10 Film Documentaries That Accidentally Uncovered Major Scoops
2. Capturing The Friedmans - Clown Show Becomes Horror Show
Capturing The Friedmans is a film that director Andrew Jarecki never intended to make. In the early 2000s, his focus was on a short film titled Just A Clown, which was planned as a "day in the life" of New York-based children's party entertainers.
However, while making this short (which he did eventually finish), Jarecki's research led him to discover a shocking truth - namely, the dark story behind one of his subjects, David Friedman, whose family has a deeply disturbing history.
During the production process, Jarecki learned that David's brother (Jesse) and father (Arnold) had previously pleaded guilty to child sex abuse, which drove the filmmaker to uncover as much about the story as he could. His pursuit of the truth then evolved into the feature-length documentary Capturing The Friedmans, which tracks the Friedman case from beginning to end - from court cases, to prison, to Arnold's death in 1995, and Jesse's release six years later.
Needless to say, it's a million miles away from that initial, much breezier documentary about birthday party clowns.