Capturing the Friedmans

May 30, 2003

1h 47m

★ 7.1

Who do you believe?

Overview

An Oscar nominated documentary about a middle-class American family who is torn apart when the father Arnold and son Jesse are accused of sexually abusing numerous children. Director Jarecki interviews people from different sides of this tragic story and raises the question of whether they were rightfully tried when they claim they were innocent and there was never any evidence against them.

Genres

Documentary

Crime

Production Companies

HBO Documentary Films

Notorious Pictures

Magnolia Pictures

Capturing the Friedmans Trailers

Cast

Self (archive footage)

Arnold Friedman

Self

Elaine Friedman

Self

David Friedman

Self

Jesse Friedman

Self (archive footage)

Seth Friedman

Self - Postal Inspector

John McDermott

Self - Ret. Director, Sex Crimes Unit

Frances Galasso

Self - Detective, Sex Crimes Unit

Anthony Sgueglia

Self - Asst. District Attorney

Joseph Onorato

Self - Jesse's Best Friend in High School

Judd Martin

Self - Arnold's Brother

Howard Friedman

Self - Former Computer Student

Ron Georgalis

Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together.

7.5

Ghosts: Long Way Home

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After a spell cast by Grandma Faraway, the oldest son of a small family encounters the ghost of his late Grandma Maria still living in her old house, and they chat as they used to.

7.0

The Other Side of the Wall

Mar 19, 2017

Honduran immigrants living in Mexico, teenage siblings Rocío and Ale must take over care of their two younger siblings after their mother is sentenced to prison on dubious grounds. Tensions grow between the pair as the decision must be made on whether to stay together in Mexico or split the family up to cross into the US to work.

0.0

A Conversation Between Parents

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A year after Thadd and Shannon gave birth to their son, A Conversation Between Parents highlights a climactic conversation in their lives -- as both young parents grasp at the last threads of their ideal family. On an afternoon off of work, the couple sits on their couch, while their son sleeps in his crib, and the family grapples with their limited options one last time. Dietrich’s camera ties the couple’s painful conversation together with flashbacks of both parents’ precious memories of their first year with Jasper, attempting to find a way to articulate their struggles in the last conversation they have together as a couple.

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0.0

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It's a sensitive, moving doc chronicling the life of Tétrault's brother Philip , a Montreal poet, musician and diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. A promising athlete as a child, Philip began experiencing mood swings in his early 20s. His extended family, including his daughter, share their conflicted feelings love, guilt, shame, anger with the camera. They want to make sure he's safe, but how much can they take?

8.4

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A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.

7.7

Mystic River

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The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them suffers a family tragedy.

6.9

Dolphin Reef

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Echo is a youngster who can't quite decide if it's time to grow up and take on new responsibilities-or give in to her silly side and just have fun. Dolphin society is tricky, and the coral reef that Echo and his family call home depends on all of its inhabitants to keep it healthy. But Echo has a tough time resisting the many adventures the ocean has to offer.

0.0

NDDJ (Notre-Dame-du-Jambon)

Nov 20, 2022

Karan and Rohan, two biracial brothers raised in a marginal environment, are finding ways to get stimulated on a normal summer day. They embark on a trip to buy candies to avoid boredom. This film plays with the sense of boundaries between what is real and what is fiction. It is a film about the love of two brothers and their singular reality in the countryside of Quebec.

8.0

Drugged and Abused: No More Shame

Jan 21, 2025

Caroline Darian, Gisèle Pelicot's daughter, looks back on the tragedy that shook her family: for ten years, her father drugged her mother to subject her to rapes committed by strangers recruited on the Internet. This case exposes the scandal of chemical submission, a practice where attackers, generally close to the victims, use prescription or over-the-counter medications to commit their crimes. This phenomenon, far from being marginal, affects victims with varied profiles...

9.0

Nedam i regam

Mar 26, 2025

The Font Bover family goes to fetch water (they swim) and then water some trees. Available on YouTube.

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0.0

Your Best Friend

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A short documentary looking into the relationship between teenage siblings.

0.0

Nine Moons

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An intimate diary of a young woman whose pregnancy causes her to suffer from enhanced nightmares, anxieties about her soon to be born baby girl and makes her question motherhood as she knows it, through her own mother and grandmother.

No Image Available

0.0

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A simple story of happy home and family relationships, showing various childhood activities. Does not give guidance for kite flying.

0.0

The Egg

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A college freshman takes advantage of a rumor, straining the relationships with those around him.

5.7

Crime + Punishment in Suburbia

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At school, Roseanne is the object of fellow student Vincent's infatuation. By night, she deals with a troubled family life: her mother, Maggie, cheats on her drunken husband, Fred. When Maggie's adultery is revealed, Fred viciously takes his anger out on stepdaughter Roseanne. With the help of her boyfriend, Jimmy, Maggie plots her revenge, but Vincent might be the one to help her forge a new life in this contemporary fable loosely based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment".

0.0

Memory Books

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In Uganda, AIDS-infected mothers have begun writing what they call Memory Books for their children. Aware of the illness, it is a way for the family to come to terms with the inevitable death that it faces. Hopelessness and desperation are confronted through the collaborative effort of remembering and recording, a process that inspires unexpected strength and even solace in the face of death.

6.1

Ricochet

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An attorney is terrorized by the criminal he put away years ago when he was a cop.