PUBLIC DEFENDER

Heather Shaner, a feisty, blue-haired defense attorney in Washington, DC, has spent over 45 years representing people who can’t afford a lawyer. But her empathy is tested when she must defend a handful of January 6th rioters. PUBLIC DEFENDER explores the delicate state of U.S. democracy, the forces threatening to tear it apart, and the people dedicated to protecting it.

Watch full length at The New Yorker

• Dir: Andrea Kalin

• Distributed by The New Yorker

• Moving Mountains Award - 2024 Mountain Film Festival

• 2025 Golden Telly for Best Documentary