Atlanta Documentary Film Festival 2026: "Crime and Parody" (Day 2)

From the venue:

This year’s program includes powerful investigative films, personal stories, and documentaries that are funny, surprising, and deeply human. Some films will challenge you. Others may make you laugh or see something in a new way. That range of tone is part of what makes documentary filmmaking so exciting.

For the first time, the festival will also present a separate collection of films online, March 23 - April 6, giving audiences another way to discover documentaries beyond the theater.

March 20 "Crime and Parody"
Director Will Thwaites - USA - 91 min. 

In 2016, amateur comedian Anthony Novak created a parody Facebook page mocking his local police. The page was satire, but the police took it VERY seriously. They raided Anthony's home, jailed him for four days, and charged him with a felony punishable by 18 months in prison - all for a joke. His ensuing legal battle, which reached the U.S. Supreme Court, underscored the importance of free speech and police accountability. But just 15 miles from Anthony’s arrest, another police encounter revealed the most devastating consequence when constitutional protections break down - ending not in jail, but in a man's death.

Screening Friday, March 20, 2026 at 7:20 PM at Synchronicity Theatre