CRIME + PUNISHMENT
Filmmaker Stephen Maing and flim poster for "Crime + Punishment"
Film poster for "Crime + Punishment" in red and blue with three people in bottom right corner.
CRIME + PUNISHMENT
Filmmaker Stephen Maing and flim poster for "Crime + Punishment"
Film poster for "Crime + Punishment" in red and blue with three people in bottom right corner.
Unprecedented examination of the United States' most powerful police department

CRIME + PUNISHMENT

Regular price $349.00
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​OUTSTANDING SOCIAL ISSUE DOCUMENTARY - Emmy® Awards | OSCARS SHORT LIST - Best Documentary Feature | RECOMMENDED ★★★ - Video Librarian | HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - Educational Media Reviews Online | 2020 NOTABLE VIDEOS FOR ADULTS - American Library Association

Criminal Justice • Sociology • Urban Studies • Ethnic Studies • American Studies

Date of Completion: 2018 | Run Time: 112 minutes​​ | Language: English | Captions: No | Includes: Transcript Director: Stephen Maing | Producers: Stephen Maing, Ross Tuttle & Eric Daniel Metzgar | Executive Producer: Laura Poitras | Executive Producer for Field of Vision: Charlotte Cook 

Amidst a landmark class-action lawsuit over illegal policing quotas, Emmy® Award winner CRIME + PUNISHMENT chronicles the real lives and struggles of a group of black and Latino whistleblower cops and the young minorities they are pressured to arrest and summons in New York City. A highly intimate and cinematic experience with unprecedented access, CRIME +PUNISHMENT examines the United States' most powerful police department through the brave efforts of a group of active-duty officers and one unforgettable private investigator who risk their careers and safety to bring light to harmful policing practices which have plagued the precincts and streets of New York City for decades.

Educational Media Reviews Online (EMRO) | Reviewed by Carolyn Klotzbach-Russell, Social Sciences Librarian and Government Information Librarian, University at Buffalo Libraries
"Crime + Punishment is a powerful documentary that takes the viewer from an intimate cafe conversation to a Rikers’ cells. It is highly recommended for study in Criminal Justice, Sociology, and Urban Studies." 

Video Librarian ★★★
F. Swietek
"Presenting a strong critique of profit-based malfeasance within the NYPD, this is recommended."

New York Times | A.O. Scott
"Crime + Punishment advances a thorough critique of American law enforcement not by generalizing or speechifying, but by digging into particular lives and circumstances, allowing affected individuals to speak for themselves." 

The Village Voice | Alan Scherstuhl
"Sensitive portraiture and vigorous investigative reporting, Crime + Punishment tracks the struggle of minority police officers within the NYPD to reshape the culture of law enforcement itself. Maing’s film also proves arresting in its compositions, its moody, city-spanning drone photography, its occasional playful looseness. But its power rises from the courage of its subjects, men and women who don’t necessarily want to be fighting the system — they’re eager to be out there in their city, policing the way they consider just."

Film Comment | Eric Hynes
"It’s a real achievement, this film. Gorgeously composed...Vital, necessary and groundbreaking. It’s a significant work of investigative journalism."

Paste Magazine | Andy Crump
"One of 2018’s essential documentaries. Maing’s talent is undeniable. It’s grasp of the daring and the bravery, of its subjects makes it a document that will endure for years to come."

Collider | Matt Goldberg
"Maing's terrific documentary... with the help of his brave subjects and the damning evidence they collect, breaks down how racist outcomes are the result of tribalism, bureaucracy, and money.

American Cinematographer | Pat Thomson
"That was fantastic. It should be required viewing for all New Yorkers! SO important, and really beautifully made as well."

AWARDS
Outstanding Social Issue Documentary Emmy® Awards 
Courage Under Fire Award | International Documentary Association
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Social Impact Filmmaking | Sundance Film Festival
Best Social Impact Film | Greenwich International Film Festival
Audience Award for Best Documentary | Mammoth Lakes Film Festival
Best Documentary | Victoria, TX Indie Film Festival 
Special Jury Prize for Social Impact | Montclair Film Festival
Grand Jury Prize for Documentary | IFFBoston

SCREENINGS
New America Foundation 
Logan Symposium, London University
Films for Transparency, Copenhagen
Hot Docs Film Festival
Traverse City Film Festival
AFI Docs
BAMcinemaFest 
Newburyport Documentary Film Festival
National Association for Multicultural Education Film Festival

Stephen Maing is an Emmy ® award winning, Brooklyn-based filmmaker. Filmed over four years, his feature documentary CRIME + PUNISHMENT chronicles the real lives and struggles of a group of black and Latino whistleblower cops, known as the NYPD12, and the young minorities they are pressured to arrest and summons in New York City. His other projects include HIGH TECH, LOW LIFE, which cinematically captures the fascinating story of two of China's first dissident citizen-journalists fighting state- monitored censorship and was broadcast nationally on PBS’ award-winning series P.O.V. His short film, THE SURRENDER produced with Academy Award winner Laura Poitras, documented State Department intelligence analyst Stephen Kim's harsh prosecution under the Espionage Act. It received a World Press Photo Award for Best Long Form Documentary and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Documentary.