Fruit of the Drunken Tree

In 1992, Yance Ford's brother William was shot and killed by a white mechanic in Long Island. No one was charged. A quarter of a century later, Ford turns the camera on the family, the case and the legal system that decided what counted as fear. The film is quiet, direct, and built from interviews with his mother, sister and the people who knew William.

Why it’s here: It's a film about a family told that its grief did not count. What's punk is how still it is: no reenactments, just faces and a legal system on the record. What's pedagogical is how it shows the machinery of a verdict, which turns out to be a story about who is allowed to be afraid. Pairs with Just Mercy, The New Jim Crow and Between the World and Me. Note: PG-13/R; discusses a killing and its aftermath; slow and personal; adults and mature teens. English.

Associated Press journalists Mstyslav Chernov, Evgeniy Maloletka and Vasilisa Stepanenko were the last international reporters in Mariupol when Russia besieged the city in 2022. Their footage of a maternity hospital bombing, mass graves and doctors working by flashlight is edited into a day-by-day record of the siege. The film won the 2024 Oscar for best documentary.

Why it’s here: The film is what witness looks like when somebody refuses to look away. What's punk is that the reporters kept filming while Russian propaganda called their footage staged. What's pedagogical is how clearly it shows the work of journalism, and the cost. Pairs with Winter on Fire, This Is Not Propaganda and the Fascism bundle. Note: graphic scenes including dead children; for older teens and adults.