S2.E9 ∙ Xander's Book

Blackie: The Fast Lives of Giordano Steece is more than just a documentary about one man's life inside the New Orleans underworld. It is a history of Louisiana as told by the people who lived it. Featuring interviews with real life 'gangsters', prosecutors, law enforcement and the politicians they controlled. The film centers on the life of 'Blackie,' the man that bridged the gap between the infamous Carlos Marcello and the Louisiana political establishment. He and his crew ran night clubs, fixed elections and enforced the Mafia code until his concern for his children caused him to leave 'The Life.' The film is a meditation on America where the lines between good and evil blur and all that matters is power.

An ex-convict finds returns home to a small town and finds redemption for his crimes.

Narrated by John Waters, Wall Writers is a documentary about graffiti in its innocence. Through unprecedented access to TAKI183, CORNBREAD, and other legendary writers, Wall Writers features photographs and archival footage from the late 1960s and early 1970s, a time when underprivileged city kids refused to remain in the shadows.

The Genius of Lenny Breau Remembered" is a richly detailed, personal, and compelling portrait of the master guitarist Lenny Breau. Building upon her award-winning documentary "The Genius of Lenny Breau", first-time director Emily Hughes takes a deeper look into her father's often turbulent life, and ground breaking guitar style. A genre unto himself, Lenny melted musical boundaries, from styles as diverse as country, classical, and flamenco, to invent his innovative jazz techniques. Through interviews with his close friends, family members, luthiers, and fellow musicians, in combination with rare photos, archival footage and recordings, this 135 minute documentary intimately reveals the depth of Lenny's passionate dedication to his craft and the complex, evocative music that was its result. Presented in five chapters, The Genius of Lenny Breau Remembered provides a raw and unvarnished look at the musician's life, lasting influence, and subsequent ubiquity. It is a personal and powerful exploration of his life, music, and his tragic still-unsolved murder.

Seven years ago director Sheldon Wilson set out to tell a story involving crooked cops, a mafia Godfather, murder, a public poisoning, Elvis Presley, prison gang leaders and a cocaine-addicted newspaper editor who printed it all. As it turns out, this was just the beginning of the story. ONCE UPON A CRIME: The Borrelli - Davis Conspiracy, follows the extraordinary story of two innocent men whose lives are torn apart solely because of their race. Mike Borrelli, an Italian-American NYPD detective and his partner Bob Davis, one of the first African-American detectives in New York, are convicted for committing first-degree murder for one of New York's most notorious crime bosses. But Mike Borrelli and Bob Davis are innocent. Law enforcement agents know it too, but they are hell bent to connect the murder to the mafia; incredibly, they give the real killer immunity and place him into witness protection in exchange for his false testimony against the two officers. This film reveals the shocking details of this unimaginable injustice as the filmmakers embark on a tireless search for the one known gunman, still in hiding.