Capturing the Friedmans
Encyclopedia
Capturing the Friedmans is a documentary film
directed by Andrew Jarecki
. It focuses on the 1980s investigation of Arnold and Jesse Friedman for child molestation. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Documentary Feature
in 2003.
Some of the Friedmans' alleged victims and family members wrote to the Awards Committee protesting the nomination, their identities confirmed but protected by the judge who presided over the court case.
, including the popular clown David Friedman.
During his research, Jarecki learned that David Friedman's brother, Jesse, and his father, Arnold, had been convicted of child sexual abuse
. Jarecki interviewed some of the children involved and ended up making a film about the Friedmans themselves.
when he received a magazine of child pornography
from the Netherlands
by mail. In searching his Great Neck, New York
home, investigators found a collection of child pornography. After learning that Friedman taught children computer classes from his home, local police began to suspect him of abusing his students.
In police interviews, some of the children Friedman taught stated Friedman played bizarre sex games with them during their computer classes. Jarecki interviewed some of these children himself; some stated that they had been in the room with other children alleging abuse, and that nothing had happened. The film portrayed police investigative procedures as the genesis of a "witch-hunt
" in the Friedmans' community.
The Friedmans took home-videos while Arnold Friedman (and, later, his son Jesse) awaited trial. They were allowed to stay at home in order to prepare for court. The pictures were not made with publishing in mind, but as a way to record what was happening in their lives. The movie shows much of this footage; family dinners, conversations and arguments. Arnold's wife quickly decided that her husband was indeed guilty, and advised him to confess and protect their son.
Arnold Friedman pleaded guilty to multiple charges of sodomy
and sexual abuse
. According to the Friedman family, he confessed in the hopes that his son would be spared prison time. Jesse Friedman later confessed as well, but now claims he did so to avoid being sent to prison for life. He said in mitigation that his father had molested him. Arnold Friedman admitted to being a pedophile
, and to molesting two boys, but not those who attended his computer classes. He is also quoted as admitting that, when he was 13, he had sex with his younger brother, Howard, who was 8 years old; Howard Friedman has said he does not recall this. In addition, Peter Panaro, the lawyer for Jesse Friedman, stated that Jesse had admitted to him that he was sexually assaulted
by his father as a child. He also stated that Jesse had in fact admitted to him that he had sodomized 14 boys. Jesse denies telling the lawyer this and states that the lawyer told him to plead guilty and blame his father.
Although not included in the film, in a 1989 interview with Geraldo Rivera
in prison, Jesse said he was sexually abused by his father and apparently confesses to abusing children himself. He has since recanted these statements, saying that his lawyer advised him to make them because it would help his appeal
case.
Arnold Friedman died in prison in 1995, leaving a $250,000 life insurance
benefit to his son. Jesse Friedman was released from prison in 2001 after serving 13 years of his sentence.
Not mentioned in the film is that Jesse Friedman appealed his conviction; a federal judge rejected two out of three motions of Jesse Friedman’s appeal. The third motion was dismissed in January 2008.
wrote, "Mr. Jarecki so recognizes the archetypal
figures in the Friedman home that he knows to push things any further through heavy-handed assessment would be redundant." He praised Jarecki for operating under the premise "that first impressions can't be trusted and that truth rests with each person telling the story." Washington Post columnist Desson Howe offered similar praise, writing, "It's testament to Jarecki's superbly wrought film that everyone seems to be, simultaneously, morally suspect and strikingly innocent as they relate their stories and assertions...This is a film about the quagmire of mystery in every human soul." Similarly, Roger Ebert
wrote, "The film is as an instructive lesson about the elusiveness of facts, especially in a legal context. Sometimes guilt and innocence are discovered in court, but sometimes, we gather, only truths about the law are demonstrated." The film won the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival
for 2003. Capturing the Friedmans was voted the fifth most popular film in the Channel 4
programme, The 50 Greatest Documentaries of all time, in 2005.
In one of the few negative reviews, Los Angeles Times
writer Kenneth Turan
wrote a critique of both the film and Jarecki stating, "Jarecki's pose of impartiality gets especially troublesome for audiences when it enables him to evade responsibility for dealing with the complexities of his material."
