Why Not Watch?
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CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS documents how a middle-class American family is turned upside down when the father and youngest son are charged with sexually abusing neighborhood children. Through a strange criminal case, we learn about the elusive nature of truth.
Director: Andrew Jarecki
Share the film and give others the chance to learn about the Friedmans’ story.
Fight with Jesse Friedman and director Andrew Jarecki for the release of documents and other relevant information that could prove Jesse’s innocence. Follow the on-going case and if you choose, sign the petition to exonerate Jesse. You can also volunteer to help with his legal defense.
Consider working with or donating to organizations that support victims of child sexual abuse.
Learn more about sexual assault, a crime that spans age, sexual orientation, religion and gender, affecting people of all socio-economic backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and education levels and affects many lives—both directly and indirectly. Consider volunteering your time at a local non-profit or helpline that works on behalf of sexual abuse survivors.
“I write to inform you that none of the events allegedly described by or attributed to Kenneth Doe ever took place,”
Read the full New York Times article.
“Friedman, now 44, completed his parole. He got married and started a business. He bought a house. But he has not won his freedom. Because he must still register as a sex offender, Friedman and his wife can’t live where they choose, travel where they wish, or consider starting a family. He cannot socialize normally or have a normal job.”
Read the full article on Salon.com.
Breakthrough for man at center of ‘Capturing the Friedmans’ child molestation case after judge orders DA to hand over 25-year-old court documents to his lawyers
Read more here.
A Long Island Family’s Nightmare Struggle With Porn, Pedophilia, and Public Hysteria
Read the article on the Village Voice.
From the Chicago Reader comes this excellent, thought-provoking review.
“Our fears and biases about forbidden kinds of sex dictate much of what we see and more of what we assume — a premise Jarecki demonstrates with particular cogency through another kind of trickery, in his handling of the interviews with Arnold’s younger brother.”
Jesse Friedman released a statement, telling his story from the very beginning, a few days before his arrest.
“By unflinchingly dissecting what went wrong in my case we have an opportunity to ensure progress in dealing with these cases in the future,” he wrote.
Filmmaker Andrew Jarecki said, “We were experiencing something that seemed like, to us, an incredible miscarriage of justice, and I feel like that was conveyed in the film.”
After the film’s release, Jarecki became involved in helping exonerate Jesse, so that he could carry on a normal life.
Flavorwire has the story.
“As the filmmaker, I have felt a responsibility to try to set the record straight on what really happened in this case,” Andrew Jarecki published in the Huffington Post.
Watch the video interview where Jarecki explains why he’s fighting so hard to clear Jesse’s name.
PERHAPS WE ARE LIKE STONES
This playlist is all about family. If these six films prove anything, it’s that no two families look the same.
"Disturbing and haunting"
Roger Ebert.com
"HAUNTING AND ENTHRALLING to a degree that few films achieve."
Wall Street Journal
"A MASTERPIECE.... One of the most heartbreaking film ever made about an American family."
The New Yorker
