The latest from the Oscar-nominated documentarian Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) is an enraging account of the decades-long struggle between a Black family from North Carolina and a shady property development company. For generations, the Reels family has owned a chunk of what was swamp land and is now prime waterfront real estate. Then, in the 80s, in murky circumstances, a company called Adams Creek Associates struck a contested deal in which it claimed to have bought just over five hectares (13 acres) of the land. The problem was that the Reels family never agreed to this. And the two brothers, Melvin and Licurtis, who lived on the land were sued by the property developers for trespassing. The court found in favour of Adams Creek Associates; consequently, Melvin and Licurtis spent eight years in prison.
Peck’s film – which, with its themes of race and failures of American justice, has a kinship with Ava DuVernay’s 13th and Garrett Bradley’s Time – is both infuriating and also unexpectedly uplifting in its celebration of family unity.
• In select cinemas and on Prime from 20 October
