Tulia, Texas

Fortunately the documentary genre quickly redeemed itself with Tulia. A fascinating and personal account of a DEA "special task force" in a small Texas town which demonstrably falsified evidence against black suspects.

The directors were undoubtedly lucky that events played out so well, as they arrived very early in what could have been another bland fuckup of the American justice system. Fortunately they arrived before the undercover agent was revealed to have outstanding warrants for theft, and a number of convictions were overturned.

The direction itself is quite good, leaving out narration and outside opinion, and letting the people involved speak for themselves. Each participant is featured in a series of interviews as the events progress, and it's pretty shocking to see the disconnect between the people being charged and the undercover agent, and an interview with one of the members of the jury is even better.

There's not much balance in the story they tell, but then it's hard to see how there could be much balance in the actual events. And it's extremely entertaining to see some smug racist southerners get their plans turned upside down, even if it's obvious that the directors had picked a side from the start.