Synopsis

 

WINNER of the GRAND JURY PRIZE in the DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION at SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2003

CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS is a non-fiction feature film that explores the elusive nature of truth through the prism of one of the strangest criminal cases in American history. The Friedmans seem at first to be a typical family. Arnold Friedman is an award-winning schoolteacher, his wife Elaine, a homemaker. Together, they raise their three boys in the affluent Long Island town of Great Neck. One Thanksgiving, the family is gathered at home preparing for a quiet holiday dinner. In an instant, a police battering ram splinters the front door and officers rush into the house searching every corner, seizing boxes of the family's possessions. Arnold and his 18-year old son Jesse are both arrested, and subsequently indicted for hundreds of shocking crimes. The film follows their story - from the public's perspective and, most remarkably, through unique footage of the family in crisis, shot contemporaneously by family members inside the Friedman house.

 

http://www.capturingthefriedmans.com/main.html

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0342172/