Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

Arts & Culture

POV: Roll Red Roll

Steubenville High School football team in a huddle. At a pre-season party in small-town Steubenville, Ohio, the now-infamous sexual assault of a teenage girl by members of the beloved high school football team took place. "Roll Red Roll" is a true-crime thriller that goes behind the headlines to uncover the deep seated and social media-fueled "boys will be boys" culture at the root of high school sexual assault in America.
Courtesy of David Holm
Steubenville High School football team in a huddle. At a pre-season party in small-town Steubenville, Ohio, the now-infamous sexual assault of a teenage girl by members of the beloved high school football team took place. "Roll Red Roll" is a true-crime thriller that goes behind the headlines to uncover the deep seated and social media-fueled "boys will be boys" culture at the root of high school sexual assault in America.

Airs Monday, June 17, 2019 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV

“Roll Red Roll” is a true-crime thriller that goes behind the headlines to uncover the deep-seated and social media-fueled “boys will be boys” culture at the root of high school sexual assault in America.

At a pre-season party in small-town Steubenville, Ohio, a heinous crime took place: the assault of a teenage girl by members of the beloved high school football team.

What transpired would garner national attention and result in the sentencing of two key offenders.

Advertisement

But it was the disturbing social media evidence uncovered by crime blogger Alexandria Goddard that provoked the most powerful questions about the collusion of teen bystanders, teachers, parents and coaches to protect the assailants and discredit the victim.

Crime blogger Alexandria Goddard.
Courtesy of Matt Bockleman
Crime blogger Alexandria Goddard.

As it painstakingly reconstructs the night of the crime and its aftermath, “Roll Red Roll” uncovers the ingrained rape culture at the heart of the incident, acting as a cautionary tale about what can happen when teenage social media bullying runs rampant and adults look the other way.

The film unflinchingly asks: “Why didn’t anyone stop it?”

Steubenville High School football team on the field, Ohio.
Courtesy of Matt Bockleman
Steubenville High School football team on the field, Ohio.

Watch On Your Schedule:

This film will stream online on POV.org in concurrence with its broadcast. Full episodes of POV are available to view on demand for a limited time after broadcast.

Advertisement

Join The Conversation:

POV is on Facebook, and you can follow @povdocs on Twitter. #RollRedRollDoc #RollRedRollPBS

"Roll Red Roll" Doc is on Facebook and Instagram. Follow @RollRedRollDoc on Twitter.

Credits:

Director/Producer: Nancy Schwartzman. Producers: Steven Lake and Jessica Devaney. Cinematographer: Matt Bockelman. Editor: Christopher White. Composer: Nima Fakhara. Co-Producer: Bari Pearlmanis. Associate Producer: Chachi Hauser. Impact Producer and Engagement Strategist: Eliza Licht. Impact Coordinator: Jessica DeBruin. Executive Producers: Geralyn Dreyfous, Barbara Dobkin, Chandra Jessee, Patty Quillin and Regina K. Scully. Co-Executive Producers: Abigail Disney and Gini Reticker. POV is American television’s longest-running documentary series now in its 31st season. Co-production of American Documentary | POV and ITVS.