2021 TIFF Indie Lens Pop-Up Series | Philly D.A.

In 2017, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania had one of the highest incarceration rates of any major city in the United States. And it’s become the epicenter of a historic experiment that could shape the future of prosecution in America for decades to come. When civil rights attorney Larry Krasner mounted a long-shot campaign to become District Attorney, he ran on a bold pledge: to end mass incarceration by changing the culture of the criminal justice system from within. He shocked the establishment by winning in a landslide.

Now, the bureaucrats he spent his campaign denigrating are his co-workers; the police he alienated are his rank-and-file law enforcers. Pressure comes from all sides of a system resistant to reform. Krasner’s unapologetic promise to use the power of the DA’s office for sweeping change is what got him elected; now that he’s in office, that same stubbornness threatens to alienate those he needs to work with the most.

From the eye of this political storm, District Attorney Krasner has allowed filmmakers unprecedented access into his office and behind the scenes of the criminal justice system. Over the course of eight episodes, Philly D.A. explores the most pressing social issues of our time—police brutality, the opioid crisis, gun violence, and mass incarceration—through the lens of one man attempting fundamental overhaul from within the system.

Sponsored by The Jewish Standard; Wise Older Women; Katz & Koutsantanou, PC; Susan Davison

Speakers: Larry Krasner, Philadelphia D.A. & subject of film; Mike Lee, Assistant Philadelphia D.A., Director of Legislation & Government Affairs; Mark I. Bernstein, Retired Judge, Philadelphia County; Ted Passon, Director, Philly D.A.

Moderated by Karen Thompson, ACLU Sr. Staff Attorney