ABACUS: Small Enough to Jail, was a big hit at this year’s Toronto Film Festival. The documentary tells the injustice that the Sung Family—Chinese immigrants and owners of Abacus Federal Savings, a small community bank located in New York’s Chinatown –had to endure. Accused of mortgage fraud by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr.,Abacus becomes the only U.S. bank to face criminal charges in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The indictment and subsequent trial forces the Sung family to defend themselves and their bank’s legacy in the Chinatown community over the course of a five-year legal battle.
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