A groundbreaking documentary series embedded inside the long shot election and tumultuous first term of Larry Krasner, Philadelphia’s unapologetic District Attorney, and his experiment to upend the criminal justice system from the inside out.
For years, creators Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, and Nicole Salazar followed Krasner’s journey, giving not only fellow campaigners but also his opponents opportunities to have their say. PHILLY D.A. is the first documentary series to screen in Berlinale Series; it tells a distinctively American story of universal relevance. An Independent Lens Original Series, produced by Salazar and Oscar-nominees Michael Gottwald and Josh Penn (Beasts of the Southern Wild), among others.
In 2017, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania had one of the highest incarceration rates of any major city in the United States. And it’s become the epicenter of a historic experiment that could shape the future of prosecution in America for decades to come. When civil rights attorney Larry Krasner mounted a long shot campaign to become District Attorney, he ran on a bold pledge: to end mass incarceration by changing the culture of the criminal justice system from within. He shocked the establishment by winning in a landslide.
Now, the bureaucrats he spent his campaign denigrating are his co-workers; the police he alienated are his rank-and-file law enforcers. Pressure comes from all sides of a system resistant to reform. Krasner’s unapologetic promise to use the power of the D.A.’s office for sweeping change is what got him elected; now that he’s in office, that same stubbornness threatens to alienate those he needs to work with the most. From the eye of this political storm, filmmakers Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, and Nicole Salazar gained unprecedented access into Krasner’s office and behind the scenes of the criminal justice system. Over the course of eight episodes, PHILLY D.A. explores the most pressing social issues of our time—police brutality, the opioid crisis, gun violence, and mass incarceration—through the lens of an idealistic team attempting fundamental overhaul from within the system.
After World Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival to much acclaim, the first two episodes of the 8-part docuseries PHILLY D.A. will have their International Premiere at Berlin International Film Festival 2021 in the Berlinale Series section.
