ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL

2016
Feature Documentary

Directed by Steve James
Edited by John Farbrother, David E. Simpson
Director of Photography Tom Bergmann
Music by Joshua Abrams
Producers Mark Mitten, Julie Goldman
Co-Producers Fenell Doremus, Nick Verbitsky
Executive Producers Gordon Quinn, Betsy Steinberg,
Christopher Clements, Justine Nagan
Kartemquin Films, Mitten Media, Motto Pictures

PBS Frontline

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail tells the incredible saga of the Chinese immigrant Sung family, owners of Abacus Federal Savings of Chinatown, New York. Accused of mortgage fraud by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., Abacus becomes the only U.S. bank to face criminal charges in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The indictment and subsequent trial forces the Sung family to defend themselves–and their bank’s legacy in the Chinatown community–over the course of a five-year legal battle.

2018 Academy Award Nominee Best Documentary Feature
Winner Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary News & Documentary Emmy Awards
Winner Best Political Documentary Critics Choice Awards
Nominee Documentary Category 77th Annual Peabody Awards
Nominee Best Documentary Critics Choice Awards
Nominee Most Compelling Living Subjects Critics Choice Awards
Nominee Best Documentary National Board of Review
Nominee Cinema Eye Honors’ Audience Choice Prize
Nominee Best Documentary Chicago Film Critics Association
National Board of Review’s Top Five Documentaries of 2017
Winner 2018 American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award
U.S. Premiere @ 2016 New York Film Festival
European Premier @ 2016 IDFA
Best of Fest Palm Springs International Film Festival
Audience Award for Best Documentary Sarasota Film Festival
Audience Award San Diego Film Festival Showcase
Best Documentary Editing Ashland Film Festival

“Veteran documentary-maker Steve James (Hoop Dreams) is back with an engrossing story: the extraordinary fiasco of the Abacus bank prosecution.” (4/5 stars)
–Peter Bradshaw The Guardian

“Throughout James’s scrappy story, there’s a winning sense of humor, showing the spunk of people not used to getting pushed around.” (4/5 stars)
–Joshua Rothkopf Time Out New York

“A charming portrait of this tight-knit community in the midst of their David v Goliath battle. The Sungs are demonstrably close and witheringly intelligent.” (4/5 stars)
–Jonathan Mahon-Heap The Upcoming

“An astonishing, bruising, educative tale for our times.” (4/5 stars)
–Nigel Andrews Financial Times

“Illuminating and inspiring.”
–Nikki Baughan The List

“A classic underdog tale”
–The New York Times

“A potent examination”
–Los Angeles Times

“A stunning David-and-Goliath epic”
–Film Journal International

“One of the great documentaries of recent years”
–Movie City News