Crime & Parody

Editor

100 min. | Feature Documentary

Nearly a decade before Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert came under attack for their political humor, an unknown comedian from Ohio finds himself in even more serious trouble for making fun of the government.

Crime & Parody opens with the story of Anthony Novak, an amateur comedian who creates a parody Facebook page mocking his local police department. The page is satire, but the police take it very seriously. They raid Anthony’s home with guns drawn, throw him in county jail, and charge him with a felony punishable by up to 18 months in prison.

In the years that follow, Anthony fights in court to defend his First Amendment right to criticize the government. With support from The Onion, his case is appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, just as debates around free speech and political expression are reaching a boiling point in America.

Anthony’s case helps raise two questions that continue to grow more urgent: how do you hold the government accountable when they violate your rights, and what responsibility does law enforcement have to its citizens?

But Crime & Parody pushes those questions even further by following a second story about a man named Omar Arrington-Bey who grew up 15 miles from Anthony. Omar’s story ultimately highlights just how much is at stake when constitutional protections break down.