''The Case Against 8'' is an American documentary film, which premiered at the

2014 Sundance Film Festival The 2014 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 16, 2014 until January 26, 2014 in Park City, Utah, United States, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance Resort in Utah. The festival opened with '' Whiplash'' directed by D ...

on January 18, 2014. Directed and produced by Ben Cotner and

Ryan White Ryan Wayne White (December 6, 1971 – April 8, 1990) was an American teenager from Kokomo, Indiana, who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS in the United States after his school barred him from attending classes following a diagnos ...

, the film documents the legal battle to overturn

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Proposition 8 Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in cou ...

, focusing in particular on behind-the-scenes footage of

David Boies David Boies (; born March 11, 1941) is an American lawyer and chairman of the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP. Boies rose to national prominence for three major cases: leading the U.S. federal government's successful prosecution of Microsof ...

and

Theodore Olson Theodore Bevry Olson (born September 11, 1940) is an American lawyer, practicing at the Washington, D.C., office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Olson served as United States Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Counsel (1981–1984) ...

during the '' Perry v. Schwarzenegger'' case.

Cast

Release

Cotner and White won the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was also subsequently screened at the 2014 SXSW festival, where it won an Audience Award. The film screened at the 2014 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and went on to screen within such festivals as SXSW and

Maryland Film Festival The Maryland Film Festival is an annual five-day international film festival taking place each May in Baltimore, Maryland. The festival was launched in 1999, and presents international film and video work of all lengths and genres. The festival ...

. The film also received a limited theatrical release in June 2014, screening in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and other major US cities before airing on HBO on June 23. In Australia, it screened in conjunction with Queer Screen and

Australian Marriage Equality Australian Marriage Equality (AME) was an advocacy group driven by volunteers who came together to pursue the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia. AME partnered with a diverse range of organisations and supporters across the country to ...

on the 20th of August. Independent MP and Chair of AME Alex Greenwich introduced the film to the audience where he mentioned Australia's conservative government pollster

Crosby Textor Group The C, T Group, also referred to as Crosby Textor, is an Australian lobbying firm, and political consultancy. The firm provides social research, corporate strategy and political polling services to its clients. The firm is historically been ...

and the research that has polled the biggest support for same-sex marriage in Australia where 72% of Australians support legalising same-sex marriage.

References

External links

Official site''The Case Against 8''
at HBO * 2014 films Documentary films about same-sex marriage in the United States 2014 LGBT-related films 2008 California Proposition 8 HBO documentary films Films scored by Blake Neely Documentary films about American politics 2014 documentary films Sundance Film Festival award-winning films Documentary films about California 2010s English-language films 2010s American films American LGBT-related documentary films {{LGBT-documentary-film-stub