Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (2016)

Directed by

Steve James

Genre

documentary film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 28m

Rating

6.7 of 10 from 80 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A family-owned bank in New York City's Chinatown faces criminal charges after the housing crisis when larger banks escape prosecution. The documentary follows the family's fight to defend their bank and their reputation.

informativeearnesttenseunderdogmethodicalsoberingresilient

What happens

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail is a 2016 American documentary film directed by Steve James. The film centers on the Abacus Federal Savings Bank, a family-owned community bank situated in Manhattan's Chinatown in New York City. Because it was deemed "small enough to jail" rather than "too big to fail", it became the only financial institution to actually face criminal charges following the subprime mortgage crisis. The film premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was first runner-up for the People's Choice Award in the documentary category. It aired on the PBS documentary series Frontline in 2017 and is available for online streaming at no charge. The film was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 90th Academy Awards. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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