
The Rolling Stones’ first concert with Taylor was a massive free show (with an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 people in attendance) at London’s Hyde Park on July 5, 1969, with the concert’s focus changing into a tribute to Jones because of his unexpected death. Even though the Hyde Park show was generally considered one of the worst concerts the Rolling Stones ever performed (their playing was out-of-tune and ragged), the show was a peaceful event with security provided by the British Hell’s Angels. The Hyde Park concert planted the seed for the idea of the Rolling Stones headlining a similar gigantic free concert in America, especially after the Woodstock Festival in August of 1969 became a cultural phenomenon. The Rolling Stones did not perform at Woodstock or the Monterey Pop Festival, and the documentary mentions that Jagger was particularly keen on performing at a huge counterculture event in America.
And when the Grateful Dead’s co-manager Rock Scully suggested that the Rolling Stones headline a free, one-day, Woodstock-inspired festival in San Francisco, with security provided by the Hell’s Angels, plans were set in motion for the concert that would become Altamont. In addition to the Rolling Stones, other bands on the bill were the Grateful Dead, Santana, Jefferson Airplane and the quartet Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. All four of these California-based acts except for CSN&Y member Neil Young had performed at Woodstock. The Rolling Stones’ “Let It Bleed” album (which included the classic single “Gimme Shelter”) was scheduled to be released just one day before the Altamont concert, which was essentially supposed to be a high-profile launching pad for the album.
The documentary points out that the British Hell’s Angels who provided security at the Rolling Stones’ Hyde Park concert were pussycats compared to their violent counterparts in America. Selvin further notes that the San Francisco chapter of the Hell’s Angels that the Grateful Dead worked with were much more benevolent than the “thugs” of the San Jose chapter of the Hell’s Angels who ended up committing the majority of the mayhem at the Altamont concert. The festival was so mismanaged that it never would have happened by today’s standards, due to all the present-day safety/insurance requirements and liability prevention policies that most U.S. cities, concert venues and promoters have. Plans to have the concert at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco were scrapped after the city refused a permit because the park wasn’t large enough for the expected audience size. The concert location was then changed to Sears Point Raceway in suburban Sonoma, but two days before the show, that concert site was cancelled after the Sears Point Raceway owners demanded exorbitant fees that the concert promoters weren’t willing to pay.
Out of sheer desperation, the concert was moved to the Altamont Speedway in suburban Livermore. The site, which was in a state of disrepair, was woefully ill-equipped to handle the crowd of an estimated 300,000 people who showed up. There were major problems with inadequate space, sanitation, food and medical facilities. Making matters worse, the stage was dangerously close to the crowd. At the Sears Point Raceway, the stage had been safely located at the top of a steep incline, so it was inaccessible to the audience. At the Altamont Speedway, the opposite was true—the stage had to be built at the bottom of an incline—so it was very easy for audience members to slide down the incline and reach the bottom of the landfill pit where the stage was located. Attempts to put barricades around the incline proved to be ineffective.
Even with these production problems and the large quantities of illegal drugs taken by the audience, people interviewed in the documentary say that the concert would have been relatively peaceful if there hadn’t been a bad group of Hell’s Angels inflicting an excessive and disturbing amount of violence on innocent people. The documentary has a harrowing account of the inescapable sounds of people being beaten with pipes and other weapons by the gang members. And a few band members weren’t spared from the violence either. Jefferson Airplane singer Marty Balin was beaten when he tried to stop a Hell’s Angels assault. Jagger, upon arriving at the concert site, was punched in the face by a drugged-out audience member. Band members pleaded several times on stage for the violence to stop, but those pleas were essentially ignored, and it wasn’t unusual for a Hell’s Angel member to get up on stage and threaten the performers.
The Grateful Dead got so freaked out by the violence that they refused to perform and immediately left the area. Schneider, a nephew of former Rolling Stones manager Klein, was one of the chief people responsible for promoting the concert, and he partially blames the Grateful Dead for the escalating Altamont violence, because the band abandoned the show. Schneider believes that if the Grateful Dead had played, the band’s laid-back jamming would have mellowed out the audience. Instead, there was nothing to fill the long time gap left by the abrupt departure of the Grateful Dead, and the audience had to wait for hours before the Stones arrived, further ramping up the tensions and violence.
There are graphic descriptions of what happened during and after the murder of audience member Hunter. According to eyewitnesses, his bloodied body was shockingly placed on stage and then backstage during the Rolling Stones’ performance, in order for his body not to be further violated by the angry and out-of-control Hell’s Angels. These descriptions are not in the “Gimme Shelter” documentary, which rightfully edited out the most disturbing footage of the murder. (Hell’s Angel member Alan Passaro, who was arrested for the stabbing, claimed self-defense because Hunter had pulled out a gun. Passaro was later tried and acquitted of the murder in 1971.) Some of the commentators, especially Selvin, want it to be known that the Rolling Stones perpetuated a myth that the band didn’t know about the murder until after their performance. Selvin said that the lights were so bright on stage (since the concert was being filmed) and the audience was so close to the stage that it was impossible for people on stage not to see all the violence being committed just a few feet in front of them.
The documentary also includes a photo of Jagger looking at a group of people standing around what is said to be Hunter’s dead body on stage. According to Selvin, it was Jagger’s decision for the Rolling Stones to continue performing, even after Jagger knew that someone had been murdered during the band’s set. Since Jagger has not publicly discussed the murder in detail, and he’s not interviewed for this documentary, his side of the story isn’t presented. However, the implication from the Rolling Stones insiders (Cutler and Schneider) who were at the Altamont concert and who were interviewed for this film is that Jagger probably thought that the violence would get worse if the Stones didn’t finish their performance.
Richards briefly told his memories of Altamont in his 2010 memoir, “Life,” but he did not go into any of the gruesome details. Wyman (who quit the band in 1993) ended his 1990 memoir, “Stone Alone,” with the death of Jones, who died six months before Altamont happened. Wyman barely mentioned Altamont in his 2019 biographical documentary “The Quiet One.” Taylor (who quit the Rolling Stones in 1974) and Watts have also not opened up publicly about how much of the murder and body disposal they saw.
Even if you’re a die-hard Rolling Stones fan who’s read numerous accounts of the Altamont concert or if you’ve seen “Gimme Shelter,” watching “Days of Rage” will still make an impact in showing how the peace and love dream of the ’60s counterculture turned into a sickening and brutal nightmare that’s also a cautionary and very tragic tale.
Vision Films released “Days of Rage: The Rolling Stones’ Road to Altamont” on VOD and digital on January 7, 2020.
Directed by Rachel Leah Jones and Phillipe Bellaïche
Hebrew with subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place in Israel, this documentary has mostly Israeli Jews with a significant representation of Palestinian Muslims.
Culture Clash: This entire movie is about how the longtime and ongoing conflicts between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Muslims affect the criminal-justice system in Israel.
Culture Audience: “Advocate” will appeal primarily to those who like arthouse international documentaries that cover civil rights, legal issues and criminal justice from a left-wing/liberal point of view.
Lea Tsemel in “Advocate” (Photo courtesy of Film Movement)
Controversial attorney Lea Tsemel has gotten used to being called a traitor and a “devil’s advocate” in her native Israel, because her specialty is representing Palestinian Muslim minorities in Israel who are usually accused of violent acts of terrorism or hate crimes. Tsemel says her clients are frequently targeted for unfair criminal prosecutions and are given harsher sentences than non-Muslims. A self-described left-wing activist, Tsemel is Jewish (most of her family members on her mother’s side were murdered in the Holocaust), but she’s not overtly religious. Her true religion is taking up causes for people she considers misunderstood underdogs and fighting a criminal-justice system that she says is biased against them.
Tsemel says she is not anti-Israel, but she will usually side with those she sees as being persecuted and deprived of their civil rights. Instead of cowering from the onslaught of hateful criticism that she gets from much of the Israeli public, she uses it has a badge of honor that she’s doing something right in shaking up a system that she wants to hold accountable for civil-rights violations. “Advocate” directors Rachel Leah Jones and Phillipe Bellaïche have made a compelling portrait of Tsemel by alternating between up-close access to her present-day life and archival footage that shows glimpses of her past.
Born in 1945, Tsemel is at an age when most people have settled into retirement. However, she shows no signs of slowing down. Her reputation of being a tough defense lawyer is one she’s had since she began practicing law in the 1970s, but her iconoclastic activism started long before she became an attorney. In the movie, she recalls her days as a volunteer soldier in 1967, and she claims she was one of the first Israeli women to visit the Wailing Wall. She had interactions with Arabs from an early age, since she grew up in an Arab-owned house in her hometown of Haifa, Israel.
As a student at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, she frequently participated in activism rallies and protests organized by the radical Israeli group Marzpen. It was at one of these Marzpen protests that she was first seen by fellow Hebrew University student Michel Warschawski, who would later become her husband and a fellow left-wing activist. Warschawski, who is interviewed in the documentary, says he was intrigued not only by her physical appearance but also her fearless attitude. He vividly describes the first time he saw her at the protest as being a short, attractive, miniskirt-wearing woman who had a big voice and wasn’t shy about using crude language to make her point. When a disapproving man watching the protest told her she should be worried about finding a husband, she shouted him down by essentially telling him that he should be worried about his small penis size.
Even though Tsemel and Warshcawski have kids together, they freely admit that her obsessive devotion to her work has made her family her secondary priority. Their son Nissan (nicknamed “Nini”) and daughter Talila are interviewed in the documentary, and they offer their perspectives of growing up with a mother who is a controversial public figure. Nini remembers a rare occasion from his childhood when he and his mother were spending leisure time together by talking a walk outside. They were stopped by a stranger, who showed them he had a gun and told Tsemel that people were watching her. Nini remembers being very frightened by the incident and asking his mother why she wanted to do this work if it was so dangerous. She replied that she can’t do anything else besides her work. Even though death threats are part of her mother’s work, Talila says that because of her mother’s gritty courage in dealing with her enemies, she and her family feel protected.
From the very first scene of “Advocate,” viewers see Tsemel’s dominant, “take charge” personality when, during a meeting with a client who’s accused of stabbing 11 people on a bus, she tells him about how she wants things to go for an upcoming court appearance: “I’ll do the talking.” The client was charged with 11 counts of attempted murder, but Tsemel got the charges reduced to one count of attempted murder. In Tsemel’s line of work, that reduction of charges is a major victory. Viewers don’t find out the final outcome of the case because the documentary then shifts to the case that is the primary focus of the film, making “Advocate” not just a biography of Tsemel but also a tense legal drama.
Tsemel is the defense attorney for a boy named Ahmad, who is in his mid-teens and charged with two counts of attempted murder. Several facts of the case are disputed by the prosecution and the defense, but both sides agree that Ahmad and his older teenage cousin Hassan were going around Jerusalem’s Pisgat Zeev neighborhood, openly carrying knives (some of this activity was caught on surveillance video), and two Jewish people (a man and a boy) got stabbed. The stabbings were not caught on video. In the resulting melee, Ahmad ran out on a street and was hit by a car, while Hassan was shot and killed by police. Ahmad had head and arm injuries as a result of the car accident, but they weren’t life-threatening injuries, and he was arrested. His defense was that Hassan did the stabbing, and that their intent was to scare people with the knives, not kill them.
There are certain people (such as Ahmad) in the documentary whose identities are protected. The documentary doesn’t reveal their last names, and their faces are superimposed with animation, which is shown in split screen with unaltered images in the same scene. Many of Ahmad’s adult relatives, including his mother and father, are shown on camera. Cameras and other recording equipment are not allowed in the courtroom, although cameras and other recording equipment are allowed in the courthouse hallways, which is where the documentary gets the majority of the courthouse footage.
