The Fight: Sundance 2020

Seven days after President Trump’s inauguration, the country’s airports and courthouses were clogged with protesters fighting to protect immigrants facing deportation due to the administration’s “Muslim ban” policy. It was to be the opening salvo of a relentless attack on civil liberties—and a tsunami of lawsuits waged against the Trump administration.

What must it be like to be an ACLU lawyer in this day and age?

The Fight is an inspiring, emotional insider look at how these important battles are fought and the legal gladiators on the front lines fighting them. Directors Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, and Eli Despres capture the rollercoaster ride of the thrill and defeat in these deeply human battles. When a mother is separated from her child, a soldier is threatened to lose his career, a young woman’s right to choose is imperiled at the pleasure of a government official, and the ability to exercise our basic right to vote is threatened, the consequences can be devastating to us and to future generations. The Fight celebrates the unsung heroes who fiercely work to protect our freedoms.

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Directors: Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, Eli Despres

Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, and Eli Despres previously collaborated on the documentary Weiner, a Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner and BAFTA Award nominee that was shortlisted for an Academy Award. Steinberg and Kriegman were co-directors/producers (nominated for a DGA Award), and Despres was the editor and writer. Together, they co-directed and executive produced the critically acclaimed Showtime docuseries Couples Therapy. Steinberg and Kriegman made Variety’s 2016 list of "top ten documakers to watch." Steinberg also directed the acclaimed feature documentary The Trial of Saddam Hussein (PBS). Despres’s other editing credits include BAFTA Award nominee Blackfish and Cannes Film Festival selection Red Army. He is a two-time nominee for a documentary American Cinema Editors Award.