DVD Collection

Assaulted : Civil Rights Under Fire is a documentary that takes audiences into the heart of the controversial issue that is dividing our nation: gun control. Narrated by Ice-T, a critically-acclaimed rapper and actor, the film takes a critical look at current gun laws and the rising movement to restrict the rights guaranteed by our Second Amendment.
Writer/Director: Kris Koenig
Narrator: Ice-T
Stream the video: Assaulted : Civil Rights Under Fire

Political documentary filmmaker Michael Moore's probe of America's predilection for gun violence, including an examination of America's culture of fear, bigotry and violence in a nation with widespread gun ownership. Originally released as a motion picture in 2002.
Writer/Director: Michael Moore

On 6 August 1992, British journalists from ITN and the Guardian unveiled to the world the existence of camps for non-Serb civilians in the area of Prijedor in north-western Bosnia and Herzegovina. Shocking images of emaciated inmates circled the planet in just a few days and shook the conscience of humanity. Barely two months later, a process was set in motion which would change the face of international criminal justice forever. Through interviews, investigative news footage and courtroom testimonies, Crimes before the ICTY: Prijedor depicts the discovery of the camps and the subsequent process that led to the establishment of the first international criminal Tribunal since WWII, as well as the judicial outcome of the crimes committed in this Bosnian town. In English, French, German and Serbo-Croatian with subtitles in English.
Director/Writer: Petar Finci

In early 1992, several months after ethnic tensions had burst into terrible conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, tensions reached a boiling point in Višegrad. Muslims began to be systematically attacked, tortured or killed resulting in a massive population shift that meant the near eradication of the Muslim population in the area. The investigations into these crimes led to the prosecution of direct perpetrators. Through first-hand witness testimonies, Trial and Appeals Chambers judgements and interviews with the protagonists, Crimes before the ICTY: Višegrad tells the gripping story of the judicial response to the tide of ethnic cleansing that swept the municipality. In English, Bosnian Serbian and Croatian with subtitles in English.
Director/Writer: Steve Coulson
Narrators: Anna Dil, Aida Hasanbegovic

This documentary shows the magnitude and severity of domestic violence in this country. The film features four women imprisoned for killing their batterers and their terrifying personal testimonies. Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Short, 1993.
Directors: Margaret Lazarus, Renner Wunderlich, and Stacey Kabat

This documentary explores the loss of priceless artwork, artifacts and historical sites through war and terrorism. Based on the book The Destruction of Memory : Architecture at War by Robert Bevan.
Director/Writer: Tim Slade

Two short videos about the problems documentary filmmakers encounter in determining whether they are making "fair use" of images or sound in their films, and the costs and inconveniences of obtaining copyright clearance. Copyright can make documentary filmmaking more difficult, hurt the quality of documentaries, and even impose a form of censorship. A new document produced by the Center for Social Media at American University, entitled Documentary filmmakers' statement of best practices in fair use, will give filmmakers guidance and support in fair use. Includes a selection of examples of successful fair use and a special text feature about industry acceptance of the statement.

Through interviews with key government officials, diplomats, soldiers, and survivors, this documentary examines the state-sponsored genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Explores the reasons why the international community and the United States did not intervene as Hutu extremists killed some 800,000 Tutsis. Originally broadcast as a segment of the television program Frontline, April 1, 2004.
Director, Writer: Greg Barker
Narrator: Will Lyman

The documentary analyzes and discusses so called "frivolous law suits" and the impact of tort reform on the United States judicial system. It discusses several cases and relates each to tort reform in the U.S.: Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants (public relations campaign to instigate tort reform); Colin Gourley's malpractice lawsuit and caps on damages; the prosecution of Mississippi Justice Oliver Diaz and judicial elections; Jamie Leigh Jones v. Halliburton Co. and mandatory arbitration. The film exposes how corporations spent millions on a propaganda campaign to distort Americans' view of lawsuits, forever changing the civil justice system. From the infamous case of the woman who sued McDonalds over spilled coffee to the saga of the Mississippi Supreme Court Justice deemed 'not corporate enough' by business interests, this program tears apart the conventional wisdom about 'frivolous lawsuits.'
Director: Susan Saladoff

I Am Not Your Negro is a 2016 American documentary film based on James Baldwin's unfinished manuscript, Remember This House. The film explores the history of racism in the United States through Baldwin's reminiscences of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr, as well as his personal observations of American history.
Director: Raoul Peck
Writer: James Baldwin
Narrator: Samuel L. Jackson

Frontline investigates the causes of the worst economic crisis in 70 years and how the government responded. The film chronicles the inside stories of the Bear Stearns deal, Lehman Brothers collapse, the propping up of insurance giant AIG and the $700 billion bailout.
Writer/Director: Michael Kirk
Narrator: Will Lyman

This documentary tells the story of the attempt to assimilate American Indians into white culture by educating them at special schools such as the Carlisle School for Indians. Founded by Richard Henry Pratt, this school and others like it attempted to wipe out all remnants of Indian culture, and, as a result, created a generation of Indians confused about their identities. Originally broadcast as a segment of the television series The American experience in 1992.
Writer/Director: Christine Lesiak

The Invisible War is a 2012 documentary film about sexual assault in the United States military. The film has been lauded by advocates, lawmakers, and journalists for its influence on government policies to reduce the prevalence of rape in the armed forces.
Writer/Director: Kirby Dick
Stream the video: The Invisible War

This documentary tells how an African American construction worker's personal-injury lawsuit against his employer evolved into a landmark jury selection case on the Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co. that under the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause, parties in civil cases cannot use race-based peremptory challenges to reject potential jurors.
Writer/Director/Narrator: Robe Imbriano
Stream the video: Jury selection : Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Company

