Free Joan Little
2025
Supported by Original Voices Shorts Pitch 2023
NBCU Academy
NBC News Studios
Synopsis:

Free Joan Little tells the story of the landmark 1975 murder trial of the first woman in U.S. history to be acquitted for using deadly force to resist sexual assault. At 20 years old, Joan (pronounced Jo-Ann) Little was incarcerated in North Carolina when she killed a white jailer who she said tried to rape her. Her trial drew national attention, becoming a rallying point for civil rights, women’s rights and prison reform. The case brought together activists including Angela Davis and Rosa Parks, and catalyzed a national conversation about sexual assault and racial justice. Little’s fight for freedom remains a defining moment in American legal and social history.

Filmmakers:
Yoruba Richen

Yoruba Richen is an award-winning Peabody documentary filmmaker who won the Black Public Media Trailblazer award, Her most recent film, American Coup: Wilmington 1898, was nominated for a Peabody Award. Her film, The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, won a Gracie Award and was honored by the Television Academy. Other recent works include the Emmy-nominated films American Reckoning and How It Feels to Be Free. Her film, The Killing of Breonna Taylor, won an NAACP Image Award. Yoruba is the Founding Director of the Documentary Program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.

Christalyn Hampton

Christalyn Hampton is an award-winning director and producer. Her achievements include The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks (Peacock/Soledad O’Brien Productions) earned her a Peabody, Gracie, and Television Academy Honors; the docuseries Born in Synanon, for Paramount +, a documentary Rise and Rebuild: A Tale of Three Cities (One Story Up and Tribeca Studios), and Maxine Baby: The Tyler Perry Story (Amazon Prime). Recently, she teamed with filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir, to co-direct The Devil Is Busy, a documentary short now streaming on HBO Max, and is the director of a series for South Florida PBS premiering Spring 2026.

Bonnie Bertram

Bonnie Bertram is Vice President of Content Development at Retro Report. She directed “Facing Eviction” for PBS Frontline and was Co-Executive Producer of the primetime series “Retro Report on PBS.” Her short film for The New York Times on vaccine hesitancy was nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy Award.