13th
**Official Selection – New York Film Festival 2016 – Opening Night**
WINNER – Best Documentary (TV/Streaming) – Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards 2016
WINNER – Best Director (TV/Streaming) – Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards 2016
WINNER – Best Political Documentary – Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards 2016
Long Shot’s Involvement:
Consulting on Academy Campaign
Release Date:
October 7, 2016
Synopsis:
The title of Ava DuVernay’s extraordinary and galvanizing documentary refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” The progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass criminalization and the sprawling American prison industry is laid out by DuVernay with bracing lucidity. With a potent mixture of archival footage and testimony from a dazzling array of activists, politicians, historians, and formerly incarcerated women and men, DuVernay creates a work of grand historical synthesis.
“Powerful, infuriating and at times overwhelming, Ava DuVernay’s documentary ’13TH’ will get your blood boiling… ELECTRIFYING!” — The New York Times
“FOUR STARS…Incendiary, indelible, and indispensable. A major wake up call.” — Rolling Stone
“A titanic statement by a major American voice.” — Entertainment Weekly
“Brilliantly analytical and morally passionate.” — The New Yorker
“An expert piece of cinema” — Variety