Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and his “Midnight Crew” of detectives are accused of torturing over 100 Black criminal suspects using such brutal methods as electroshock between 1972 and 1991 with tacit approval of city leaders, including Mayor Richard M Daley.

‘AREA 2’ investigates one of the biggest police scandals in U.S. history.

The docu-thriller, currently in post-production, chronicles the epic fight for justice through the journey of torture survivor Ronald Kitchen. When officers pick up 22-year-old Ronald outside his home in 1988, they tell his family, “he’ll be back in 45 minutes.” He ends up on Death Row, tortured into signing a false confession to a quintuple murder. Detectives force him to falsely implicate his grandmother’s godson, who gets life in prison based on Ronald’s tortured statement. How can Ronald and his mom fight for his release when it seems everyone disbelieves his story or does not care if he was tortured?

AREA 2 tells the stories of numerous individuals impacted by the scandal, including torture survivors, family members of murder victims, accused officers, prosecutors, journalists, a former IL governor, a former Chicago mayor and several key people who have never before shared their extraordinary perspectives.

Their stories illustrate the devastating, widespread repercussions of the torture and coverup: victims traumatized for life, innocent men sentenced to death, convicted murderers set free, victims’ families denied closure, police-community trust deteriorated, and taxpayers on the hook for almost $250 million in legal fees and settlements.

“James Sorrels and his team have created the definitive documentary investigating police torture and government coverup at the highest levels in Chicago. ‘AREA 2’ is a devastating movie that needs to be seen.”

- Andrew Davis, director of ‘The Fugitive’

“ ‘AREA 2’ feels especially needed at this moment. It’s a story that speaks to the degrading power of silence and complicity. For years, a group of Chicago police detectives brutally tortured Black men and, while people knew about it, no one said anything. Even after a crusading journalist published in-depth stories about it. This film powerfully hones in on the steep price of silence.”

- Alex Kotlowitz, journalist and documentary filmmaker, author of ‘There Are No Children Here’

TEAM

Tarell Alvin McCraney

Executive Producer
Tarell is an Oscar-winning writer, producer, and educator, best known for his acclaimed trilogy, The Brother/Sister Plays. His script In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue is the basis for the Oscar–winning film Moonlight directed by Barry Jenkins, for which he and Jenkins also won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar. He is Artistic Director of Geffen Playhouse.

Glenn Davis

Executive Producer
Glenn is a Tony-winning producer, actor and Artistic Director of Steppenwolf Theatre Company. In 2025 he was Tony-nominated for the Best Feature Actor in a Play for Purpose, which won the Tony for Best Play which he also developed and produced. He is also a partner in Cast Iron Entertainment, a collective of artists consisting of Sterling K Brown, Brian Tyree Henry, Jon Michael Hill, Andre Holland and Tarell Alvin McCraney. In 2021 Glenn founded The Chatham Grove Company along with his producing partner McCraney.

James Sorrels

Director, Producer
James is an investigative documentary filmmaker based in Chicago, IL. Before beginning development on AREA 2 in 2013, he wrote and directed a mini-series that appeared on CAN-TV, as well as, numerous award-winning short films. In 2017 the Points North Institute at the Camden International Film Festival selected James for its fellowship, and Kartemquin Films awarded AREA 2 an Emerging Fund grant by the Sage Foundation.

Bob Hercules

Executive Producer, Producer
Bob co-directed Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise, which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and won 19 awards on three continents, including a 2018 Peabody. The film was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and aired on PBS’ American Masters and on the BBC’s Storyville series in 2017. His films have been seen widely on PBS, BBC, Netflix, Amazon, IFC, and in film festivals around the world.
IMDB

Keith Walker

Executive Producer, Co-DP
Keith is a gifted visual storyteller with over 35 years of experience as a D.P. Most recently he was D.P. on Little Richard: I Am Everything (Sundance 2023). Keith was the Emmy-nominated D.P. for Dawn Porter’s John Lewis: Good Trouble for CNN films. In 2018 Walker received a Peabody Award for his D.P. work on Bob Hercules’ Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise. He also D.P.’d Mavis (the Mavis Staples story) for HBO Films in 2016. In 2011 Keith was D.P. on Bill T. Jones: A Good Man, directed by Bob Hercules and Gordon Quinn. Keith is known as Oprah Winfrey’s “favorite D.P.” He has shot numerous segments for her over the years including her revelatory interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and her 2023 interview with Adele for CBS.
IMDB

Fabián Caballero

Editor
Fabián is an Argentine-Bolivian documentary film editor based in Ventura, CA. He takes an interest in projects highlighting the personal stories of those impacted by geopolitics and international relations. Most recently, he edited Bernardo Ruiz's documentary film, El Equipo, which aired on Independent Lens in the fall of 2023. Other past work includes co-editing Barbara Kopple’s Emmy-nominated Desert One (2019), a film about the United States’ failed mission to rescue the American hostages held in the U.S. Embassy in Iran. He was also a co-editor on The Interpreters, an Emmy-nominated film about the struggle of Iraqi and Afghan interpreters who worked with U.S. forces during both wars.
IMDB

Elliott Riebman

Executive Producer
Elliott has worked in TV/film development for Fortress Features and for Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman’s film production company Revelations Entertainment. He is also a lawyer who represented a victim of police torture and published How and Why A Code of Silence Between State's Attorneys and Police Officers Resulted in Unprosecuted Torture in the Journal for Social Justice at DePaul College of Law where he has taught as an adjunct professor. Elliott is currently also producing the documentary “Byrdsong” about the white supremacist shooting of the first Black head basketball coach at Northwestern University.

Joshua Simon

Producer, Cinematographer
Joshua is a New York based filmmaker. Joshua runs Spinach Pie Productions which has collaborated on film projects with several non-profit organizations and foundations, including Harlem Grown, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The National Wildlife Federation. He has also produced several short documentaries including "Then & Now" about Tessa Venell’s remarkable recovery after a traumatic brain injury and "Everything She Says Means Everything" about photographer Spencer Tunick and artist Kristin Bowlers’ protest installation at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Joshua was a 2017 Points North Institute Fellow in his role as producer on AREA 2. He received his bachelors in sociology from Brandeis University.

IMAGES

In 2009 the chief judge of Cook County Criminal Courts released Ronald and his co-defendant from prison, and granted each of them a certificate of innocence.

Ronald fell in love with roller skating as a kid in the 1980s. After his exoneration, he immediately strapped on skates and headed to the rink to feel his freedom. Here he teaches his daughter to skate, years after his release.

Ronald joins Life After Justice co-founder Jarrett Adams (2nd from left) in conversation with AREA 2 Director James Sorrels (right), after a private work-in-progress screening at the annual conference of Office of the Cook County Public Defender, October 2026.

Activists and men who allege they were tortured by the Midnight Crew speak to the press after Chicago City Council passes “Reparations for Burge Victims” in 2015.

Ronald shares his journey with students at Whitney Young High School.

Chicago police academy cadets hold photographs of three officers who were murdered in cold blood in 1982. The murders of Officers William Fahey and Richard O’Brien ignited one of the biggest manhunts in Chicago history. City leaders praised young Lt. Jon Burge for capturing the suspects - brothers Andrew and Jackie Wilson - but what happened to detainees in Burge’s “Area 2” police station haunts Chicago to this day.

Director James Sorrels interviews Patrick Fitzgerald, the former US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, who prosecuted Commander Jon Burge for perjury and obstruction of justice.