Free Joan Little tells the story of the eponymous 20-year-old African American woman who, in 1975, became the first woman acquitted of murder in a sexual assault case. The 35-minute documentary project, produced by Christalyn Hampton and Bonnie Bertram, was presented during Ji.hlava New Visions by US director Yoruba Richen. This year sees the 50th anniversary of Little’s trial.
“Her story of bravery against all odds became an international cause célèbre and brought together some of the most prominent and fascinating social movements of the 1970s,” Richen told the professional audience in attendance.
“The Black Power folks, the white feminists, the LGBT community, and people who [were] organising for prison reform and against the death penalty. They held demonstrations, they protested in the streets, sang songs, and it was all part of what became to be known as the Free Joan Little Movement,” the director added.
Richen discovered Little’s story when making an earlier doc about Rosa Parks [The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, 2022], who became one Little’s strongest and most vocal advocates. “The film shows how nearly half a century before movements that we know today, such as the MeToo Movement, Say Her Name, Black Lives Matter, people were forming innovative coalitions and demanding justice for issues that we are still fighting for today in our democracy.”
“It’s still a very powerful legal precedent that people refer to in cases of sexual assault. And my film shows how transformative change can happen when marginalised communities put away their differences and come together to build bridges and demand justice,” Richen added.
The film is nearly ready for delivery, and will world premiere at DOC NYC in November 2025.
“The time for this film is now,” Richen stressed. “At the end of the film, we also talk about the continuing fight to bring light to sexual abuse of prisoners…I never thought when I started this film two years ago that we would be in the situation that we’re in the United States right now, where movements for racial justice and gender equality, movements to end police brutality and for prison reform are literally being squashed. Human rights being taken away daily on our streets all over the country.”
“And the efforts to erase history from our universities, from our books, from our libraries is happening at an incredible, unbelievable pace,” Richen continued. “This history, like the story of Joan, is history that makes some people feel uncomfortable. But it really is an inspiration in these dark times.”
She underlined further concerns, namely “an assault on public media and funding that most of us didn’t think was possible.”
“The money that documentary filmmakers in the U.S. have relied on is literally drying up and is very tight. As you see, this film is told through the archival footage, some of which has never been seen before or rarely seen video and audio.And that’s expensive. So I am looking for $50,000 to pay for these archival costs. And some of the archive that we use is from European production houses.”
In addition to funding, the director is looking for broadcasters, distributors, sales agents, film festival representatives all over the world “that want to partner in helping us get this vital and inspirational story out to the public.”
“Now is the time,” Richen underlined the sense of urgency she feels in getting her film to screen.
