''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, Utah, Salt Lake City, Ogden, Utah, Ogden, and Sundance Resort in Utah. The festival opene ...

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 diagn ...

, the film documents the legal battle to overturn

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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 by the ...

, 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, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP. Boies rose to national prominence for three major cases: leading the U.S. federal government's succes ...

and

Theodore Olson Theodore Bevry Olson (September 11, 1940 – November 13, 2024) was an American lawyer who served as the 42nd solicitor general of the United States from 2001 to 2004 in the administration of President George W. Bush. He previously served as t ...

during the ''

Perry v. Schwarzenegger Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Australi ...

'' 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 South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

festival, where it won an Audience Award. The film screened at the 2014

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and Jun ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

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 March in Baltimore, Maryland. The festival was launched in 1999, and presents international film and video work of all lengths and genres. The festiv ...

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

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and other major US cities before airing on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

on June 23. In Australia, it screened in conjunction with

Queer Screen The Mardi Gras Film Festival is an Australian LGBTQ+ film festival held in Sydney, New South Wales annually as part of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras celebrations. It is organised by Queer Screen Limited, a non-profit organization, and is ...

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

Proposed film adaptation

On April 21, 2016,

Marielle Heller Marielle Stiles Heller (born October 1, 1979) is an American filmmaker and actress best known for directing the comedy drama film '' The Diary of a Teenage Girl'' (2015), the biographical drama films '' Can You Ever Forgive Me?'' (2018) and ''A ...

was set to direct the feature film adaptation for

Peter Chernin Peter Chernin (born May 29, 1951) is an American film and television producer, businessman and investor. He is the chairman and CEO of The Chernin Group (TCG), which he founded in 2010. TCG manages, operates and invests in businesses in the media ...

's Chernin Entertainment and

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

. However, its fate is unknown after Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox was completed.

References

External links

Official site''The Case Against 8''
at

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Case Against 8, The 2014 films Documentary films about same-sex marriage in the United States 2014 LGBTQ-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 LGBTQ-related documentary films English-language documentary films