The Witness

As Catherine "Kitty" Genovese was murdered on the street outside of her Queens NY apartment in 1964, supposedly 38 eyewitnesses stood by and didn't do a thing. This infamous act of violence became synonymous with American apathy, and posed a grand riddle for behavioral scientists to puzzle over to this day. William Genovese, Kitty's brother, leads the search for the facts behind his sister's murder and finds quite a bit more than he bargained for. Artfully told with animation, first-person testimony, and intimate footage of Kitty herself, THE WITNESS is a stunning testament to the frailty of truth, and the enigma of closure. (Sarasota Film Festival)