Center for Documentary Studies

Race, Representation, and Rotoscoping: Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman on ‘Last Day of Freedom’

The animated documentary short Last Day of Freedom, directed by Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman, tells the story of Bill Babbitt, a man who realizes that his younger brother Manny, a Vietnam vet, has committed a serious crime. Bill grapples with whether or not to turn Manny in; his decision to go to the police ultimately results in Manny’s conviction and execution by the state of California, and Bill is left reeling from the loss of…