Evidence

Forum 2025

Poisoned water, damaged earth, and elevated cancer rates: environmental 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.

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by Lee Anne Schmitt (Director, Screenplay) USA 2025 English 76' Colour & Black/White World premiere | Documentary form

Crew

Director	Lee Anne Schmitt
Screenplay	Lee Anne Schmitt
Cinematography	Lee Anne Schmitt
Editing	Lee Anne Schmitt
Music	Jeff Parker
Sound Design	Sara Suarez
Producer	Lee Anne Schmitt
Executive Producer	Lee Anne Schmitt

Produced by

Lee Anne Schmitt

World Sales

Lee Anne Schmitt

Photos

Lee Anne Schmitt

Lee Anne Schmitt is an essay filmmaker. Her projects have addressed American exceptionalism, the logic of utility and labour, 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.

Filmography (selection)

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

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2025