In this high-profile case against Ahmad, the prosecution portrays Ahmad as a terrorist who committed a hate crime. The defense’s argument is that there is no proof that Ahmad actually did the stabbing, the crime committed was not a terrorist act or hate crime, and the attempted murder charges should be dropped. At the heart of the case is the issue of intent: Was the intent murder or something else? Tsemel and her younger co-counsel Tareq Barghout are faced with the decision to do a plea-bargain deal or take the case to trial. Revealing their decision and the outcome of the case would be spoiler information, but it’s enough to say that Tsemel, by her own admission, is the kind of person who doesn’t just back down from a fight, she runs toward it and sometimes instigates it. The decision on whether or not to take the case to trial is divisive among members of her own legal team, who express their differing opinions on what to do.
Barghout is cocky with a sarcastic edge to his humor, but his bark turns out to be worse than his bite. Although Tsemel is clearly his mentor, Barghout doesn’t have the nerves of steel that she does. In one scene in the documentary, Tsemel and Barghout have to face the media in the courthouse hallway after getting a judge’s decision that’s a setback in Ahmad’s case. Tsemel barrels ahead to face the cameras and answer questions from reporters during the impromptu press conference, while Barghout decides he can’t deal with the media at that moment, so he ducks out and leaves through a back staircase. He eventually returns, somewhat sheepishly, when the press conference is nearly over, but his actions show how conflicted he feels about the public scrutiny of being Tsemel’s right-hand man. A major development involving Barghout has happened since “Advocate” had its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. This development won’t be a spoiler reveal in this movie review, but the documentary mentions this development in an updated postscript before the movie’s end credits.
“Advocate” makes it clear that although Tsemel can be compassionate with her clients, that compassion doesn’t always extend to her employees. In one scene in the film, Barghout and Tsemel joke about an intern in their office who abruptly quit because the intern didn’t like how Tsemel yelled at the intern and told him to “eat shit” (metaphorically) after the intern resisted doing a requested office task. Barghout comments that Tsemel has said things worse things to Barghout and other people who work for her, so they have to find an intern who can handle Tsemel’s cursing and abrasive manner.
One of the biggest legal issues that really gets Tsemel riled up is how authority figures use unethical interrogation techniques, which can lead to false confessions. She thinks that torture and illegal interrogation methods are much more common than what’s reported, and she believes almost all of her clients have been victims of this abuse of power. The documentary includes released footage clips of Ahmad being interrogated by police shortly after being hit by a car. The footage shows Ahmad wailing to an irate, screaming police officer that he doesn’t remember what happened and he wants to be taken to a doctor. It’s footage that may be difficult for some viewers to watch, but it’s essential to understand why people have different opinions on how suspects should be treated during interrogations.
The interrogation issue is also a personal matter for Tsemel, because her husband Warschawski was brutally interrogated after being arrested in 1987 for running the Alternative Information Center, a radical political resource base that served anyone who wanted it, but the center was perceived by the Israeli government as being a haven for anti-Israeli/anti-Semitic Muslims. In an interview for the documentary, Warschawski remembers the abusive interrogations that he endured while in jail. When he contacted Tsemel and begged her to get him out of jail, she refused, and told him that she wasn’t worthy of being her husband if he couldn’t toughen up. (And she reminded her husband that the main interrogator was stuck in the same job for years, which meant that he wasn’t considered good enough to be promoted, so he shouldn’t be feared.)
Tsemel is obviously a charismatic force who’s interesting enough to have an entire documentary made about her. However, viewers should know going into this movie that the filmmakers (who’ve known Tsemel since the 1990s) are clearly fans of her, because they present very little viewpoints from the opposing side, other than clips of media footage showing Tsemel in verbal spats with opponents on talk shows, or courthouse footage of a prosecutor making remarks during a hallway press conference. The movie’s main flaw is it shows no attempt to interview people on the victims’ side. Regardless of what people think should happen to Tsemel’s clients, there are people who’ve gotten killed or hurt as a result of violent actions, and the survivors’ perspectives are shut of out this film.
The talking heads in the movie include Palestinian feminist political activist Hanan Ashrawi, who talks about how normal it is for Palestinian families in Israel to have a family member who’s been a political prisoner. Also interviewed is Avigdor Feldman, an Israeli human/civil rights lawyer, who says that even though Israel passed tougher laws that restrict torture techniques in interrogations, the laws are ignored by Israel’s Secret Service. Although these intellectual viewpoints offer much-needed perspectives from people who aren’t clients, employees or family members of Tsemel, these talking heads obviously have similar left-wing mindsets.
As a biography that portrays Tsemel as a flawed but admirable anti-establishment hero, this documentary succeeds on all counts. As a balanced look at Israeli’s legal system, this documentary fails to tell a well-rounded story that can be considered true investigative journalism. But on a purely human level, “Advocate” is best enjoyed if you like to root for people who go against the system to take on unpopular causes at the risk of their own safety and comfort.
Film Movement released “Advocate” in select U.S. cinemas on January 3, 2020.
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ABC News’ “20/20” is an award-winning primetime program. A proven leader as a long-form newsmagazine for over 40 years, “20/20” features unforgettable, character-driven true-crime mysteries, exclusive newsmaker interviews, hard-hitting investigative reports and in-depth coverage of high-profile stories.
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Series Premiere: November 6, 2021.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Each hour-long episode retraces the investigation from start to finish, taking viewers through the twists and turns of these shocking cases, from dissecting the red flags to the undeniable evidence, and strange behavior that put the tragedy in question. With the families fighting for justice and the detectives on the case determined to find the truth, motives will be exposed and justice will be served as the families finally find out what caused the death of their loved ones.
Series Premiere: March 23, 2019.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
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Series Premiere: April 21, 2020.
Available on A&E, Hulu, Tubi, Sling TV and Philo. Individual episodes available for a price on YouTube.
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Series Premiere: January 4, 2021.
Available on Discovery+, Investigation Discovery, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
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Series Premiere: June 21, 2007.
Available on CNBC, Peacock, SlingTV, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Narrated by actor Dennis Haysbert (“24,” “The Unit,”) the newly reimagined and iconic “American Justice” looks at recent criminal cases in the United States through the prism of the criminal justice system, and from the first-hand perspectives of the prosecutors, defense attorneys, investigators, victims and perpetrators involved. The series dives into significant crimes that were adjudicated within the last few years, from trials that made national headlines to gripping lesser-known cases, ensuring that the issues being explored are relevant. Each story reveals how our justice system works, and, sometimes, how it doesn’t. One of the original true crime documentary series, “American Justice” originally aired for 13 years (1992-2005) on A&E, and was revived in 2021.
Series Premiere: September 15, 1992; August 20, 2021 (reboot)
Available on A&E, A&E Crime Central, Hulu, Tubi, Sling TV and Philo. Individual episodes available for a price on YouTube.
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Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Offering an immersive portrayal of life on the streets, “Body Cam” engages a unique storytelling technique combining the body camera footage with first-hand accounts to virtually place viewers in harrowing moments as the suspense builds and the tension rises. Each episode tells multiple stories of those who vowed to protect and serve in unflinching detail, offering viewers their own personal perspective of officers in life-threatening circumstances. From domestic disputes to ambushes and traffic stops gone dangerously awry, “Body Cam” profiles just how quickly seemingly routine situations can escalate into tragic altercations. Produced by Arrow Media.
Series Premiere: November 27, 2018.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“Buried in the Backyard” examines true-crime stories of victims found hidden in quintessential idyllic spaces. Unearthing the human remains is only the beginning, however, as each hour-long episode focuses on a compelling police investigation that unravels the mystery surrounding the victim’s identity and cause of death. “Buried in the Backyard” is produced by Renegade 83, an Entertainment One company, with Jay Renfroe, David Garfinkle, Bob Kusbit and Carolyn B. Day serving as executive producers. There are also the spinoff series “Buried in the Backyard: Buried in the House” and “Buried in the Backyard: Buried in the Sand.”
Series Premiere: June 3, 2018.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
It’s an iconic line in any crime story: when a suspect is arrested, they get one call. In reality, once a person enters the criminal justice system, they have multiple opportunities to make calls as they await trial. The vast majority of those calls are recorded. An admission, a threat, a slip of the tongue, a bribe it’s all on tape and the suspect knows it. But this doesn’t always stop them from talking and talking. Calls From the Inside, uses jailhouse phone calls to frame the narrative of murder investigations steeped in mystery.
Series Premiere: December 29, 2021.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
What happens when the clues to a murder aren’t just physical, but digital? Caught in the Net presents gripping true stories of investigators entering the digital world to solve a brutal murder. In each case, detectives are up against a lack of physical clues. But every time anyone goes online, whether it’s chat rooms, cellphone apps, car GPS or fitness trackers, they leave a digital trail behind them. Now investigators must enter this virtual world and follow the data, as they race against time to secure justice for victims’ families and track down the killer.
Series Premiere: March 14, 2022.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“Chaos in Court” examines clips of dramatic, unexpected, and cathartic courtroom moments captured in real time. Each hour brings the backstories of the crimes and legal proceedings to the forefront with actual courtroom footage, so shocking, it has to be seen, to be believed. With insightful analysis from a diverse panel of experts including judges, defense attorneys, prosecutors, and criminal psychologists, “Chaos in Court” takes you into the proceedings analyzing each case from start to finish. Featured within each of the ten episodes are interviews with defendants, family members, and others who witnessed the action to help bring dramatic courtroom moments to life, and the emotional realities of what happens when the ultimate stakes are on trial.
Series Premiere: September 18, 2020.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“City Confidential” returns to explore crimes that have impacted cities and towns across America. The iconic, noir-style series goes beyond the headlines to showcase the emotional and unexpected stories that catapulted unique communities, both large and small, into the public eye. Narrated by actor Mike Colter, “City Confidential” tells the story of one crime, the ensuing investigation, and the ripple effect it had on a community. Speaking with family, friends, detectives, journalists, and others close to the case, the series weaves together firsthand accounts and archival footage to explore the crime and its outcome.
Series Premiere: November 7, 1998; October 28, 2021 (reboot)
Available on A&E, A&E Crime Central, Hulu, Tubi, Sling TV and Philo. Individual episodes available for a price on YouTube.
There are over 100,000 cold cases in America, and only about 1% are ever solved. With recent advancements in technology and the methods used to solve these cases, as well as the unwavering dedication of victims’ families, law enforcement and the public, “Cold Case Files” explores the cases the defied the odds. Narrated by the original host and producer of “Cold Case Files,” celebrated veteran journalist and newsman Bill Kurtis, each episode of the Emmy-nominated series examines the twists and turns of one murder case that remained unsolved for years, and the critical element that heated it up, leading to the evidence that finally solved it. Featuring interviews with family members, friends, detectives, and others close to the cases, the refreshed classic series examines all facets of the crime and shines a light on a range of voices and victims.
Series Premiere: January 1, 1999; February 27, 2017 (reboot); August 20, 2021 (reboot)
Available on A&E, A&E Crime Central, Hulu, Tubi, Sling TV and Philo. Individual episodes available for a price on YouTube.
From executive producer Dick Wolf and Magical Elves, the real-life crime series follows veteran prosecutor Kelly Siegler, who gets help from seasoned detectives—Johnny Bonds, Steve Spingola, Aaron Sam and Tonya Rider—as they dig into small town murder cases that have lingered for years without answers or justice for the victims. Together with local law enforcement from across the country, the “Cold Justice” team has successfully helped bring about 30 arrests and 16 convictions. No case is too cold for Siegler as the new season delves into new unsolved homicides while also bringing updates to previous cases. “Cold Justice” is produced by Wolf Reality & Magical Elves with Dick Wolf and Tom Thayer serving as executive producers for Wolf Reality and Jane Lipsitz, Dan Cutforth, Kelly Siegler, Nan Strait and Scott Patch serving as executive producers for Magical Elves.
