A Double Life at Real Art Ways

On May 17, we will host award-winning Director Catherine Masud in-person for a post-film conversation that explores the film through the framework of legal activism. The main subject of this documentary, Stephen Bingham, will also attend this discussion (virtually). 

A Double Life unveils the gripping true story of Stephen Bingham, a lawyer accused of passing a gun to prisoners’ rights leader George Jackson in 1971. Forced into a life on the run, Bingham spends 13 years underground, eluding capture while fiercely determined to clear his name.

Director’s Statement

This film is as much about Steve/Robert as it is about his times. The turbulent era of civil rights, student rebellion, and state surveillance forms the backdrop of a personal story of a man who remained focused on his values and ideals through multiple disruptions and tragedies. The story is told through the various perspectives of his friends and colleagues in both the US and France, as well as family members, both alive and dead. It is also a generational story, of the tensions that arise when world views collide between parents and their children, mirroring wider societal divides. It is a love story of Steve and Françoise, who had to choose to risk everything. To tell this complex story spanning eras and continents, the narrative weaves back and forth between present and past, through a combination of verité treatments and archival footage, to unveil a drama of racial injustice, state surveillance, family jealousies, and political divides.

This story is powerfully relevant in the present era of social unrest and polarization, when our constitutional rights and the rule of law are under threat from within, even as our nation struggles to come to terms with the truth of our dark past. In this contemporary climate, we have much to learn from the life stories of people like Stephen Bingham and other lawyers of his generation who, in dark times, stepped forward in defense of justice and equality. It is not only a film of his time, but also a film for our times.

Director’s Bio

Catherine Masud is an award-winning filmmaker with over 30 years of experience producing, directing, and editing, working in documentary and fictional genres. She produced and co-wrote the acclaimed feature MATIR MOINA (The Clay Bird), which won the International Critics’ Prize at Cannes and became the first Bangladeshi film to compete in the Oscars. Thematically, many of her movies address social justice issues and the conflict between religious and cultural identity. Her films have screened at major festivals, been theatrically released in many countries, and broadcast on such outlets as Turner Classic Movies, Channel 4 (UK), TV Ontario, and SBS (Australia). An American citizen by birth, Catherine spent much of her adult life in Dhaka, Bangladesh, working with her late husband and filmmaking partner Tareque Masud.  Since relocating back to the US in 2015, she has divided her time between teaching, writing, and filmmaking. She currently teaches documentary and human rights at the University of Connecticut.