Public Defender (Pre-Order)
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- Directed by: Andrea Kalin
- Released: 2025 (educational)
- Year of Production: 2024
Running Time: 51min, 40 min
Language: English
Subtitle Options: English Closed Captions
Subjects: US Politics, Social Issues, Women's Studies, Criminal Justice
Restoring humanity, one relationship at a time
Heather Shaner, a feisty, blue-haired defense attorney in Washington, DC, has spent over 45 years representing people who can’t afford a lawyer. But her empathy is tested when a violent mob supporting outgoing President Donald Trump storms the U.S. Capitol.
She is assigned to represent Jack Griffith, a social media influencer, and Annie Howell, a single mother and painter. As Heather gets to know her clients, she discovers Jack and Annie were deceived by misinformation and thought they’d joined a righteous defense of democracy, not an authoritarian wave.
PUBLIC DEFENDER explores the delicate state of U.S. democracy, the forces threatening to tear it apart, and the people dedicated to protecting it. When trust is lost amidst a growing political divide, the unlikely bonds between Heather and her clients reveal how people can rise above the fray to find each other’s humanity.
Winner of the Moving Mountains 2024 MountainFilm Festival, Winner of the Life + Liberty Sidewalk Film Festival 2024 and Official Selection at the 2024 Bend Film Festival
Jury Award at the 2025 Frozen River Film Festival and a Special Mention at the 2025 SIMA Awards
Executive Produced Emmy Award-winning actor Richard Schiff
“Public Defender humanizes some of those who were arrested for their involvement on January 6 in nuanced ways without minimizing the violence or impact of those events. It also challenges viewers (especially liberal ones) who embrace a “restorative justice” approach to apply that same framework to some of the Jan 6 participants." - Ann Reidy, Bridging Entertainment Labs
"One of the most timely films... in my opinion. You don't want to miss it!” - Chloe Cook, Executive Director of Sidewalk Film Festival
“Amazing film! Public Defender is all about actually listening to the story of somebody who you feel judgmental about and sometimes even kind of hate based on what they’ve done or said, but listening regardless.”- - Cheryl Strayed, New York Times #1 Bestselling Author & Podcast Host
About the filmmaker
Andrea Kalin is an award-winning filmmaker and founder of Spark Media, a production company dedicated to programs with a social conscience. Kalin’s storytelling has earned her over 100 awards and honors, including a Primetime Emmy, two Gracies, a CHRIS Award, and Golden Globe and WGA nominations. Her work has been shown theatrically and at film festivals around the the world including Hot Docs, Woodstock Film Festival, and Human Rights Watch Film Festival and is distributed by global broadcasters and streaming platforms such as Smithsonian, MTV, HBO, PBS's WORLD Channel, Amazon, Apple TV, Tubi and Deutsche Welle. Her latest film, SCATTERING CJ, premiered at the Camden International Film Festival and aired on PBS in September 2022.
She has produced 12 feature documentaries and scores of advocacy shorts. Kalin's debut documentary, PARTNERS OF THE HEART, aired on PBS's “American Experience,” won the Erik Barnouw Award for Best History Doc, and is part of the NEH50, a list of the most culturally significant projects funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Kalin seeks out unexpected, gripping human stories that shape who we are and shift how we see our world. Her spirited storytelling inspires audiences and sparks the imagination.
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