Series Premiere: September 3, 2013.
Available on TNT (2013-2015); Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV (2017-present); Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
A&E Network takes viewers inside America’s courtrooms in the new series “Court Cam” executive produced by Law&Crime Productions and Dan Abrams, former host of A&E’s “Live PD” and chief legal analyst for ABC News. This eight-episode 30-minute series gives viewers a front row seat to some of the most wild, unruly and outrageous courtroom moments recently caught on tape.
Series Premiere: December 5, 2019.
Available on A&E, A&E Crime Central, Hulu, Tubi, Sling TV and Philo. Individual episodes available for a price on YouTube.
“Crimes Gone Viral” explores the riveting stories behind shocking crimes caught on camera that gain viral fame on the internet. From business security cameras to home surveillance systems and cell phone cameras, someone is almost always watching. Gripping clips of kidnappings, break-ins, wild car chases, violent road rage incidents and other crimes rack up millions of views. But “Crimes Gone Viral” goes beyond the jaw-dropping footage to tell the full story. This series features compelling interviews and behind-the-scenes information of some of the internet’s most viral crime clips.
Series Premiere: September 9, 2020.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
In her 12 years as a Crime Scene Investigator for Orange County, Florida, C.S.I Alina Burroughs investigated some of the most startling and devastating cases in the country – from the tragic 2008 death of toddler Caylee Anthony to the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre. Through her work she has learned that people may not always tell the truth, but the forensic evidence never lies. In this gripping ID series, Burroughs revisits controversial and shocking murder cases from across the country, taking a fresh look at the forensic evidence with the hope to bring more clarity to these complex crimes and closure to those the victims left behind.
Series Premiere: March 8, 2022.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Certain cases are seared into the American consciousness. They are a part of how we look at society, good and evil. But what would happen if we could go back in time, or back in crime, and look again? This unique series fully re-immerses the viewer in these cases as we experienced them at the time by pairing the best news archive with audio interviews, reintroducing these cases from a new standpoint. Each episode shows the evolution of how these cases were perceived by the public then and how we view them now, exposing how the times have changed, and revealing the lessons learned from each case.
Series Premiere: November 11, 2020.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“Dateline” is NBC’s signature newsmagazine, bringing viewers storytelling at its best. The stories range from compelling mysteries to powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. When major news breaks, they go to the scene, putting the pieces together to bring the viewer the full picture. And in every story they tell, they help the real people who lived the events share their journeys with the viewer. On the air since 1992, “Dateline” is the longest-running prime-time program on NBC. “Dateline’s” work has been honored time and again with broadcast journalism’s highest awards. Lester Holt is the principal anchor, joined by correspondents Andrea Canning, Hoda Kotb, Josh Mankiewicz, Keith Morrison and Dennis Murphy.
Series Premiere: March 31, 1992.
Available on NBC, Peacock, SlingTV, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“Dateline: Secrets Uncovered,” hosted by Craig Melvin, explores chilling stories through first-hand accounts, told by those closest to the issue, including investigators entrusted with cracking the case and the families confronting tragedy.
Series Premiere: July 21, 2017.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially when she’s on a mission to murder. There’s no shortage of these tempestuous “Deadly Women,” Investigation Discovery’s signature hit series about women who have been driven to kill. Jealousy, revenge, desperation, and greed all play their devilish hand in driving these daughters, sisters, mothers, and wives to commit the ultimate sin. While male murderers are often motivated by anger, impulse, and destruction, women usually have more complex, long-term motives. Former FBI criminal profiler Candice DeLong helps viewers distinguish between the emotionally charged impulses and sociopathic intentions that lace each story.
Series Premiere: February 8, 2005 (as a limited series); December 24, 2008 (as a regular series).
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Deep in the woods, inside an abandoned house, or along the shores of a sleepy lake, every snap of a twig or unidentified rustle can be a sign of danger. “Dead Silent” shows just how dark and desolate the great outdoors can be when no one can reach you, where myth, urban legend, and horror movie dread collide to showcase twisted tales too frightening to be imaginary. Each hour-long episode features one spine-tingling and terrifying true story, interwoven with expert commentary from local authorities, true-crime experts, and psychologists, as well as first-person accounts from many of the victims who survived these nightmarish events.
Series Premiere: October 25, 2016.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Each one-hour episode of “Devoured” is a deep dive into a single true crime story that centers on one American city or region’s food specialty. Viewers will be taken through a thrill-ride of twists and turns as narrator Jon Cryer uncovers the unbelievable stories of how food fuels criminal enterprises, both large and small. Along the way, the series dishes up the food’s origin story and impact on the culinary landscape—while revealing how our passion for eating well can become a recipe for doing wrong.
What if the person closest to you was a devil in disguise—would you see the signs? Investigation Discovery’s original series “Evil Lives Here” explores the true, heart-stopping stories of people who shared a home and a life with a loved one who would become a killer. “Evil Lives Here” has exclusive interviews and never-before-told accounts of the years and critical moments leading up to these vicious acts, “Evil Lives Here” showcases the devastating and often undiscussed consequences on the people who have nurtured, loved and raised a murderer.
Series Premiere: January 17, 2016.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“Family Massacre” is a gripping and powerful exploration of some of the most ruthless murders ever committed. This series follows the true and gruesome tales of the unthinkable: multiple members of the same family slain in cold blood. In each episode, we hear from friends and surviving relatives, those people closest to the family that was massacred, while also detailing the work of the dedicated investigators and prosecutors tasked with finding their killer and bringing them to justice. Through first-hand accounts, archival footage and cinematic recreations, we see the twists and turns of the investigation unfold and delve deep into who could have committed such a shocking crime and just how they were caught and made to answer for it.
Series Premiere: December 3, 2021.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Each pulse-pounding hour-long episode of “Fatal Attraction” centers around an incredible and dangerous romance. Shocking crime, kidnapping or even murder is only half of the story. Driven by powerful, real-life stories, “Fatal Attraction” weaves together intimate, first-person interviews, exclusive interrogation footage and rare archival material. Listen as the key players, family of the survivors and those that investigated the horrific crimes reveal the secrets to each sordid tale.
“The FBI Declassified” features FBI agents and analysts taking viewers behind the scenes of some of the biggest cases they’ve solved during their careers. Through never-before-seen footage and in-depth interviews, each episode will focus on a different investigation and showcase the cooperation between the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. Agents and analysts reveal the thinking, teamwork, technology, techniques and pure gut instinct that goes into solving a critical case. The show’s narrator is Alana De La Garza, star of CBS’s “FBI” drama series.
Series Premiere: October 6, 2020.
Available on CBS, Paramount+, YouTube TV and FubuTV.
The biggest enemy for any homicide detective is not the suspect…it’s the clock. In fact, if they don’t find a lead in the first 48 hours, their chances of catching the killer are cut in half. The “First 48” tracks real homicide detectives as they struggle to solve murder cases across the country. Gripping, authentic and dramatic, viewers are brought along for the ride as the detectives hunt for killers to bring to justice.
Series Premiere: June 3, 2004.
Available on A&E, A&E Crime Central, Hulu, Tubi, Sling TV and Philo. Individual episodes available for a price on YouTube.
Long considered the gold standard of crime docuseries, “Forensic Files” returned after an eight-year production hiatus, now produced by CNN Development for HLN under the guidance of executive producer Nancy Duffy. “Forensic Files II” continues the franchise, featuring the amazing work of scientists and investigators who use cutting edge forensics to crack the most baffling criminal cases. Acclaimed film, stage and television actor Bill Camp (“Dark Waters,” “Joker,” “The Night Of”) is the narrator.
“For My Man” is a true-crime series that features the salacious and shocking stories of women who have been arrested for a crime they did in the name of love. From a killing spree across the mid-west to being an inside informant at the DEA and from murdering an unsupportive mother to robbing fifteen banks in under a year, these women have no limits as to how far they’ll go for their men. And do not be misled; these are not the women you’d expect. They are straight-A students, career police officers and once happily married women. These are the stories of the obsessions and weakness that fueled their fall from grace.
“Homicide City” takes a deep dive into the crimes that shook Philadelphia to its core. The series explores cases from a darker time that had police detectives banding together across the metropolitan landscape in a sequence of manhunts. From the mansions of the wealthy suburbs to the rowhouse-lined streets of the inner city, each episode is told through the eyes of veteran homicide detectives, local beat reporters and the victims’ families who lost so much.
Series Premiere: January 1, 2018:
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
The holiday season is usually the busiest and happiest time of the year and spent with family and friends, but unfortunately can leave a painful surprise when it begins with a shocking murder. Each hour-long episode examines a devastating case as police investigate and go to incredible lengths to unveil secrets about the true motive of the killer, giving families justice about their loved ones’ death. With firsthand accounts from those close to the victim, the limited series delves into the alarming cases that prove the holidays can turn the happiest time of the year upside down in a split second.
Series Premiere: December 3, 2016.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Hosted by lauded actor Hill Harper (“The Good Doctor,” “CSI: NY”), “How It Really Happened With Hill Harper” delves deeply into some of the most notorious crimes, mysteries, trials and celebrity tragedies of our time, with enlightening interviews and access to the vast CNN news library. Nancy Duffy is executive producer of the HLN Original Series “How It Really Happened with Hill Harper.”
Their lives are portrayed in movies, TV shows and books and their shocking acts are woven into the fabric of scary stories about real monsters in the world. But what happens when the monster is someone you live with and love? Every hour-long episode of “I Lived with a Killer” brings a haunting new twist to cases that terrified the public with the powerful stories from the family members of killers. Viewers will also hear from members of the victims’ families, detectives on each case and experts who break down the media frenzy around the crimes. “I Lived with a Killer” is produced by Breakthrough Entertainment.
“I Survived a Serial Killer” documents the harrowing, heroic stories of one or more survivors of the same serial killers. Told from the survivors’ point of view, the series highlights the strength and perseverance of regular people encountering and overcoming pure evil. Interviews with those closest to the cases will round out the stories of these unimaginable crimes.
Series Premiere: December 5, 2019.
Available on A&E, A&E Crime Central, Hulu, Tubi, Sling TV and Philo. Individual episodes available for a price on YouTube.
Putting the victim at the forefront, Investigation Discovery’s “Impact of Murder” utilizes the emotionally gripping victim’s impact statement delivered in court as the driving storytelling technique. Through a victim’s own words, viewers understand the horror they endured or the significance of the life that was taken, providing an acute understanding of the collateral damage of murder. Impact statements act as a source of strength for those who may feeling helpless after a senseless tragedy, showcasing the empowerment that they feel when they stand up in court to address the perpetrator.
Series Premiere: July 14, 2019.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Grammy and NAACP Image Award winner Ice-T (“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”) is host and executive producer, using his distinct voice to guide viewers through shocking true stories involving sex, money, obsession – or a fatal cocktail of all three. With in-depth interviews and archival footage, each hour-long episode spotlights a shocking mystery characterized by expert detective work, unforeseen twists and jaw-dropping discoveries. When some of the most basic human desires—sex and money—cloud our judgment with lust and greed, they run the risk of dangerous consequences. “In Ice Cold Blood” is produced by The Content Group with Steven Michaels, Jonathan Koch, Brian Knappmiller, and Ryann Lauckner serving as executive producers, along with Final Level Entertainment with Ice-T and Jorge Hinojosa serving as executive producers.
