Edition 24: 1–9 August, 2025

Focus America

Redemption

United States
2013 — 35' / Color

1

Synopsis

Redemption is a documentary about New York City’s canners – the men and women who survive by redeeming bottles and cans they collect from curbs, garbage cans and apartment complexes. You’ve seen them combing through the trash, but never got to meet them. The film is an unexpected and intimate look at post-industrial gleaners, struggling at the edge of our society.

Director Biography

Matthew O’Neill is an Emmy Award winning and Academy Award nominated director whose been working with DCTV making documentaries for the last ten years. Matthew grew up on Long Island in New York, graduated from Yale University with a degree in Theater and is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Jon Alpert has distinguished himself as an award-winning journalist. He has won three Primetime Emmy Awards, eleven News & Documentary Emmy Awards, one National Emmy for Sports Programming, four Columbia DuPont Awards and a Peabody Award.

Director

Jon Alpert

Matthew O’Neill

Producer

Steven Knight

Cinematographer

Jon Alpert

Matthew O’Neill

Editor

Adam Barton

John Custodio

Rob Kuhns

Sound

Ron Bochar

Contact

HBO Documentaries