Domestic Violence Documentaries

This Is Where I Learned Not To Sleep
Decorated Nashville cop Mark Wynn wrestles with his own violent childhood while working to reform decades of domestic violence mishandling, cover-ups, and abuse from deep within law enforcement. Part quest for justice, part journey towards healing, this documentary is a Purple Ribbon Award winner.

Mourning Son
Dave Navarro, rock star of Jane’s Addiction and the host of Spike’s Ink Master, is a trauma survivor of the highest order. When Navarro was only 15 years old, his mother was brutally murdered by her estranged ex-boyfriend. For eight long years, Dave's mother's killer eluded capture while Dave dealt with his deepest, darkest fears through drugs, art and escapism. "Mourning Son" reveals the story of Navarro confronting the events that changed his life forever

No Way Out But One
In 1994, Holly Collins ran. Despite her broken nose, her son’s fractured skull, and other terrifying reports of alleged abuse, a judge had awarded her husband full custody of their children. When her three kids, all under 12 years old, pleaded with her to protect them, Collins took them and fled. The unlikely fugitives hid across the continent and away from the FBI and a kidnapping charge, before making a dash for the Netherlands. There, Collins blurted out a plea for asylum. After years of running and hiding in refugee camps, Collins would become the first American woman to be granted sanctuary in the northern European country because of domestic violence.

Private Violence
From executive producers Gloria Steinem and Cindy Waitt, this documentary follows the story of domestic violence survivor Deanna Walters, a mother seeking justice for the crimes committed against her at the hands of her estranged husband and Kit Gruelle, a domestic violence advocate who seeks justice for all women. "Private Violence" shows the audience the complicated and complex realities of intimate partner violence.

And So I Stayed
Kim Dadou Brown received a 17-year prison sentence for shooting and killing her boyfriend after he climbed on top of her and said he was going to kill her in 1991. Brown had been out of prison for about seven years when Natalie Pattillo, an abuse survivor and advocate who had also lost her sister Jennifer to domestic violence, contacted her. As a reporter, Pattillo has devoted her career to focusing on telling the stories of domestic violence survivors who had been criminalized for defending themselves. Pattillo asked if she could include Brown’s story in her master’s thesis, then shared her thesis with a friend, fellow journalist and filmmaker Daniel A. Nelson. Blown away by the story, Nelson suggested he and Pattillo turn her thesis and Brown's story into a documentary. "And So I Stayed" follows not just Brown but also two other women incarcerated for defending themselves, Tanisha Davis and Nicole “Nikki” Addimando. The goal of "And So I Stayed" is to shine a light on the bias of the justice system against women, especially women of color.

Telling Amy's Story
Hosted by Law and Order: SVU star, activist and philanthropist Mariska Hargitay, this documentary tells the story of Amy Homan McGee, who was murdered by her abusive husband while her kids waited in the car. Interviews with the case detective shed light on domestic violence in otherwise low-crime areas like central Pennsylvania. 

The Children Next Door
This documentary tells the story of a ten-year marriage plagued by waves of mounting brutality and how abuser Brad Waldroup’s dreaded outbursts culminated one horrific night when he ruthlessly attacked his estranged wife Penny with a gun and machete and murdered her best friend, Leslie Bradshaw, all in front of their four young children. "The Children Next Door" opens years later as the family continues to struggle with deep psychic wounds. 

Power and Control
Following one brave woman and her three children as she flees an abusive husband, "Power and Control" demonstrates the complexities of escaping violence and helps answer the question 'Why don’t they just leave?' The 2010 documentary directed by Peter Cohn explores the shocking persistence of violence against women through unstable economic times.

High Point 10-70-9
Referencing the town of High Point and the police code for domestic violence, "High Point 10-70-9" is a documentary about the novel approach the High Point, North Carolina, is taking to prevent domestic violence. High Point’s strategy involves “forced deterrence,” offering help to a small group of chronic domestic abusers and punishment for repeat offenders. And what's more—it seems to be working.

Conflict
Photographer Donna Ferrato set out to capture intimate images of people’s lives. When she was working for LIFE Magazine in the ‘80s, she moved into a couple’s home with the idea of documenting 'how love works.' As unabashed swingers, their life was rife with interesting tidbits for Ferrato to capture in pictures. But the first time the husband struck his wife in anger, everything in Ferrato’s world turned on its head. From that moment on, she began photographing domestic violence—as it occurred and in its aftermath. Her three-decade career of photographs became a book,  Living With the Enemy and are now part of this documentary focusing on the way photojournalists bring conflict to life.

One Minute To Nine
The documentary chronicles the five days leading up to her incarceration after being convicted of manslaughter against her abuser. Married to an abuser at just 16, Wendy Maldonado's 20-year marriage was filled with abuse and violence. Left terrified, Maldonado summoned the courage to deal with her husband the only way she believed would keep her and her kids safe from his abuse: by killing him. A harrowing portrait of domestic abuse, One Minute To Nine draws heavily on video shot by the dead abuser, as Maldonado spends her final days of freedom before going to jail for his murder. When it aired on HBO, this intense documentary was renamed  “Every F*cking Day of My Life,” referencing the answer Maldonado gave when asked by emergency services if her husband ever abused her.

Erasing Dad
"Erasing Dad" is a documentary that follows six Argentinian dads fighting to gain access to their children after divorce. One of the featured fathers was abused during his relationship and is still suffering from losing access to his children, as well as the control and torment his ex still abuses him with, also called "domestic violence by proxy." Film director Ginger Gentile demonstrates how domestic violence by proxy can be a natural progression for an abuser once they no longer has access to physically or emotionally harm a survivor directly.

Five Awake
Louisiana has been notorious for having one of the highest rates of domestic violence homicides; ranking second in the U.S. in 2014. After the tragic murder of one of their own by her husband, five rightfully angry Louisianan women came together to try change that. Charmaine Caccioppi, Beth Meeks, Helena Moreno, Mary Claire Landry, and Kim Sport worked together to interview domestic violence professionals working directly with survivors to determine which laws were creating barriers. Demonstrating the power of determined women, this documentary follows the Five Awake as they enact real change.