Series Premiere: April 1, 2018.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Legal analyst Nancy Grace gets to the bottom of some of the most challenging and multi-layered true crime stories. Each episode of “Injustice With Nancy Grace” will expose an untold and riveting case involving wrongful accusations, botched investigations, suppressed evidence, unclear motives, unjust sentences and the path forward in seeking justice. “Injustice With Nancy Grace” is produced by The Intellectual Property Corporation, an Industrial Media company, in conjunction with KT Studios and TAP INc., with Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, Nancy Grace, John Terenzio, Stephanie Lydecker and showrunner Steve Katz serving as executive producers.
Series Premiere: July 13, 2019.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“In Pursuit With John Walsh” unites the power of Investigation Discovery’s dedicated fanbase with John Walsh’s lifelong mission of putting fugitives behind bars, finding missing children, and empowering the public to assist law enforcement. Showcasing time-sensitive, unsolved cases in desperate need of attention, this new real-time investigation series mobilizes ID’s audience to actively engage in the pursuit of justice. Backed by decades of victim advocacy with a mission stemming from his own personal tragedy, “In Pursuit With John Walsh” utilizes Walsh’s unique and unrivaled experience in this field coupled with a call center able to help law enforcement find leads in real time.
Series Premiere: January 16, 2019.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“I Was a Teenage Felon” tells some of the most brazen stories of youthful ambition gone haywire as “average American kids” become smugglers, dealers, hackers, scammers and thieves.
“Judgment With Ashleigh Banfield” is an original series hosted by original Court TV alum and respected former CNN and MSNBC legal analyst Ashleigh Banfield, who made her Court TV return as a special contributor in 2020. “Judgment With Ashleigh Banfield” is a weekly hour-long series taking viewers on a deep dive into the most provocative and talked about trials and cases of all-time. With brand-new interviews and exclusive first-time ever reveals, each installment looks to further explore everything people only thought they knew about these touchstones in judicial history.
“Kids Behind Bars: Life or Parole” tells the individual stories of eight previously convicted child offenders sentenced to mandatory life terms, without parole, who are now seeking resentencing on the heels of a recent United States Supreme Court ruling. While some may be resentenced to life, others could be immediately released or given a new sentence that makes them eligible for parole.
Series Premiere: April 30, 2019.
Available on A&E, A&E Crime Central, Hulu, Tubi, Sling TV and Philo. Individual episodes available for a price on YouTube.
“Killer Motive,” from the producers of NBC’s “Dateline,” is hosted by two award-winning journalists, NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk and Emmy Award winner Troy Roberts. Each hour-long episode uncovers dark and twisted motives, from vengeance to jealousy to greed that led to gruesome killings. “Killer Motive” is produced by NBC News’ award-winning production arm Peacock Productions with Paul Ryan serving as executive producer and Alexa Danner as co-executive producer.
Series Premiere: July 11, 2019.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins” investigates burgeoning romances from their sweet beginnings, and follows what happened all the way through to their bitter endings. With her background as a criminal prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, and with her expertise in matters of the heart, Faith Jenkins gives her professional POV of the nightmarish cases. With first-hand accounts from victims’ family, friends and law enforcement, each hour-long episode reveals the inner workings of intimate attachments that seemed fated to last forever and ended in murder.
Series Premiere: January 16, 2022.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“Killer Siblings” tells the twisted stories of some of the most maniacal siblings in history. Each hour-long episode explores the psychology and pasts of cold-blooded siblings who have carried out vicious murders. Through exclusive interviews and firsthand accounts, the series delves into the evil minds of siblings who partnered together to commit some of the most heinous and sophisticated homicides. “Killer Siblings” is produced by Scott Sternberg Productions with Scott Sternberg and Matthew Watts serving as executive producers.
Series Premiere: October 27, 2019.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Hosted by renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Terry Dubrow (“Botched”), “License to Kill” chronicles the harrowing accounts of patients put into jeopardy by medical professionals’ insidious use of their expertise. Told from the perspective of victims, families, colleagues and law enforcement, each episode of “License to Kill” exposes what happens when the hands that should heal are used to cause harm on patients at the most vulnerable times. “License to Kill” is produced by Shed Media with Pam Healey, Dan Peirson, Adam Kassen, Haylee Vance, Dave Kuba and Terry Dubrow serving as executive producers.
Series Premiere: June 23, 2019.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“Lies, Crimes & Video” gives viewers an intimate look into terrifying 911 calls, police interrogations, jail house recordings, body camera and surveillance video captured as part of a criminal investigation. This series features riveting stories that incorporate video evidence in criminal cases and shocking courtroom testimony. The lies, deceit and bad behavior are all caught on camera and presented in this candid true crime docuseries. Produced by HLN Investigations, Elizabeth Yuskaitis is the executive producer.
“Locked Up Abroad” is a cult cable favorite known for taking viewers inside accounts of capture, incarceration and terror far away from home with intimate personal interviews and dramatic reenactments. Hear the firsthand accounts not only of those who were locked up but also of those who were directly part of the story, such as the undercover agent compiling the evidence against the suspect or the person making the drug dealing offers.
Series Premiere: July 24, 2007.
Available on National Geographic Channel, Hulu, ABC. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Middle American towns are explored through the murders that tore through them. The townspeople not only become storytellers, they also hold clues to the puzzle that forever changed their lives and how they understand their home.
Series Premiere: November 29, 2017.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Homicide investigations unfold through dramatic real footage in this groundbreaking series. Viewers get an up-close perspective of each case using raw, unfiltered footage from body cams at the crime scene, surveillance cameras and interrogation room video.
Series Premiere: August 28, 2019.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Across the country, high school football unites small-town communities. But when a heinous murder shatters that Friday night dream world, the crime ripples beyond those immediately impacted, and the community will never be the same again.
Series Premiere: January 24, 2022.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Oxygen, the home for high quality true crime programming, is diving deep into some of the most chilling murder cases in New York City’s recent history. New York is a shining beacon of opportunity to people across the world, and the convergence of almost innumerable cultures, customs and languages, makes it a true melting pot. It’s a city with a gritty core, where tensions run high. The series, from Good Caper Content, details the brazen crimes that could only happen in New York and the intense work by law enforcement and civilians who race to take murderers off the streets.
Series Premiere: January 1, 2022.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“On the Case With Paula Zahn” takes viewers on an exciting journey inside the most fascinating crime and mystery investigations. First person accounts, along with insight from experts are featured as each case reaches its dramatic conclusion.
Series Premiere: October 18, 2009.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“Real Life Nightmare” presents heart-wrenching, personal mysteries and unexplained deaths that continue to baffle investigators and horrify those left behind. Featured in the series is never-before-seen evidence plus a call-to-action that provides viewers an opportunity to be part of the investigation. This docuseries is produced by HLN Investigations, headed by executive producer Elizabeth Yuskaitis.
“The Real Murders of Atlanta” portrays the unbelievable cases of homicide that highlight the boundaries between gentrified Southern dynasties, hip hop hustlers and the flashy nouveau riche of this metropolitan mecca of music, entertainment and tech. Told by the investigators, witnesses, reporters and loved ones who have direct connections to the cases, each hour-long story brings Atlanta’s hustle and deadly decadence into sharp focus. It’s the dark side of the New South, where deadly battles for status and affluence emerge between those who are willing to kill for the good life and those willing to kill to keep it.
Series Premiere: January 18, 2022.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“The Real Murders of Orange County” delves into the most horrific, sinful and salacious cases that rocked Southern California’s wealthy coastal community. From a murder for hire gone wrong to families turning on their own, viewers will hear the harrowing tales of when privilege leads to problems and greed leads to murder. as one wrong turn led to a brutal murder. “The Real Murders of Orange County” is produced by 44 Blue Productions, a Red Arrow Studios company, with Stephanie Noonan Drachkovitch, Josh Bingham, David Hale and Dan Snook serving as Executive Producers.
Series Premiere: November 8, 2020.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“Reasonable Doubt” explores controversial murder convictions through an objective lens. With their parallel expertise of the law, hosts retired homicide detective Chris Anderson and criminal defense attorney Fatima Silva know that the justice system doesn’t always get it right. As cries of innocence reverberate through prison cells across the country, this series sets out to help families who are desperate for someone to listen to their evidence and theories, convinced that their loved ones were wrongfully convicted of murder. Each episode is an intense and thorough re-examination of a murder case, where the two pore over evidence, interview witnesses, and consult experts previously overlooked by police or barred by the courts to hopefully reveal the truth. Each episode culminates with the gut-wrenching reveal to the family that either brings hope for an appeal, or clarity to accept the guilty verdict.
Series Premiere: April 26, 2017.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“See No Evil” reveals how the deadliest crimes are solved by the only witnesses that never lie and never forget: surveillance cameras. With more shocking CCTV footage than ever before, “See No Evil” proves there’s nowhere killers can hide.
Series Premiere: February 17, 2015
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
When you are playing with fire, someone is bound to get burned. In the HLN series “Sex & Murder,” detectives undercover dirty secrets, scandalous sex affairs, online sex addictions, dangerous jealousy, and stunning twisted fantasies which have all led to murder.
Charm. Narcissism. Lack of empathy. Impulsiveness. Manipulation. Deception. These traits and others are the telltale “Signs of a Psychopath.” This harrowing archive series revisits some of the most dangerous killers in modern history, reviewing news footage—and the words of the killers themselves—to see which terrifying traits each killer exhibited.
Series Premiere: August 23, 2020.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“Sins of the City” is a close-ended series that exposes the dark underbelly of a city you thought you knew, by highlighting the mysterious crimes that changed the community forever. Combining informative takeaways and chilling first-hand storytelling, “Sins of the City” focuses on one shocking murder and begins with the discovery of a body as investigators are called to the scene in each hour-long episode. Each episode concludes with a verdict and the impact the case had on the victim’s family, law enforcement, the city, and the people living there.
Oxygen’s ultimate guilty pleasure profiles the fascinating cases of every day, seemingly average moms, wives and girlfriends accused of murder. Did they really do it? And if so, why? Was it a cheating spouse, years of constant abuse or that dirty dish in the sink? “Snapped” attracts millions of fans, including a wide range of celebrities from Anderson Cooper to Kelly Ripa. There are also the spinoff series “Snapped: Killer Couples” and “Snapped: Notorious.”
Series Premiere: August 6, 2004.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Just because a case is closed doesn’t mean the truth has been revealed. Suicide or murder? Runaway or kidnapping? Accidental or premeditated? “Still a Mystery” re-examines cases where unanswered questions remain. Through original interviews with law enforcement, family members and private investigators, news footage and social media, “Still a Mystery” dissects the evidence and presents new theories in a quest to uncover the truth.
Series Premiere: May 27, 2019.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Suspicion is contagious. What starts as a tiny spark of doubt focused on one individual can metastasize and cast a shadow on everything you, your community, and ultimately law enforcement thought to be true. “Suspicious Minds” creates a visceral viewing experience where a murder mystery unfolds as a psychological thriller where suspicion and doubt cloud the perceptions of everyone involved.
Series Premiere: October 8, 2020.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“Taking the Stand” tells the story of a crime from the unique lens of the accused as they take the witness stand. Hosted by Dan Abrams, each episode will cover everything from first-hand defendant testimony, juxtaposed with the contentious cross examination to the final verdict. There is a reason that taking the witness stand in your own defense is a gamble that very few criminal defendants ever take. In addition to interviews with key members of the investigation, the series features original video from law enforcement, surveillance camera footage, 911 audio recordings, digital forensic evidence and some exclusive interviews and responses from the defendants themselves, to provide an in-depth look at dozens of raw and real cases.
Series Premiere: January 13, 2022.
Available on A&E, A&E Crime Central, Hulu, Tubi, Sling TV and Philo. Individual episodes available for a price on YouTube.
The key to solving the toughest murders lies somewhere in the final 24 hours of a victim’s life. Determined investigators must piece together events to reconstruct the timeline, unlock the motive, and ultimately close in on the killer.