Criticism intensified as Jarecki's role in deliberately choosing not to pursue his firm belief in the Friedmans' innocence became publicly known. In his review, Ebert had recounted Jarecki's statement at the Sundance Film Festival
that he did not know whether Arnold and Jesse Friedman were guilty of child molestation. Ebert roundly praised Jarecki for communicating this ambiguity. It has since emerged that Jarecki funded Jesse Friedman's appeal. Writing for The Village Voice
, Debbie Nathan
— who was hired by Jarecki as a consultant after having been interviewed for the film — wrote of Jarecki, "Polling viewers at Sundance
in January, he was struck by how they were split over Arnold and Jesse's guilt. Since then, he's crafted a marketing strategy based on ambiguity, and during Q&As and interviews, he has studiously avoided taking a stand."
District Attorney Kathleen Rice
announced that she will appoint a committee of her own assistants to re-examine the case and will compile a panel of experts in law enforcement, law and social science to oversee the prosecutors' panel.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
directed by Andrew Jarecki
Andrew Jarecki
Andrew Jarecki is an American filmmaker, musician, and entrepreneur. He is best known for Capturing the Friedmans, which won eighteen international prizes including the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and the New York Film Critics Circle award, and was nominated for an Academy...
. It focuses on the 1980s investigation of Arnold and Jesse Friedman for child molestation. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Documentary Feature
Academy Award for Documentary Feature
The Academy Award for Documentary Feature is among the most prestigious awards for documentary films.- Winners and nominees:Following the Academy's practice, films are listed below by the award year...
in 2003.
Some of the Friedmans' alleged victims and family members wrote to the Awards Committee protesting the nomination, their identities confirmed but protected by the judge who presided over the court case.
History
Jarecki initially was going to make a film about children's birthday party entertainers in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, including the popular clown David Friedman.
During his research, Jarecki learned that David Friedman's brother, Jesse, and his father, Arnold, had been convicted of child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
. Jarecki interviewed some of the children involved and ended up making a film about the Friedmans themselves.
Plot
The investigation into Arnold Friedman's life started after a federal sting operationSting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather...
when he received a magazine of child pornography
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
from the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
by mail. In searching his Great Neck, New York
Great Neck, New York
The term Great Neck is commonly applied to a peninsula on the North Shore of Long Island, which includes the village of Great Neck, the village of Great Neck Estates, the village of Great Neck Plaza, and others, as well as an area south of the peninsula near Lake Success and the border of Queens...
home, investigators found a collection of child pornography. After learning that Friedman taught children computer classes from his home, local police began to suspect him of abusing his students.
In police interviews, some of the children Friedman taught stated Friedman played bizarre sex games with them during their computer classes. Jarecki interviewed some of these children himself; some stated that they had been in the room with other children alleging abuse, and that nothing had happened. The film portrayed police investigative procedures as the genesis of a "witch-hunt
Witch-hunt
A witch-hunt is a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft, often involving moral panic, mass hysteria and lynching, but in historical instances also legally sanctioned and involving official witchcraft trials...
" in the Friedmans' community.
The Friedmans took home-videos while Arnold Friedman (and, later, his son Jesse) awaited trial. They were allowed to stay at home in order to prepare for court. The pictures were not made with publishing in mind, but as a way to record what was happening in their lives. The movie shows much of this footage; family dinners, conversations and arguments. Arnold's wife quickly decided that her husband was indeed guilty, and advised him to confess and protect their son.
Arnold Friedman pleaded guilty to multiple charges of sodomy
Sodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
and sexual abuse
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
. According to the Friedman family, he confessed in the hopes that his son would be spared prison time. Jesse Friedman later confessed as well, but now claims he did so to avoid being sent to prison for life. He said in mitigation that his father had molested him. Arnold Friedman admitted to being a pedophile
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
, and to molesting two boys, but not those who attended his computer classes. He is also quoted as admitting that, when he was 13, he had sex with his younger brother, Howard, who was 8 years old; Howard Friedman has said he does not recall this. In addition, Peter Panaro, the lawyer for Jesse Friedman, stated that Jesse had admitted to him that he was sexually assaulted
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
by his father as a child. He also stated that Jesse had in fact admitted to him that he had sodomized 14 boys. Jesse denies telling the lawyer this and states that the lawyer told him to plead guilty and blame his father.
