Crime Documentaries
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- DirectorAndrew JareckiStarsArnold FriedmanJesse FriedmanDavid FriedmanDocumentary on the Friedmans, a seemingly typical, upper-middle-class Jewish family whose world is instantly transformed when the father and his youngest son are arrested and charged with shocking and horrible crimes.
- DirectorJean-Xavier de LestradeStarsAnn FinnellPatrick McGuinnessJames WilliamsOscar-winning documentary that documents a murder trial in which a 15-year-old African-American is wrongfully accused of a 2000 murder in Jacksonville, Florida.
- DirectorKen BurnsSarah BurnsDavid McMahonStarsAntron McCrayKevin RichardsonKharey WiseA documentary that examines the 1989 case of five black and Latino teenagers who were convicted of raping a white woman in Central Park. After having spent between 6 and 13 years each in prison, a serial rapist confessed to the crime.
- DirectorNick BroomfieldStarsAileen WuornosNick BroomfieldArlene Pralle1992, Florida, USA. Aileen Wuornos is claimed to be the world's first female serial killer.
- DirectorNick BroomfieldJoan ChurchillStarsAileen WuornosNick BroomfieldTerry Humphreys-SlayNick Broomfield's second documentary about serial killer Aileen Wuornos, focusing on her mental state on death row.
- DirectorTiller RussellStarsMike DowdKen EurellWalter YurkiwMeet the dirtiest cop in NYC history. Michael Dowd stole money and dealt drugs while patrolling the streets of 80s Brooklyn.
- DirectorBilly CorbenStarsCraig C. DeThomasisAlice HendonDisa HollyDocumentary about a University of Florida fraternity party that led to what may or may not have been a rape, with footage from the night of the incident, including sexual acts.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsWerner HerzogRichard LopezMichael PerryConversations with death row inmate Michael Perry and those affected by his crime serve as an examination of why people - and the state - kill.
- DirectorKurt KuenneStarsKurt KuenneAndrew BagbyDavid BagbyA filmmaker decides to memorialize a murdered friend when his friend's ex-girlfriend announces she is expecting his son.
- DirectorNick BroomfieldBarney BroomfieldMarc HoeferlinStarsNick BroomfieldLonnie David Franklin Jr.DonnaNick Broomfield digs into the case of the notorious serial killer known as the Grim Sleeper, who terrorized South Central Los Angeles over a span of twenty-five years.
- DirectorJames Ronald WhitneyStarsJames Ronald WhitneyMelvin JustDenise BensonAn in-depth look at the director James Ronald Whitney's family history of incest spanning at least three generations and the devastating consequences that include drug abuse and alcoholism.
- DirectorJoe BerlingerBruce SinofskyStarsTony BrooksDiana DavisTerry WoodA horrific triple child murder leads to an indictment and trial of three nonconformist boys based on questionable evidence.
- DirectorJoe BerlingerBruce SinofskyStarsDamien Wayne EcholsMelissa ByersNorris DeajonThe case of the West Memphis Three, its questionable circumstances and the parties involved are followed up years later.
- DirectorJoe BerlingerBruce SinofskyStarsGary GitchellTodd MooreDana MooreA further followup of the case of the West Memphis Three and the decades long fight to exonerate them that finally gained traction with new DNA evidence.
- DirectorAmy BergStarsJason BaldwinDamien Wayne EcholsJessie MisskelleyAn examination of a failure of justice in the case against the West Memphis Three.
- DirectorShawn RechBrandon KimberStarsDexter HammettJoseph AlexJason PatrickDocumentary filmmakers assert that Anthony Porter - a former death-row inmate who was spared the death penalty thanks to the efforts of a college journalism program - was actually guilty, and an innocent man was sent to prison.
- DirectorRoberto HernándezGeoffrey SmithTwo young Mexican attorneys attempt to exonerate a wrongly convicted man by making a documentary. In the process, they expose the contradictions of a judicial system that presumes suspects guilty until proven innocent.
- DirectorJoe BerlingerBruce SinofskyStarsDelbert WardRoscoe WardLyman WardThis compelling documentary details the strange-but-true murder trial of Delbert Ward, accused of the mercy killing of his brother in rural upstate NY. This real-life murder mystery won the Audience Award at Sundance.
- DirectorRicki SternAnne SundbergStarsEvelyn JeffersonFred FlaglerJohn Reeves"The Trials of Darryl Hunt" is a feature documentary about a brutal rape/murder case and a wrongly convicted man, Darryl Hunt, who spent nearly twenty years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Both a social justice story and a personally driven narrative, the film chronicles this capital case from 1984 through 2004. With exclusive footage from two decades, the film frames the judicial and emotional response to a chilling crime - and the implications that reverberate from Hunt's conviction - against a backdrop of class and racial bias in the South and in the American criminal justice system. This documentary is the culmination of ten years of research and filming. In 1993, inspired by claims of injustice and police conspiracy, the filmmakers began to shoot in North Carolina. Working from a mix of formats (16mm and 24P video) the film melds the visceral reality of a murder case with first person accounts and cinematic imagery, illuminating perceptions and memories of events as they unfolded for the people closest to this haunting story. This unique look at one man's loss and redemption challenges the assumption that all Americans have the right to unbiased justice. Hunt's story - while one man's personal journey - reflects systemic issues of national concern: cross-racial eyewitness identification, prosecutorial misconduct, inexperienced defense attorneys assigned to capital cases, racial bias in death penalty cases and errors in police procedure. Barry Scheck from The Innocence Project, who worked on Hunt's case for ten years, and Gary Wells, professor and eyewitness expert, offer concrete examples where errors occurred in Hunt's saga and offer future remedies and effective ideas to prevent future "Darryl Hunts." Hunt himself addresses the need for systemic reforms to prevent wrongful convictions, underscoring the haunting reality that Hunt could have been sentenced to death and we would never have known this story.
- DirectorPaul HamannStarsBobby ButlerDonald CabanaMelanie ChristopherFourteen Days in May is a documentary film directed by Paul Hamann and originally shown on television by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1987. The programme recounts the final days before the execution of Edward Earl Johnson, an American prisoner convicted of rape and murder and imprisoned in the Mississippi State Penitentiary. Johnson protested his innocence and claimed that his confession had been made under duress. He was executed in Mississippi's gas chamber on 20 May 1987.
- DirectorPeter GilbertSteve JamesStarsCarroll PickettSteve MillsMaurice PossleyAn investigation of the wrongful death of Carlos DeLuna, who was executed in Texas on December 7, 1989, after prosecutors ignored evidence inculpating a man, who bragged to friends about committing the crimes of which DeLuna was convicted.
- DirectorKate DavisDavid HeilbronerStarsJennifer PetitHayley PetitWilliam Petit Jr.A documentary about a brutal home invasion in Cheshire, Connecticut in 2007.
- DirectorJoe BerlingerStarsStephen RakesJames 'Whitey' BulgerTommy DonahueA look at James 'Whitey' Bulger, one of the most infamous criminals in American history.
- DirectorErin Lee CarrStarsGary AllenViolet BlueJames A. CohenA probing look into the potential future of "thought policing" through the headline-making case of the NYPD "Cannibal Cop," who was charged with conspiring to kidnap and eat women.
- DirectorMarc SilverStarsLucia McBathRon DavisMichael David DunnIn 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets, two lives intersected and were forever altered.