Series Premiere: June 4, 2020.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“Trafficked With Mariana van Zeller” is an original documentary series that explores the complex and dangerous inner-workings of the global underworld, black and informal markets. Each adventure follows Mariana on a mission to follow the chain of custody of trafficked goods, understand how to obtain the contraband, or see the 360-degree view of the trafficking world from the point of view of the smugglers, law enforcement and those caught in the crossfire.
Series Premiere: December 2, 2020.
Available on National Geographic Channel, Hulu, ABC. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
“True Conviction” explores how homicides are solved on the street and won in the courtroom. Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi, a decorated Brooklyn homicide prosecutor, travels across the country to reveal how the nation’s top prosecutors tackled their toughest cases.
Series Premiere: January 1, 2018.
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
The most baffling cases. The most bizarre killers. What drives acts of evil? “Twisted Killers” tells the shocking stories of some of America’s darkest, most unusual murderers. Along the way, a trio of criminal experts, including former NYC DA Beth Karas, retired LAPD Homicide Detective Tracey Benjamin and Forensic Psychologist Kate Termini, provide insight and expertise on how these twisted killers were brought to justice.
Series Premiere: January 6, 2022.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
From a quiet town near the Smoky Mountains, to the sunny skies of St. Petersburg, Florida, stories in this season span the nation, and across multiple different family dynamics. It’s not always the sister who is the culprit of the crime, but sometimes the accomplice, victim, whistle-blower or unintended spy. Each episode of the Khloé Kardashian-produced series “Twisted Sisters” is shrouded in mystery, heartbreak and hidden emotions, proving that where there are family ties, there are also family lies.
Series Premiere: September 3, 2018
Available on Investigation Discovery, Discovery+, Hulu, YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
Each standalone episode takes viewers on a riveting ride that explores a jaw-dropping murder investigation in which detectives discover the killer is someone completely shocking and unexpected. The series takes a deep dive into homicide investigations through captivating interviews with potential suspects, in-depth examinations of the crime scene and re-enactments. “An Unexpected Killer” is produced by Our House Media with Simon Lloyd, Matt Hanna, Samantha De France, Tom Adams, and Carey Zeiser serving as executive producers.
Series Premiere: December 5, 2019.
Available on Oxygen, Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Individual episodes available for a price on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.
HLN’s “Vengeance” franchise is about revenge, betrayal and murder. “Vengeance: Killer Lovers” premiered in March 2019 as the first series under the franchise, followed by “Vengeance: Killer Coworkers” in January 2020. “Vengeance: Killer Families” debuted in September 2021. “Vengeance: Killer Newlyweds” premiered in January 2022.
Hosted by actor and musician Donnie Wahlberg, “Very Scary People” details many of history’s scariest and most notorious characters, through captivating news footage and interviews with people close to the case.
This documentary series delves into the gripping real-life stories of the world’s most terrifying and sinister celebrities of the crime world. “World’s Most Evil Killers” gives viewers first-hand accounts as told by detectives involved with the case, journalists who reported on the stories, relatives and survivors. The series examines the triggers that drove the most evil to kill delving into their insatiable appetites for murder and their now chilling legacies. “World’s Most Evil Killers” is produced by Keshet International.
Celebrating its 10th edition in 2019, the annual DOC NYC, which takes place in New York City, is one of the world’s leading documentary festivals, with a slate of more than 300 films from a diverse array of topics. In 2019, DOC NYC takes place from November 6 to November 15, and continues the festival’s tradition of offering an outstanding variety of feature films and short films, with several of the movies focusing on under-represented people and marginalized communities. Most of the festival’s events take place at the IFC Center, SVA Theatre and Cinépolis Chelsea. This year’s DOC NYC is dedicated to documentarian D.A. Pennebaker (“Don’t Look Back,” “The War Room”), who died on August 1, 2019, at the age of 94.
DOC NYC, which was co-founded by Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen, has also had an excellent track record when it comes to diversity and inclusion. Long before the 5050×2020 pledge to have gender parity for directors at film festivals, DOC NYC was ahead of its time by having a larger percentage of films from female directors than most other film festivals. Many other international film festivals are starting to catch up and make more of an effort to include movies from female directors. Beyond the gender parity issue, this year’s DOC NYC is a true definition of a “world-class” festival, since there are numerous ethnicities and cultures from around the world represented in the films at the festival. DOC NYC also offers panel discussions and filmmaker showcases through its DOC NYC PRO programming. Most of the discussions are geared to sharing behind-the-scenes knowledge about filmmaking.
Celebrities expected to attend the event include “Ask Dr. Ruth” star Ruth Westheimer; Lydia Lunch, L7 lead singer Donita Sparks and Sonic Youth lead singer Thurston Moore for “Lydia Lunch: The War Is Never Over”; “Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back” star Maurice Hines; and “The Longest Wave” star Robby Naish. The directors of almost all of the films at DOC NYC will be at the festival’s screenings for introductions and post-screening Q&As.
The annual Visionaries Tribute, which takes place this year on November 7, will honor Martin Scorsese and Michael Apted, each with the Lifetime Achievement Award; “American Factory” directors Steven Bognar and Julia Reichart with the Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence; and New York Women in Film & Television executive director Cynthia Lopez with the Leading Light Award.
There are many films at DOC NYC that have premiered elsewhere, and some films that have already been released in theaters. DOC NYC’s Short List collection spotlights films that could be Oscar contenders. Every year so far, DOC NYC’s Short List has had a movie that has gone on to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. Films on DOC NYC’s Short List this year are “American Factory,” “The Apollo,” “Apollo 11,” “Ask Dr. Ruth,” “The Biggest Little Farm” (which was DOC NYC’s opening-night film in 2018), “The Cave,” “Diego Maradona,” “The Edge of Democracy,” “The Elephant Queen,” “For Sama,” “The Great Hack,” “Honeyland,” “The Kingmaker,” “Knock Down the House” and “One Child Nation.”
New this year is DOC NYC’s Winner’s Circle collection, which spotlights movies that have won awards at other film festivals, but might be underrated or overlooked for Oscar nominations. Winner’s Circle documentaries this year are “Advocate,” “Cold Case Hammarskjöld,” “The Fourth Kingdom: The Kingdom of Classics,” “Hope Frozen,” “Midnight Family,” “Midnight Traveler” and “Sea of Shadows.”
Even though most of the movies at DOC NYC have had their world premieres elsewhere, DOC NYC has several world premieres of its own. Here are the feature films that will have their world premieres at DOC NYC. A complete schedule can be found here.
In this autobiographical film, director Cara Jones examines her upbringing in the controversial Unification Church of the Reverend Sun Myong Koon, also known as the Moonies. The main thing that most people know about the Moonies is that they are a Korean-based organization that arranges marriages for its members, and they have massive group weddings where the brides and grooms often don’t know each other very well before they get married. World premiere: November 9 at Cinépolis Chelsea.
This is an intimate portrait of jazz bassist Buster Williams, who has worked with legends such as John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughn, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, Nancy Wilson and Herbie Hancock. World premiere: November 12 at IFC Center.
This film gives a rare inside look at Ganden, which is considered the most influential monastery in Tibetan Buddhism. Ganden is where the Dalai Lama got his start. World Premiere: November 12 at Cinépolis Chelsea.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Howard Bloom was a high-powered entertainment publicist whose clients included Michael Jackson, Prince, Joan Jett, John Mellencamp, Billy Idol and Aerosmith. But when chronic fatigue syndrome left him housebound for 15 years, he reinvented himself as an author and philosopher. World Premiere: November 10 at SVA Theatre.
The current politically divided climate has led to an increase of documentaries exploring the impact of extreme hate groups. This documentary looks at Life After Hate, an organization of people who used to be neo-Nazis and white-supremacist skinheads, who are now trying to heal the wounds they caused in their communities and beyond. World premiere: November 13 at Cinépolis Chelsea.
For nearly 30 years, director Terry Gilliam tried to get a movie made based on the novel “Don Quixote,” but he experienced the kind of bad luck and setbacks that you might see in a movie. This documentary shows how the difficult journey was for Gilliam to make “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote,” which was finally released in 2019. World premiere: November 10 at Cinépolis Chelsea.
The rising cost of college education in the U.S. has increased a problem that is rarely talked about in the news media: Students often have to choose between paying for their tuition and paying for adequate, regular meals. World premiere: November 9 at SVA Theatre.
This unusual documentary tells the story of Brian Belovitch, who lived as a male in his childhood and teen years, transitioned into a woman (and aspiring entertainer in New York City) in his 20s, and then decided to go back to living as a man. World premiere: November 7 at Cinépolis Chelsea.
Suzanne Heintz is an artist with an eccentric schtick: She takes photographs of herself with mannequins (a man and a girl), and the pictures are supposed to look like family portraits. World premiere: November 10 at Cinépolis Chelsea.
Koshien is Japan’s national championship for high school baseball, and it’s considered the premiere recruiting resource for Japan’s baseball players who want to go pro. This film examines how competitive Koshien can be and why it’s a sporting event in Japan that’s almost the equivalent of the World Series in the United States. World premiere: November 12 at Cinépolis Chelsea.
The mysterious artist Clyfford Still was one of the leaders of the American Abstract Expressionist Movement, which included Jackson Pollack and Mark Rothko. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Still avoided the media spotlight, but this documentary examines the man behind the mystique. World premiere: November 12 at Cinépolis Chelsea.
Award-winning documentarian Joe Berlinger is known mostly for covering true crime (the West Memphis Three cases and serial killer Ted Bundy), but in “The Longest Wave” he turns to the sport of surfing to profile world-champion windsurfer Robby Naish. World premiere: November 13 at SVA Theatre.
“Los Últimos Frikis” translates in English to “The Ultimate Freaks.” The movie tells the story of Cuban heavy-metal band Zeus and the group’s struggles to survive for 30 years, starting with the Fidel Castro regime. The documentary focuses mainly on Zeus’ 25th anniversary tour in the Communist country, where heavy metal has been branded as the music of radicals. World premiere: November 10 at SVA Theatre.
Avant-garde singer Lydia Lunch was a pioneer in the No Wave movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This film explains why she became an underrated influence in the ’90s riot girl movement and how she’s made an impact on today’s generation of feminist rock singers. World premiere: November 9 at IFC Center.
Mai Khoi used to be an uncontroversial pop star in her native Vietnam. But then she became an outspoken activist, formed a left-wing band called the Dissidents, and became the target of the Vietnamese government. World premiere: November 13 at Cinépolis Chelsea.
This movie offers a rare look at Martin Margiela, the celebrated fashion designer who left the industry at the height of his fame in 2008, and then became a recluse who refused to be interviewed or photographed. Viewers get unprecedented access to Margiela and his thoughts on his legacy since he retired from the spotlight. World premiere: November 8 at SVA Theatre.
Tony-nominated entertainer Maurice Hines gets candid about his life, including his sometimes rocky relationship with his more famous younger brother, Gregory Hines. This film also addresses how being an openly gay black man impacted Maurice’s career. World Premiere: November 10 at SVA Theatre.
This is a movie that will no doubt push emotional buttons and spark debate over the rights that women should have when it comes to family planning and pregnancy. “Personhood” looks at what happened when Wisconsin resident Tammy Loertscher is jailed while pregnant because of how she wanted to handle the pregnancy. World premiere: November 8 at Cinépolis Chelsea.
Steve Talt, a native New Yorker, was the bodyguard to Sarah Pahlavi, the wife of the former Shah of Iran. Talt is still employed by Pahlavi, and he has taken it upon himself to find her stolen art collection, even if he has to hire shady people to help him do it. World premiere: November 14 at IFC Center.