Although not included in the film, in a 1989 interview with Geraldo Rivera
Geraldo Rivera
Geraldo Rivera is an American attorney, journalist, author, reporter, and former talk show host...
in prison, Jesse said he was sexually abused by his father and apparently confesses to abusing children himself. He has since recanted these statements, saying that his lawyer advised him to make them because it would help his appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
case.
Arnold Friedman died in prison in 1995, leaving a $250,000 life insurance
Life insurance
Life insurance is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger...
benefit to his son. Jesse Friedman was released from prison in 2001 after serving 13 years of his sentence.
Not mentioned in the film is that Jesse Friedman appealed his conviction; a federal judge rejected two out of three motions of Jesse Friedman’s appeal. The third motion was dismissed in January 2008.
Response
The film received extremely positive reviews, with the review tallying website rottentomatoes.com reporting that 139 out of the 143 reviews they tallied were positive for a score of 97 percent and a certification of "fresh". The film was ranked as the 7th best reviewed movie of 2003 on the website's best of the year list. The low-budget documentary was a success with audiences as well grossing over $3 million in theaters, making it a surprise hit. In terms of individual reviews Elvis Mitchell of The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote, "Mr. Jarecki so recognizes the archetypal
Archetype
An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...
figures in the Friedman home that he knows to push things any further through heavy-handed assessment would be redundant." He praised Jarecki for operating under the premise "that first impressions can't be trusted and that truth rests with each person telling the story." Washington Post columnist Desson Howe offered similar praise, writing, "It's testament to Jarecki's superbly wrought film that everyone seems to be, simultaneously, morally suspect and strikingly innocent as they relate their stories and assertions...This is a film about the quagmire of mystery in every human soul." Similarly, Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
wrote, "The film is as an instructive lesson about the elusiveness of facts, especially in a legal context. Sometimes guilt and innocence are discovered in court, but sometimes, we gather, only truths about the law are demonstrated." The film won the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
for 2003. Capturing the Friedmans was voted the fifth most popular film in the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
programme, The 50 Greatest Documentaries of all time, in 2005.
In one of the few negative reviews, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
writer Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan is an American film critic and Lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California.-Background:...
wrote a critique of both the film and Jarecki stating, "Jarecki's pose of impartiality gets especially troublesome for audiences when it enables him to evade responsibility for dealing with the complexities of his material."
Criticism intensified as Jarecki's role in deliberately choosing not to pursue his firm belief in the Friedmans' innocence became publicly known. In his review, Ebert had recounted Jarecki's statement at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
that he did not know whether Arnold and Jesse Friedman were guilty of child molestation. Ebert roundly praised Jarecki for communicating this ambiguity. It has since emerged that Jarecki funded Jesse Friedman's appeal. Writing for The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, Debbie Nathan
Debbie Nathan
Debbie Nathan is an American feminist journalist and writer, known for critiquing cultural and criminal justice panics about abuse of children, particularly accusations of chimeric "satanic" abuse in schools and public childcare institutions. She also writes about immigration, focusing on women and...
— who was hired by Jarecki as a consultant after having been interviewed for the film — wrote of Jarecki, "Polling viewers at Sundance
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
in January, he was struck by how they were split over Arnold and Jesse's guilt. Since then, he's crafted a marketing strategy based on ambiguity, and during Q&As and interviews, he has studiously avoided taking a stand."
Later Developments
On August 16, 2010 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied Jesse Friedman's bid to withdraw his guilty plea but said he was probably wrongly convicted and was pressured into pleading guilty to a crime he may not have committed because police, prosecutors and the judge in the case were overzealous and swept up in the hysteria of the times. One day later Nassau CountyNassau County
Nassau County is the name of two counties in the United States:*Nassau County, New York*Nassau County, Florida...
District Attorney Kathleen Rice
Kathleen Rice
Kathleen Maura Rice is the current Nassau County District Attorney. In November 2005, Rice defeated 31-year-incumbent Denis E. Dillon to become the first female district attorney of Nassau.-Early life and education:...
announced that she will appoint a committee of her own assistants to re-examine the case and will compile a panel of experts in law enforcement, law and social science to oversee the prosecutors' panel.