Kids For Cash is a riveting look behind the notorious judicial scandal that rocked the nation. In the wake of the shootings at Columbine High School, a small town in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania elected a charismatic judge who was hell-bent on keeping kids in line. Under his reign, more than 3,000 children were ripped from their families and imprisoned for years over petty crimes. When one parent dared to question his harsh brand of justice, it was revealed the judge had received millions of dollars in payments from the privately-owned juvenile detention centers. Originally released in 2013.
Director: Robert May

Documentary that juxtaposes footage of two election campaigns run by West Virginian Democrat Warren McGraw in 1972 and 2004. The film uses the two campaigns to draw a picture of the changes in American politics over the last 30 years.
Director: Wayne Ewing

This documentary tells the inspiring and heartwarming story of Mildred and Richard Loving, an interracial couple who married in 1958 despite Virginia's anti-miscegenation laws. After hearing the Loving v. Virginia case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of the Lovings on June 12, 1967. This precedent-setting decision resulted in 16 states being ordered to overturn their bans on interracial marriage. Alabama was the last holdout, finally repealing its anti-miscegenation law in 2000.
Director: Nancy Buirski
Writers: Nancy Buirski and Susie Ruth Powell

No Fire Zone is an explicit and horrifying expose of the final months of the 26-year-long Sri Lankan civil war told by the people who lived through it. Using unseen footage recorded by both the victims and perpetrators on mobile phones and small cameras, the film meticulously exposes some of the worst war crimes and crimes against humanity in recent times and becomes direct evidence of a war that was supposed to be conducted in secret. Made in 2013, it was updated and expanded in 2015 with important new evidence. Public performance rights included.
Director: Callum Macrae
Narrator: Rufus Sewell

Explores the history, politics, and philosophy behind the Nuremberg Trials through contemporary film footage and interviews with those who played significant roles as prosecutors, translators, and investigators.
Narrator: Rolland Smith
Writers: Frank Basile, Rolland Smith

O.J.: Made in America is an essential examination of the rise and fall of Orenthal James Simpson, and the parallels between his incredible story and that of race in America. This critically-acclaimed documentary series reveals how he first became a football star, why America fell in love with him off the field, what happened in the trial for the Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman murders, and finally, why he is now sitting in jail for another crime 20 years later. His is a story that divided America like few things before or since, and it is perhaps the defining cultural tale of twentieth-century America. Originally debuted on television in June 2016.
Director: Ezra Edelman

On the night of November 26, 2008, ten men armed with guns and grenades launched an assault on Mumbai that left 166 dead. David Coleman Headley, a Lashkar/ISI operative had been casing the city for two years. He was an American citizen. Frontline and Sebastian Rotella team up to investigate the circumstances behind Headley's rise from heroin dealer and U.S. government informant to master plotter of the 2008 attack on Mumbai. Originally broadcast as segments of the television program Frontline on Nov. 22, 2011.

A documentary about Flint, Michigan native Michael Moore and his efforts to meet with General Motors' president Roger Smith in order to persuade the executive to visit Flint, a city which is economically depressed due to the closure of a General Motors plant. Originally produced as a motion picture in 1989.
Writer/Director: Michael Moore

The documentary, Scenes of a Crime, produced and directed by Blue Hadaegh and Grover Babcock, examines the interrogation of a young African American father from Troy, New York – Adrian Thomas – whom police suspect of battering his 4-month-old son to death. Doctors treating the brain-dead infant misdiagnosed a skull fracture, and contacted law enforcement about “shaken baby” abuse. The story is told from all sides of the case: detectives, prosecutors, defense attorneys, jurors, witnesses and the accused himself. Prof. Richard Ofshe, a pioneer in the study of police interrogation, analyzed video-recordings of the interrogation for the defense, and presents a detailed analysis in the film. In 2009, Thomas was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life. On June 12 2014, Thomas was acquitted of killing his infant son after the New York State Court of Appeals ordered a new trial for him, citing among other reasons “highly coercive” techniques used by police during his interrogation.
Director: Grover Babcock; Blue Hadaegh
Stream the video: Scenes of a Crime

This documentary film explores the legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal of the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) from jurisprudential and human rights perspectives. The film is comprised of interviews with numerous attorneys, human rights activists, journalists, NGOs, victims' groups, and others to determine what the Tribunal has achieved and how it is perceived globally and in the Balkans.
Producers: June Vutrano, Erin Lovall.

This documentary depicts the Tribunal's historic role in the prosecution and adjudication of wartime sexual violence. It includes testimonies from witnesses and survivors of sexual violence, who bravely gave evidence at trials, and interviews with former and current ICTY professionals who worked on these cases. In English, French, German and Serbo-Croatian with subtitles in English.
Director: Rob Barsony
Writers: Rob Barsony, Petar Finci
Narrator: Lisa Biersay

This documentary depicts the crucial role played by victims and witnesses in the prosecution of those alleged to be responsible for crimes committed during the 1990s on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The film portrays the courage it takes to come to the ICTY to testify, and explores the five witnesses’ motives for doing so. With the participation of ICTY judges and staff, as well as footage from actual ICTY testimonies, Through Their Eyes: Witnesses to Justice provides a lasting reminder of the contributions made by witnesses to international justice and the importance of live testimony in an international judicial context. In English, Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian.
Director: Steve Coulson
Writers: Peter Finci, Steve Coulson

The Trial of Ratko Mladić provides haunting insights into a war criminal's motives, and the genocide he commanded his troops to carry out - as well as an intimate look at the victims left behind, who remain haunted by what their families endured. It tells an epic story of justice, accountability and a country trying to escape its bloody past. FRONTLINE goes inside the historic five-year trial, with unprecedented, behind-the-scenes access to the prosecution and defense teams, as well as to witnesses from both sides who came to give evidence.
Directors: Henry Singer, Rob Miller