Brad Lichtenstein

American Coup: Wilmington 1898

The little-known story of a deadly race massacre and carefully orchestrated insurrection in North Carolina’s largest city in 1898 — the only coup d’état in the history of the US. Stoking fears of 'Negro Rule', self-described white supremacists used intimidation and violence to destroy Black political and economic power and overthrow Wilmington’s democratically-elected, multi-racial government. Black residents were murdered and thousands were banished. The story of what happened in Wilmington was suppressed for decades until descendants and scholars began to investigate. Today, many of those descendants — Black and white — seek the truth about this intentionally buried history.

American Reckoning

In this feature-length documentary from FRONTLINE and Retro Report, an unsolved 1960s murder reveals an untold story of the civil rights movement and Black resistance. “American Reckoning” examines Black opposition to racist violence in Mississippi, spotlighting a little-known armed resistance group called the Deacons for Defense and Justice, woven alongside the Jackson family’s decades-long search for justice amid a federal effort to investigate civil rights era cold cases.

Messwood

Declining participation leads two Milwaukee area high schools—one black and urban, the other white and suburban—to combine their football programs. Tensions rise as the disparities between the two schools become increasingly apparent over the course of the season. At the center of the drama, the teenage athletes attempt to make sense of their adolescence in the face of the racial fissures in their community.

When Claude Got Shot

While visiting his hometown of Milwaukee, father of three and aspiring attorney, Claude Motley, is shot in the face by 15-year-old Nathan, during a carjacking gone wrong. Two nights later, Nathan attempts to rob Victoria, who fires her gun in self-defense, partially paralyzing Nathan from the waist down. Three strangers tragically bound together by a weekend of gun violence on a five-year journey toward recovery and forgiveness.

There Are Jews Here

There Are Jews Here follows the untold stories of four once thriving American Jewish communities that are now barely holding on. Most American Jews live in large cities where they are free to define themselves in any way they wish. But almost invisible to most of the country are roughly one million Jews scattered across far-flung communities. For them, Jewish identity is a daily urgent challenge; if they don’t personally uphold their communities and live affirmative Jewish lives, they and their legacies could fade away forever.

Ghosts of Attica

Documentary about Attica prison riot and lawsuits to get compensation for the victims of these events.