Andy Señor co-directed this autobiographical film about his journey of bringing the Tony-winning musical “Rent” to Cuba, the homeland of his parents, with just 12 weeks to prepare. He also faces the challenges of Cuba’s restrictions on entertainment, especially since “Rent” tackles subjects that are taboo in much of Cuban culture, such as homosexuality and AIDS. World premiere: November 8 at SVA Theatre.
The River City Drum Corps in Louisville, Kentucky, has been an artistic outlet for African American youth for 30 years. Nardie White, the leader of the drum corps, is approaching retirement and must find a successor. World premiere: November 12 at Cinépolis Chelsea.
Donald Rugoff (who died in 1989 at the age of 62) was one of the underrated influencers of the independent film movement. The heir to the New York City-based arthouse theater chain Rugoff Theatres, he founded the independent film distribution company Cinema 5, which operated in the 1960s and 1970s, and helped boost the early careers of filmmakers such as Werner Herzog, Costa-Gravas and Nicolas Roeg. World premiere: November 7 at IFC Center.
For more than 60 years, James Stevenson (who died in 2017 at the age of 87) was a cartoonist at The New Yorker and then The New York Times, as well as a prolific children’s author. This film tells his story. World premiere: November 10 at Cinépolis Chelsea.
As Americans debate over how much the U.S. government is responsible for fixing people’s problems, this documentary takes a look at how U.S. residents are affected by opioid addiction, poverty and incarceration. World Premiere: November 13 at SVA Theatre.
Not to be confused with the 2009 Mike Tyson documentary “Tyson” (directed by James Toback), this new “Tyson” documentary (directed by David Michaels) is also about Mike Tyson, but it’s an updated look at the former boxing champ’s life. World premiere: November 9 at Cinépolis Chelsea.
The public education system is facing a crisis in many areas of the U.S., and this movie is a profile of the alternative school Natural Creativity Center, which has been operating for about 30 years in Pennsylvania. The unorthodox teachings of the school include students being allowed to direct their own learning. World premiere: November 11 at Cinépolis Chelsea.
“Vas-y Coupe!” translates to “Go ahead, cut!” in English. This movie takes a look at a family-run vineyard in France’s Champagne region and what happens during harvest season. World premiere: November 9 at SVA Theatre.
There’s an ongoing battle in the U.S. over what the federal minimum wage should be for restaurant workers who receive tips. On one side is the National Restaurant Association, which wants to keep the minimum wage as low as possible. (The federal minimum wage for an hourly salary will rise from $11.10 to $12, as of January 1, 2020.) On the other side is Restaurant Opportunities Center United, which is fighting for a higher minimum wage. World premiere: November 8 at Cinépolis Chelsea.
Investigation Discovery host Joe Kenda (center) greets fans at IDCon 2019 at Center 415 in New York City on May 18, 2019. (Photo by Carla Hay)
Fans of Investigation Discovery (ID) were treated to up-close-and-personal experiences with the network’s stars at the fourth annual IDCon, which took place at Center 415 in New York City on May 18, 2019. The event sells out quickly every year. ID show hosts Joe Kenda, Tony Harris (who was the event’s emcee for the third year in a row), John Walsh, Callahan Walsh, Candice DeLong, Garry McFadden, Derrick Levasseur, Chris Anderson, Fatima Silva, Rod Demery and Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi all participated in the event, and most of them did meet-and-greet sessions with fans. ID show hosts Paula Zahn and Tamron Hall made brief appearances. This year’s IDCon theme was “Dangerous Minds.”
Paula Zahn made a brief introduction at IDCon 2019. (Photo by Carla Hay)
The event kicked off with a greeting from Henry Schleiff, group president of Investigation Discovery, American Heroes Channel and Destination America. He thanked the fans for making ID the top-rated U.S. cable network for women ages 25 to 54. Zahn also did a brief introduction on stage. Before the event started, Zahn (who hosts “On the Case With Paula Zahn”) was in the lobby mingling with fans. Hall, who made a surprise appearance on stage at the event, is set to have a very busy 2019. In addition to her hosting duties for ID’s “Deadline: Crime With Tamron Hall,” she’s launching her own nationally syndicated TV talk show this fall. She also busy being a new mother: She gave birth to her first child (a son named Moses) on April 25, 2019.
Tamron Hall made a surprise appearance at IDCon 2019. (Photo by Carla Hay)
The biggest news out of IDCon 2019 was saved for the end. At the conclusion of Kenda’s Q&A session with ID’s senior VP of production Sara Kozak, Kenda announced that the upcoming ninth season of his popular show “Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda” would be the program’s last season. The show is based on Kenda (who is a retired police lieutenant) talking about his cases as a homicide investigator for the Colorado Springs Police Department. The ninth and final season of “Homicide Hunter” is set to premiere sometime in August 2019.
Kenda explained to the audience why “Homicide Hunter” is ending: “I don’t have enough cases remaining after Season 9 to support the continuation of the show. I didn’t want to be the guy who is the athlete who played one season too long, or the singer who remained on the stage when they lost their voice. I want to go out on the top of my game—and Season 9 is. It has been my honor to entertain you, and it’s meant a lot to me. It’s been therapeutic for me. I never cared about the money.”
Joe Kenda and Investigation Discovery senior VP of production Sara Kozak at IDCon 2019, where he announced the end of his show “Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda.” (Photo by Carla Hay)
He said about the decision to end the show: “It’s my decision, not theirs [Investigation Discovery executives]. They were shocked when I provided them with my decision a short time ago, but the reality is that I’ve always done the right thing. And this is the right thing.”
Although many people in the audience seemed surprised and disappointed over the news, they also seemed to highly respect Kenda for this decision, and he got a standing ovation. The good news for Kenda and his fans is that ID is planning another show for him. It’s too early to know the details of the new program, but ID will no doubt make the show a top priority, since “Homicide Hunter” has been one of ID’s highest-rated series. (Kenda is also treated like a rock star at IDCon.)
Investigation Discovery show host Tony Harris emceed IDCon 2019. (Photo by Carla Hay)
IDCon 2019 also showed sneak-preview footage of the second-season premiere of “People Magazine Investigates: Cults” (debuting June 3, 2019, at 9 p.m. ET/PT) and the special “Rebecca Zahau: An ID Murder Mystery,” which premieres May 27, 2019, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
The ID Addicts Unite wall at IDCon 2019 at Center 415 in New York City on May 18, 2019. (Photo by Carla Hay)
After taking place for the first three years at the Altman Building (which can seat about 300 people), IDCon moved this year to Center 415, a larger event space that can seat about 600 people. There were less activations at IDCon 2019 than in previous years. (For example, there was no Truth Booth where ID fans could videorecord confessions about why they love the ID channel.) Some of the returning activations included a polygraph demonstration, a display where people could test their eyewitness skills, and a photo portrait station where attendees could get IDCon slogans super-imposed on their pictures. Also returning this year was an ID Ink station where attendees could get temporary tattoos of artwork themed for the event.
The ID Ink station gave temporary tattoos to attendees at IDCon 2019. (Photo by Carla Hay)
New this year was an ID Addicts Unite Wall, where attendees could take Polaroids of themselves and leave messages on Post-In notes. There was another room featuring a wall of photos and facts of notorious criminals, such as Charles Manson, Jodi Arias and Ted Bundy.
Photos of notorious criminals lined a wall at IDCon 2019. (Photo by Carla Hay)
The larger event space at Center 415 also allowed for a separate room for meet-and-greets. The room had a wall decoration that simulated a height chart for mugshots. People could pose for mock mugshots in this room. The room also featured a wall showing many of the criminal fugitives who’ve been profiled on ID’s “In Pursuit With John Walsh.”
The “In Pursuit” wall had photos of fugitives profiled on the ID show “In Pursuit With John Walsh.”(Photo by Carla Hay)
The Investigation Discovery website is undergoing a revamp/redesign in the near future, because IDCon 2019 had a wall with different web page designs, and attendees such as myself were polled about which designs and features we wanted the most for the new website. It looks like ID is aiming for more customized options, making it easier for users to access their preferred content on the site. It also looks like ID is considering more interactive features on the site, such as trivia questions and more exclusive bonus content from ID shows.
Investigation Discovery group president Henry Schleiff (far right) presents a mock-up of a $20,000 check to Silver Shield Foundation chief operating officer K.C. Fuchs (far left) and NYPD widow Lisa Tuozzolo (center) at IDCon 2019. (Photo by Carla Hay)
All proceeds for IDCon are donated to New York’s Silver Shield Foundation, an organization which provides educational support to families of firefighters and police officers killed in the line of duty. At the beginning of the event, Schleiff presented a mock-up of a $20,000 check to Silver Shield Foundation chief operating officer K.C. Fuchs and NYPD widow Lisa Tuozzolo, whose sergeant husband was killed during a shooting in 2016.
Members of the Center for Antiviolence Education provided a self-defense demonstration at IDCon 2019 at Center 415 in New York City on May 18, 2019. (Photo by Carla Hay)
There was no on-stage polygraph demonstration (as there was at IDCon in 2017 and 2018), but new in 2019 was an on-stage demonstration of self-dense techniques from the Center for Anti-Violence Education. Harris, who is a super-lively host, even jumped on stage as a volunteer participant in the demonstration.
Here were some of the highlights of IDCon 2019 panels:
Team In Pursuit
Callahan Walsh, John Walsh and moderator Alicia Dennis on the “Team In Pursuit” panel at IDCon 2019 at Center 415 in New York City on May 18, 2019. (Photo by Carla Hay)
Moderated by People/Entertainment Weekly senior editor of crime Alicia Dennis, the “Team In Pursuit” panel marked the IDCon debuts of John Walsh and his son Callahan Walsh, the stars of “In Pursuit With John Walsh.” John Walsh, of course, is a TV pioneer in true crime: He was the original host of “America’s Most Wanted,” which was on the air from 1988 to 2012. ID’s “In Pursuit With John Walsh,” which debuted in January 2019, has a similar concept of profiling notorious fugitives from the law and asking the public to provide any tips that will help to arrest the fugitives.
John Walsh (whose 6-year-old son Adam was kidnapped and murdered in 1981) also founded the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) as a result of this tragedy. Serial killer Ottis Toole, who confessed to Adam’s murder while in prison for other crimes, died of liver failure in 1996. Evidence uncovered in 2008 proved that Toole committed the murder.
“I will always be the heartbroken father of a murdered child. There’s no such thing as closure,” John said on the panel. He added that after the end of his CNN show “The Hunt With John Walsh,” he thought he would be retired from hosting a true-crime TV show. But he was convinced to change his mind in 2018.
“America has descended into this incredible level of gun violence and homicides,” John said. “About a year ago, the FBI and U.S. marshals came to me and said, ‘2018 looks like it’s going to be the most violent year in the history of America.’ They were right. ‘We need you. You have this bond with the public.’ So I went to Henry Schleiff … and they said, “We’d love to have you on ID. Would you come out of retirement?'” John added that one of the main reasons he had wanted to retire was because he didn’t want to travel as much as he did when he was hosting his other TV shows. Therefore, his son Callahan does most of the on-site reporting for “In Pursuit.”
Callahan talked about the work that NCMEC does, including educating people about child safety; doing age-progression portraits to show what children who’ve been missing for years would liked now; and helping law-enforcement with witness tips and evidence. “We had over 18 million reports in last year alone,” Callahan said. He also noted that technology has been a double-edged sword, since it’s helped capture criminals with more sophisticated methods of gathering evidence, but technology has made it easier for people to lure kids into danger.
During the segment where audience members could ask questions, someone asked John what he thinks of the controversial issue of people trying to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border. John didn’t hold back on his opinions, as he replied: “It’s a nightmare! … I’ve been all along that border. Every portion of that border is managed by criminal enterprises on the Mexican side. It’s a huge business.”
