Black and Blue

Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria

June 2005 •English

The first major uprising against police brutality, harassment, and societal oppression was not at Stonewall in 1969, but at Compton's Cafeteria in San Francisco three years earlier. Those who stood up were trans women and gay men. Now, nearly 40 years on, Susan Stryker and Victor Silverman tell the story of this oft-overlooked event in the history of American civil rights.

Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther

August 1970 •English

The portrait of Eldridge Cleaver, the "Minister of Information" for the Black Panthers movement, in exile in Algiers.

Police Dive

Invalid date •English

Sgt. Mike Berry - officer, man of God, and world famous underwater detective, stands on Lake Chesdin's muddy shore, ready to dive for a murder weapon through a kaleidoscope of memories.

Hollywood Unplugged

March 2024 •English

2024, Los Angeles, CA, the city of angels. Plunging us into the moment, this is a visceral cinematic snapshot of the era. What remains is an inventive commentary on the pleasures and dangers of wielding a camera.

Safe Place

Invalid date •English

Although experiencing a lifelong battle with pain and trauma, Jerod Draper lived an average, normal life in Southern Indiana. During high school, Jerod started to get off track after losing his best friend at the age of 14, and his first love at 15. To cope with the sudden loss at such a young age, Jerod started experimenting with drugs. After high school and through his younger-adult years, Jerod's substance abuse amplified. Throughout his 20s and 30s, Jerod continued to fight for sobriety while marrying and having a daughter. Following the divorce and not being able to see his daughter due to substance abuse, Jerod made a vow to stay clean. On October 4th, 2018 - Jerod was well over a year sober, yet fighting a familiar challenge, the severe depression and anxiety induced by weaning from drugs. During that evening, Jerod endures a fatal night of torture after being arrested for a routine traffic stop.

Carlo Giuliani, a Boy

March 2002 •Italian

The film recounts Carlo Giuliani’s day of July 20 and, parallel to it, the July 20 of the march of the ‘disobedients’, or the ‘white overalls’, among whose ranks Carlo died. An individual’s story is told in all its absolute concreteness, the friends he meets, the snack bar he goes to for a bite, the roll of scotch tape he picks up on the street; whereas a multitude’s story is told in all its epic tragedy, the night under the rain, the colossal preparation against the march, the advance behind shields, the attack of which the multitude was victim, the defense that gets organized.

Four Hours at the Capitol

October 2021 •English

The documentary is an immersive chronicle of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, when thousands of American citizens from across the country gathered in Washington D.C. to protest the results of the 2020 presidential election, many with the intent of disrupting the certification of Joe Biden’s presidency.

Ion

July 2013 •French

My name is Ion. Who could have imagined the fate that awaited me: my birth under the Romanian dictatorship, the loss of my eyesight through an accident, my sudden escape from my homeland to seek a future that was a little too idyllic? One thing is certain: fate is like all the criminals that I listen to today for the Belgian federal police. With a little willpower, there is always a way to dodge its tricks. The person who taught me that is a close and loyal childhood friend. That friend is literature. Without her, I probably would not be what I am now, here, among you.

Whistling Smith

January 1975 •English

This film is a revealing portrait of a tough cop with a big heart. Sergeant Bernie "Whistling" Smith walks the beat on Vancouver's Eastside, the hangout of petty criminals, down-and-outs and a variety of characters. His policing is unorthodox. To many drug users, petty thieves and prostitutes in this economically depressed area he is more than the iron hand of the law, he is also a counsellor and a friend.

Draussen bleiben

October 2007 •German

Prime Evil

February 2000 •English

Eugene de Kock, nicknamed "Prime Evil," was South Africa's most notorious government assassin under the apartheid regime. A highly decorated and powerful man, he led police death squads against enemies of the state; his victims were mainly connected with the ANC. The film includes interviews with torture victims and with friends of de Kock.

When Liberty Burns

March 2020 •English

An in-depth analysis on the 40th Anniversary of the life and untimely death of Arthur Lee McDuffie at the hands of Miami Dade police officers.

Die Enkeltrick Betrüger

February 2024 •German

Grandchild fraudsters scare their victims on the phone with so-called "shock calls". The losses run into millions. Month after month. Many victims are left severely traumatized. But the scam has a weak point. And the izzy team has found it. During a year-long investigation, izzy figurehead Cedric Schild pretends to be an elderly person and supposed victim on the phone. This not only makes for a few laughs, but also drives the perpetrators crazy - at the same time, the editorial team penetrates deep into the structures of the criminal clans. Thanks to more than 1200 minutes of recorded conversations from real shock calls, the izzy film "Die Enkeltrick Betrüger" shows all the tricks used by fraudsters for the first time and thus makes an important contribution to prevention. In cooperation with the law enforcement authorities, the perpetrators are arrested in front of the cameras.

Cop It Sweet

March 1992 •English

In the winter of 1991 an ABC film crew spent six weeks following Sydney's Redfern police. The inner city patrol of Redfern is predominantly working class with a large aboriginal and migrant population. The police in this film are general duties officers mostly on mobile patrols. At the time of filming 78% of police at Redfern were under the age of 25.

No Visible Trauma

September 2020 •English

Deftly upending the popular assertion that Canadian law enforcement agencies differ from those in the US, this provocative exposé fixes a sharp lens on the Calgary Police Service’s rampant, unchecked use of excessive force.

9/11: Rescue Cops

September 2014 •English

The extraordinary untold story of the heroism and sacrifice of the NYPD’s elite rescue squad - the Emergency Service Unit - on 9/11.

White Out, Black In

September 2014 •Portuguese

Shots fired inside a club frequented by black Brazilians in the outskirts of Brasilia leave two men wounded. A third man arrives from the future in order to investigate the incident and prove that the fault lies in the repressive society.

The Secret Policeman

October 2003 •English

Undercover reporter Mark Daly reveals racism among police recruits in Manchester, England.

Bus 174

October 2002 •Portuguese

Documentary depicts what happened in Rio de Janeiro on June 12th 2000, when bus 174 was taken by an armed young man, threatening to shoot all the passengers. Transmitted live on all Brazilian TV networks, this shocking and tragic-ending event became one of violence's most shocking portraits, and one of the scariest examples of police incompetence and abuse in recent years.

The Remnants

January 2018 •Korean

In October 2015, the evicted residents who had imprisoned on a false charge of killing a policeman assembled in a place for the first time after the Yongsan Disaster six years ago. They had occupied a watchtower against unreasonable redevelopment policies and in protest against violent suppression used by riot police in 25 hours of their sit-in demonstration. Their colleagues had died from an unknown fire, and they became criminals. The delight of meeting again lasts only briefly. The ‘comrades’ rip out cruel words while blaming each other.