Evidence

Poisoned water, damaged earth, and elevated cancer rates: environmentally clean-up sites are one of the legacies left behind by the American chemical and munitions manufacturer “Olin Corporation”. Its other legacy was the John M. Olin Foundation, which donated millions to pushing a conservative agenda from the 1970s to the early 2000s. As a by-product or direct effort, the Olin Corporation and other conservative think-tanks have had a deep and unsettling impact on American politics, family values, and women’s health. Working again the field of the 16mm New Left essay film, Lee Anne Schmitt connects an array of topics, books, and objects to reflect on the rise of the new conservative movement and the effects of dark money on American politics and culture. In easily her most personal film to date – as her father worked for Olin – she considers these values and their implications after becoming a mother. In the face of appalling attacks on women’s biological rights and the current dominance of the Republican party, Evidence is a sobering primer on the state of America today. (Ted Fendt)

Lee Anne Schmitt is an essay filmmaker. Her projects have addressed American exceptionalism, the logic of utility and labor, gestures of kindness and refusal, and the history of racial violence in the United States. Her films have screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Viennale, Rotterdam International Film Festival, Cinéma du Réel, FICUNAM, FIDMarseilles, DocLisboa and many more. She is a recipient of a Guggenheim, Creative Capital, Graham Foundation Grant, and multiple MacDowell Residencies.

Director Lee Anne Schmitt. Screenplay Lee Anne Schmitt. Cinematography Lee Anne Schmitt. Editing Lee Anne Schmitt. Music Jeff Parker. Sound Design Sara Suarez. Sound Lee Anne Schmitt. Producer Lee Anne Schmitt. Executive Producer Lee Anne Schmitt. Production company Lee Anne Schmitt (Altadena, CA, USA).

World sales Lee Anne Schmitt

Films: 2008: California Company Town. 2012: The Last Buffalo Hunt. 2018: Purge This Land. 2019: Farnsworth Scores (short film). 2024: Cry Love (short film). 2025: Evidence.