John said he thinks that U.S. politicians are part of the problem too. “I’ve been going to Capitol Hill since 1981. I’ve never seen a more mean-spirited, vitriolic Congress. They’re in gridlock. They’re not doing what you want them to do. The public has to say to the United States Congress, ‘You’ve got to quit this B.S.! We’ve sent you there to make this country safe and take care of us. You better get busy and do something about illegal immigration!'”
The Walshes couldn’t stay for the IDCon meet-and-greet sessions because they had to travel to a charity event for NCMEC. But their presence at IDCon was much-appreciated, and there’s a high probability that they’ll be at IDCon in 2020.
Scales of Justice
Fatima Silva, Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi, Garry McFadden and moderator Michelle Sigona on the “Scales of Justice” panel at IDCon 2019. (Photo by Carla Hay)
Three sides of law enforcement—defense attorney Fatima Silva (co-star of “Reasonable Doubt”), prosecutor Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi (star of “True Conviction”) and sheriff Garry McFadden (star of “Homicide City: Charlotte”)—gathered for the “Scales of Justice” panel, moderated by CrimeFeed.com’s Michelle Sigona, to discuss their perspectives on getting justice. The panelists talked about the importance of discovery, the legal term for evidence presented in a case.
Police investigators are on the front lines of discovery. McFadden said that in handing over evidence to the prosecution, “Sometimes as detectives, we don’t think that one sheet of paper or that text message is important. If we don’t produce that information, and later on in an appeal, that comes up, the defense team will come after us, and that person is released on a technicality. And that’s happened.”
“Reasonable Doubt” takes another look at cases of convicted criminals who say they didn’t commit the crime. In many cases on “Reasonable Doubt,” the show couldn’t find enough evidence to prove that the conviction was incorrect. As a defense attorney, Silva says that people accused of crimes can avoid many problems with their cases if follow this advice: “Respect law enforcement, but also know your right to remain silent.”
Silva says she can sympathize with friends and family members who want to prove that there was a wrongful conviction, but when it looks like the defendant probably committed the crime, “At some point, you want to give them that peace so that they can say, “I still love that person, but I can’t wake up every day and do this fight anymore.'”
Nicolazzi echoed that belief as a prosecutor, as she talked about her main goals in her work: “If I can bring any amount of relief to all of the people that are impacted by these cases.” When asked what her definition of justice is, she said: “Getting it right.”
As for the impact that technology such as social media, smartphone footage and body cams have had on criminal cases, McFadden said there are pros and cons. “It’s a challenge,” he said. McFadden also noted that although it may seem that this new technology makes it easier for law enforcement to gather evidence, law enforcement also has to spend a lot of time verifying the “authenticity,” since the technology can be manipulated.
Dangerous Minds
Derrick Levasseur, Rod Demery, Candice DeLong, Chris Anderson and moderator April Neale on the “Dangerous Minds” panel at IDCon 2019. (Photo by Carla Hay)
Moderated by Monsters & Critics features writer April Neale, the “Dangerous Minds” panel featured hosts of popular ID shows. The panelists were detective Derrick Levasseur (“Breaking Homicide”); detective Rod Demery (“Murder Chose Me”); FBI profiler Candice DeLong (“Deadly Women”); and detective Chris Anderson (“Reasonable Doubt”).
DeLong said that many homicides might be prevented if people didn’t dismiss death threats. “A lot of people with murder on their mind telegraph their intent. If someone is talking about murder, take them seriously. Go to the police.” She got a little choked up when she talked about a child kidnapping case that deeply affected her emotionally. After the child was found and DeLong accompanied him to the airport to reunite with his parents, the child ran back to her to thank her for finding him.
The panel also talked a lot about methods of interrogating suspects. Demery said that in an interrogation, one of the tell-tale signs that a confession is coming is when the suspect “drops his or her head.” DeLong added that she likes to “play dumb” in interrogations, because “constantly underestimated” as an investigator can lead people to reveal evidence they wouldn’t reveal under other circumstances.
Anderson added that although he doesn’t have a problem with police lying to suspects in order to get a confession (a tactic that’s legal in the U.S. but not in many other countries), he did acknowledge that this tactic can sometimes lead to false confessions. “It depends on the interrogator and the suspect.” Anderson also said that one of the worst ways to handle an interrogation is to allow it to deteriorate into “shouting match” between the investigator and the suspect. When that happens, the suspect has “taken control of the interview,” said Anderson.
“Breaking Homicide” is about helping families get answers for unresolved or disputed murder cases. Each episode ends with Levasseur telling the families about any new evidence that was uncovered in the show’s investigation. He said that the biggest change in the show’s second season is “not only telling the family what we found, but me going back to the police departments, sitting in their actual building, telling them what we have, and saying, ‘Hey now go do something about it. Here’s your chance.’ We really stepped it up a notch.” The second season of “Breaking Homicide” premieres on June 3, 2019, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. By the way, Levasseur has become quite the star heartthrob at IDCon, based on all the squeals he got from women in the audience.
DNA evidence, which has become the center of many investigations, has its pros and cons, according to Anderson. He elaborated: “The down side to DNA evidence, investigators will wait and make their whole case dependent on DNA or forensics evidence, rather than getting out there and pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, talking to people and interviewing people. The hard-nosed type of policing that some of our veteran guys did back in the day has become a lost art. Forensics should work hand-in-hand with your investigating.”
Kenda Confidential
Kathy Kenda, Joe Kenda and Investigation Discovery senior VP of production Sara Kozak at IDCon 2019. (Photo by Carla Hay)
Moderated by ID executive Kozak, this panel was a Q&A with Kenda, who was later joined on stage by his wife Kathy. Except for the announcement that “Homicide Hunter” was ending, Joe Kenda didn’t really much that was new. During the segment when audience members could ask questions, Kenda said that even though Boulder, Colorado, was out of his jurisdiction when he was a police detective, he was asked to work on the notorious JonBenét Ramsey murder case, eight days into the case in 1996.
Kenda said, “My question to [the Boulder Police Department] was, ‘Are the press accounts accurate of what you’ve done far?'” When they told him, Kenda said he replied, “You’re doomed … That case cannot be prosecuted in court. There’s no way to do it. Fatal investigative errors. They couldn’t get in a courtroom with a confession. That’s the reality.” The JonBenét Ramsey murder case remains unsolved.
The “Homicide Hunter” star also said that since his retirement, two of the 31 unsolved cases that he had when he retired have since been solved by DNA evidence. “They [the suspects] were the people I suspected,” he said, “and they’ve been proven to be the killer and have been convicted in court. ” Of the remaining 29 unsolved cases, Kenda says, “I absolutely know who killed in 17 of [those cases], but I can’t prove it.” He added that he thinks about all of his unsolved cases “all the time.”
Tragically, there have been several mass shootings in the U.S. before and after the shooting massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, 2018. But the Parkland shootings (which killed 17 people) will be remembered as the flashpoint for an unprecedented movement of young people against gun violence. The documentary “After Parkland” shows how some of the more well-known Parkland survivors coped with the tragedy in the months after the shooting, and how they channeled their grief into passionate activism.
The documentary features some of the former Parkland students who have been at the forefront of this activism. They include survivors David Hogg, Victoria Gonzalez, Sam Zeiff and Dillon McCooty. Also included are parents Manuel Oliver (whose son Joaquin was murdered in the shooting) and Andrew Pollack (whose daughter Meadow was also a Parkland murder victim).
Zeiff, who turned 18 the day after the massacre, says in the documentary that his boss told him after the tragedy, “You don’t look like a kid anymore.” Gonzalez, who was Joaquin Oliver’s girlfriend, turns to Joaquin’s best friend McCooty for support, and vice versa. Gonzalez and McCooty end up going to their prom together, as a tribute to Joaquin. She wore a flower crown with flowers from the first bouquet that Joaquin gave her.
The grief, anger and resilience over the shootings are felt throughout the entire documentary. One of the most emotionally powerful moments in the film is when Manuel Oliver, who is an artist, did an art installation that showed Joaquin in a graduation cap and gown carrying a certificate of death instead of a diploma, with a red stain of spray paint, signifying blood from a gunshot wound. Manuel Oliver and his wife, Patricia, have started an anti-gun-violence, non-profit organization called Change the Ref, in memory of their slain son Joaquin.
The documentary also takes a behind-the-scenes look at the March for Our Lives event on March 24, 2018. The event, which was organized largely by Parkland survivors, had its flagship rally in Washington, D.C., but there were hundreds of other March for Our Lives rallies around the world that were part of the event.
“After Parkland” also gives an up-close look at how some of the high-profile and outspoken student survivors have been handling their sudden thrust into the media spotlight—and the criticism they have been getting from some people who say that these survivors have become activists for fame and money. Hogg in particular has become a media darling, as well as a target for extreme right-wing groups that have called shooting survivors and their parents “bad actors.”
We see in the documentary why Hogg has been all over the media: He has a hard time saying “no” to interviews when he’s surrounded by reporters, and his protective mother often has to step in and put a limit on the media interviews that he does. His passion and his eloquent speaking skills make it clear why he’s one of the unofficial leaders of this Parkland movement, and what he’s fighting for isn’t just a “phase” or a “fad” for him and other Parkland survivor activists.
“After Parkland” co-directors Emily Taguchi and Jake Lefferman are directors/producers of ABC’s “Nightline,” so the documentary (which is backed by ABC News) looks more like a TV production than something that was made for movie theaters. And if you’re a news junkie who’s followed what the Parkland survivors and their families and allies have been doing since the shooting, then you probably won’t find out anything new by watching this documentary. But no matter how people feel about gun laws, “After Parkland” is a rallying cry for those who want to do something about preventing more of these tragedies from happening, instead of just hoping that the problem will just go away.
UPDATE: Kino Lorber will release “After Parkland” in New York City and Los Angeles on November 29, 2019. The movie’s release will expand to more cities in 2020.
So-called “honor killings” are part of an extremely conservative Muslim culture that teaches that it’s acceptable to murder a family member who brings shame upon the family. This type of killing is usually committed by a male against a female, and it usually has to do with the female’s sexuality. The German film “A Regular Woman” is the dramatic, scripted version of the real-life “honor killing” of 23-year-old Hatun “Aynur” Sürücü, a Turkish-Kurdish woman who was murdered by one of her brothers in 2005 in Berlin.
In the movie, she’s played by Almila Bagriacik as a woman who’s truly a victim of her circumstances. At 16, Aynur was forced into a marriage to a cousin who physically and emotionally abused her. She has a son named Can with her husband, but when Aynur can no longer take the abuse, she leaves her husband and flees with Can to Germany, where they start a new life.
It’s revealed in the beginning of the film that Aynur is a murder victim. The crime scene is shown with her dead body covered, and Aynur (who’s supposed to be speaking as a dead person in another dimension) narrates the film in voiceovers and tells the audience that one of her brothers murdered her. The rest of the movie is a series of flashbacks showing the events leading up to the murder and its aftermath.
Even though Aynur begins her new life in Berlin, she can’t really escape from her large, meddling family. Three of her brothers—Nuri (played by Rauand Taleb), Tarik (played by Aram Arami) and Sinan (played by Mehmet Atesci)—are especially offended that Aynur has rejected a traditional life as a subservient Muslim wife, and they keep tabs on what she’s been doing in Berlin. When the brothers see that Aynur has stopped wearing a hijab and has begun wearing Western clothes such as jeans and T-shirts, they feel scandalized. Youngest brother Nuri is the one who is the angriest with Aynur, especially when she begins dating a German man named Tim (played by Jacob Matschenz). Aynur and Tim end up living together, and it isn’t long before Aynur’s brothers start harassing him.
