Year: 2003
Director: Andrew Jarecki
Cast: Documentary
Plot outline: Engrossing documentary follows the story of the Friedman family, a seemingly nice, normal, middle class American family that becomes involved in a horrifying scandal.
Standouts: Andrew Jarecki had been working on a documentary about clowns working in Manhattan for children’s parties, when he met David Friedman — a very successful clown who was clearly a very screwed-up individual who couldn’t stop himself from making really shitty remarks about his mom. As Jarecki spent more time with David and looked deeper into his background, it was revealed that the Friedman family was involved in a huge child molestation scandal in the 1980s, and that David had tons of video footage of his family falling apart. The focus of the documentary, needless to say, was changed considerably, and thus “Capturing the Friedmans” was born. A fascinating, thought-provoking must-see.
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