Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
About the Screening
Abacus, a small family-run bank, becomes the only U.S. bank to face criminal charges in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The indictment and subsequent trial forces the Sung family to defend itself -- and its bank's legacy in the Chinatown community -- over the course of a five-year legal battle
Includes a post-film conversation with Steve James, Director and Mark Mitten, Producer.
Steve James produced and directed Hoop Dreams, winner of every major critics prize as well as a Peabody and Robert F. Kennedy Award. Other award-winning films include Stevie, winner of the Sundance Film Festival Cinematography Award, IDFA Grand Jury Prize and the Yamagata Mayor’s Prize, among others; the Independent Documentary Association Award-winning miniseries The New Americans; Tribeca Film Festival Grand Prize winner The War Tapes, which James produced and edited; At the Death House Door, co-directed with Peter Gilbert, and winner of numerous festival awards; No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson for ESPN’s Peabody winning “30 for 30” series; and The Interrupters, which won an Emmy, Independent Spirit Award and the DuPont Columbia Journalism Award, among others. James’ most recent film, Life Itself, was named the best documentary of the year by over a dozen critics associations, Rotten Tomatoes, the Critics’ Choice Awards, the National Board of Review, and the Producers Guild of America. Most recently, Life Itself was nominated for Emmy awards for Best Documentary and Outstanding Editing: Documentary and Long Form.
Mark Mitten is an award-winning producer who has created a variety of media and entertainment projects. Before producing Abacus: Small Enough To Jail, Mark served as executive producer and co-producer on the Roger Ebert documentary, Life Itself, and has worked as a television producer. He also served as the chief brand officer for Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid where he made over 30 short films, after which he directed, co-wrote and produced the documentary, Making Big Plans: The Story of Chicago’s Olympic Dream. Prior to producing, Mitten was a partner at McKinsey & Company, where he provided strategic consulting to Fortune 100 companies.