Aynur has a slightly better relationship with her brother Aram (played by Armin Wahedi Yeganeh), whom she trusts the most, and sister Shirin (played by Merve Askoy), but all of her siblings are still influenced by their extreme religious beliefs, and they have varying levels of disapproval of Aynur’s new lifestyle. Aynur has a love/hate relationship with her family. Although she knows that they think she’s an immoral harlot, she can’t quite cut herself off from them. A part of her knows they will never approve of her new life, but a part of her is in denial and thinks that they might eventually accept it.
Meanwhile, Aynur has jumped from one male-dominated environment into another. She enrolls in school to become an electrician, and she’s the only female in her class. She eventually decides to move from Berlin to Freiburg, shortly after she turns 23. Because “A Regular Woman” reveals in the beginning of the film that Aynur is going to be murdered by one of her brothers, the movie sacrifices a lot of suspense that could have been experienced by people who don’t know what happened in real life. (Her murder was big news in Germany, but not well-known in many other countries.) Therefore, the first and second acts of the film are basically a countdown to the heinous crime.
What the movie doesn’t reveal until the third act is what happened to the murderer, who else knew about the crime before it happened, and who ended up being punished for it. “A Regular Woman” director Sherry Hormann does a capable job of telling Aynur’s story, while actress Bagriacik does a believable and sympathetic portrayal of a young woman trying to find her identity in the midst of this family turmoil.
This movie is not a judgment against the Muslim religion but an unflinching critique of anyone who devalues women’s lives or treats women as always inferior to men. Unfortunately, there are so many movies and TV shows being made about women who are murdered, that “A Regular Woman” might get lost in this over-saturation. What’s even more tragic is that these stories are all too often based on what happened in real life.
UPDATE: Corinth Films will release “A Regular Woman” in select U.S. virtual cinemas on June 26, 2020.
The title of “Framing John DeLorean” has more than one meaning: It could mean the notorious 1984 trial where disgraced automobile mogul John DeLorean was accused of cocaine trafficking (he claimed that he was the target of a government set-up), or it could mean how DeLorean’s life story is framed in the context of this movie. The way that directors Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce tell the story combines the elements of a traditional documentary and a docudrama, with Alec Baldwin playing DeLorean.
Early on in the movie, it’s mentioned that there have been several failed attempts over the years to make the DeLorean story into a narrative feature film. “Framing John DeLorean” almost looks like another attempt to make that narrative feature film, but within this documentary. Not only does the movie use a lot of re-enactment footage with Baldwin and other actors, but “Framing John DeLorean” also shows the behind-the-scenes making of that re-enactment footage, such as Baldwin getting his prosthetics and makeup done, the crew preparing sets for filming, and the actors getting direction. In on-camera interviews, Baldwin also shares a lot of his thoughts about what he thinks of DeLorean, and even reveals that DeLorean (who died in 2005 at the age of 80) once personally called him to ask Baldwin to play him in one of the DeLorean biopics that ended up not getting made. In fact, Baldwin has so much screen time in this movie that it could have been subtitled “Featuring Alec Baldwin Giving His Take on DeLorean.”
Re-enactment footage is tricky to navigate in a documentary. It’s also a choice that has been divisive among documentarians; some don’t have a problem with re-enactment footage, while others think that using actors and scripted dialogue in a documentary undermines the integrity of the project. In the case of “Framing John DeLorean,” people will either love or hate the re-enactment footage, which can be distracting or can enhance the storytelling. How you personally feel about Baldwin will also affect how you feel about his prominent presence in the film.
As for the investigative journalism in the documentary, the filmmakers do a pretty good job of gathering archival footage that documents DeLorean’s rise to the top of the automotive industry to his fall from grace. He became a powerful executive at General Motors (GM)—where he helped develop the Pontiac GTO, among other famous cars—but his flamboyant, playboy lifestyle and public criticism of GM management led to his ouster from the company. In 1973, he founded the ill-fated DeLorean Motor Company (DMC) that lost millions in investment money through bad decisions and what the U.S. government later revealed was a Ponzi scheme cooked up by DeLorean. The disgraced mogul had legal issues for years over fraud investigations, and his finances never recovered. When DeLorean died in his modest New Jersey apartment, he was essentially broke.
“Framing John DeLorean” also has new interviews with past DeLorean associates, including William T. Collins, a former Pontiac engineer whom DeLorean recruited to be DMC’s chief engineer. (Josh Charles plays Collins in the re-enactment footage.) Collins, who quit DMC after he started to suspect that DeLorean was mishandling funds, is the person credited with designing the famous DeLorean sports car that was immortalized as a time machine in the “Back to the Future” films. (“Back to the Future” co-writer Bob Gale is interviewed in this documentary.) Former supermodel Cristina Ferrare, DeLorean’s third ex-wife, who was married to him from 1973 to 1985, is not interviewed in the movie, and has declined to publicly talk about DeLorean for years. Morena Baccarin of “Gotham” and “Deadpool” fame plays Ferrare in the re-enactment footage.
However, the film has revealing interviews with DeLorean’s adopted son Zack and daughter Kathryn (whose mother is Ferrare), who were pre-teen children at the time of their father’s scandal. The kids are a stark reminder of the collateral damage that DeLorean’s actions left on his family. The scruffy and sarcastic Zack (who looks like he’s down on his luck, based on his small, run-down apartment) is full of foul-mouthed bitterness and has mixed feelings about his legacy as a DeLorean. He says he loved his father but hates how his father’s greed ruined his family’s life. Zack talks about how people are surprised that he’s living barely above poverty level, and when he sees the famous DeLorean sports car, he doesn’t know how to describe how he feels, but it’s clear that it’s a mixture of pride and shame.
Kathryn seems to be coping better (emotionally and financially) with the aftermath of the scandal than her brother is. She says a lot of her healing came from getting therapy. Just like her brother, Kathryn went through some trauma. She recalls being bullied and ostracized for many years of her life simply because of who her father was. While Zack has lingering resentment over his family name, Kathryn seems to have come to terms with embracing her family name and forgiving her father. She talks about becoming involved in the DeLorean fan community, and she shares fond memories of bringing her father to a DeLorean fan convention that displayed DMC cars, and how the adulation he got at the show boosted his confidence. Kathryn also confirms that her mother doesn’t like to talk about DeLorean, even to her own kids, because she’s “moved on with her life.” (Ferrare went on to have a successful career as a TV host. In 1985, she married her current husband, TV executive Anthony Thomopoulos, and they have two daughters together.)
Although some people might complain that “Framing John DeLorean” doesn’t know whether it wants to be a documentary or a docudrama, in the end, the overall storytelling works in this movie, and it could serve as a useful resource if a biopic is ever made about DeLorean’s life.
IFC Films/Sundance Selects will release “Framing John DeLorean” in select U.S. theaters on June 7, 2019.
The documentary “Plucked” tells the story of the 2014 theft of a 1715 Stradivarius violin valued at more than $6 million. The brazen theft, which took place in Milwaukee, involved the FBI, Interpol and a manhunt that made the news worldwide. Although the outcome of the case is widely known, “Plucked” director Joel Van Haren doesn’t assume that everyone watching this movie knows if the violin was ever found and if whoever was responsible for the theft was ever caught and punished. Van Haren (who makes his directorial feature-film debut with “Plucked”) skillfully weaves the story as a mystery that unfolds right before viewers’ eyes.
The movie begins with a background of the Stradivari violins to explain why these musical instruments are so valuable. At the Violin Museum (formerly known as the Stradivari Museum) in Cremona, Italy, museum curator Fausto Cacciatori says that the violins’ rarified status has much to do with the trees from which the violins are made: “The sound of the violin is the breath of the tree.”
The documentary also interviews several Stradiviari enthusiasts, including Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Frank Almond, who can’t believe his luck that he gets to play a 1715 “ex-Lipiński” Stradivarius violin. The violin, which was loaned to him by a benefactor who wished to remain anonymous, used to be owned by world-renowned violinists such as Karol Lipiński and Giuseppe Tartini.
One evening after a concert at Wisconsin Lutheran College on January 27, 2014, Almond was walking to his car with the violin tucked safely in its case when he was attacked with a stun gun by a masked man who stole the violin from him. The man drove off with an accomplice. The rest of the documentary unfolds as a tension-filled investigation, with the use of some re-enactment footage. Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn, who is interviewed in the film, talks about how the stakes were high not just because of the violin’s multimillion-dollar value but also because the outcome of the investigation would impact the reputation of Milwaukee.
What’s a little mind-boggling is that Almond was allowed to walk around with such a valuable instrument without having any backup security. Banks have armed security to transport things that are a fraction of the value of that violin. Needless to say, Almond probably changed his security measures after the robbery.
Fortunately, there was a cell phone in Almond’s violin case so the investigators were able to track down the violin case. Unfortunately, by the time they found the case, the violin and bows had been removed, so the hunt continued. Because of the rarity of the Stradivarius violin that was stolen and the level of publicity that the robbery got, selling the violin would be very difficult. Whoever stole the violin probably didn’t know that the very cold weather at the time could permanently damage the violin if it wasn’t stored properly, which was another reason why there was intense pressure to find the violin.
It would be too much of a spoiler for this review to talk about the outcome of this case, but the documentary tells the story from various perspectives. The case has some bizarre elements, including how the 1998 movie “The Red Violin” played a part in the robbery. Underneath the story of this crime caper is a social commentary on the “haves” and the “have nots,” and how the tensions between very different classes of people can lead to desperate crimes such as this notorious robbery.
It’s too bad that the documentary “Rewind” has a such a generic title, because this stunning debut from director Sasha Joseph Neulinger has so many important messages about complex family relationships and confronting your past that it delivers an emotional knockout to anyone who watches it. You would never know from this movie’s simple title how deep it goes in its raw and honest analysis of a family torn apart by secrets and lies—and how the family has tried to heal in the aftermath. However, it would reveal too many spoilers to go into specifics about who caused this family crisis.
What can be said about “Rewind” is that it’s a powerfully edited compilation of footage (mostly home videos) from Neulinger’s Pennsylvania childhood in the 1990s, when he went through horrific abuse. It’s best not to give away spoiler details to anyone who hasn’t seen the movie, but it’s enough to say that the abuse was reported, and it involved court cases, which are chronicled in the last third of the film. The movie’s narrative gives the details, bit by bit (much like a puzzle), until the full scope of the horror is revealed.
It would’ve been easy for Neulinger to provide narrator voiceovers, explaining what he was thinking and feeling while you’re watching the footage. Instead, he lets the footage do most of the talking, in addition to doing new interviews with members of his family, the psychotherapy community, law enforcement and survivor advocate groups.
If you don’t know his story, watching the movie unfold is like watching a mystery where there’s a feeling of dread that bad things are going to happen to good people—and the sad part is that it’s not just a movie, because it happened in real life. You want to find out who committed the crimes, and for justice to be served.
The documentary is also a cautionary lesson for parents and others on how to spot signs of abuse. In addition, Neulinger hopes that this documentary will also improve the ways that police and other law enforcement interrogate children who report abuse. As explained at the end of the film, Neulinger is working with organizations such as Mission Kids that advocate for law enforcement to have better methods for getting victim statements in abuse cases. Neulinger and others believe that law enforcement should be required to videotape a main cohesive statement from an abuse survivor, instead of forcing the survivor to relive the trauma with repeated interrogations because the first statement wasn’t properly documented.
“Rewind” is not an easy film to watch, but it’s an inspiring example of how someone can confront trauma and use the art of moviemaking as a form of therapy and as a way to help others.
UPDATE: FilmRise will release “Rewind” on digital and VOD on May 8, 2020. PBS will premiere “Rewind” as part of the “Independent Lens” series on May 11, 2020.
