Scottsboro: An American Tragedy

Using trial transcripts, courtroom photographs and other archival material, this documentary tells the story of nine African-American teenagers who, in 1931, were accused of rape by two white women. Despite a complete lack of evidence, the boys were convicted and sent to prison. Although ultimately exonerated, the boys' lives were devastated by the incident, and the filmmakers connect the public outrage regarding this case to the beginnings of the civil rights movement of the 1950s.