Featured works
Contemporary Works
Betrayal at Attica, 2021
Betrayal at Attica was directed and produced by Michael Hull and Morgan Foley from Fifth Column Films. It is based on the archive and final interview of radical lawyer Elizabeth Fink, who represented the Attica Brothers for more than 30 years. She was a passionate advocate for human rights who defended her clients by attacking the most powerful foe in her time - the United States government. Watch the trailer above and stream now on HBO Max.
Read a powerful review of this film here.
Attica, 2021
This documentary by director Stanley Nelson chronicles the five-day prison rebellion that transpired in the fall of 1971 in upstate New York and still stands as the largest and deadliest the country has ever witnessed. Dr. Heather Ann Thompson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy, will be the lead historical consultant on the project. The film will premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival as the opening screening for TIFF Docs.
William Kunstler: Disturbing the universe
William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe examines the life of radical attorney William Kunstler from a surprising angle. His daughters, Sarah and Emily Kunstler wrote, directed, and produced this film to recover the real story of what made their late father one of the most beloved, and hated, lawyers in America. Read the full film description here.
This film is also the winner of the L'Oreal Paris Women of Worth Vision Award, 2009 Sundance Film Festival. A co-production of ITVS.
Big Black: Stand at Attica, 2020
This work was written by Jared Reinmuth and Frank “Big Black” Smith himself, adapted and illustrated by Ameziane. Big Black: Stand at Attica is “a graphic novel memoir from Frank “Big Black” Smith, a prisoner at Attica State Prison in 1971, whose rebellion against the injustices of the prison system remains one of the bloodiest civil rights confrontations in American history.” - BOOM! Studios
Purchase here.
There is also a song created with the release of this book, listen here: https://standatattica.bandcamp.com/
“What Actually Took Place and Why so much is still unknown”, 2021
This article was written by Joe Heath. Heath was one of the lawyers who represented 1,283 inmates in a lawsuit against the state of New York. This article is Heath’s account of the Attica Uprising for “New York History”, published by Cornell University Press. Click the PDF to the right to read the full article.
You can also read this article in the Syracuse News here.
Blood in the Water, 2016
Written by Dr. Heather Ann Thompson, Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy “sheds new light on every aspect of the uprising and its legacy, giving voice to all those who took part in this forty-five-year fight for justice: prisoners, former hostages, families of the victims, lawyers and judges, and state officials and members of law enforcement. Blood in the Water is the searing and indelible account of one of the most important civil rights stories of the last century.” - Vintage Books, Publisher
This book is a Pulitzer Prize Winner and National Book Award Finalist.